Saturday, December 21, 2013

"Split Second" by David Baldacci


“Split Second” by David Baldacci was the #1 bestseller according to New York Times, as well it should have been.  This first installment of the explosive team, King and Maxwell, starts at the moment when the two meet.  From this instant on, the ex-Secret Service agent, King, and the somewhat tarnished agent, Maxwell, are thrown together in the most dangerous of situations.  The mystery that they are trying to untangle is, from the very beginning, baffling.  To make matters worse, as soon as they unweave one strand of the puzzle, ten more are added.  Like a snowball rolling downhill, King and Maxwell are confronted with a chilling dilemma, the solution of which not even the reader could fathom. It is a surprisingly confusing web brought on by a love story that is described as being “a sick, twisted version of [love]”.  The reader finds that King and Maxwell “move at the speed of light” to find a mad man and thwart another of his murderous schemes. 
As I found Mr. Baldacci’s book a delight to read, I gave it five out of five stars.  His mesmerizing style kept me jumping from one suspect to another until the very end, when it all becomes clear.  I found myself asking, “Why didn’t I think of that?”  “For a moment there I thought the fairy-tale ending would actually happen”, but I was wrong…or was I?  When Sean King lost that “specter of guilt that had haunted him” for years, Michelle Maxwell says to him, “You can rebuild [your life], better than before”, leaving it wide open for their next action-packed case together.  That installment of this wonderful series is patiently waiting for me to crack the spine.