The Book of Fate

The Book of Fate by Brand Meltzer is a bit out of my normal range of reading--but what a fantastic read! The beginning almost lost me, so hang in there. A few chapters in and the suspense is pulling you, the characters sound like people you might know (even if you don't work for The President), and the writing disappears. I mean that as a compliment. To me, when a book works I'm not really aware of reading it. The writing can disappear because the images are in my head and I'm not aware of reading as I turn the pages. In fact, later, I may not remember whether I read this book or watched the movie. And a movie I suspect it will be one day soon, if the ink's not already dry on the deal.

The storyline has all the markings of popular movies of the day: U.S. history, the Masonic guild (is that the proper term?), terrorism, and the Oval Office.

The only thing I found disconcerting was the shift between the first-person scarred Presidential assistant, wounded by a ricochet at a supposed attempted presidential assassination and the third person chapters that filled in detail. It's a weak cheat to me. The book would have been stronger without it. Yet, it's still a riveting thriller.

Wes Holloway is a cocky young Presidential assistant who, to make up for an earlier scheduling blunder, offers a ride in the Presidential car to a top advisor. When that same man is shot and apparently killed while stepping out of the President's car, Wes himself is severely wounded by a ricochet bullet, one that takes away both his physical means of expressing emotion (due to a partially paralyzed face) and the emotional ability to feel much. When that same man suddenly appears, alive, Wes is left trying to figure out who knows what, who he can trust, and why the man was shot. If the top three government agencies aren't to be trusted, where do you turn? To your friends, of course. But in the political world, who are your friends?

Really, a fun fun read. The book makes me want to explore this genre a bit more...or at least go back and read some of Meltzer's earlier books.