Split Second

By: David Baldacci

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Michelle Maxwell has just blown her future with the Secret Service. Against her instincts, she let a presidential candidate out of her sight to comfort a grieving widow. Then, behind closed doors, the politician whose safety was her responsibility vanished into thin air.

Living a new life on a quiet lake in central Virginia, Sean King knows how the younger agent feels. He's been there before. In an out-of-the-way hotel eight years earlier, the hard-charging Secret Service man allowed his attention to be diverted for a split second. And the presidential candidate Sean was protecting was gunned down before his eyes.

Now Michelle and Sean are about to see their destinies converge. She has become obsessed with Sean's case. And he needs a friend - especially since a series of macabre killings has brought him under suspicion and prompted the reappearance of a seductive woman he's tried hard to forget.

As the two discredited agents enter a maze of lies, secrets, and deadly coincidences, they uncover a shocking truth: that the separate acts of violence that shattered their lives were really a long time in the making - and are a long way from over....

©2003 Columbus Rose, Ltd. (P)2003 Time Warner AudioBooks

Critic reviews

"Baldacci's new thriller is sustained by the pulse-pounding suspense his fans have come to expect." ( Booklist)

A little slow for David, but good.

One question on another book I just don't have the time or patience to read. I am about half way through it. It's a Vaga Jane book 1. Just can't get into it. And I got the first two books. Can I trade then in??? Vern

Editing was disappointing. Still a good listen

Baldacci was masterful. Scott Brick was great. I’m disappointed by the editing off the recording. Several moments throughout the book where a scene concluded and another began without any type of pause for the listener to gain mental closure and begin anew. Is was as if scenes ran one after another. That being said, still a good listen.

Great book!

With each new series, I keep thinking he can't get any better! But he does!!! I have been singing his praises to all my book club friends to get them interested in reading and listening to all of David's books.. After listening to "Split Second", i downloaded the
next 5 books to my library and I have just finished the last one! Loved the series and can't wait for number 7 to see if these
two nuts actually get their love act together! Excellent series!

Excellent mystery

Well written plot with many twists and turns. David Baldacci never disappoints in either the story or character development.

A both too tangled and complex, but still worth it

it was a fun read. The ending was logically correct, but a bit of a stretch. I liked the way King and Maxwell worked as a team.

It was ok

Entertaining! But cringy. Very corny and so unpredictable it is incredibly groaning once you find out.

Baldacci does it again

good story the pace was great and it had twist not expected like all his books good listen

loved it!

every time I thought I knew who was the mastermind, I discovered I was wrong. I love it when an author totally surprises me. very well done!

Skip This One

What a dreadful book. Did Baldacci have a payment due on his new car? There are a lot of characters in this book. Too many. And none of them have any resemblance to human beings. They certainly aren't interesting. And as much as I generally love Scott Brick, when he reads bad dialogue being spoken by characters who are supposedly suddenly interesting because they snarl at each other for no believable reason, Brick has all of them using the same snarl. (You know the stuff--the 500th book to fill up pages using pseudo-hostility in conversations between characters.) Then there is the plot. Once you cross the line between silly and preposterous, it become challenging for an author to have readers suspend disbelief. Or even care. Baldacci's written some great books. This isn't one of them.

A little disappointing

Had read the book several years ago and liked it. Thought the audiobook version was disappointing. Was not crazy about the narrator -- fairly flat voice which made the listening seem even longer than it actually is. And the book goes on and on.

So I would not recommend.