If someone mentiones Oliver Stone to you, the movie director is probably be the first person who will pop into your mind. In the novel The Camel Club by David Baldacci, Oliver Stone is the name picked by a man who wants to erase his past. This man, old enough to get senior citizen discounts, leads a ragtag band of social misfits whose sole purpose in life seems to be tracking conspiracy theories involving the federal government.

The Camel Club stumbles across a conspiracy that puts all their lives in jeopardy when they witness the murder of a Secret Service agent. Over the course of 13 CDs, the Camel Club, with the help of Secret Service Agent Alex Ford, determine that this theory is, indeed, fact. There is a plot to kill the President of the United States and start a war with the entire Middle East. With literally no time to spare, the club will take the reader/audiobook listener on a thrill ride as they save the world.

The action is fast-paced. The abilities some characters possess could be considered beyond mere human capabilities. And yet, the underlying plot to kill the president and start a world war is conceivable. The dialogue is often witty or, at a minimum, amusing. The number of main characters and subcharacters is, at first, too large to keep track of but, within time, things start to settle into a rhythm that is easy enough to follow.

Baldacci has written numerous bestsellers, not only of thrillers such as this book, but also mystery/romance and children's books. He is not my favorite author, but he can pen decent entertainment. The audiobook version of The Camel Club is read by Jonathan Davis. I've heard this New York-based actor/writer narrate other audiobooks and I still have a problem with his female voices. However, he did a much better job with distinct voices this time around, which led to more enjoyment of the story because I wasn't spending time trying to figure out which character was talking.

There's not much new here -- I felt I had seen or heard several of these plot twists before. Be that as it may, if you are a diehard 24 fan who thinks what you're seeing on television could really happen, then you will probably enjoy The Camel Club. If, however, you roll your eyes at conspiracy theories, avoid this book.