I’ve been wanting to read this book for just one reason – the collaboration between James Patterson and Bill Clinton. Undeniably Clinton and Patterson hold the essential ingredients to whip up an excellent political thriller. Why? The blurb describes it precisely – “with details only a president could know and the kind of suspense only James Patterson can deliver…”

While that’s what I was hoping for, I personally felt that they both failed to deliver. Unfortunately the information provided in the book falls short off being extraordinary, and hence the reader is able to somewhat predict the ending of the book. Right from page 143 when the ‘president’ announces that ‘there’s a traitor in the White House’, you know who it is. At least, I did. But I continued reading hoping for the infamous Patterson plot twist that pops up in most of his Alex Cross novels. Sadly, there were none.

Were my expectations too high? I guess they were considering the individuals involved. So what were the major drawbacks?

• The lack of suspense: Reading a book titled ‘The President is Missing’, the reader expects the president to be kidnapped or kept under lock down at some point. After reading around 100 pages I realized that the president would be narrating a good part of novel and I, the reader, would know his exact whereabouts. This was a massive let down. The narration would have been more interesting if the reader, like the other characters in the novel, was not aware of the president’s whereabouts. A narration from Augie’s point of view for instance, would have spiced things up.
• Cliches: The novel was full of it. A backstabbing best friend, a deadly assassin and a relentless villain who is ultimately over-powered by a bigger force – in this case the dubious government of Russia. 
• Characters lacking in substance: Jonathan Duncan does not make a good president nor a good protagonist. He is simply too good to be true. Patterson seems to have taken extreme measures to avoid adding any dark undertones to his protagonist, possibly to avoid the inevitable backlash on the ‘real’ president Clinton. Carolyn Brock is a questionable character from the start and there are subtle similarities between her and Monika Lewinsky – for instance Brock losing face for using the word ****sucker. 

On the other hand it contained a number of excellent quotes on democracy and the challenges faced when running a country. Listed below are some of my favorites:

• “Participation in our democracy seems to be driven by the instant gratification worlds of Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook and the twenty-four hour news cycle. We’re using modern technology to revert to primitive kinds of human relations.”
• “One of the greatest ironies of the modern age , is that the advancement of mankind can make us more powerful and yet more vulnerable at the same time…The reason is reliance. Our society has become completely reliant on technology.”
• “Healthy skepticism is good. It saves us from being too naive or too cynical. But it is impossible to preserve democracy when the well of trust runs completely dry.”
• “All too often anger works better than answers; resentment better than reason; emotion trumps evidence. A sanctimonious, sneering one-liner, no matter how bogus, is seen as straight talk, while a calm, well-argued response is seen as canned and phony.”
• “Surrounding yourself with sycophants and bootlickers is the surest route to failure.”

Quotes like these are scattered throughout the book – and I guess it is safe to assume that these were contributions made by Clinton.

So would I recommend the book? Well, if you’re looking for a thriller or some insider scoop from the White House, this is not your piece of cake. However if you’re up for a light read with scattered snippets of fascinating information – go for it!

Overall rating: 2/5

Fact box
Author: Collaboration between Bill Clinton and James Patterson
Release date: 4th June, 2018
Genre: Political thriller

Newspaper Reviews

The Guardian
Rating: Not stated
“A former US president co-writing a thriller about a US president taking on cybergeddon was so promising – but learning that the White House has a bowling alley is about as exciting as it gets.”

The Washington Post
Rating: Not stated
“There’s no thrum of national panic, no sense of the wide world outside this very literal narrative. And so much of the plot is stuck in a room with nerds trying to crack a computer code. That struggle feels about as exciting as watching your parents trying to remember their Facebook password“