She Treads Softly: Split Screen

Sunday, September 13, 2026

Split Screen

Split Screen by Lee Goldberg
10/20/26; 301 pages
Thomas & Mercer
Eve Ronin #7

Split Screen by Lee Goldberg is a very highly recommended, action-packed thriller/police procedural and the seventh book in the Eve Ronin series, although, as Goldberg notes in his opening comments, it can be enjoyed as a standalone novel.

Detective Eve Ronin of the L.A. Sheriff's Department is on the scene of the suspected murder of former childhood star Juliette Winter, when she is called to meet with the new sheriff in town, Waylon Gifford. Due to the hit TV procedural based on Ronin, Gifford pressures her to exploit her fame by developing a social media presence and allowing the actress who plays her, Erin Casey, to ride along with her for a week. If she refuses, he pointedly threatens her partner and friend Duncan "Donuts" who has been relegated to desk duty. So, the ride-alongs happen, but not without incident as Erin is mistaken for Eve and shot early on. The incidents and cases follow at a lightning fast speed right up to the surprising conclusion.

It is such an entertaining pleasure to read this well-written, fast-paced action-packed procedural that includes several cases and even side quests. The investigations are all logically investigated and solved, even with unexpected twists, connections, and complications along the way. There is no downtime as one incident, one revelation, follows another and Ronin is busy and on the move throughout the whole novel. The plot is compelling and the pace so fast the pages just fly by as you eagerly follow the action. I thoroughly enjoyed Split Screen and was completely immersed in the plot throughout the whole novel.

Eve Ronin is a great character and even though Duncan is on desk duty the good news is that he still plays a strong role in the plot. Eve continues to be impulsive at times but her intelligence, good instincts, determination, and observational skills also shine through. The interactions between characters is quick, clever, and sometimes sarcastic, sometimes humorous. Arson investigators Sharpe and Walker from another Goldberg series make an appearance too.

Split Screen is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy action-packed procedurals/thrillers. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.