See all titles by David Baldacci.

Saving Faith opens during a meeting of a top-secret cartel headed by Robert Thornhill, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Pursuing his own agenda, Thornhill pushes the group into arranging the assassination of Faith Lockhart, a Washington lobbyist who, for reasons revealed later in the novel, threatens his plans. The group reluctantly agrees to implement Thornhill's plan, even though it means that an FBI bodyguard must also die.

Scheduled to take place at an FBI safe house, the hit goes wrong due to the timely intervention of private detective Adam Lee, hired to shadow Faith by persons unknown. Although the FBI agent is killed, Lee escapes with Faith, beginning a long, dangerous odyssey that starts in Maryland, moves to North Carolina, and ends in a Senate conference room in Washington. Adam and Faith become fugitives, forced to flee from the police, the FBI, and the CIA.

Okay, by now you probably have several questions, among them: Who is Robert Thornhill, and why does he want Faith Lockhart dead? Who are the members of the secret cartel, and what are their goals? What secrets does a lobbyist possess that could threaten the CIA? Why is her death important enough to sacrifice the life of an FBI agent? Why was Adam Lee at the cabin that fateful night?

Well, I'd be doing Baldacci and his readers a grave disservice by revealing the intricacies of his convoluted plot, so you'll get no answers from this reviewer. I will say, however, that the plot of Saving Faith ultimately does hang together, making for a gripping read. Like Alfred Hitchcock, Baldacci loves coincidence. Like the famous director, he also takes his audience for a hell of a ride, building to a surprising, satisfying conclusion.