Reviews
I've never read James Patterson but I was mostly intrigued by this Clinton partnership. It's your regular potboiler pulp fiction novel where the world is about to end and the public doesn't know that. You can clearly see the parts where Bill Clinton contributed and there are plenty of similarities and callbacks to his presidency. He relishes the opportunity to bash the House Speaker while upholding the goodness of the President in standing alone against the nation's enemies. Perhaps it doesn't ring true in 2018 but keeps the readers' attention. The pace is decent and plot twists are believable. Overall, it is a better page turner than Dan Brown's more recent works.
It was pretty interesting reading a novel that had a president of the USA as the main character knowing that a president had a hand in writing it. A good summer page turner. Snippets of political preaching (which I didn't mind) and a lot of nationalism (which grew to be nauseating).
This book kept me invested from the first to the last page! Even though it’s a fictional political thriller, the plot could most definitely happen in the world making it even more thrilling to read! Big bonus is the twist was excellent and I did not see that coming.
A fast-paced, if a little (hopefully) far-fetched romp. With American politics in its current state, thinking about how Donald Trump would deal with this situation is a scary thought. When a terrorist threatens to unleash a cyber attack on the USA, the president must do everything in his power to 'serve his country', not forgetting the president's debilitating illness, a traitor and a few assassins for good measure. Sometimes, it was all a bit much for me, but I enjoyed the characterisation of the president and a peek inside The White House.
Partiamo dal presupposto che leggendo questo libro mi è sembrato di vivere all’interno di un film. Infatti la prima cosa che mi viene in mente di dire è che il ritmo incalzante degli avvenimenti e la tensione che creano certe situazioni porta a sentirsi all’interno di un film e a non voler mettere giù il libro per voler sapere di più. Sicuramente si sente la presenza di un vero presidente nella scrittura di questo libro e infatti i sentimenti del Presidente sono veramente veritieri e ti coinvolgono nel suo stato d’animo e nel suo ruolo così difficile del presidente degli Stati Uniti d’America. La difficoltà di prendere decisioni e la responsabilità che ha il presidente sulle spalle è una caratteristiche che, nonostante spesso venga ripetuta, ti viene mostrata come un qualcosa non adatto a tutti. È un libro che però manca di descrizioni, di momenti di pausa per tirare un po’ il fiato e manca anche la caratterizzazione di alcuni personaggi di cui avrei voluto sapere di più; il presidente lo conosciamo soprattutto attraverso i flashback ma sarebbe stato ancora piu interessante avere un visione più aperta anche su altri affari di stato. Senza dubbio il libro ha fatto centro nel creare tensione e suspense e nel farti sentire totalmente coinvolto in una situazione così pericolosa; infatti penso che la minaccia scelta dall’autore così vicina a tutti noi , e se vogliamo anche di non così difficile attuazione, fa in modo che la tensione e la paura ti sommergano ma allo stesso tempo fa in modo che la nostra testa diventi quella del presidente e quindi incominci a pensare come lui e a sentire gli stessi sentimenti di paura, responsabilità e minaccia. Consiglio questo libro a chi vuole un libro non molto impegnativo (infatti le pagine sembrano tante ma scorrono velocissime), che sia appassionato di suspense e di affari internazionali e che voglia sapere cosa veramente pensi e faccia un presidente in situazioni di pericolo internazionale.
Typical James Patterson with a twist. Having a former president as a co-author gives accuracy to the political aspects. Twists and turns all throughout with an unexpected conclusion. All throughout I was sure I knew the identity of the traitor. They all but confirmed I was correct in my assumptions then in a turn of events in the final chapters it was revealed I was wrong and the traitor was the person I least expected. Overall it was a brilliant political thriller and I would highly recommend it.
This was my first stab at a Patterson book and while it's totally not the kind of thing I would normally read, it was pretty fun! The pace of the book is quick which helped keep my attention and definitely made the book feel more suspenseful. Clinton and Patterson don't really have a separate voice in my opinion so I can't speak much to Clinton's writing but I think he adds an interesting perspective as the majority of the book involves very specific presidential things that I can only imagine he knows from some first-hand experience. Overall, I don't know that I'll pick up another Patterson book but I'm glad I finally tried and it was as enjoyable as this one!
Pretty interesting. I’m personally a fan of Patterson’s books and personally believe he must have written a big part of the book as for the unmistakable thriller atmosphere. Even so, I was surprised and amused, and recommend this reading.
This book was such a nailbiter in regards to the thriller. I also loved the writing partnership between Clinton and Paterson! I thought the book was so politically on point but also such a fascinating mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat. I thought some of the political details went over my head but I enjoyed the various POV characters we met and the VIP of the book was the secret service agents and they really were highlight of the book. I def enjoyed this read!
This one was hard for me to figure out my feelings for. An unprecedented attack on America is looming, and people are talking about treason. President Duncan is facing impeachment charges and all of a sudden goes missing, throwing his recent actions under a microscope. This book was really slow starting. I had a hard time getting into it, 1) because of the size (I guess I was expecting a typical Patterson sized book, and 2) because there was so much political talk that it put me to sleep. Living in the US right now, you can’t go a single day without hearing some kind of political news, so I think that weighed heavily on my enjoyment of the story. Once it picked up though, it didn’t stop moving for the remainder of the book. The chapters were short (in true James Patterson fashion), making it easy to read “just one more.” However, POVs changed frequently, and it would sometimes take a few paragraphs before I realized who was talking, which took me out of the story. There were so many complicated names to remember that I barely could remember who was who, and the epilogue at the end really drove home the author’s political take on current events (or so it felt that way). This book reminded me why Patterson is not a go-to author for me, though I did enjoy most of the fast-paced action-y parts.
I liked this novel, but. I'm not much of a fan of James Patterson's super short style of chapters. But the pacing is always well done and this was no exception. I was super excited to read Bill Clinton working his magic in fiction but was a bit disappointed in the delivery. It wasn't as thoughtful or as smart as his presidential memoir. There were a couple points where I thought, 'there is no way a president would phrase that in that manner.' But perhaps Patterson wanted to dumb it down for a more widespread audience. I was amused at the wink wink moments-- the character's name, for example, is Jonathon Lincoln Duncan, Jon Duncan. Whereas Bill Clinton is William Jefferson Clinton. I did love the ending. I felt like that was 100% Clinton speaking about the world as we are living in it. It was nice to hear again. His strong yet comforting, intelligent and forward thinking community-centered stateman's voice is certainly missing in politics today. I don't necessarily need or want another collaboration between the two of them but if they do happen to coauthor another novel I will no doubt read it, for the novelty, if nothing else. Oh, and the premise behind the novel--terrifying. We skate a fine line in modern times between modernity and self-destruction. Thanks for the wake up call, gentlemen.
Don’t let the combination of Bill Clinton and James Patterson deter you from reading this book. It has more than a couple of plot twists to keep you on your toes. I have thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
