It only took a split second for an assassin's bullet to fell presidential candidate Clyde Ritter—and to destroy the career of Secret Service agent Sean King, the man in charge of protecting him at all costs. Eight years later another presidential candidate is abducted under the watchful eye of special agent Michelle Maxwell, begging the question: Are these two crimes as related as they seem? Now in a bid for redemption and justice, the two disgraced agents must form an uneasy alliance that will require them to lift the veil on the government's Witness Protection Program—and reveal to what extent they have been played for others' gain.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
October 1, 2003 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781594832970
- File size: 178152 KB
- Duration: 06:11:08
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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AudioFile Magazine
David Baldacci's thrillers are always highly entertaining, and this work is no exception. Readers get an inside look into the workings of the Secret Service and the vigilance of the agents who guard their "assignments." When a presidential candidate disappears from a locked room, Agent Michelle Maxwell knows that her future with the Service is over. Eight years earlier, something similar happened, and Michelle begins to see a connection. Ron McLarty skillfully provides characters with unique personalities, maintaining the suspense in Baldacci's text. J.L.C. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine -
Publisher's Weekly
August 18, 2003
"We just solved a huge, complicated mystery," says one protagonist to another in this latest novel from the bestselling author of Last Man Standing, Absolute Power, etc. And that is the problem: this story of two disgraced Secret Service agents who come together to solve two campaign-trail crimes doesn't play to Baldacci's strengths, which are suspense and action (as well as strong characterizations; here's one thriller author who writes people that readers care about). The novel is primarily a mystery, with lots of talk and untangling of clues, and a less than gripping one at that. It begins in 1996, when Secret Service agent Sean King is distracted—by what isn't revealed until near the book's end—just when the presidential candidate he's guarding is shot dead. Eight years later, agent Michelle Maxwell lets the candidate she's watching enter a funeral parlor room alone; he's kidnapped. Then a body appears in the office of King, who's now a successful lawyer in North Carolina. Maxwell sees King on TV and decides to look into the event that caused his disgrace, so similar to hers. Meanwhile, King's old flame, Joan Dillinger, an ex-agent whose security firm has been hired to find the kidnapped presidential candidate, hires King to help in the hunt. The narrative ties binding the characters don't loosen much over the novel's course, as curious cross-currents flow between the two cases, all leading to a cinematic but off-the-wall denouement that reveals a villain who is more cartoon than human. What saves this novel are a few strong but brief action sequences and, above all, the interplay among the principal characters, particularly the romantic tensions among King, Maxwell and Dillinger. This is, alas, Baldacci's weakest thriller in years—but with its terrific title, the Baldacci name and heavy promo, it's bound to hit the lists. -
AudioFile Magazine
Michelle Maxwell, a Secret Service agent assigned to a presidential candidate, sees her rising career slip away when the candidate is kidnapped. Eight years earlier, Agent Sean King was assigned to a candidate who was killed. With their professional lives similarly shattered, the two meet and uncover unlikely coincidences between the two events. Suspense mounts when a body appears in King's law office and when they are violently attacked. Scott Brick, a star among narrators, captures this smart and sophisticated work. Slight variations in his comfortably flat tone convey each character, with pace and emotion perfectly infused to enhance the mood of the mystery and the relationship between Michelle and Sean. F.L.F. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine -
Library Journal
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