Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Warner Books
Release Date:  Sept. 2003
ISBN:  0446530891
Format Reviewed: Hardcover 
Genre:   Thriller / Suspense
Reviewed: 2003
Reviewer: Barbara Buhrer  
Reviewer Notes: Audio review 

Split Second
By David Baldacci

     It only took a split second's distraction by Secret Service agent, Sean King, for the assassin to kill the candidate he was supposed to protect.

     He offered no defense, and retired from the Service. Eight years later he has come to terms with his past in a small town in Virginia. He is practicing law and working as a part time deputy.

     Agent Michelle Maxwell with her squad is protecting a third part candidate when she is distracted by a grieving widow. In that split second her charge is kidnapped. Remembering King's experience she approaches him for help to discover how and why the candidate was kidnapped.

     Together they look for answers which seem to indicate that the two events, even though so far removed in time, are related. They are joined by King's former Secret Service partner and flame, Jan Dillinger, who now has her own protection service and who has been hired to find the kidnapped candidate.

     The action is swift and suspenseful, full of twists and turns. The interplay between Maxwell, King and Dillinger is intriguing and deceptive. The characters are developed in depth with understanding of the feelings of regret and frustration of the agents. There is much information about the workings of the Secret Service and the stresses on its agents.