Review: A Heartbeat Away
During President Allaire’s State of the Union address, several containers of a deadly virus explode, infecting the most important people in the US government. The Capitol is sealed off and the President releases a well known scientist, Griffin Rhodes, from prison to work on a cure. A group called Genesis claims responsibility and says they’re the only ones with a cure. It seems the only way to get the cure is to cooperate with them, unless Rhodes and his colleagues can discover a cure first.
A Heartbeat Away, by Michael Palmer, is fast paced and exciting, but parts of it fell flat for me. The plot had lots of potential, but there were so many twists and turns, it all became just too unbelievable. Since this is a plot driven book, there isn’t much character development, and I was fine with that. I was a bit bothered with all of the issues – terrorism, privacy, animal testing, etc – that Palmer packed into the book.
I listened to the audio version of this book, and the reader, Robert Petkoff was its saving grace. He did a great job with the voices and kept the story exciting. Even with his great narration, this book was just okay for me.
Totally the same reaction. Some of it just jumped the shark in my opinion!
You’re right, Petkoff is a solid narrator. I’ve never read anything by Michael Palmer, but I did just read his son’s debut novel. It was a wild ride. Just a tad unbelievable, but to his credit, he wraps it up nicely in the end. (He is quite good looking.)
I enjoyed this one but of course, had to suspend disbelief….
I would rather have character development rather than a fast-paced plot; so I don’t think this is the book for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I have read some positive reviews of this one, but it lost me at unbelievable.
Greetings from Istanbul!
This book does sound like it could be a great suspense. Sorry that it didn’t quite work out well.
Thanks! for sharing this review.
Thanks for your honest review! Have a good weekend, Kathy.
I think I’ll skip this one. Thanks for the review!
A good narrator is sure what I would need. Cos I would like to listen to more books
I do think these kinds of books can get overdone very easily…and it sounds like that was the case with this one.
I’m still struggling with listening to a book, so it has to be a really good book before I venture. My kids keep encouraging me, but, I just hate things in my ears.
i read and reviewed this one back in january. basically, i share your sentiments! it was allright but left me saying “meh” at the end. just ok!
While I love mysteris, I’m not a hug fan of thrillers. I have found them to be overly action filled and not enough character or plot. I know there are some good ones out there though and I wish this had been one. Thanks for the review.
I used to read all of his, but for some reason I haven’t read his last few.
I enjoyed reading your honest review and this is why I come to your blog daily!!! This book really doesn’t fall into a genre that I read but I will steer clear of this title in the future regardless.
I’ve kind of gotten away from thrillers because they so easily slip into unbelievable action and coincidence. And I don’t need cover to cover action or superman-type heroes to make me read a book. Just give me a good story and characters I can believe in, thank you.
I don’t really enjoy these types of books, so I probably wouldn’t be the best audience for this one. Sorry to hear that it was a tad disappointing though.
I like books set in DC, especially thrillers, but if you and Jill had the same lukewarm reaction I think I can skip this one.
Maybe I’ll get it just to hear the narrator’s voice.
Ahhhhhh!… This wasn’t good? I like the sound of it (lots of ingredients that are interesting) and I’m sorry it was unbelievable. Glad to know the narrator was good, though.
Sorry this one fell flat for you..it’s not always the type of book that I go for so I think I’ll skip this one.