Customer Reviews

Split Second

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

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.

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.

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

I'm a fan of Baldacci's books. This one is a real page turner and you spend a good moment, until you arrive after de 2/3 of the book. Then you realize something is wrong with the story, that is a bit artificial... This feeling is confirmed by one of the most ridiculous "end-revelation-solution" that I have read in my life. I told myself: "He's kidding"... But no, Baldacci is not kidding.

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

A split second is all it takes for two Secret Service agents to end up with ruined careers. The first incident involves Sean King who is distracted momentarily while protecting a presidential candidate who is then killed. The second involves another presidential candidate who is out of sight of Agent Michelle Maxwell just long enough to be kidnapped. The two former agents join forces to try to find out who is behind these incidents. The plot becomes convoluted and complex as many people seem to have a motive for masterminding the kidnapping and the murder, but nothing seems to tie the two together. A third person enters the picture as King's former lover Joan joins the investigation. Baldacci is a slick writer and he knows how to weave a web of plot and then to unravel it when the moment is right. The ending does stretch credibility, but suspending disbelief has its rewards in an entertaining read.

David Baldacci is a excellent writer and storyteller, and is one of my most favorite authors. I have missed many meals and hours of sleep because of his books.

Split Second was no exception. It was entertaining, intriguing, suspensful and thrilling.

But it is not is Baldacci's greatest and could have done with out a few characters and a few gruesome details (i.e. hanging bodies). The end was exciting, and I don't care that it was a little unrealistic. My biggest beef is that is was so darn complicated. My head is still spinning from all that went on at the end, and I still don't really know exactly what happened.

Die hard Baldacci fans will certainly find this book a good read, but will feel a little disappointed that it is not up to the caliber of his previous works.

A Total Disappointment

I have been a Baldacci fan since reading Total Control, The Winner and Saving Faith, all good books and worth the time. But, Split Second? All I can say is, infuriating. An unbelievable plot, a cast of confusing, cliched characters, and an absolutely ridiculous ending. It all adds up to a real waste of trees used to make the paper for this thing.

I almost wonder if this wasn't something he wrote in high school and now that he is famous, he thought he could pull it out and pass it off as a "real novel." His editors and agents should have stepped in and stopped this before it got to print. After trying and trying, I did eventually plow though it all, because as I told my wife, "I can't believe how confusing and dumb this is. I just have to read to the end, to see how he is going to work himself of this morass of a plot." In a sentence? The ending was as dumb and confusing as the rest of the book.

The few people on here who have given this book four or five stars must work for the publisher, be relatives of Baldacci, or are cult followers ready to swallow the Kool Aid. I've never seen so many negative reviews for a book on Amazon. I only wish I had read them before I started it and not after.

If you must read a Baldacci book, go for Total Control or The Winner, they are both page turners. Well actually, Split Second was a page turner also. You had to keep turning them back and forth to try and figure out this confusing mess.

I'm sorry to be so negative, but I liked Baldacci, enjoyed his other books, and had high hopes for this story. After reading this I am hesitant to try any of his others, but will probably give him one more chance to make up for this clunker.

Amazon's advance billing for David Baldacci's newest book, Split Second, states that this "new thriller [is] reminiscent of his phenomenal bestselling debut, Absolute Power." I loved Absolute Power and some of Baldacci's other novels so on my recent vacation, I gave Absolute Power a read. Certainly the story starts with a bang as Sean King, a secret service agent guarding the life of a presidential candidate, is momentarily distracted by an elevator door opening. Suddenly, King finds his protectee assassinated by a lone gunman. Who was the gunman? Why did he murder the candidate? And what (or who) could possibly distract a disciplined secret service agent at the peak of his career?

Fast forward eight years to another secret service agent, Michelle Maxwell, and another presidential candidate. This time the candidate is kidnaped, but no ransom is demanded. Is there a connection between the assassination and the kidnaping? King and Maxwell team up to try to solve the mystery. In the page burning mayhem that follows, one of King's old lovers shows up (another secret service agent), a potential girlfriend is murdered and (literally) hung out to dry, a witness protection person is murdered in King's office, and a former lover is kidnaped. Meanwhile King and Maxwell repeatedly narrowly escape their own murders.

With such a great plot set up, and given Baldacci's immense talent, I certainly expected Split Second to be "pure, mind-numbing adrenaline to the last page". (Quote - Amazon) Unfortunately the last half of Split Second is simply mind-numbing. It's almost hard to believe that the same person who wrote the first half of the book also wrote the rest of the book. For one thing, in the set up Baldacci establishes a love triangle between King, Maxwell, and another former secret service agent, Joan Dillinger. This has the potential to take an already good plot and boost it right into orbit. How would King balance two potential lovers, protect all three of them, and at the same time solve the mystery? King's dilemma could have made for delicious drama. I am disappointed that Baldacci chose not to take his story too far down this path.

Another downfall of Split Second is closely related to the first. One of the love triumvirate mentioned above (I'll not mention who for the benefit of the gentle reader who chooses this book despite my mediocre recommendation) is kidnaped. Now wouldn't the reader expect that such an event would be a tragedy in his or her loved one's lives? Not according to Baldacci, evidently, who continues to write his other two characters' actions with little affect or affection. Wouldn't one remaining lover lament the loss? Wouldn't the other remaining lover take advantage of the opportunity? Wouldn't they at least think about this? We'll never know because Baldacci never tells us.

Finally, this novel fails in my mind because of the letdown conclusion of the book. Both of the above discouragements could have been rescued by the kind of incredible ending that has made Baldacci so widely acclaimed. Not so this time round. In fact, the only truly surprising aspect of the ending is that it's so domestic.

I've given Split Second a split decision with a 3 rating out of a possible 5. The story does move along at a good pace. Each chapter is short and advances the plot forward exactly one scene. In fact, the book almost reads more like a screen play than a novel. But I believe most readers will be disappointed in Baldacci's latest novel for its uneven storytelling. Unless you have an abundance of time and a shortage of books, I'd recommend a pass on Split Second.

Like many of the reviewers here, I too have an affinity for "all books Baldacci." And, while I admit Mr. Baldacci has penned a few a novels which stand alone, I cannot bring myself to say his new offering, SPLIT SECOND, is not a thrilling, fun read. Baldacci has an impressive skill of weaving subplots in and out of his storyline controlling the reader's focus until he decides to change directions...typically in mid-thought. This skill is what makes Baldacci an up-and-coming star in the literary field. And while SPLIT SECOND won't rival TOTAL CONTROL or ABSOLUTE POWER, it is a book well worth it's price.

As in several of his other books, Baldacci spins the storyline of SPLIT SECOND around the Secret Service. Baldacci links two crimes separated by eight years and brings together two publicly disgraced Secret Service agents to solve their respective mysteries. Eight years earlier, Agent Sean King was guarding a presidential candidate and took his eyes off the candidate for a split second, a split second that changed King's life forever and ended the life of the candidate.

Current day...Agent Michelle Maxwell allows a presidential candidate to override the Service's chief mandate of never losing track of a subject. The result, while not as final as King's, is just as disastrous...Maxwell's subject is kidnapped. Unbeknownst to King and Maxwell, these two agents lives will become linked by two separate and ostensibly unrelated crimes all due to a "split second" hesitation. One candidate is dead, the other missing, and two careers are seemingly trashed.

Though she's been put on leave and publicly vilified, Maxwell is determined to find her missing candidate. The similarity between what happened to her and King's situation eight years earlier leads her to believe there could be a link, or at least clues to assist her in solving the crime. In the meantime, King has used the proceeds of a libel lawsuit to go to law school, become a successful small-town attorney, and live a quiet, solemn life. That quiet life ends when King is reluctantly drawn into the intrigue of Maxwell's case and, his own. Joining the cast of characters and adding wrinkle to wrinkle is Joan Dillinger, King's former lover and Secret Service partner. Dillinger now runs an international investigative agency and has been privately hired to find Maxwell's missing candidate.

As the plot twists through one dead end after another, the subplot involving the two women vying for King's affection thickens. This, as always, throws additional emotional baggage on King as he tries to close the unclosable case. With unexpected twists known to Baldacci readers, the storyline throws curve after curve spinning this thriller toward its climax.

With SPLIT SECOND, Baldacci proves himself adroit in combining his storyline with poignant, tight subplots, developing deep, interesting characters, and providing "edge-of-your-seat" action leaving the reader thirsting for more. And, while the climax may not have been up to the quality of the storyline, this is an excellent read and is highly recommended by this reviewer.