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The Innocent: A Novel  By  cover art

The Innocent: A Novel

By: David Baldacci
Narrated by: Ron McLarty,Orlagh Cassidy
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Publisher's summary

America has enemies - ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone-cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target.

But Will Robie may have just made the first - and last - mistake of his career....

It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable: He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.

Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a 14-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway - her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.

Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power. Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life... and perhaps his own.

©2012 Hachette Audio; 2012 David Baldacci

What listeners say about The Innocent: A Novel

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Story Is OK. Performance, Not So Much.

No review this time. Just some quick notes.

The novel starts slowly. It takes awhile for the plot to grab your interest. But once it does, the ride is good fun.

The concluding tying up of loose ends is hackish. Build the conclusions into the plot. Don't wait for the last few chapters and then have the characters amaze each other with descriptions of how each plot line was resolved. At best, this is evidence of a lazy writer. At worst, an incompetent one. Baldacci is fully competent. He can do much better.

Narration is uneven. Female voices, in particular, seem miscast. An FBI agent with such a strong, though intermittent, Brooklyn accent?

Audio production is awful. The sound effects and music are distracting, making it impossible to lose yourself in the story. This audiobook would work better with less: fewer narrators (McLarty could handle it better alone), fewer sound effects, less music. It might be good for Baldacci to remember: One reason many of us prefer books to, say, movies, is that books allow our imaginations to "fill in the blanks." The sound of a stereotypical bullet adds little; and has a cost.

Conclusion? Decent escapist fiction. But probably a story better READ. Buy the book. Skip this audio.

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148 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Shockingly Bad for Baldacci

Having read or listened to over 15 other Baldacci novels (and LOVED them all) I was sorry I didn't read the negative reviews on this one.

I DETEST the music and sound effects that are creeping in to many recordings lately. The music and effects included in this one was over the top and didn't enhance the experience for me at all. It is extremely annoying and distracting.

Nevertheless, when the story is phenomenal, I grit my teeth and ignore the sappy music or gun shot noise. The plot here is so far fetched I couldn't decide which was more painful.

It's hard for me to believe that this book is not a first effort by an author who may or may not get published one day. Does Baldacci now have a stable of writers cranking out books for him like James Patterson?

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143 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Disliked all the Sound Effects.

What did you like best about this story?

Good story with lots of turns that kept you away from the ending.

Any additional comments?

I just didn't like all the sound effects, didn't feel they added anything to the story.

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134 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Worst performance I've heard

I generally don't leave reviews but I was compelled to review this performance.... The sound effects are very distracting and the added female voice sounds spliced in and computer generated (wrecked the story for me listening to her). The guys voice was only marginally better..... Over all decent story but the performance was so bad I didn't finish this book, only the second book I didn't finish ever.

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131 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

A Painful Listen

This is dramatized! Sound effects throughout. Annoying. Very shallow story. This is the first audio book in 11 years I couldn't finish. Refund please.

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126 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Fun book-sound effects, music, two voices annoying

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Drop the sound effects, music, and two voices! I found it very annoying. I regret downloading this book before any reviews were posted. I won't make that mistake again.

How could the performance have been better?

Drop the sound effects, music, and two voices. I like Ron McLarty reading (only).

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98 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • CE
  • 10-22-14

"Drop The Sound Effects"

Another very good novel from DB but perhaps a bit too long (3.5 stars)! And I beg of you please drop the sound effects it drove me crazy, let me use my imagination.

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93 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

stop the madness

I stopped at chapter 4. sound effects drowned out the narration. think I will stick with Brad Thor for now.

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72 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I Hope There's a Sequel!!

If you like action and suspense, then you will like " The Innocent". Baldacci has created a character called Robie who is a hitman. He is sent out on assignment that he can not complete. Robie figures out that he was set up. And now is on the run. Robie encounters a 14yr old girl named Julie. Julie see's her parents shoot and killed. And now is running for her life. There paths cross on a bus. Julie is a sassy, street smart girl. And Robie is rough around the edges with a good heart. And takes Julie under his wing. And the adventure begins. I enjoyed both characters a lot. I hope Baldacci writes another book with Robie and Julie. It would be interesting to see what Julie grows up to be? And what Robie's next assignment would be? Baldacci has done it again, and wrote another great book.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The softest hitman I can remember.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I'm almost halfway through but since I'm not going to finish here's a quick review. It doesn't make sense. With the kind of man the government assassin is supposed to be, someone that avoids personal/emotional involvement, he goes out of his way the entire time, for this 14 year old girl (up to chapter 46 anyway). High tech spy devices used to track a kid? Treating the kid as if she's an adult, most of the time. The FBI agents have corny sophomoric dialog. Lots of the dialog seems rushed. I mean, as if to abbreviate some how. You could imagine this being an abridged version.

What could David Baldacci have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

More interesting supporting character(s). This is my first David Baldacci book and I like several things about the protagonist but it's like he's trying to be two different people.

What three words best describe Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy ???s performance?

Ron McLarty was really good but not great. He was FANTASTIC in Salem's Lot. Orlagh Cassidy sounds as if much or all of these recordings were done apart from the other reader and then the dialog was spliced together. Often times the tones and inflection, that you expect, isn't there.

Was The Innocent worth the listening time?

No. I didn't make it past chapter 46.

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58 people found this helpful