David Baldacci
David Baldacci was born on August 5th, 1960 and is currently 64 years old. David Baldacci was born in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Baldacci attended Virginia Commonwealth University where he received a B.A. Political Science and University of Virginia School of Law where he received a Juris Doctorate Degree.
David Baldacci is probably best known for his Standalone Novels. There are currently 13 novels available. The first standalone was released in 1995 with the novel Absolute Power. The most recently released novel was Strangers in Time which was released in 2025. There are no upcoming standalone novels by David at this time.
David Baldacci has also written the Amos Decker series which has 7 books including Memory Man and The Last Mile.
Baldacci's first novel published was
Absolute Power, which was three years in the making for that. Prior to the publication of that, Baldacci would write many short stories and screenplays. While they weren't a success, Baldacci felt it helped him learn how to tell stories, according to an article in the VCU News. Baldacci was writing since he was a child, thanks to his mother giving him a notebook which he could use to write stories. When he thanked her for this later on and what it led to in his life, she said she just gave it to David to keep him quiet.
David is the co-founder of the
Wish You Well Foundation with his wife, Michelle Baldacci. This foundation works on supporting literacy in adults and families in the USA.
In 2008, David Baldacci was awarded the gold St. Christopher medal. This is the highest honour bestowed by the Comune of Barga.
David is a hands-on researcher when it comes to his novels. In an interview with BookBrowse, he mentioned that while researching the novel
Last Man Standing, he learned horse riding as well as firing machine guns, as an example. In the same interview, he said that research normally takes him more than four months, with a book taking a year or more to write.
David Baldacci is a member of The Nielsen Bestseller Award's 21st Century Platinum Hall of Fame.
One Good Deed was listed as one of the
Top 5 Historical Fiction Thrillers of 2019 by
The Real Book Spy website.
David Baldacci: Awards & Accolades
David Baldacci has won multiple awards including: The International Thriller Writers Award, Silver Bullet Award, in 2008, Barnes & Noble Awards, Writers for Writers Award, in 2012, Library of Virginia, Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2017, Nielsen Awards, Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award, in 2018 and the PEN/Faulkner Award, Literary Champion, in 2024. David Baldacci was also nominated for the Crime Thriller Awards, The Bestseller Dagger, in 2011.
Baldacci's books have also won multiple awards, Absolute Power won the W.H. Smith Award, Thumping Good Read Award, in 1997. One Good Deed won the Nero Award, Best Mystery Novel, in 2020.
The following novels by David Baldacci were also nominated for these awards:
- The Innocent: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2012).
- The Target: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2014).
- FaceOff: Anthony Award, Best Anthology / Collection (2015).
- The Escape: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2015).
- Memory Man: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2015).
- The Last Mile: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2016).
- One Good Deed: International Thriller Writers Award, Best Hardcover Novel (2020).
- To Die For: International Thriller Writers Award, Best Series Novel (2025).
David Baldacci: Lists & Other Mentions
- Hour Game was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2004.
- Simple Genius was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2007.
- Stone Cold was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2007.
- The Whole Truth was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2008.
- First Family was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2009.
- Deliver Us From Evil was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2010.
- Hell's Corner was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2010.
- Zero Day was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2011.
- The Hit was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2013.
- The Target was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2014.
- Memory Man was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2015.
- The Fix was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2017.
- The Fallen was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2018.
- Long Road to Mercy was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2019.
- Redemption was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2019.
- One Good Deed was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2019.
- A Minute to Midnight was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2019.
- Walk the Wire was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2020.
- A Gambling Man was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2021.
- Mercy was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2021.
- Dream Town was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2022.
- Long Shadows was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2022.
- A Calamity of Souls was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2024.
- To Die For was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2024.
David Baldacci: TV/Movies Based on Books
The Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series of novels was made into a TV show in 2013, of which Baldacci was a consulting producer on. It starred Jon Tenney as Sean King, and Rebecca Romijn playing the part of Michelle Maxwell. Airing on TNT, it lasted one season and ten episodes.
The first novel to be adapted to a movie by David Baldacci was the award winning novel, Absolute Power. The standalone novel which was written in 1996, was made into a movie two years later. It starred Gene Hackman and Clint Eastwood.
The standalone novel Wish You Well was made into a movie in 2013. It starred Ellen Burstyn, Mackenzie Foy and Josh Lucas. Baldacci wrote the screenplay.
In 2017, Baldacci's novel The Christmas Train was adapted into a TV movie on the Hallmark Channel. It starred Dermot Mulroney, Joan Cusack and Danny Glover.
One Summer was adapted for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in 2021. The TV movie starred Sam Page, Amanda Schull and Sarah Drew.
Related Authors
The most common authors followed by users who also follow David Baldacci are:
- Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch Series.
- Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher Series.
- John Grisham, author of the Jake Brigance Series.
- James Patterson, author of the Alex Cross Series.
- Harlan Coben, author of the Myron Bolitar Series.
David Baldacci: F.A.Q
When was David Baldacci Born? How old is David Baldacci?
David Baldacci was born on August 5th, 1960. David Baldacci is currently 64 years old.
Where was David Baldacci Born?
David Baldacci was born in Richmond, Virginia, USA and is American.
What awards has David Baldacci won?
David Baldacci has won the following awards: Silver Bullet Award at the International Thriller Writers Award (2008), Writers for Writers Award at the Barnes & Noble Awards (2012), Lifetime Achievement Award at the Library of Virginia (2017), Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award at the Nielsen Awards (2018) and the Literary Champion at the PEN/Faulkner Award (2024).
What book awards has David Baldacci won?
What was the first book David Baldacci wrote?
The first book written by David Baldacci was Absolute Power, published in 1995.
What was the most recent book David Baldacci wrote?
His most recently released work was Strangers in Time on April 15th, 2025.
Will there be any more books by David Baldacci?
David Baldacci has a new book coming out on November 11th, 2025 called Nash Falls.
How many books has David Baldacci written?
David Baldacci has written 68 books across 22 series, excluding contributions to anthologies.
- 3 books in the Aloysius Archer Series
- 7 books in the Amos Decker Series
- 4 books in the Atlee Pine Series
- 6 books in the Camel Club Series
- 2 Freddy and the French Fries
- 4 books in the John Puller Series
- 6 books in the Sean King & Michelle Maxwell Series
- 2 books in the Shaw Series
- 3 books in the Travis Devine Series
- 4 books in the Vega Jane Children's Series
- 4 books in the Vega Jane Series
- 1 book in the Walter Nash Series
- 6 books in the Will Robie Series
- 13 Standalone Novels
- 2 Short Stories/Novellas
- 1 Non-Fiction Books
- 1 book in The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Series
Is John Puller Baldacci's version of the Jack Reacher series?
To a degree, yes. There are a lot of similarities between them such as their physical appearance, military history etc. But there are many differences as well such as Puller always has a few weapons at his immediate disposal, and uses external resources. The Jack Reacher series is so popular that any book series these days featuring a 'lone badass' are compared to Reacher.