Dream Town - (An Archer Novel) Large Print by David Baldacci (Hardcover)

About the Book

It is New Year's Eve, 1952 in Los Angeles. Private Investigator, Aloysius Archer, is dining with his friend and rising Hollywood star, Liberty Callahan, when they're approached by Eleanor Lamb, a famous screenwriter, who would like to hire him as she suspects someone is trying to kill her. A visit to Lamb's Malibu residence leaves Archer in no doubt of foul play when he's knocked unconscious entering the property, there's a dead body in the hallway and Eleanor seeming to have vanished. With the police now involved in the case, a close friend and colleague of Lamb's employs Archer to find out what's happened to Eleanor. Archer's investigation will take him from the rich and dangerous LA to the seedy and even more dangerous side of the city where cops and crooks work hand in hand. He'll cross paths with Hollywood stars, politicians and notorious criminals. He'll almost die several times, and he'll discover bodies from the Canyon to the Malibu beaches. And, with the help of Liberty and the infamous Willie Dash, he'll leave no stone unturned in trying to find out who Eleanor Lamb really was. Because 1953 Hollywood is a place where you have to survive regardless of who has to be sacrificed to get there.

Book Synopsis

Private investigator and World War II veteran Aloysius Archer heads to Los Angeles, the city where dreams are made and shattered, and is ensnared in a lethal case in this latest thriller in #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci's Nero Award-winning series.

It's the eve of 1953, and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to ring in the New Year with an old friend, aspiring actress Liberty Callahan, when their evening is interrupted by an acquaintance of Callahan's: Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter in dire straits.

After a series of increasingly chilling events--mysterious phone calls, the same blue car loitering outside her house, and a bloody knife left in her sink--Eleanor fears that her life is in danger, and she wants to hire Archer to look into the matter. Archer suspects that Eleanor knows more than she's saying, but before he can officially take on her case, a dead body turns up inside of Eleanor's home . . . and Eleanor herself disappears.

Missing client or not, Archer is dead set on finding both the murderer and Eleanor. With the help of Callahan and his partner Willie Dash, he launches an investigation that will take him from mob-ridden Las Vegas to the glamorous world of Hollywood to the darkest corners of Los Angeles--a city in which beautiful faces are attached to cutthroat schemers, where the cops can be more corrupt than the criminals . . . and where the powerful people responsible for his client's disappearance will kill without a moment's hesitation if they catch Archer on their trail.

Review Quotes

"One of [Baldacci's] finest books. Great character, great story, great portrait of an era."--Bill Clinton (praise for One Good Deed)

"David Baldacci never fails to create an exciting story . . . the action is exhilarating. Fans of Baldacci will love this one from cover to cover."

--Seattle Book Review

"Baldacci keeps piling on the tension until the last chapters . . . Electrifying."

--New York Journal of Books

"This was already my favorite of Baldacci's recurring series, and Dream Town only reinforces that, in large part because of Baldacci's brilliance in stitching his story across a tapestry of a bygone era of movie magic with a dark side. Nostalgia aside, this is storytelling of the highest order, rich in character and bursting with story."--Providence Journal

"If you like a whodunit with a complex plot and characters, you are going to love Dream Town. Baldacci's take on Hollywood in the fifties is quite refreshing and a great part of this mystery novel's charm."--TheMysterySite.com

"Like his protagonist, Baldacci has a passion for details, especially those of the social variety. After a few pages you will feel as if you have time-traveled back to that era."--Florida Times-Union

"In the Archer series, [Baldacci] proves to be a natural at handling the postwar setting. Baldacci's fans should be lining up for [Dream Town]."--Booklist

"[A] welcome third outing for PI Aloysius Archer . . . Solid prose nicely evokes the traditional hard-boiled whodunit."--Publishers Weekly

"Baldacci paints a vivid picture of the not-so-distant era . . . The 1950s weren't the fabled good old days, but they're fodder for gritty crime stories of high ideals and lowlifes, of longing and disappointment, and all the trouble a PI can handle. Well-done crime fiction. Baldacci nails the noir."--Kirkus, Starred Review

"A master storyteller."--People

"Baldacci delivers, every time!"--Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author

"David Baldacci is a master storyteller."--Associated Press

"David Baldacci is one of the all-time best thriller authors."--Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author

About the Author

DAVID BALDACCI is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world's favorite storytellers. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.