A Heartbeat Away

By: Michael Palmer

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times bestselling author and master of suspense delivers another novel at the crossroads of politics and medicine in this shocker of a thriller

On the night of the State of the Union address, President James Allaire expects to give the speech of his career. But no one anticipates the terrifying turn of events that forces him to quarantine everyone in the Capitol building. A terrorist group calling itself "Genesis" has unleashed WRX3883, a deadly, highly contagious virus, into the building. No one fully knows the deadly effect of the germ except for the team responsible for its development—a team headed by Allaire, himself. The only one who might be able to help is virologist Griffin Rhodes, currently in solitary confinement in a maximum security federal prison for alleged terrorist acts, including the attempted theft of WRX3883 from the lab where he worked. Rhodes has no idea why he has been arrested, but when Allaire offers to free him in exchange for his help combating the virus, he reluctantly agrees to do what he can to support the government that has imprisoned him without apparent cause.

Meanwhile, every single person in line for presidential succession is trapped inside the Capitol—every person except one: the Director of Homeland Security, who is safely at home in Minnesota, having been selected as the "Designated Survivor" for this event. With enemies both named and unnamed closing in, and the security of the nation at stake, Griff must unravel the mysteries of WRX3883 without violating his pledge as a scientist to use no animal testing in his experiments…and time is running out.

Tense, thrilling, and entirely plausible, A Heartbeat Away will make you reflect, wonder, and be truly afraid.

©2011 Michael Palmer (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Actor Robert Petkoff delivers a tense, exciting performance. He's especially proficient as the crafty female speaker of the House. Petkoff's virtuosity makes this thriller intense and as close to reality as one dares to think about.” —AudioFile Magazine

“Robert Petkoff is excellent as narrator not only at maintaining the pace but also at providing the voices of the varied accents of men and women. Transitions are seamless and unobtrusive. Palmer's fans will be enthralled.” —Sound Commentary

“Robert Petkoff proves to be the perfect choice to narrate Palmer's latest medical thriller…Petkoff never misses a beat in his reading of this high-octane medical thriller, fully realizing each scene and character with ease. His energetic and skillful performance will keep listeners on the edge of their seats.” —Publishers Weekly

Not Palmer's best!

I'm a huge Palmer fan, but this is not worth the read. Too unbelievable and too corny. Read one of his others if you have a choice.

Far too many holes and a bad love story

Robert Petkoff reads the book quite well, which I enjoyed. He was able to provide some very distinct voices for each character that did not feel forced or too heavy-handed. The book itself is a fantastic idea that I loved at first but the more this book goes on the more giant - gaping - holes in the overall story. I do not want to spoil anything but will say there are times when I just shook my head and thought "Really? Did he really just write that?". The two main characters in the book are great separately but there is a very obvious love story that just was just plain silly and thinking back on it just makes me whince. I am giving this book two stars because I liked the narrotor, pacing and some of the characters but really cannot recommend it.

Interesting Story - Good Narration

Even though this book has a totally absurd story line, I enjoyed listening to it mostly because of Robert Petkoff's narration. He is very skilled at doing different voices and accents and made it very easy to discern who is speaking. Though his portrayal of the President was way too stern and harsh and I loved when he had the main female character scream! As for the book itself, this was my first Michael Palmer book and I can't say I'm dying to read him again. The idea was a good one but there were many holes in the story and the plot is so ridiculous and outlandish that it is hard to commit to. I had hoped that Palmer would resolve it in a way that was semi-believable - but no luck!

completely unbelievable

I hate to write a lukewarm review, but I'm sorry to say that I liked this book about as much as coming down with the flu. I don't mind suspending reality here and there, but this book was almost completely unbelievable. I've liked Michael Palmer in the past, so maybe it was just my impatience with the far-fetched details, but I have to admit that long before Part 2 I started skipping from segment to segment just to see if it "grabbed" me somewhere before the end....unfortunately I "skimmed" my way to the gratuitously happy ending. I wish I hadn't used a credit for it....

Need a Vaccine for this book

This was an unfortunate choice but what is worse, I listened to all of it. I suppose that the book has some merit to the extent it kept me onboard for the entire time but there were literally times when I wished the book had been just a little worse (so I'd quit listening) or a whole lot better. The real disease wasn't the virus released in the Capitol but rather the shallow characters, predictability and thin plot line.