This explosive novel and instant New York Times bestseller is the tale of two disgraced Secret Service agents racing against time to find the commo...
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Jan 30, 2011
Christian
rated it: 
Do you remember when you first saw Star Wars? If you are a certain gender and a certain age, it was THE defining movie of your childhood. You were either Luke or Han when you played. You craved everything Star Wars.
Then The Empire Strikes Back came out and it added so many layers. You were blown away. “No....I am your father” rocked your little mind. Yoda letting the audience know “No. There is another” led to rampant speculation for a few years about where the story was going More...
Then The Empire Strikes Back came out and it added so many layers. You were blown away. “No....I am your father” rocked your little mind. Yoda letting the audience know “No. There is another” led to rampant speculation for a few years about where the story was going More...
Jan 30, 2011
Linda
rated it:
A good quick read by a very talented storyteller. "Split Second" is the beginning of another Baldacci storyline called the "King and Maxwell Series". Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are two disgraced Secret Service Agents whos presidential candidate's both were either killed or kidnapped. Through an elaborately connected chain of events, though not seeming at the time, Maxwell and King team up to discover who is responsible for the conspiracy. Admittedly, I like Baldacci's lat
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Jan 30, 2011
Gill
rated it: 
Michelle Maxwell, a Secret Service agent assigned to a presidential candidate, sees her rising career slip away when the candidate is kidnapped. Eight years earlier, Agent Sean King was assigned to a candidate who was killed. With their professional lives similarly shattered, the two meet and uncover unlikely coincidences between the two events. Suspense mounts when a body appears in King's law office and when they are violently attacked.
A decent-enough premise, but I found it disapp More...
A decent-enough premise, but I found it disapp More...
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Sep 24, 2011
Kristy
rated it: 
Just finished Split Second and, as with The Winner, was very impressed with Baldacci's style. The research and planning that went into this book was amazing. Unlike The Winner, I did figure out who 'the bad guy' was about a third of the way in, even when he tried to make it look as though I was wrong a bit later. I was, however, wrong about his accomplice.
It will be interesting to see if Total Control, next on my list, is similar to these two books. David Baldacci seems to have a More...
It will be interesting to see if Total Control, next on my list, is similar to these two books. David Baldacci seems to have a More...
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Oct 25, 2011
Ken
rated it: 
Two separate incidents involving Secret Service agents are linked in a plot that might be a bit too clever. In 1996 Sean King was assigned to defend a presidential candidate, and in a tiny rural hotel, the man is assassinated and King is wounded. Eight years later, another presidential candidate is visiting a funeral home, and Special Agent Michelle Maxwell is in charge of the detail, and her man is kidnapped.
Dozens of character are introduced, and numerous explanations are presente More...
Dozens of character are introduced, and numerous explanations are presente More...
Oct 20, 2011
4evagreen
rated it:
This was the first Baldacci book that I had read so was able to come to it with an open mind and with no preconceptions.
The opening few chapters were gripping as the two lead characters with seemingly nothing in common, other than the fact that they were both in disgrace with the Secret Service, have their lives and worlds turned upside down by two unseemingly unconnected events eight years apart. However once this initial burst occurred the book slowed a little in pace and the characters More...
The opening few chapters were gripping as the two lead characters with seemingly nothing in common, other than the fact that they were both in disgrace with the Secret Service, have their lives and worlds turned upside down by two unseemingly unconnected events eight years apart. However once this initial burst occurred the book slowed a little in pace and the characters More...
Nov 03, 2011
Kathy
rated it:
I finally read the first book where Sean King and Michelle Maxwell meet and work on their first case - or should I say cases? King has established a new life as a lawyer in a small town after years of recovering from losing a presidential candidate under his watch. Michelle has literally just lost a current presidential candidate after he is kidnapped.
What I love about Baldacci's style is that he gives clues to his readers, but never fails to throw in at least two or three twists t More...
What I love about Baldacci's style is that he gives clues to his readers, but never fails to throw in at least two or three twists t More...
Dec 09, 2011
Bev
rated it:
Secret Service Agent Sean King's career as a secret service agent ended the day his attention wandered for a split second and it caused the death of a presidential candidate. The fact that the candidate was as beloved as and had as much chance of getting the nomination as Rick Perry was irrelevant. King's career was over.
Secret Service Agent Michelle Maxwell's career ended the day a presidential candidate convinced her to let him have a private meeting with the widow of an old friend. More...
Secret Service Agent Michelle Maxwell's career ended the day a presidential candidate convinced her to let him have a private meeting with the widow of an old friend. More...
Nov 14, 2011
Kevin
rated it:
First in the Sean king and Michele Maxwell series. I backtracked to get this book. A real page turner from the get go. Multiple conspiracies that are tied together. Both Sean and Michele are Secret service agents. Sean had quit approximately eight years ago after a Presidential candidate he was protecting was murdered on his watch. Michele was recently protecting another candidate who just got kidnapped. With similarities bringing the two of them together and a few other people close to Sean al
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Jul 21, 2011
Debbie
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 25, 2011
Kp
rated it:
I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was good for a mystery/thriller type. I think it was a little better than the first Baldacci book, Absolute Power because it was more compact and it got to the point more quickly. Where I thought the book went wrong was at the ending... maybe the last 1/4th or so. I think that the plot resolution, as you finally find out about it at the end, is too convoluted and fantastical. However, as I said, it WAS very readable and I really was compelled to see
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Jan 30, 2012
Mal
rated it:
Entertaining. I like mysteries, and this one had lots of twists to keep me intrigued. Mike and I listened to it--I liked the reader okay. He worked the voices alright, but at some points he sounded so low and intense it was hard not to feel a little corny. That's what you get with suspense I guess. Also--and this will reveal some nit-picky-ness--he kept pronouncing "shone" (like, "I shone the light in his eyes") as "shawn." Mike said he thought it was because he was
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Feb 06, 2011
Barry
rated it:
This author writes a great long chase scene. The problem I often have with him is that his endings are so far out of left field that he has to create side and back stories to sell them to you.
On the other hand, the suspense and quest that the characters endure getting down to these ending is very well written. It is like going to see a Hollywood movie that sucks for plot but has great special effects and action scenes. His books have the action and are plausible up to the endings which a More...
On the other hand, the suspense and quest that the characters endure getting down to these ending is very well written. It is like going to see a Hollywood movie that sucks for plot but has great special effects and action scenes. His books have the action and are plausible up to the endings which a More...
May 11, 2011
Noel
rated it:
Baldacci infuriates me. That said, I keep coming back for more. He is adept at character development but tends to be overly heavy on plot. I have read enough of his books to realize that the best part is the first three quarters. But then, having woven such an intricate mess he resolves to explain it all in the final quadrant. This often leads to a sense of desperation resulting in a less than satisfying conclusion. King and Maxwell are both very likable while the protagonist(s) is more akin to
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Jan 30, 2011
Jill
rated it:
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May 24, 2011
Mara
rated it:
First of all, the translation was not that great, but then again, this book did come as a gift with a magazine/newspaper purchase. You get what you pay for, right?
Of the two protagonists, Michelle Maxwell was far more intriguing, but even she was really close to a cardboard cut-out. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot is fun but full of holes, and the sexual tension feels too artificial.
I remember reading some of Baldacci's other books, and I also seem to rememb More...
Of the two protagonists, Michelle Maxwell was far more intriguing, but even she was really close to a cardboard cut-out. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot is fun but full of holes, and the sexual tension feels too artificial.
I remember reading some of Baldacci's other books, and I also seem to rememb More...
Apr 28, 2011
Darcy
rated it:
At first glance I wasn't sure what Sean and Michelle had in common other than having the bad luck to having really bad things happen to their protectees. But as the story unfolded you realized just how tied together their paths were. It was hard to believe that one person could be so demented to come up with a plan like this that would destroy so many people.
I really liked Sean and Michelle's growing relationship. They are so opposites that their spats were funny.
I am More...
I really liked Sean and Michelle's growing relationship. They are so opposites that their spats were funny.
I am More...
May 30, 2011
Laura
rated it:
I liked the initial premise of this book, and the first few chapters were absolute page-turners, but I ended up being a bit disappointed. One of my biggest nagging frustrations was that the shocking event that got the action going -- the kidnapping of a presidential candidate -- seemed to practically become an afterthought almost as soon as it happened. I'd think an event like that would be earthshaking for the country, and very much in the forefront of the characters' minds. As it was, the atte
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Jan 30, 2011
Benjamin
rated it:
Well, isn't that a fine kettle of fish! There I was at my lunch break today hoping I would have enough time to finish the last 70 pages or so of David Baldacci's Split Second. I rarely have enough time to read more than 50 pages of a standard novel at lunch so I was expecting that I might have to "forget" to get back from lunch on time, thereby allowing me to wrap it up. However, the pages in this book fly by and I actually finished it with a good 15 minutes to go! There I was stuck wi
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Jan 30, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
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Jan 30, 2011
Angela
rated it:
Michelle allows a current presidential nominee to attend a viewing of an old friend's casket, only to find out minutes later that he's been kidnapped. Thus begins the end of her Secret Service career.
Sean had a similar situation eight years previous, where he was watching a presidential candidate doing a meet and greet, was distracted for a moment, and had to kill an assassin.
As 'luck' would have, these two former Secret Service agents are going to be forced together to More...
Sean had a similar situation eight years previous, where he was watching a presidential candidate doing a meet and greet, was distracted for a moment, and had to kill an assassin.
As 'luck' would have, these two former Secret Service agents are going to be forced together to More...
Jan 30, 2011
Missmath144
rated it:
I like the reader (Scott Brick, who also read The Wish List), so enjoyed the book, despite its inconsistencies. Kate Ramsey knew nothing that could help the investigators. Then she knew a little. Then within minutes she knew a lot. She couldn't conceive of her mother having an affair with Thorston (spelling?), yet she knew they were engaged eight years later. Continuity was lacking. Joan thinks about a Trojan horse just before she's blindsided by one? Katy says she knew of nothing in her dad's p
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Oct 30, 2011
Carl
rated it:
Fast paced and far-out, it really held my interest as I listened to the audible version of this fascinating and nearly unbelievable tale.
This is my second Baldacci book, and not nearly as good as the first, the title of which escapes me. Still it held my interest, enough so that I had to keep listening, and hating it when I had to stop. The ending was a good test of how far you can suspend your disbelief, but it was enough to make this book a fun journey into fantasy-land.
This is my second Baldacci book, and not nearly as good as the first, the title of which escapes me. Still it held my interest, enough so that I had to keep listening, and hating it when I had to stop. The ending was a good test of how far you can suspend your disbelief, but it was enough to make this book a fun journey into fantasy-land.
Feb 28, 2011
Marcy
rated it:
Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have each committed a major blunder as Secret Service agents, though the incidents happened 8 years apart. Together they investigate to see what, if anything, is common to their misfortunes. In the process, the suspense builds as the dead body count mounts. Unfortunately, too many unlikely coincidences and a convoluted plot made me say "really" more than once and the main characters remained very 2 dimensional. Thankfully, this audio was somewhat rede
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Jan 30, 2011
rjp316
rated it:
It only takes a second to change your life forever – that is what happens to Michelle Maxwell. As a secret service agent she left her charge out of her sight for a few seconds and he vanishes. Sean King, a former secret service agent knows what she is going through but his charge died. Together they join forces and attempt to find Michelle’s charge that vanished.
The story line was great – real mystery of who is behind the vanishing. I did find it a bit hard to follow with all t More...
The story line was great – real mystery of who is behind the vanishing. I did find it a bit hard to follow with all t More...
May 06, 2011
Gabi
rated it:
This was my first Badacci read, and I did enjoy it. Both the leads I very much enjoyed; Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are very different from one another but still feel real. Michelle's a tough chick and extremely accomplished, but flawed in her own way. The plot seemed a little squirrely, and a little...much but King and Maxwell remain even-keeled throughout the ordeal. I'm looking forward to picking up the next book in this series.
Feb 07, 2012
Taneshia
rated it:
This is the first book I’ve read by this author. He is great at telling a story; I could feel the tension and suspense he built. He expressed all the complexities in the story well, but the story was just too dang complex. There were so many suspect names tossed around that I could not keep up. Many of them added nothing to the story. The ending was just too over the top. It reminded of me the elaborate set ups Side Show Bob attempts on the Simpsons whenever he kidnaps Bart.
Aug 20, 2011
Greg
rated it:
This is a fun, quick, summer read. When reading this, one does have to remember that this is a work of fiction and not a realistic depiction of crime solving. With muliple twists and turns Baldacci kept me flipping pages and guessing. I really appreciate that he gives the reader enough information to actually solve the mystery without having the ending predictable. I would recommend this book to anyone this summer for a beach read.
Aug 05, 2011
The first book about the Secret Service duo of King and Maxell. Both have been scapegoats for incidents that happened on the job. When Michelle Maxwell starts investigating, she looks up the ex-agent and forces him to re-examine an 8-year-old case. The action and suspense pick up as their two cases begin to entertwine and their lives are suddenly on the line. Hard to put down.
Jan 30, 2011
Sandy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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