True Blue by David Baldacci

Hello beautiful people! Welcome to a new review! For this review I get into True Blue by David Baldacci, a story that follows two sisters with similar careers but different paths down it. I’ve checked out other’s of Baldacci’s work before and while this wasn’t my personal favourite it wasn’t a bad read. Let’s get into it!

Main Characters:

Mace Perry: An ex-cop who, after being released from prison after a few years, is eager to get back on the job, the only issue being that there are people out there who would like to see her buried. When Roy Kingman comes into her life, a drive to solve a case takes over

Beth Perry: Mace’s sister and current chief of police in D.C, cares deeply for her sister and is on her side when others aren’t, battles with wanting to believe and see the best in her sister while also protecting her job and the life she has created for herself

Roy Kingman: A dynamic lawyer who has his life turned around when one of his coworkers is murdered in their office, takes a liking to Mace, who is off the books investigating the murder, the two pair up to try and find out what happened while also looking for the person who may have framed Mace

My Review

I struggled a bit with getting into this review because overall, True Blue was not a bad book, but I just think it wasn’t for me. I notice such a difference between David Baldacci’s recent work compared to some of his older works. Despite the main characters in this book being mostly women, I found the book to be so weirdly masculine. Now I am not saying that as an insult at all, but I just couldn’t get into the tone or the vibe for the book because I had gone into it thinking it would be a bit more “lady power” and not so much “ hot lady kicks butt”. I just felt like Mace could have been such a different character if the tone of the book matched her a bit better. Overall, I gave the book a 6/10 rating. It most likely isn’t going to be one I recommend to others, but I think if you check it out, it isn’t a waste of your time.

True Blue follows Mace Perry, who was recently released from prison after being framed is trying to get some of her life back. Mace believes that she was kidnapped, drugged, and set up to take the fall for a crime. The only issue? She can’t prove who did it and why. Furthermore, her arrest leads to her life falling into shambles, and she loses the badge that she loved so deeply. A hard and tough cop, Mace has lost everything her life was and is desperate to clear her name and get back to the only thing she knows. Her sister Beth is also an officer, but not a regular one. She has worked her way up to being Chief, even with the drama circulating around Mace’s arrest. Beth knows Mace’s story and believes that her sister is innocent, but to do anything about it could lead to her losing her job and the respect of those who work under her. Grappling with wanting to support her sister but also have the life she worked for, Beth is forced to teeter the line between sister and Chief. When Roy Kingman’s law office is turned upside down when one of the lawyers is found dead at her desk, he is desperate to know what’s going on in the office, how this could happen and why. A desire to stick their noses where they don’t belong, Mace and Roy team up to do some investigating and see if they can crack the case before the police, while also working to clear Mace’s name. Is it a conspiracy, an attempt to bring the Chief down? No one knows, but everyone is desperate to find an answer.

While on the surface this book may not seem like it has a lot going on, I actually kind of felt like it was a bit over-stuffed and could have been a lot shorter. It just felt like there was a lot of filler and dialogue that wasn’t super important to the overall story, but that could just be me. While there were definitely moments of intrigue with the different mysteries going on, I found that I struggled to like/connect with the different characters that showed up in the book.

Mace Perry, our main character, is meant to be this gritty, rule-breaking ex-cop on a mission to reclaim her life after being framed and imprisoned. But instead of feeling fresh or compelling, she came across as a bit of a cliché. She fits neatly into the “reckless female protagonist with a chip on her shoulder” mould, and while her backstory is tragic, being wrongly accused, labelled a drug addict, stripped of everything, there’s just something about her that’s hard to connect with. I felt sympathy for her situation, absolutely, but I also struggled to root for her. She constantly makes questionable choices, and for someone trying to rebuild her life, she sure seems eager to throw herself into more chaos. I mean, given that she just got out of the slammer, maybe throwing yourself into an investigation is not a good step. I mean, a part of me understood that she wanted to prove that she still had it, but the risk was going back to jail, so it seemed like there would have been other ways to go about this. I get that it was to bring this excitement into the story, but a part of me honestly would have maybe been pulled in if her whole thing before the arrest was that she was clean cut and a by the book cop who went off the book to clear her name.

Her sister, Beth, felt like the classic sister opposite, the golden child. She’s successful, respectable, and plays by the rules, basically everything Mace isn’t. The contrast between them is obvious, almost to the point of being heavy-handed. And yet, I found their relationship to be one of the more genuine and enjoyable parts of the novel. Despite their differences, Beth sticks by Mace. There’s a strong sense of loyalty and belief between the two of them that adds some emotional grounding to an otherwise convoluted story. She wants to see Mace’s name cleared because she knows that behind the roughness of her sister is a good officer, but she also has to think about her own successes and keeping her job as her own.

Then there’s Roy Kingman, a lawyer who randomly decides to plunge himself headfirst into Mace’s world. His motivations felt shaky at best, why is he so willing to risk everything to help someone he barely knows? He’s not a bad character, just not all that believable. Their dynamic felt forced, and I wasn’t particularly invested in their interactions or where that thread was going.

As for the mystery itself, I was much more intrigued by the conspiracy that led to Mace’s downfall than the murder Roy’s tied up in. That part of the story had real potential, but it felt sidelined in favour of a more sprawling, less focused narrative. At times, the book felt bloated; there were whole sections that could’ve been trimmed without losing anything essential. A tighter, more streamlined plot might have made the story easier to digest and more gripping overall.

In the end, True Blue just didn’t hit the mark for me. It had all the elements of a great Baldacci thriller: conspiracy, corruption, and personal stakes, but somehow lacked the sharpness and heart that make his best books so compelling. It’s not the worst book I’ve read, and there were glimmers of potential, but I wouldn’t rush to recommend it unless you’re already a dedicated Baldacci fan looking to cross another title off your list.

I hope you enjoyed this review. Thank you for checking it out! Feel free to sign up for the email list at the bottom of the page to be one of the first to know when I release a new review!