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The President Is Missing
January 2019: Action-Adventure
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The President is missing, by James Patterson, Bill Clinton, and David Ellis, 4 stars
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This is on my TBR! Glad you enjoyed it.
One of my indulgences on a resent bookstore binge. Your review has pushed it a little higher in that particular TBR tower!
This is on my shelf too. Thanks for the review, I'll move it up the pile now!
I’m really glad this was so good. Next time I’m on a thriller kick, I’ll definitely bear it in mind
Never read Patterson, but was intrigued by the title because Clinton is involved. Sounds like the audio could be quite interesting especially with Dennis Quaid.
Good review! I have read James Patterson's Alex Cross books and really enjoyed them.
I second Meli's thoughts exactly. Could be an interesting first delving into Patterson.
Did you guys know he writes YA thrillers? (I think they are thrillers....)Anyone read those?
I was also intrigued to check him out with those YA titles.
Actually Patterson doesn't actually write his books... David Ellis, the 3rd name listed, is the primary author. Patterson is a brand, just as are Tom Clancy, Sidney Sheldon, Stieg Larsson, and Robert Ludlum books now being written and published under their respective names long after they have died. Or just like Harlequin romances, for that matter. Patterson just had the smarts and wit to cash in on it while still alive (well, Clancy and Sheldon did too, but not to same extent). Here's a very detailed article on the phenomena: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/ma...
Not that there is a thing wrong with it or with reading the books. I just think there is a lot of misperception about Patterson as a writer out there, and it irritates me given that genres that are also written to specific guidelines are belittled while Patterson gets writer credit doing same thing using a stable of writers.
Theresa wrote: "Actually Patterson doesn't actually write his books... David Ellis, the 3rd name listed, is the primary author. Patterson is a brand, just as are Tom Clancy, Sidney Sheldon, Stieg Larsson, and Robe..."Interesting. I know that Patterson had a "factory" but I thought he wrote more of this one given all the media appearances. I stopped reading him years ago because there was so much repetition of his favorite elements. It seemed like he had 9 favorite ingredients, and each book had 3-4 of them mixed them up in different ways. Bringing in new writers was smart, as long as they can generate new ideas to add to mix.
Speaking of ghost writers, do you know who wrote the books that were attributed to the character Richard Castle from the TV show Castle? Nikki Heat was one.
I don't know if the character of Castle was patterned after a particular writer (he looks a little bit like Baldacci), or if the book idea came later. I haven't read them, but I thought it was a very smart marketing idea.
Theresa wrote: "Actually Patterson doesn't actually write his books... David Ellis, the 3rd name listed, is the primary author. Patterson is a brand, just as are Tom Clancy, Sidney Sheldon, Stieg Larsson, and Robe..."Holy shit, I had no idea... I will have to dig into that article later.
I would think that sucks for the writer under Patterson not getting credit. Or maybe they are compensated as much as they want to be?
Ditto - I had no idea Patterson was the brand not the writer. I just thought he was wildly prolific!
I didn’t know either, and it feels a little disappointing. I knew about Stieg Larson and children’s writer Matt Christopher, that people write under the brand and concept after death, but not while living! I think the one that upset me the most is Sidney Sheldon. Because those were the first books that I read that made me a reader. When I first started to really enjoy reading his were the first that got me going. It was from Sidney Sheldon to Danielle steel when I was in my teens. I can still vividly remember reading those books. That makes me a little sad.
The article that Theresa posted is really interesting - he obviously runs his books entirely as a business and has a significant amount of control over all aspects of the process. If he’s listed as sole author, it sounds like he does the writing. But having co-authors for different genres allows him to produce a lot more books. He’s more like a law firm partner - he directs the output (creates a story outline and does in depth QA) and he’s responsible for it, (his name’s on the line) but it’s the other people who do most of the grunt work. They get credited but he’d get a higher proportion of the proceeds. It’s smart business thinking and the stories are obviously fun. I’m just used to thinking of writing and literature in more ‘purely’ creative, original or highbrow terms rather than writing to order or seeing readers as a market that can be served in a more formulaic way
I have not read this book but I did see an interview a while back when it was first published on CBS Sunday Morning with both Patterson and Clinton. Mo Rocca did the interview. It was around the time of #MeToo was at it's peak meaning just about every week some well known slob was getting his due. Anyway, mid-way thru what was an otherwise softball interview, Rocca asks Clinton a series of questions from whether he should have resigned (vs. been impeached) when he was president, whether Obama was idolized by the press, thoughts on President Trump's Twitter habits, etc. Poor James Paterson, he just kind of sat there and suffered thru what he thought was supposed to be a nice media spot for his book. I am interested in reading it, as I understand it focuses on cyber-security which is a very scary topic.
Charlie wrote: "I have not read this book but I did see an interview a while back when it was first published on CBS Sunday Morning with both Patterson and Clinton. Mo Rocca did the interview. It was around the ti..."I saw that interview. I felt like cheering for Mo Rocca! I don't think I'm going to read the book. I don't want to upset my ostrich-like ignorance.
I gave this book as a Christmas gift to one of my friends. I am glad for the good reviews as I have not read it yet.
This book intrigued me when I first heard about it. It's somewhere on my TBR...
I was very disappointed. I knew that Patterson's quality had diminished to the point the books published under his name were unreadable. But I thought maybe he would come out of retirement to work with Clinton. I thought the President in the book was unbelievable, the plot incredible and could discern little of Clinton's input except for his knowledge of a secret way out of the White House.
Lewis wrote: "I was very disappointed. I knew that Patterson's quality had diminished to the point the books published under his name were unreadable. But I thought maybe he would come out of retirement to work ..."After reading thrillers off and on for 40 years, it's hard to find one that's really realistic, so I dropped that expectation. Just like when I read a fantasy book.
I saw the Clinton influence every time the president talked about the morality of a decision. It seems to me that Clinton was aware that people might judge him for something the character in the book did or didn't do. Instead of taking an action that others might find practical or expedient, the character tended to moralize, discuss, or justify decisions first. It dragged the narrative down a little, but I do like to know why characters do what they do.
Several times he discussed why he doesn't want secret service agents with young children on certain types of assignments.
Clinton was also clearly a part of that long speech at the end.
I had heard another reviewer say: "Clinton wrote the president he wanted to be..." or something like that. Saying this president was meant to represent the legacy he wishes he'd left behind.Sounds accurate.
There is a lot of physical action in the first half of the book, and the second half focuses more on understanding the threat, finding solutions to prevent it, and figuring out who else is involved (both in the US and elsewhere). There is a suspected traitor in the president's inner circle, and he doesn't know who he can trust.
I found it interesting that some some world leaders and their tech experts were invited in to help. There were some interesting characters here, and they felt real. I enjoyed some of the conversations and relationships within this group of leaders. I got the sense that some of the dialogue was based on high level conversations or meetings that occurred in the real life. A lot of the white house scenes and the problem-solving sessions also felt somewhat authentic (except for one of the tech meetings which was so simplistic it made me groan).
It was nice to see that the book has an abundance of women in high level positions. Plus, the smartest techie in the book is a woman, and there is a highly skilled hit woman with an interesting back story. It doesn’t reflect current reality, and it might be a political statement, but it’s nice to see.
As you would expect, the book contained quite a bit of political rhetoric, some throughout the story, but mostly at the speech at the end. Clinton doesn’t get to give a lot of political speeches these days, so I wouldn’t begrudge him that indulgence. It’s not crucial to the story, so you can skim right over it if it’s too preachy. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes political thrillers.
(view spoiler)[ The President assembled a group of technical experts to help, and he attacked the problem with technical, diplomatic and military efforts. I don’t know if this was a political statement or not, but it highlighted the importance of having strong allies, and getting help from experts when dealing with complex problems. Tip to future presidents: You can't do it all yourself, and no matter how smart you think you are, you need people to tell you what you don't already know. (hide spoiler)]
Audio note: The audio performances are mostly good. Dennis Quaid gives it a lot of energy. The weakest part is that a 20 year old Russian "kid" is made to sound like a 50 year old smoker.