Premise, Motivation and Characters - None Worth it in Baldacci's Split Second
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Author: David Baldacci
Title: Split Second Genre: thriller Sean King has firsthand knowledge that your entire life can change in a Split Second. The Secret Service agent's attention was diverted for only an instant, but that was more than enough time for an assassin's bullet to cut down the presidential candidate he was commanded to protect with his life. That not-so-little slip cost him a career. The passage of eight years has taken most of the sting out of that moment, but that doesn't mean that Sean can't empathize with Michelle Maxwell when the candidate she's assigned to guard just plain disappears. Misery loving company as it does, it comes as no surprise when Michelle - "Mick" to her pals - arrives on his doorstep. She shows up just in time to find Sean under investigation for one... no two... now three murders. The pair quickly come to the conclusion that their twin plights are somehow intertwined across the intervening years, and they set out to find a mysterious someone pulling the strings that bind them together. Their search leads them into the past, a past made more immediate by the reappearance of Sean's one-time partner in the service, Joan Dillinger, whose private detective agency is also on the hunt for Michelle's missing charge. The murderous mystery man's labyrinthine plot envelops the team, however, when they pick up his scent. As the team closes in on the evil mastermind he remains constantly one step ahead of them, directing their every move with masterful cunning. Will Sean relive the Split Second that changed his life forever? or will history refuse to repeat itself... Men (and Women) in Black The last time I saw a Secret Service agent up close, the Pope was visiting an orphanage two blocks from my house. The Ms and I - along with a zillion others - clung to the chain-link fence surrounding the playground while a tough-looking blonde in a black pantsuit surveyed us from within. She wore the stereotype aviator shades and had a coil of wire behind her left ear, and her gaze cut through the crowd like a katana. Even from fifty feet away you knew she was a coil of deadly energy. Somehow, it seems that David Baldacci's never been even that close to a Secret Service agent. Where authors like Jeffrey Deaver (The Vanished Man, The Blue Nowhere), Michael Connelly (Lost Light), and T. Jefferson Parker (Triggerman's Dance) take readers to the very core of their protagonists' psyches, Baldacci's characters and their actions are too often a mere collage of stereotype and superficiality. Deaver, for one, consistently displays an astounding level of research, but it's unclear from the text here that Baldacci even knows what branch of the government the Secret Service answers to. He reveals no "trade secrets," no knowledge of the craft. Another clue? His acknowledgment page mentions nothing of any agent, anonymous or otherwise. I think I'd have at least tried to get some background on the profession. Criminal Masterminds Baldacci's work - what I've read of it (Total Control, The Winner) prominently features twisted genius with a near "da Vincian" grasp of all manner of science, art, technology, and psychology. Rather than assembling a team of specialists for his strange plot, the mastermind in Split Second displays artistic genius, a mastery of weapons and demolition, and the ability to manipulate living, breathing, intelligent humans as if by remote control. All this immense intelligence and reasoning power is concentrated within a corrupted mind that seems incapable of letting go of a relatively small disappointment decades in the past. I don't buy it. Parting Shots With cardboard characters, a preposterous premise, and murky motivation; Baldacci's sole saving grace is his ability to write good action. But if all you want is fast-paced action, you can watch jai-alai or NASCAR. Me, I want more out of my escapist literature. I don't buy Split Second's premise; I don't buy its villain's motivation, I don't buy Baldacci's concept. I advise you not to buy the book. Is It Just Me? ...or does Baldacci seem hung up on four-letter names: Bill, Joan, Pete, John, Sean King (a double-quadruple!), and even shortening Michelle to "Mick." Wonder why he didn't use Dave? all content copyright © 2014 by scmrak
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