“Split Second” Audiobook Update -- November 2007

[Audio_Al]

Title: “Split Second”

Author: David Baldacci

Narrator: Scott Brick

Publisher Synopsis: Michelle Maxwell has just blown her future with the Secret Service. Against her instincts, she let 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 shocking truth: that the separate acts of violence that shattered their lives were really a long time in the making-and are a long way from over…

With a plot that springs one jaw-dropping surprise after another, David Baldacci's audiobook will plunge you into a dangerous realm of rage, desire, betrayal, and revenge. You won't put it down for a second.

Other Background: I did a ‘double-take’ on this release when I received it. Hachette introduced it as being “Available for the First Time on CD!” Yet, I was sure that I had already read or listened to “Split Second”. I was right and Hachette is right but that’s not the whole story. “Split Second” was originally published in hardcover in 2003, in paperback in 2004. It seems, from what I have been able to determine, that there have also been a couple of abridged audio book versions published. It’s been available on CD, cassette and from download.

Apparently, this is the first time that “Split Second” has been released as an unabridged audio book on CD. That may or may not concern you. Publishers often issue new printings of past released books. I learned long ago to be careful of what looks like something new on the shelf from a favorite author. I think I even bought a book or two and was dismayed to find out as I started to read it that I already had. Further, it was additionally irritating to find a copyright date that was years earlier.

Let’s get back to this new unabridged audio book version of “Split Second”. As I recall, Michelle Maxwell and Sean King appeared in an earlier novel by David Baldacci and were nicely brought back as main characters in this one. While there’s much I can’t remember from my earlier read of “Split Second”, I do recall enjoying it and feeling that David Baldacci had scored well again.

I have been a fan of David Baldacci since 1996 when he published “Absolute Power”. It was turned into the successful 1997 movie of the same name starring Clint Eastwood. Baldacci’s works have consistently been on the NY Times bestseller lists. I am always eager to have at anything new that he writes. So, if you have not read or listened to “Split Second” and suspense/mystery is a genre you enjoy, get this unabridged audio book version. You won’t be disappointed and may be happy to have found an author who has written much else you will want to read and/or listen to. I personally am inclined to forgive Hachette for the probably unintended deception of releasing a NEW audio book that is actually based on a not-new four-year old hardcover book. I’ll very likely listen to this encore presentation myself. One other observation…narrator Scott Brick, whom I have heard on several other audio books, is excellent, one of the best.


Audio Al 2007

A complete review of this audiobook will be available on Oregon Public Broadcasting's Accessible Information Network in November 2007. For more information on this audio service, please visit: http://www.opb.org/accessinfonet .

This is a link to other audiobook updates in my DU journal:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Audio_Al

Unabridged:
Number of CDs: 10
Number of Hours: 11.5
List Price: $29.98
Downloadable: www.audible.com

Abridged:
Number of CDs: 5
Number of Hours: 6
List Price: “Replay” release at $14.98
Narrator: Ron McLarty
Downloadable: www.audible.com

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Publication Date: October 8, 2007…available unabridged for the first time on CD!

Hardback/Paperback: Hardcover published in 2003, paperback in 2004

Audio Sample: www.HachetteAudio.com , www.audible.com