Book Review: Split Second

Split Second (King & Maxwell #1)
By: David Baldacci
Published: Grand Central Publishing
Page Count: 512
Source: Library Audiobook
Audience/Genre: Mystery/Suspense

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound. 

Michelle Maxwell and Sean King seem to have very little in common aside from a career in the Secret Service. But when Maxwell's presidential candidate protectee is suddenly kidnapped, King's experience with the murder of his own proteceee years earlier becomes invaluable when it is revealed that the two cases have some eerie similarities. If you're looking for a great mystery/thriller, filled with political intrigue, a touch of sexual tension, and a few well-placed red herrings, make Split Second your next read. 

I was always a kid who loved to read mysteries. It all started with Encyclopedia Brown, Maggie Marmelstein, and Trixie Belden in grade school, continuing on to Agatha Christie and my mom's extensive collection of Mary Higgins Clark novels throughout my teenage years. But for a reason that now eludes me, I stopped reading mysteries when I hit adulthood. I enjoyed Split Second so much, it's driven me to order a few titles the Edgar Awards list and pick up a Clark mystery (which I'm thoroughly enjoying). This book lead me back to a genre I love but had lost my connection with over the past 20 years -- it;s THAT good. 

The relationship dynamic between the vastly different King and Maxwell is electric, palpable, and contains just the right amount of believable sexual tension. King and Maxwell share the stage, and the page, working together and separately to solve small mysteries along the way. Baldacci throws in just enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing until the bitter end, and even when I thought I had everything figured out, the ending completely caught me by surprise.

I meant what I said in the introduction, if you enjoy a good mystery, make Split Second your VERY next read. I promise you won't be disappointed. Just don't hold me responsible for you starting yet another series, because it's likely you won't want to stop with this book. I've already purchased #2 to read over the holidays. ;) 

Summary via Goodreads

Michelle Maxwell has just blown her future with the Secret Service. Against her instincts, she led 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 violence that shattered their lives were really a long time in the making - and are a long way from over.