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Liked It “The title is deceiving. But I like the whole story. It's great. It's mysterious. |
Didn’t Like It “This is the second Brad Meltzer book I have read. Bought this book after having enjoyed reading "Dead Even", my first Brad Meltzer novel. This book however is a total disappointment.The book can be written in half the content; as much of the contents are dull and unnecessary. I nearly gave up...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“The title is deceiving. But I like the whole story. It's great. It's mysterious.
otan wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The characters are all full of character. They are imperfect, they have emotion, and while reading, Meltzer makes you feel like that character.”“This is the second Brad Meltzer book I have read. Bought this book after having enjoyed reading "Dead Even", my first Brad Meltzer novel. This book however is a total disappointment.The book can be written in half the content; as much of the contents are dull and unnecessary. I nearly gave up reading the book when I was nearly half way through. I have even skipped through all the chapters about the psychotic assassins Nico especially talking to himself and his religious beliefs which is really a waste of time reading. I later decided to just scan through Chapters 60-90 quickly and get to the end of the novel but still able to understand the story. Some of the content is not even accurate such as saying Malaysian PM also spoke in Cantonese. If Chinese dialect is been spoken by any Malaysian politician, it will only be in Mandarin as Malaysia unlike Hong Kong has not that many Cantonese Chinese. Most Chinese here are Hokkien speaking but will use the unifying Chinese dialect, Mandarin, for official purpose. I know that in the past, most Chinese in US also spoke Cantonese as they were migrants from Hong Kong.
YS Lee wrote this review Tuesday, October 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I was planning to include Bred Melttzer as one of my favorites after reading his first book but this second book has changed my mind. ”
“Long, and full of suspense.”
Huy D wrote this review Wednesday, September 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Apparent attempted assassination of President not what it seems. Aide who is wounded that day finds big conspiracy 7 years later.”
Albert F wrote this review Saturday, August 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It took much too long for the story to develop. You need a story to maintain tension and without a solid story early in the book there was no tension or mystery.”
Thom wrote this review Wednesday, July 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“If you like Dan Brown' story. Sure this book is right for you. A Mason conspiracies, mystery and suspense...”
Winnie S wrote this review Wednesday, July 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Into Illumaniti or Mason conspiracies? Like politics and espionage?
Lisa wrote this review Tuesday, June 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Then this is the book for you.
Brad Meltzer--a combination of John Grisham and Dan Brown--weaves an intricate tale of presidential conspiracies that bring up hints of the Clintons' subterfuge along with a peak into the behind-the-scenes world of the president's staff.
Meltzer is one heck of a tale spinner; keeping the reader scurrying ahead; turning page after page, wondering just who dunnit.
The main character is a 29 year old former presidential aide, Wes Holloway, survived a presidential assassination but remains scarred for life. The man killed in the line of duty, the President's deputy chief of staff, weighs on Wes's conscience because of a last minute change in seating.
Until one day, Wes recognizes the dead man in Malaysia. And then the hunt begins, pulling in the CIA, the FBI, the Secret Service and the President.
I managed to read all 640 pages on one day and felt quite satisfied.”
“I liked this book. I will read his other books soon.”
Cassandra S wrote this review Wednesday, June 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“reminds me alot like douglas preston and linclon child books. historial religious mysteries.”
Mamabaker wrote this review Monday, June 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“ I really wanted to like this guy. On his website he seems really open and friendly, actually encouraging readers to correspond/comment. And he appears to thoroughly research what he is writing about. But his work doesn't hold my attention. I guess that means he isn't building enough suspense or mystery into his stories, or that he can't maintain/hold the suspense/mystery. His characters start out well-developed and written but I seem to lose interest in them and stop caring.
Mike C wrote this review Tuesday, May 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
THE BOOK OF FATE starts out good and then gets tedious until I stop caring and can't wait for the end. At 600+ pages this is a lengthy novel. I didn't finish it out of a sense of duty. I don't do that with anything anymore. I just lost my urgency to finsih this book and started reading some other things before I finished this.
My measure of a great story is that I re-organize my reading habits in order to finish it, which usually occurs much quicker than the full month it took me to get through THE BOOK OF FATE. However, I would still recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading Meltzer's fiction. It's actually good - - it just didn't resonate with me for some undefineable reason - - kind of like the way others can't get into Cormac McCarthy or even Stephen King and fail to see the attraction.
There's lots of well-researched White House administration/politics in this one, which centers on a conspiracy to tap money from the federal government in exchange for terrorist disclosures/information. There's also a crazed assassin character with misguided religious motives. There's a tie-in to hundreds-year-old FreeMason history and Thomas Jefferson, which I feel was played up more than necessary.
I got the feeling that the FreeMason/Jefferson link was expanded upon as an afterthought, as if the publisher asked Meltzer to play it up in order to capitalize on the Davinci Code craze. Things do center around a code, but the other stuff seems added and just bogs the book down with more pages.
Some of the cover and inside page blurbs confrim my suspicions = "Move over, Da Vinci: Take your code and shove it! . . . A page turner" = Liz Smith, New York Post. I disagree. It didn't get me turning the pages nd didn't hold my attention the same way as the Davinci Code did (a great book, but over-hyped - - and not as good a movie).”
