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Dec 16, 2009

Sammy rated it:

My mother warned me before I started the book so I shall warn you as well, because it was good to go into this book armed with the information I was told. Ignore the summary of the book, or most of the summary at least. It's written to sound like another Da Vinci Code with hundred year old secrets being unearthed... but that's not the case. Yes, Thomas Jefferson is involved... but maybe a page's worth altogether, not even enough to merit being mentioned on the back cover. I think if you pick More...

2 comments like (10 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2007

Susan rated it:

This is a quintessential airport book. It reads extremely quickly, the plot is fast-paced (and dubious at best), and it appears to be written at a third-grade level. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've loved every minute reading it, even though it's completely trashy.

If you ask me a month after I've read this book what it's about, I won't be able to tell you the plot. I'll only be able to say "Masons", and though that's a subplot in the book, it's not the main plot.

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2007

Samantha rated it:

First of all I'm not going to write a plot summary since so many other reviewers have already wrote one. Second of all, I liked this book. It's not as good as Tenth Justice or Dead Even but I still enjoyed it. I think one of the reasons I did like it was because I wasn't expecting a Dan Brown secret code book. Brad Meltzer isn't him and I don't want him to be him. I didn't really care about the Masons or the Masonic code and didn't pick up this book for that. Dan Brown's next book is going to be More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2007

Duffy rated it:

WOW!!! This book has been... just wow! I never thought that I would encounter a book that has so many things going on at once. We all know that all books have their climax to it, but this book? It has been one climax after another.

It's just something that would make you hold on to the end of your seat and be still, squirm, whatever... this book has me hooked. Having all things hapening at once, its like I'm watching a great movie. In fact, you'll feel like your on the brink of having More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

Joanna rated it:

This was the first Meltzer book I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. At first I thought the short chapters were strange but as the story got more complex I think they helped to keep everything straight in my head. Some of the plot points were a bit far fetched, but what would a good thriller be without that. The ending was satisfying and not to drawn out. I've seen several reviews that say they were disappointed it wasn't more like a Dan Brown book, which I was quite thrilled about. I trie More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

Amanda rated it:

Book #12 of 2009
That was surprisingly engaging, even if it took me forever to finish it. The book basically revolves around the main character trying to figure out what really happened eight years ago when he was grazed by a stray bullet, disfiguring him for life. There was enough action and twists to keep me engaged, but some of the pieces seem like loose ends. For example, one of the characters goes to a former collegue for help figuring a code out. Although this former collegue crac More...

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Mar 02, 2009

Mary Beth rated it:

Dick Francis says you need to think about people wandering through airport bookshops when you're an author. They don't have a lot of time or patience to decide which book to buy so you have to capture them on the first page. Brad Meltzer snagged my attention with his opening sentence ... Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead. Eight years ago, someone opened fire on the President of the United States' limousine, killing one of his oldest friends and disfiguring his aide. Was the shooter a More...

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Feb 05, 2009

Jamieson rated it:

How far would you go to uncover a secret? What if the secret was so huge, so incredible, that it would destroy your life and the lives of all those around you? What if uncovering this secret would destroy the foundations upon which the world was built? How far would you go?

Wes Holloway is a presidential aide to US President Leland Manning. Having caused a scheduling error, Deputy Chief of Staff Ron Boyle missed his meeting with the President and is pissed at Holloway. Trying to smoo More...

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Nov 29, 2011

Maduck831 rated it:

“Most people would be relived. But I’ve been around law enforcement long enough to know their tricks and treats. This one’s called tone matching. Designed to subconsciously affect a target’s mood, it’s built on the fact that you tend to match the tone that’s aimed at you. When someone yells, you yell back. Whisper, you whisper back. Usually, they use it to strengthen a witness who’s depressed, or bring down a target who’s cocky.” (99) “Just because someone’s in a wheelchair doesn’t mean More...

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Oct 08, 2011

John rated it:

I picked this up because I liked Meltzer's writing in Identity Crisis (a comic), and I was amused when he included Noah Kuttler ("The Calculator") in his acknowledgements at the start. This book is a political thriller, a bit like some of Clive Cussler's novels, although it's clearly been marketed as if it's the type of thing that Dan Brown would write. In particular, the back cover talks about a 200 year old conspiracy by the Masons, but that's just a lie that someone makes up so that More...

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Aug 07, 2011

Christine rated it:

An overall very mediocre novel. One, the book mentions the Masons twice. Two, every move the characters make is predictable by a three year old. Third, the characters themselves have no dynamic. They are all exactly as you would expect them to be. It's not suspenseful at all. I was also quite drawn away by the fact that each chapter was two pages long. It diced the plot line into very, very small chunks and didn't add to the suspense at all, as I assume was the wanted effect. When I pick More...

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Jul 19, 2011

Tim rated it:

This conspiracy thriller may never be fated for any movie treatment. There are several mysterious characters, power-mad intriguers, and complicated plot twists too intricate for any producer to accurately capture the mood of this novel. But not to worry.

The material contained in this novel may seem extremely familiar, especially if the reader has viewed any “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded” series that has been featured on the History Channel. Seminal ideas supporting the TV series are use More...

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Jan 15, 2011

Shelley rated it:

Summary: Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead. None of us knew it was coming. So says Wes Holloway, a once-cocky and ambitious presidential aide, about the day that changed his life forever. On that day, Wes put the president's oldest friend, Ron Boyle, into the presidential limousine. By the time the trip came to an end, Wes was permanently disfigured, and Boyle was dead, the victim of a crazed assassin. Eight years later, Boyle is spotted, alive and well, in Asia. In that moment, Wes More...

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Mar 26, 2010

Jeff rated it:

Gina brought this home from the library and I was pretty excited. I thought it was going to be about the Free Masons. But they had little to nothing to do with the story. I'm not sure why they would even mention it because it had as much to do with the story as saying one of the characters wore a blue shirt.

It wasn't a bad story. It had some good pacing and great high moments. But like I've said before, I really don't like when a character basically goes into a soliloquy to expl More...

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Mar 24, 2010

Autumn rated it:

This book is completely absurd with an overused plot (think Da Vinci meets National Treasure), obtuse characters and bad writing. YET... I'll admit that it was quite fun to read. This is exactly the type of book you should bring on a plane ride or to the beach or in the waiting room at a doctor's office. I won't bore you with a plot summary--it's stupid--instead I'll focus on some of the aspects of this novel that you won't find on the book jacket.
1. The author reaches too high. You k More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 21, 2009

Lindsey added it

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Dec 22, 2010

Juli added it

This is the first book I’ve ever read by Brad Meltzer. When reading a “Thriller”, or “Suspense” or” Action” novel, I expect a lot of motion (i.e. main characters running from one location to another), lots of intrigue (i.e. several different plot lines going at the same time) and lots of details that are all nicely solved at their appropriate time.

Meltzer did something that many authors don’t do, he added dimension to the primary characters by making them Father and Son with a history More...

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Oct 25, 2009

Sandra rated it:

The book’s title, the art work on the paperback’s cover and the blurb on back mentioning ”secrets buried in Freemason history,” and “a two-hundred year old code…that conceals secrets worth dying for” all suggest this novel is the next DaVinci Code. Apparently it’s all just hype to sell the book, because the above are incidental to the plot, and TBOF is not like The DaVinci Code. (If I had paid real money for a DaVinci Code clone, instead of getting the novel free in a bag of books, I would have More...

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Oct 24, 2011

Jody rated it:

This is not a book about the Masons. If you think you are going to read about some deep dark secrets surrounding Washington D.C. and the Masons then think again. This is a political thriller that will keep you spellbound from beginning to end. It is a very good book and you will enjoy it as long as you are not dead set on reading a book about secret clubs and codes. I did check out the reviews on here and because of faithful Goodreads users such as yourself I was forewarned that this book wa More...

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Aug 06, 2011

Tom added it

Interesting story, though the puzzles and Masonic history that are tote on the back of the book just seemed to be added to create some intrigue ad marginal interest to a storyline with characters that you do not really become invested in. For the 3 years of research on the Freemasons that Mr. Meltzer says he did for the novel, I would have thought they would have been a bit more prominent in the book. The book does move fairly quickly though, and I do have to say how surprised I was at the end More...

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Jan 06, 2010

Sara rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jan 29, 2011

Emily rated it:

This was an awful book! A water down version of authors (Brown, Baldacci, Patterson, etc) who have come before him and already written this story BUT BETTER! It was like Meltzer was trying to form a melting pot of all these authors and write a better version of their story when in truth it was exactly the same but lack anything interesting, exciting, or remotely engaging.

The story is called the Book of Fate but where the hell was it? I thought there was going to be the huge conspira More...

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May 06, 2009

Ashley rated it:

Usually, I'm a fantasy girl all the way. Give me a book about princes, knights (even without their shining armour), and maybe throw in a pinch of magic, and I'll eat it up like it was Ben & Jerry's Phish Food. But every once in a while, you just need a break from the things you love (which is why we all eat those few vegetables before going back to the gooey brownie). My dad, who is the complete opposite of a fantasy lover, recommended this book to me, and I actually enjoyed reading it. I th More...

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Feb 10, 2012

Duckpondwithoutducks rated it:

I got this book at my local library, after seeing another book with a connection to Thomas Jefferson, The Jefferson Key. I got that one as well. I was curious as to the connection to Thomas Jefferson, as I love history. Despite being two different books by two different authors written at two separate times, they are very similar! They are both Da Vinci Code kind of thrillers, where the bullets start flying practically on the first page, and the danger doesn't let up until the end. They bot More...

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Dec 05, 2009

Dianne rated it:

Book of Fate is a great conspiracy novel about the figures on either side of an attempt to control and manipulate information for monetary gain. I bought this book after enjoying The First Counsel, and wasn't disappointed. Brad Meltzer weaves an amazing story, a rollercoaster ride that is heavily influenced by his research into the politics and procedures of the Oval Office.

Each Brad Meltzer experience is awe-inspiring, ranging from the tele-drama of Jack and Bobby, or the various t More...

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Feb 03, 2012

Dakota rated it:

I was really amazed that Meltzer could draw this book out for as long as he did. In the beginning there is a disclaimer about his "in-depth research" on the Free Masons. If you paid any attention while reading you would have realized that there is no signifigant mention of the Masons, or any sign of deep reseach.

This book did not end well and the story line itself was lacking any real substance. It seemed to me that he wrote this with a movie deal in mind, not really paying a More...

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Sep 10, 2009

Forrest rated it:

This is the first Meltzer book I have read. Maybe I had too high of expectations after reading reviews of his other books. Also my expectations were raised when I read the book's back cover references - comparing him to Dan Brown... And I had secret expectations of learning some deep dark secret/s about the Masonic Order. Well, after 38-days of reading, none of those expectations were met. This is probably the most "herky-jerky" book I have read. Not only did it have lots of late More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 31, 2011

Carie rated it:

Sometimes it takes a poorly written book to appreciate just how hard it is to write a particular genre. I have never thought of Grisham, Brown, or Baldacci as "great writers" more "great storytellers." Meltzer's "Book of Fate" helped me understand just how difficult it is to write a compelling thriller.

Book of Fate is a "B" book (ala B movies.) It just isn't as good as the real thing. There are lots of things to overlook but that doesn't me More...

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Apr 27, 2011

Kayzee rated it:

This book was as fast-paced as they said it would be but it took too long to wrap up in the end. I felt like the author was taking me for a spin just to keep me interested but I was losing interest fast.

The problem with reading contemporary thrillers for me has always been that it doesn't surprise or impress me anymore. When you're used to reading great literature, you can spot the mediocre ones that try to snag you with a "fast-paced" plot.

I wasn't blown away More...

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Feb 19, 2011

Kaye rated it:

Was expecting a Dan Brown type plot. Weak in comparison with Brown but okay. Wes is the aid to the President of the United States when an attack is made on his life which results in the shooting of the Vice President. Fast forward 8 years and Wes is still working for the ex-president when he sees the not so dead VP. Who can he trust as he tries to find out the truth about the day that changed his life. Seemed a slow start but got to where I couldn't put it down. In the forward the author m More...

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