What do readers think of 15 Seconds by Andrew Gross? Write your own review.

I really liked this book; it has short chapters and so the pace is very fast. It's an adrenaline rush. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a book that is a fast read, will keep your interest throughout, while giving you a great story with many twists and turns.

The thriller genre has a long history in popular fiction. The Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls of the 19th century thrived on action, cliffhanger situations, and minimal character development, eventually evolving into pulp novels and countless paperbacks. In that respect Andrew Gross’s 15 Seconds fits the criteria for a thriller. His erstwhile hero, a naïve doctor named Henry Steadman, finds himself in over his head as seemingly incriminating evidence accrues, linking him to murder and more. How can he establish his innocence before the police catch and imprison him?

Any self-respecting thriller should also be a page-turner, and the first half of the book will keep readers guessing right alongside Steadman. But author Gross, in an unusual turnaround, reveals the mystery—at least to his reading audience—and what remains devolves into a more conventional tale as Steadman also figures out who’s out to get him, and in a series of cat-and-mouse chases it all finally climaxes in a scene out of early movie serials (think The Perils of Pauline) with a deserted shack, whirling saw blades, and the menacing villain face-to-face with the good doctor.

Unfortunately, Gross has Steadman thinking in exclamatory sentences—“and I didn’t care!” “I’m pretty sure I can prove it!” “the only chance I have!” and so on throughout the novel. Set in Florida and Georgia, the frazzled Steadman races back and forth, racking up hundreds of miles in travel, but at the expense of much plot plausibility and characterization.

15 Seconds stands as an adequate thriller, but with better writers plowing the same ground and equipped with better plots, the discerning fan of the genre will probably find this effort disappointing.

This well-written,fast paced, compelling story held my interest mainly because it was too real. Our lives and those who matter most to us, can change in an instant by illness, sudden death, becoming an accident or crime victim etc. How one handles what life offers is the challenge and the characters in this book display a sampling of how one can handle life-altering upsets that can happen in 15 seconds.

Great summer read! I was hooked from the very beginning, and didn't want to put it down until the end. Though the chapters are short, I had to read on to see what was going to happen next--a real page turner. The timeline was a little confusing when some of the back ground was introduced, but once I realized what was happening there was no stopping. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrillers!

Another reviewer summed this up well as a good beach read. As a lover of really good thrillers I found this book really lacking. It is quick and easy to read with short chapters that lead you on to the next; however, I found the language far to schmaltzy for my taste. The emotions behind the action and the characters felt contrived and I never felt connected to the characters.

It is true that our lives can change in seconds because of one reason or another and for Henry Steadman, it certainly did. This is a fast paced, lots of action story. You certainly wonder how he is going to get out of the situation and find out the hows and whys of what is happening to his life. It seems impossible for someone you don’t know to run and almost ruin your life, but Andrew Gross showed us it can happen. I have read each one of Andrew Gross’s books and loved every one of them and this is no exception.

This was the first time that I have read a book by Andrew Gross that was not co-authored with James Patterson and let me tell you I was hooked from page 1. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you want to just keep reading. It's a very fast paced, thrilling read. Would be the perfect beach read for summer. I plan on recommending this book to everyone I know. I am now a fan of Mr. Gross and I plan to read all his other solo works.

I wasn't sure I liked 15 Seconds at first. It seemed like every other innocent victim story I have read. But the addition of the story of the real killer and his family, as well as the accused man's sense that he was similar to Harrison Ford in The Fugitive, along with the compelling background of the one person who believes him combined to make this an original and engrossing tale. I was about 2/3 through when I picked it up after work at around 5pm, and I couldn't put it down for the next 2 1/2 hours, until I finished. I didn't even remember to eat dinner!