Seven Seconds

by Jack Henderson

In early 2003, an ousted UN weapons inspector is assassinated on the eve of a bombshell press conference. Rumours surface that this man had been passed damning evidence of a worldwide cabal of unimaginable power and wealth, and of their endgame that the coming war was meant to set in motion. It was the stuff of the wildest conspiracy theories: a global elite engineering the crash of financial markets, the soaring prices of food and energy, the numbing of the general population through a manufactured climate of fear. With the murdered man discredited and his evidence destroyed, all of it would soon be forgotten. But two intertwined parts of a coded text survived the assassination. One half is in the hands of a young female operative, already on the run from her own dark past. The other is delivered to the only man alive capable of unlocking its promise: a long-suppressed technology that could either usher in a new age of peace for all mankind, or become the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

406 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading this book, I had no idea it was a follow up to the author's debut. Goodreads didn't even let me know, and I feel kind of cheated that I didn't have the chance to meet the characters in the first book. Not that I think I can find a copy of the first book any time soon. I'll keep searching and hope.

In any case, I don't think it detracted from the story. The characters felt well introduced and developed in this book, so maybe this can be classed a decent standalone. It is very much an action thriller, with a tech bent. The tech details are not too in-depth, so it's accessible to a wide audience. I'm actually surprised this book doesn't have more reviews on Goodreads because it's a fairly solid story with some interesting characters. Like many books of this genre, the characters are written to fit certain archetypes, but I don't mind that so much. What did frustrate me a little is the pacing, which was at times a bit hit and miss. Also, some of the most engaging characters were not introduced until almost two-thirds into the book. I'm not sure what the purpose of that was - maybe it just fit where the story was heading? But it left me wondering if something could have been changed to introduce those characters in earlier.

A decent read. Glad I forced myself to read it with a random pick. It's made me think about reading more books of this genre.

[Dj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a Henderson fan ever since I first found "maximum impact". I loved the characters and the story. I hunted for this book and finally found it in a random airport in Australia. Loved it then!
I recently picked it up again as I was looking for a fun read. However, a lot of things which I had missed in the first reading have now made this experience not-so-great. There is a lot of Deus-ex-machina going on which detracts for the read. Many times things happen which are just too convenient and obvious plot holes are summarily disregarded.
I am hoping this is an aberration and he will be back with a roaring read in no time.

[Jack Landheer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many intense and thrilling scenes and characters, despite this I think this book is 13+ due to some swearing. Overall I think this is a really good thriller novel that you can read in your spare time and also has the real life ties to the early 2000's war on terror.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a straight-up action story, following on from Henderson's first novel, Maximum Impact. I felt that the plot was simpler this time around, although that may be because I read the original fairly recently, so I was still very familiar with some of the main characters.

I definitely enjoyed reading this story. It had a good combination of excitement, personal angles, and general geekery. It was particularly nice to see a different side to John's character as he attempted to be a father figure to the kids he rescued in the first novel.

On the whole, the geeky element of this story is down-played compared to the previous novel, but it's still there. I think it would appeal to readers who like a fast-paced, contemporary story, with lots of adventure. It's not essential that you read Henderson's first novel before you read this one, but I think it would help you engage better with the characters.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book... and to be honest, although I did get into it and wanted to read it to the end, I think you need to have read the first book, which of course, I hadn't. I like the way he writes, so I will probably look to by the first one 'Maximum Impact' now. I felt like I had missed something quite often throughout the book.

[J. Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really engaging and enjoyable and although the writing was good in the way the difficult things made sense, some of it still fuddled me and also some of the characters were hard to get into although I loved John and Matthew.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good follow up