Split Second

Split Second is David Baldacci at the top of his well-informed game, with a real sense of what the Secret Servicemen who protect the President and presidential candidates think about the job and how it feels to fail. Sean King looked away at the wrong moment and a man died; his career ended and he has spent eight years rebuilding a life. When Michelle Maxwell makes a similar mistake, she becomes convinced that there is a link between the man she lost to kidnappers and the man Sean failed to protect--and the more she learns, the more she can prove.

This is an odd couple thriller--Sean and Michelle have radically different attitudes to the job they both did well--and ingeniously put together in terms of what it tells us about the shadowy villain manipulating events and what it delays telling us about the past. It is a well-informed thriller that wears its research lightly--it has a sense of how it feels to see every large room as a potential killing ground in which you have to protect very vulnerable public men, and some charming scenes of budding romantic comedy. --Roz Kaveney

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Split Second - exciting right up to last second - Rated
Split Second it the first novel featuring Sean King and Michelle Maxwell both ex Secret Service agents who left with a cloud over their heads. The story is very well thought out and keeps you guessing right to the end. The characters are very liekable and the whole thing is very plausible. These characters are going on to other stories and there is a lot more to explore with them yet. This first book is a great opener to an ongoing series.

Another Winner for David Baldacci, A Stunning Book - Rated
I'd read a couple reviews that really slammed this book, so when a good friend got an advance copy and loaned it to me, I was almost afraid to read it. But, of course, I did. I mean we're talking about David Baldacci, after all, the man who has been responsible for several sleepless nights at my house. "Absolute Power," "The Winner," and the stunning, "Saving Faith," masterpieces all. Baldacci's books are about entertainment, and my Lord he entertains. He takes us out of our lives and plants us squarely with his characters. No longer are we office workers, nurses, truck drivers or librarians.

Still, after those horrid reviews, I was afraid, for I've never picked up a book by this man that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. There are so few writers out there that can quicken our hearts, it would be sad if we were to lose one. But after the first page, I knew those reviewers, those professional people that read books before they come out, were wrong.

Yes, some might say the premise is impossible, but it's not to those of us who are still wondering who killed JFK. And besides, isn't that what thrillers are supposed to be about, taking an impossible premise and making us believe in it and believe me, David Baldacci makes you believe in his plot and care for the people who walk through his pages.

I loved this book and I'm gonna read it again before I have to give it back. "Split Second" is a five star offering and if I could give it a sixth or even a tenth star, I would.

Those people in that professional reviewing organization that said this book's characters were flat are just plain full of hooey, and if I wasn't a lady, I'd tell you just what else they're full of. Yes, our heroes do a lot of wondering and figuring, but I was wondering and figuring right along with them. And maybe the book leans a tad bit more to the mystery genre than his other thrillers, but so what? The last thing a reader wants from an author are carbon copies of past successes.

David Baldacci has giving us a fine body of work, but he certainly doesn't have to use any of it to prop up "Split Second." This book can stand by itself very well. It would have been every bit the success it's going to be, even if it would have been Mr. Baldacci's first novel. Clint still would have been in the movie.

However. there is that one nagging worry that still tingles at the back of my mind. We eventually find out who assassinated presidential candidate Clyde Ritter, but we are still left wondering who killed JFK. That, of course, is not Mr. Baldacci's fault, but wouldn't you like to know?

Again, this is most definitely a five star thriller-slash-mystery. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

Good, but have read better - Rated
This was the third book I have read by David Baldacci. I found it difficult to get into at the beginning, interesting in the middle and then frustrating towards the end. Overall I'd say it was a good read (have read a lot worse), but the other books I have read by this author were much better. Thought it was a bit of a spin off of Absolute Power. Regardless it will not stop me reading other books by him.

Thrilling From Beginning to End - Rated


David Baldacci was born in 1960. He attended law school at the University of Virginia, and went on to work as a trial lawyer, and later as a corporate lawyer, in Washington, D.C. He is now a full-time writer whose best selling novels include Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, The Simple Truth and Saving Faith. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.

The author has come up with a new thriller that is reminiscent of his best selling debut book, Absolute Power. It has all of the thrills and excitement of a first rate novel.

Sean King is going place in the closed world of the Secret Service, that is until he makes a fatal mistake. It only took a split second, but that is all it took for a man to die, a man who was under the protection of agent King. Third party presidential candidate Clyde Ritter was dead and Sean King's attention had wandered at the vital moment. He retired from the Service in disgrace and now eight long years later he balances careers as a lawyer and part-time deputy sheriff in a small Virginia town.

Then he hears some news. Another third part candidate has been taken out of the presidential race, abducted right under the nose of Secret Service agent Michelle Maxwell. King thinks its time to take another look at the truth of the matter and forms an uneasy alliance with Michelle Maxwell. But the truth is never quite what it seems and even one unguarded moment can be fatal. The book is full of twists and turns and is well worth reading.

A Real Thriller from Start to Finish - Rated

David Baldacci was born in 1960. He attended law school at the University of Virginia, and went on to work as a trial lawyer, and later as a corporate lawyer, in Washington, D.C. He is now a full-time writer whose best selling novels include Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, The Simple Truth and Saving Faith. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.

The author has come up with a new thriller that is reminiscent of his best selling debut book, Absolute Power. It has all of the thrills and excitement of a first rate novel.

Sean King is going place in the closed world of the Secret Service, that is until he makes a fatal mistake. It only took a split second, but that is all it took for a man to die, a man who was under the protection of agent King. Third party presidential candidate Clyde Ritter was dead and Sean King's attention had wandered at the vital moment. He retired from the Service in disgrace and now eight long years later he balances careers as a lawyer and part-time deputy sheriff in a small Virginia town.

Then he hears some news. Another third part candidate has been taken out of the presidential race, abducted right under the nose of Secret Service agent Michelle Maxwell. King thinks its time to take another look at the truth of the matter and forms an uneasy alliance with Michelle Maxwell. But the truth is never quite what it seems and even one unguarded moment can be fatal. The book is full of twists and turns and is well worth reading.