According to my Apple Watch this book is exactly what my Mom assured me it would be, a, “heart pounding thriller to the last page.” I realize I am not acclimated to reading action packed books but I literally scrubbed my walls while listening to this book because I could not sit still. This audiobook is not safe for listening to while operating heavy machinery.
President Bill Clinton and bestselling novelist James Patterson have written a spellbinding thriller, The President is Missing.
As the novel opens, a threat looms. Enemies are planning an attack of unprecedented scale on America. Uncertainty and fear grip Washington. There are whispers of cyberterror and espionage and a traitor in the cabinet. The President himself becomes a suspect, and then goes missing…
Set in real time, over the course of three days, The President Is Missing is one of the most dramatic thrillers in decades. And it could all really happen. The President Is Missing is Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s totally authentic and spellbinding thriller. Goodreads.
The audiobook version features the narration of Dennis Quaid, January LaVoy, Peter Ganim, Jeremy Davidson and Mozhan Marno. The majority of the book is read by Dennis Quaid. While he has an occasional unevenness to his delivery I genuinely enjoyed his narration of the story. It certainly helps that you could easily picture Dennis Quaid as President Duncan.
Perhaps that is because President Duncan is the type of President only fiction and Hollywood can bring us. President Jonathan Duncan was a Marine who was captured during a mission in the Middle East but never broke under torture. He has survived the loss of his adored wife to cancer while in office and remains a loving father to their daughter, Lily. Just to pile on sympathy (and an additional pressure facet), the President has a chronic blood condition which has flared and has to be constantly monitored by physicians. On top of everything else, the President is being investigated by the Speaker of the House for his dealings with terrorists and the word “impeachment” is being thrown around.
All of that is background for the stunning news that there is an imminent threat to the safety and security of the entire nation. President Duncan has received word that a cyber attack is coming that will return the United States to the Dark Ages. The question is, who is attacking? He should be able to turn to his well-stocked cadre of government officials but there is only one thing he knows for certain: there is a traitor in his inner circle.
I know that nothing I read in the book actually happened. Even though hour after hour I could not figure out how they would undo the damaging cyber attack or work around the need for secrecy, I thought that the resolution of the story would bring me an alleviation from the adrenaline rush this book provides. Instead, the story has stayed with me and I will admit to eyeballing books on preserving food and figuring out how much water I would need to stockpile for the end of modern times.
This espionage story has caught the attention of many readers who wonder, “How much did President Clinton really contribute to the book?” I don’t actually care what percentage belongs to each author but it was clear to me that certain passages can only come from a President. The insight into the office and the personal perspective of President Duncan just felt too accurate to not come from President Clinton. Not to mention that large portions of President Duncan’s impeachment troubles remind me of Benghazi. There is an excellent article about this subject from The Guardian if you are curious. Regardless of individual effort, this heart pounding thriller was non-stop action from the first page to the last!
Tell me, please!
Have you ever read a book that left you exhausted from the action?
Silver Button Books 