Split Second (King & Maxwell Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

"Split Second" by David Baldacci is a gripping thriller that intricately weaves the stories of two discredited Secret Service agents, Michelle Maxwell and Sean King, as they confront the shadows of their pasts and the tumultuous present. When Michelle’s decision to comfort a grieving widow leads to the mysterious disappearance of a presidential candidate she was sworn to protect, her career takes a nosedive, leaving her haunted by guilt. Similarly, Sean, who experienced a devastating failure of his own years earlier, understands the weight of such a mistake and is now living a quieter life on a lake in Virginia.As fate intertwines their paths, Michelle’s obsession with Sean’s past tragedy draws them together, just as Sean finds himself embroiled in new dangers stemming from a series of grisly murders. Baldacci expertly crafts a tale filled with suspense, as the duo digs deeper into a maze of secrets that threaten to upend their already fragile lives. The intricate plots and unexpected twists keep the tension high, while thematic elements of redemption and the struggle for trust resonate throughout their journey. "Split Second" is not only a thrilling read but also a compelling exploration of how the past can linger and shape the future, making it a must-read for fans of psychological suspense and action.

I love david Baldacci books. I usually can't put them down. This one got a little tedious in the middle but rebounded and had an excellent ending.

Awesome book.

Hard to put down the series. Each one gets better. Start with the first one and go thru the series. Fantastic writer. I think I have read 20 of his and never been disappointed

This was my first read of a David Baldacci book. I don’t know if I’ll be back.I liked it through the first half. I liked the premise of two Secret Service agents, each professionally disgraced by an attack on the presidential candidate they were respectively guarding, drawn to each other to dig deeper into the crimes, which show links despite the years between them.In the more recent case, candidate John Bruno has been kidnapped while agent Michelle Maxwell headed up his protective case. In one eight years earlier, agent Sean King shot and killed the shooter of candidate Clyde Ritter, but is blamed for having been distracted just long enough to miss stopping the assassination.Their investigation is complicated by the involvement of former agent Joan Dillinger, a onetime flame of King’s somehow involved the day of the shooting but for whom King has been covering all these years. Now she’s a private consultant working on finding Bruno, and wouldn’t mind rekindling things with King, either. He’s remade his life as a quietly successful small-town lawyer. Is she on the level? What’s she really up to? And meanwhile the Secret Service is gunning for both King and Maxwell, black sheep blamed for making the agency look bad.The story moved fast and the character development wasn’t bad. In the middle, it dragged a little, but not seriously. King and Maxwell's chemistry isn't bad, nor is the tension between King and Dillinger.My big criticism here is the ending. The plot behind the two attacks was so unlikely and, moreover, so cheesy and soap-opera like as to make me lose a lot of respect. No spoilers here, but let’s just say had they had they had an evil twin, it would not have been out of place. The climax was ridiculous. The bad guys also seemed too magically omnipotent, somehow seeming to be every place, all the time, to nearly but not quite kill the good guys.And it’s a pity, because both the original premises – assassination plots, how Secret Service agents protect candidates and the agency’s culture – and some of the background, particularly the deeper history going back to Vietnam, Nixon, war protesters and 1960s radicals, is the type of solid stuff good intrigues and whodunits can be made from. But in the end it was a little too much of a mass market paperback for me.

Bladacci is known for his fast paced action novels. “Split Second” does not disappoint. King and Maxwell meet in this novel because they share the embarrassment of both being Secret Service agents who have been unsuccessful in their assignments to protect Presidential candidates. The plot is somewhat contrived and not possible to solve as the reader. However King and Maxwell have the makings of a good long term team.

This was a mind numbing book to follow. With all its twists and turns there was never an opportunity to figure out who’s who. Couldn’t put it down.

Another one I finished in about 30 hours. A really involved mystery with great characters and I’ll bet you can’t figure it out before the end. Enjoy. It’s a Balcaddi book, so how could you not.

To date, I have read 22 books written by David Baldacci, and never been disappointed. The mystery and intrigue in all his books is amazing. They are hard to put down, and never short stories, which makes it interesting to really think of what will happen next and with who. Split Second is the second in the series I have read, and I have now just purchased the next, Hour Game to continue. Great reads for sure. L. Smith, Canada

I like to read again and these books are superb!

Page turner with a werk plot. To stories coming together with a frustrated script writer is a bit too much .

This was the first book which I read by David Baldacci... Thoroughly enjoyed reading every bit of it... Had me glued from starting till the end..am definitely going to try other books of the author as well

It's well written, with enough plot and suspense to keep us connected. A great read for the summer.