Where to Start with David Baldacci
- Best entry point → The Innocent
- Best standalone → The Winner
- Start the Amos Decker series → Memory Man
- What fans keep coming back to → The Last Mile
- Best narrator for David Baldacci → The Hit
- Highest rated by listeners → The Guilty (Will Robie #4)
- 1
Memory Man
Amos Decker • Book 1
Narrated by Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
★ 4.47 ABR Score (191.4K ratings)★ 4.13 Goodreads (160.2K) ★ 4.43 Audible (31.2K)More about this pick
A detective with perfect recall investigates his family's murder in this thriller where dual narrators Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy handle shifting perspectives.
- 2
The Last Mile
Amos Decker • Book 2
Narrated by Kyf Brewer
★ 4.59 ABR Score (127.6K ratings)★ 4.24 Goodreads (105.8K) ★ 4.58 Audible (21.8K)More about this pick
Hours before execution, convicted killer Melvin Mars gets a reprieve when another man confesses to murdering Mars's parents. Baldacci's plot draws parallels between Mars and detective Amos Decker's tragic backgrounds throughout this FBI thriller.
- 3
The Innocent
Will Robie • Book 1
Narrated by Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
★ 4.51 ABR Score (143.2K ratings)★ 4.19 Goodreads (122.3K) ★ 4.49 Audible (20.9K)More about this pick
Government assassin Will Robie's perfect record shatters when a mission goes sideways, forcing him to protect the very target he was sent to eliminate. Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy handle the shifting perspectives with precision throughout this cat-and-mouse thriller.
- 4
The Target
Will Robie • Book 3
Narrated by Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
★ 4.50 ABR Score (80.3K ratings)★ 4.18 Goodreads (66.0K) ★ 4.53 Audible (14.3K)More about this pick
Presidential assassination orders and impossible missions get the tension they deserve with McLarty and Cassidy alternating perspectives as Will Robie faces his most dangerous assignment yet.
- 5
The Escape
John Puller • Book 3
Narrated by Ron McLarty
★ 4.51 ABR Score (76.2K ratings)★ 4.22 Goodreads (62.9K) ★ 4.53 Audible (13.3K)More about this pick
Military investigator John Puller hunts his own brother—a convicted traitor who impossibly escaped the most secure prison in America. The family betrayal cuts deep in Baldacci's most personal thriller yet.
- 6
The Guilty
Will Robie • Book 4
Narrated by Kyf Brewer, Orlagh Cassidy
★ 4.52 ABR Score (77.0K ratings)★ 4.22 Goodreads (64.2K) ★ 4.54 Audible (12.9K)More about this pick
Kyf Brewer and Orlagh Cassidy alternate as Will Robie returns to his Mississippi hometown to investigate murder charges against the father who shaped his deadly skills.
- 7
The Hit
Will Robie • Book 2
Narrated by Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
★ 4.50 ABR Score (92.3K ratings)★ 4.18 Goodreads (79.7K) ★ 4.54 Audible (12.6K)More about this pick
Government assassin Will Robie faces off against Jessica Reel, a fellow killer who's gone rogue, in Baldacci's cat-and-mouse thriller that McLarty and Cassidy handle with professional precision.
- 8
The Forgotten
John Puller • Book 2
Narrated by Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
★ 4.50 ABR Score (81.3K ratings)★ 4.16 Goodreads (70.2K) ★ 4.56 Audible (11.0K)More about this pick
John Puller's personal case in paradise turns into his deadliest investigation yet, with Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy building tension in every chapter.
- 9
Split Second
Sean King & Michelle Maxwell • Book 1
Narrated by Scott Brick
★ 4.30 ABR Score (95.9K ratings)★ 4.05 Goodreads (83.5K) ★ 4.33 Audible (12.4K)More about this pick
Former Secret Service agent Sean King's moment of inattention led to a candidate's assassination eight years ago. Scott Brick handles Baldacci's procedural thriller with steady pacing as King faces a parallel case.
- 10
Hour Game
Sean King & Michelle Maxwell • Book 2
Narrated by Scott Brick
★ 4.35 ABR Score (62.9K ratings)★ 4.05 Goodreads (56.1K) ★ 4.45 Audible (6.8K)More about this pick
A serial killer copies history's most notorious murderers, and Brick's steady pacing builds dread as ex-Secret Service agents King and Maxwell hunt through familiar yet twisted crime patterns.
- 11
The Whole Truth
A. Shaw • Book 1
Narrated by Ron McLarty
★ 4.39 ABR Score (49.2K ratings)★ 4.09 Goodreads (43.4K) ★ 4.51 Audible (5.8K)More about this pick
Defense contractor Nicolas Creel pays specialists to manufacture international incidents and media campaigns that will create the profitable wars he desperately needs.
- 12
Dream Town
Archer • Book 3
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Brittany Pressley
★ 4.31 ABR Score (44.4K ratings)★ 4.09 Goodreads (38.7K) ★ 4.51 Audible (5.7K)More about this pick
Private investigator Archer protects screenwriter Eleanor Lamb from escalating threats in 1953 Hollywood, where glamour masks deadly secrets.
- 13
The Winner
Narrated by Francis Cassidy
★ 4.44 ABR Score (60.6K ratings)★ 4.15 Goodreads (55.9K) ★ 4.55 Audible (4.7K)More about this pick
LuAnn Tyler's Faustian lottery bargain—$100 million for permanent exile—unfolds through Cassidy's tense narration as past deals return to threaten her daughter's future.
- 14
Total Control
Narrated by Jonathan Marosz
★ 4.39 ABR Score (55.4K ratings)★ 4.15 Goodreads (50.0K) ★ 4.47 Audible (5.4K)More about this pick
Sidney Archer's husband dies in a plane crash, but evidence suggests he was never on that flight, plunging her into a conspiracy involving corporate espionage and government secrets. Jonathan Marosz guides listeners through Baldacci's intricate plot of deception and high-stakes intrigue.
- 15
Simple Genius
Sean King & Michelle Maxwell • Book 3
Narrated by Scott Brick
★ 4.29 ABR Score (54.7K ratings)★ 4.01 Goodreads (49.3K) ★ 4.41 Audible (5.3K)More about this pick
Scott Brick's steady performance anchors this dual mystery as Sean probes a physicist's death while Michelle battles personal demons in psychiatric treatment, both cases involving government secrets.
- 16
Hell's Corner
The Camel Club • Book 5
Narrated by Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
★ 4.38 ABR Score (49.9K ratings)★ 4.19 Goodreads (44.8K) ★ 4.43 Audible (5.1K)More about this pick
An explosion near the White House draws Oliver Stone into a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of American power.
- 17
True Blue
Narrated by Ron McLarty
★ 4.20 ABR Score (39.5K ratings)★ 3.95 Goodreads (35.4K) ★ 4.35 Audible (4.1K)More about this pick
Former cop Mace Perry rebuilds her life after being framed and imprisoned, but a high-profile Washington murder pulls her back into the dangerous intersection of crime and national security.
- 18
Saving Faith
Narrated by Michael Kramer
★ 4.12 ABR Score (34.9K ratings)★ 3.97 Goodreads (30.3K) ★ 4.21 Audible (4.6K)More about this pick
Washington corruption meets deadly conspiracy when a lobbyist discovers how deep the rot goes. Michael Kramer's steady pacing keeps you hooked through every political twist.
- 19
The Simple Truth
Narrated by Jonathan Marosz
★ 4.34 ABR Score (44.6K ratings)★ 4.11 Goodreads (42.4K) ★ 4.5 Audible (2.2K)More about this pick
Convicted murderer Rufus Harms realizes twenty-five years too late that he's innocent, filing a secret Supreme Court appeal while the real killers hunt him down in this legal thriller.
- 20
The Camel Club Audio Box Set: The Camel Club / The Collectors / Stone Cold
The Camel Club #1-3
by David Baldacci, James Naughton, Tom Wopat, Maggi-Meg Reed, Ron McLarty
Narrated by James Naughton, Tom Wopat, Maggi-Meg Reed, Ron McLarty
★ 4.26 ABR Score (2.2K ratings)★ 4.42 Goodreads (1.1K) ★ 4.52 Audible (1.1K)More about this pick
Baldacci's conspiracy-hunting outcasts tackle government corruption across three explosive thrillers. Multiple narrators including James Naughton and Tom Wopat give each character distinct personality in this political powder keg.
- 21
Simply Lies
Mickey Gibson • Book 1
Narrated by Lisa Flanagan, Corey Carthew
★ 4.04 ABR Score (61.0K ratings)★ 3.96 Goodreads (58.7K) ★ 4.1 Audible (2.3K)More about this pick
Former detective Mickey Gibson faces off against a master manipulator in a psychological chess match where truth becomes weaponized.
- 22
No Time Left (Kindle Single)
Narrated by Scott Brick
★ 3.81 ABR Score (12.9K ratings)★ 3.72 Goodreads (11.9K) ★ 3.98 Audible (937)More about this pick
Expert assassin Frank Becker takes a mysterious job that forces him to confront his past, not realizing success will change his future forever. Scott Brick's precise delivery matches the calculated tension of Becker's profession.
- 23
The Camel Club
The Camel Club • Book 1
Narrated by Alex Jennings
★ 4.33 ABR Score (98.8K ratings)★ 4.07 Goodreads (98.8K)More about this pick
Eccentric conspiracy theorists accidentally witness a murder that exposes government corruption at the highest levels. The thriller escalates from paranoid theory to deadly reality.
- 24
The Whole Truth: Shaw and Katie James 1
A. Shaw • Book 1
Narrated by Alex Jennings
★ 4.30 ABR Score (43.4K ratings)★ 4.09 Goodreads (43.4K)More about this pick
Arms dealer Nicolas Creel orchestrates global conflict for profit while academic Anna Fischer stumbles onto his manipulation of world events through manufactured crises.
- 25
Simple Genius: King and Maxwell
Sean King & Michelle Maxwell • Book 3
Narrated by Alex Jennings
★ 4.22 ABR Score (49.4K ratings)★ 4.01 Goodreads (49.4K)More about this pick
Michelle Maxwell uncovers hospital conspiracies while in therapy as Sean investigates a physicist's suspicious death at a think tank, blending personal healing with professional danger.
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