The President is Missing – by Bill Clinton & James Patterson – independent book review – Fiction

Looming Cyber-Disaster Averted by Bill Clinton’s Alter Ego. Awarded 4 stars on Goodreads:

There’s been a lot of hype around this book – written by former President Bill Clinton and bestselling author James Patterson. In fact, that was the very reason I picked it up — to see if it is worth all the hype. My answer: not quite.

It’s a political thriller — well-constructed and gripping (I read it in 3 days). If you’re a fan of Richard North Patterson, you’ve probably read political thrillers like this.

Here’s my plot summary: President Duncan (whom I assume to be Clinton’s alter-ego), recently widowed and father to a single college-aged daughter, has only a few days to save the United States from what threatens to be an unimaginably disastrous cyber-terrorist attack. Working with only a handful of his closest confidants, a few trusted allies, and a handful of ragtag computer geeks – the President must discover how to dismantle a computer virus before it crushes all the essential infrastructures that underlie the entire country.

Into this mix, sprinkle in a classical music loving assassin, a Middle East terrorist group, power struggles in Saudi Arabia, and a few suspicious Russians and you can see how this novel turns into a real page-turner. It’s a fun and fast read.

My main criticism of the book is focused on the last couple chapters. I won’t spoil it for you by describing any content. Let’s just say I felt I was listening to a Bill Clinton political speech, rather than a satisfying resolution to a novel.