Book Review: Bill Clinton / James Patterson - The President's Daughter

 

As featured on Book Review Podcast 'Reading in Bed Episode 58A'

Blurb:

A former president's daughter is kidnapped in this masterful rocket-ride of a thriller--the new blockbuster by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson,"the dream team" (Lee Child).

Every detail is accurate--because one of the authors is President Bill Clinton. The drama and action never stop--because the other author is James Patterson. Matthew Keating, a one-time Navy SEAL--and a past president--has always defended his family as staunchly as he has his country. Now those defenses are under attack. A madman abducts Keating's teenage daughter, Melanie--turning every parent's deepest fear into a matter of national security. As the world watches in real time, Keating embarks on a one-man special-ops mission that tests his strengths: as a leader, a warrior, and a father. The authors' first collaboration, The President Is Missing, a #1 New York Times bestseller and the #1 bestselling novel of 2018, was praised as "ambitious and wildly readable" (New York Times Book Review) and "a fabulously entertaining thriller" (Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow). 

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Well, this book isn’t the most subtle of creations that was for sure. It was also a book that I didn’t actually read the blurb for once and instead just went and got it after reading a review and generally enjoying the recent ‘Run Rose Run’ cowrote with Dolly Parton and after reading a review with it, thought why not let’s give a go.

Is it as good as Run Rose Run? Bit of a hard one to decide on here if I am honest as the full tone of the two books is completely different as both books were full of short, sharp chapters both of which moved at a fairly brisk pace and that was were the differences end.

This book focuses on a ex President Matthew Keating who made a fateful mistake and caused a serious mistake that was felt throughout the world and resulted in his own vice-president challenging for re-election and Keating and his family were all sent packing from the White House.

Some time later, his daughter is kidnapped and well that is where really get interesting certainly by the halfway stage and it then went off in a direction I wasn’t expecting personally and certainly wouldn’t be discussing in the context of this review.

Realistic it certainly by the second half of the book it wasn’t and subtle it wasn’t either by any stretch of thought but it was great fun even though it was completely over the top the further I got into the book.

The use of the short chapters works really well and allows for all of the large backing cast to each have their own moment in the sun or fronting their own chapter. The danger is with books like this is some books you can really end up struggling to keep ontop off it with so many characters, but it didn’t really seem to impact the book here I think because off the pacing.

Apart from like I said a guilty pleasure, there isn’t a lot of faults in this book. The first half of the book is perhaps like James Patterson and Bill Clinton writing a episode of the West Wing, the second half err… feels like Rambo III.

It’s a lot better than it sounds and I did really enjoy it. As good as Run Rose Run…. Not really but it was great fun and I do recommend it.

8/10