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Summary: Baldacci is Back!!!
Review: Great read, fast paced and entertaining. Excellent plot, intense thrills, awesome characters. I'm glad the old Baldacci is back.
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Summary: Classic political thriller
Review: I enjoyed the characters and plot but if you put it down for too long you can lose track of the multitude of characters.
This is a classic political thriller. Not Baldacci's best but it's his suspenseful, tightly woven winning style and it is a great read. So if you've read any other books he's written and enjoyed them you will enjoy this book as well.
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Summary: exciting thriller
Review: In 1996 Secret Service Agent Sean King guards presidential candidate Clyde Ritter during a rally when his attention is diverted for the longest second of his life. In that moment a killer assassinates Ritter. Though King kills the murderer his career died on that day. He since accepts leg work for a legal firm that pays well, but is quite boring.In 2004 Secret Service Agent Michelle Maxwell protects presidential candidate John Bruno until he heatedly demands she and her entourage give him a moment to pay his respects to the widow of a close friend. Michelle does but John vanishes. Michelle's fast track to the White House is now a one way ticket to the out house. Former agent turned security guru Joan Dillinger is retained to locate the abducted candidate. The cases are similar in many respects. King and Maxwell reluctantly join forces to find who distracted Sean and who set up Bruno (even as a Buick tracks their progress) as both wants to regain their shattered reputations. As they follow clues across the country, neither can picture what is going on and if they do they will become victims too. Though quite exciting as expected by a David Baldacci thriller, SPLIT SECOND lacks an acceptable full blooded villain. Instead the culprit seems more of a caricature than a real challenge to the terrific trio working the case. The tale is powerful when the good guys interact as sleuths or in a romantic triangle. Though not quite LAST MAN STANDING, readers will enjoy this fast-paced, action-packed tale. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: (3.5) Nothing is what it seems
Review: This easy-read mystery is a return to the successful format of Baldacci's earliest successes, after a detour into more emotional territory. This author's real strength lies in the mystery/suspense genre, his ability to structure a concise plot with the incisive logic necessary for a notable effort. In 1996, while on protective detail, Sean King fails to stop an attempt on the life of Clyde Ritter, a presidential candidate, during a planned campaign stop. Clyde Ritter is killed, although King shoots the assassin and is wounded himself in the crossfire. However, King's career in the Secret Service is in tatters after this fiasco. For one split second, the agent's attention was captured by something other than his assigned civilian. That critical second led to questions and Sean's denouement as an effective agent. It also planted a seed of self-doubt in his mind concerning his performance. Eight years later, another presidential candidate, John Bruno, is kidnapped while under government protection, this one on the watch of Michelle Maxwell. Agent Maxwell is determined to find John Bruno before he's killed and is interested in the similarities between her scenario and that of Agent King. This quirk in Baldacci's latest mystery is a subplot that surfaces when the two Secret Service agents combine their talents to solve Ritter's death and Bruno's disappearance. There is a particular mastermind behind both the assassination and the disappearance and Agent Sean King finds a willing co-conspirator in Agent Michelle Maxwell. Once they join forces and compare notes, Sean and Michelle are even more convinced that their cases are connected. Their combined resources offer a better chance for solution, although King can no longer use his Secret Service affiliations to access information. However, King does have a contact, ex-agent Joan Dillinger, now successfully working in the private sector. King and Dillinger have a romantic past, one that ended with Clyde Ritter's assassination, but Dillinger is willing to help with Sean and Michelle's investigation, for a price. Maxwell and King are willing to pay that price. Bit by bit, the plot is uncovered, until the agents find themselves confronted by an unexpected and dangerous adversary. Baldacci keeps the reader off balance with unusual twists and turns. The author is reviving his mystery/suspense career, a welcome change. Luan Gaines/2003.
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Summary: Not his best
Review: A potentially interesting story that gets bogged down with way too many characters. If you decide to buy this book also consider buying a legal pad so you can keep track of the players.
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Summary: GREAT!
Review: David Baldacci's new book is absolutely stunning. It's one of those books that you can't figure out until the end -- because you're turning pages too fast to attempt to figure it out! His characters are real, his prose breathtaking, and his plot entertaining. This is a must-read for political scandal buffs! READ BALDACCI'S LATEST!
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Summary: Another Winner for David Baldacci, A Stunning Book
Review: 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.
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Summary: A first rate thriller!
Review: Secret Service agent Sean King is the best at what he does. Sean takes pride in protecting those assigned to his care, until the one mistake sent his life into a spiral. While protecting a presidential candidate Sean diverts his attention for a split second and in that time the candidate is gunned down right in front of him. Michelle Maxwell is a Secret Service agent with a bright future, until the moment she tried to comfort a grieving widow and lost the candidate she was assigned to protect. With Michelle's future in the Secret Service destroyed she becomes obsessed with Sean's case, and the more she finds out about him she realizes they have a lot in common. Sean, now living a quiet life in Virginia, has come under suspicion for a series of bizarre killings, and with no one to trust he turns to Michelle for help. As Sean and Michelle enter a world filled with lies and deception they discover the separate acts of violence that have torn their worlds apart have been carefully planned for a long time, and they are far from over. In a race against time the two must clear their names and stop a killer fueled by rage on a mission of revenge. 'Split Second' is a novel you won't put down for a second. The tension filled plot grabs hold on page one and holds you in it's grasp for 400 more pages. Good guys, bad guys, betrayal, deception, and surprise twists will keep you engrossed as Sean and Michelle race to save themselves. David Baldacci is an excellent writer of thrillers and 'Split Second' is further proof of his storytelling power. Baldacci has, once again, written a lightning fast read filled with interesting characters, and razor-sharp suspense, one that will dominate the top spot on all the bestseller lists. Do yourself a favor a set aside some time for the new MUST read David Baldacci novel 'Split Second.' Nick Gonnella
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Summary: 4 1/2 stars -- Split Second will go fast
Review: Armed with an advanced copy of Split Second that had been distributed for marketing and promotional purposes, I was fortunate to get a sneak peak at Baldacci's latest effort. Thankfully the opportunity to get the book one week before broad publication coincided with a trip that afforded me ample airport and airplane reading time that allowed me to plow through the book. I was not disappointed. Split Second is clearly a page turner that grabs the reader early and keeps him guessing. Prepare for some level of sleep deprivation as you stay up too late in order to read "just one more chapter." Split second chronicles the saga of two Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, who are both disgraced in seemingly separate events that take place years apart. As the mystery unfolds, King and Maxwell are brought together to follow a trail of clues (and dead bodies) as they pursue the unknown antagonist. Although not as good as Total Control or Absolute Power, which I think were Baldacci's best efforts, Split Second is able to hold a reader's attention with the hallmarks that have become his trademark: action, suspense, and plot twists. Any eccentricities in the storyline are made up for with solid character development. There is romantic tension among King, Maxwell, and King's former lover. The broad set of characters presented by Baldacci possess a variety of personal motivations that expose the gamut of human frailties. Split Second should be a hit for those who have liked Baldacci's previous works-especially his early novels.
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Summary: Well structured thriller
Review: The book puts the reader in the middle of the action within the first 20 pages. Two similar events, 8 years apart, involving both a Secret Service agent, apparently unconnected, quickly come together into a single story with many characters, events, surprises, in this past paced thriller. Overall a well structured story, keeps you reading, and you better do or you'll forget some of the pieces of the puzzle. I enjoyed it. Only minor point: the author includes sometimes too many "thoughts" of possible theories/plots that tend to confuse.
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