28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent thriller -Ending was a little too unbelievable, November 6, 2003
This review is from: Split Second (Hardcover)
Secret Service Agent Michelle Maxwell let a presidential candidate out of her sight against her better judgment. He disappears with a trace. Eight years ago, Sean King's career as a secret service agent was derailed when the presidential candidate he was protecting was killed in front of him when his attention was diverted for a split second. Michelle and Sean's lives entwine when the circumstances of their respective screw-ups appear to be related.
David Baldacci has written another winner. This was book had me hooked from the first page. The plot was skillfully written interweaving past and present facts. We have two very compelling protagonists that look like they were set up for a sequel, at least I hope so. This is the kind of thriller that keeps you on your toes from the first page to the last. It would have been a 5 star book, except the climax was a bit too unbelievable. It was almost like a light bulb went off and suddenly the case is solved. It all unraveled a little too fast. I don't want to give too much away, but the first 4/5 of the book was so good that the ending really did not detract from my overall enjoyment.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
What an ending!, November 4, 2003
This review is from: Split Second (Hardcover)
Most of the reviews I've read here by other customers seem like they only read the first half of the book. I'm a big Baldacci fan, a big mystery/suspense fan and I really enjoyed the first half of this book...maybe even the first three quarters of it. But the ending and plot unveiling is just so ludicrous, so insipid and so filled with "who gives a damn" moments that this book went from a 5 to a 2 in about 20 pages. Very disappointing.
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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
This One Falls Short -Disappointing!, September 28, 2004
This review is from: Split Second (Hardcover)
I was disappointed with David Baldacci's "Split Second." Unlike his previous works it is definitely not a strong, tightly written novel, although it could have been a real winner. Throughout much of the book, the thrills, adventure and mystery are certainly present and do keep the reader turning the pages. The three main characters are interesting, unusual and well developed. So, what's wrong? The second half of the novel falls apart. The pace slows; the tension diminishes; the characters begin to act out of character, and turn into cardboard figures without much rationale for their actions. The villain, who has such potential to be a really bad guy, is totally one-dimensional - pure evil incarnate with no complexity, more like a cartoon than a human being. There's a fascinating love triangle which should have taken-off - but falls flat. And after the terrific opening and much of the first half, the conclusion is weak. The book ends with a peep, not a bang!
Sean King, Secret Service agent extraordinaire, with great career potential, is guarding a presidential candidate on a campaign stop in Smalltown USA. King's attention is diverted for one instant, and good cause, when the candidate, Clyde Ritter, is shot dead. Agent King recovers his composure immediately and shoots the assassin. The killer dies. So does King's career.
Eight years later Secret Service agent and girl wonder Michelle Maxwell is on a career fast track in a profession where only men succeed. Agent Maxwell, a former Olympic rower, is the exception to the rule. She has her sights set on White House duty guarding the president and she just might get the gig. She is presently guarding a presidential candidate, John Bruno, who is making an unscheduled stop at a funeral home to pay his respects to the deceased. The room is vacated except for the candidate, the corpse and the widow. Bruno insists on time alone, without security. Uncomfortable with the candidate's decision, Maxwell, and fellow agents stand outside the closed door, 99% sure their charge will be safe. He is kidnapped right out from under their noses. Michelle may still have a job, but her career is over. She is determined, however, to find John Bruno before he is killed - if indeed, he is still alive.
Former agent King is now living in a house he designed and built on a quiet lakefront in Virginia. He went back to school for a law degree and shares a practice in town. Sean reads of agent Maxwell's fall from grace and feels great empathy because of his similar experience. His empathy chills considerably when Ms. Maxwell shows up at his door with some questions and a theory that the murder and the kidnapping, eight years apart, just may be related. She provides some convincing arguments, and it doesn't hurt that King is wildly attracted to her, so he considers the ramifications of working with Michelle on the case. Then he finds a body, dead, in his law office. Just about this time, an old flame and colleague of King's, Joan Dillenger, turns up, apparently on-the-make. They haven't seen each other in eight years. She was with him the day before the assassination and stayed with him that night in his hotel room, leaving her black lace panties on the ceiling light fixture for the maid to remove the following morning.
Joan, Michelle and Sean combine their considerable resources to solve this mystery which just keeps getting more complicated - and interesting. But there is someone out there, in the background, with even more resources, who is playing them all with extraordinary expertise.
Given my above comments, if you are a Baldacci fan, then the book is certainly worth reading. It's just a shame he didn't tighten up his narrative and hone the plot.
JANA
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