15 Seconds by Andrew Gross - Book Review

          Today was supposed to be a good day for Henry Steadman.   Since he is a successful plastic surgeon, he was chosen to go to Florida and give a presentation at a conference in the afternoon.  

           Once he rents a car and is driving to the conference, he is stopped by a policeman for a minor traffic violation.  From there, the situation would only get worse when he is handcuffed and placed in the officers car until other police officers arrive on the scene.  

            After a long and heated discussion, the officer said that there was a mistake and he can go back to his car.  After the other officers leave and Henry is in his car, a car goes up to the arresting officer and he is gunned down.  The only suspect that is considered is Henry since he was handcuffed in the officers car just a few minutes ago. 

            From there, the tension is strong as Henry is trying to find out why this is happening to him.   When his friend is killed later on, Henry is under the impression that there is some sort of elaborate setup in an attempt to ruin his career and his life.  

            As far as the plot is concerned, it draws on Henry being chased by the police while he is trying to find the person who framed him.  At times, you would think that Henry will be caught but he is able to elude the police while trying to chase down any clues he can as to who the person was who is trying to ruin his life. 

           I like the way the author uses flashbacks in order to build the story and create more tension as part of the plot.  The characters are memorable, popping off the page, making it one of the many reasons I was able to finish this book in four days.    

            The plot only thickens when Henry can’t turn himself in because he has to save someone that he loves more than anyone in the world.  As a result, the stakes become higher as it becomes a race against time to find out who is trying to ruin his life before that person kills the one person he loves the most. 

             As far as the characters are concerned, they are not only broken but believable since another character’s life has been destroyed and he has nothing to lose when he tries to destroy Henry Steadman’s life.  This makes the story fact paced with a lot of tension, leading to an unpredictable and chilling ending.  

            Yes, 15 Seconds is a story about how a person’s life can be destroyed in a matter of minutes.  It is a great psychological thriller that is worthy of more than five stars as far as I’m concerned.  I can’t wait to read more books by Andrew Gross. 


Ron Hummer