The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson

I got this book because I was curious to see what Bill Clinton & James Patterson would come up with together and if I would be able to pick out their voices. I think I could pick out parts that were one or the other but it was mostly a coherent read. Mostly.

I say mostly not because of a broken feeling when the words of one or the other of the authors was writing a given section but because of a few spots that gave me pause and I need to tell you about even while I am saying I would recommend you read this one if you like political mysteries.

I am pretty closely politically aligned with Clinton and I am guessing Patterson too if he attached his name to a work with Clinton. For like 98% of this book it was what you would expect to get from a Patterson novel, a mystery, a trail of clues that may or may not be real, hello red herrings, tension, a conclusion and reveal. But there were a few parts that were not part of the story and could have been there or left tout without changing the enjoyment of the novel. Now, for me it was like preaching to the choir, I already believed the things being pushed forward, the agenda if you will....for example there is a part that talks about race and the continuing problem of unarmed black men being targets of some cops, or the part about the problem of homeless vets being a disgraceful situation and needing to be fixed, and then there is an entire speech about the way we need to work together regardless of political affiliation and preserve rights for all even when we disagree, like not infringing on religious freedoms for all religions while still protecting the rights of all regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation, and like protecting the voting rights of all people regardless of political affiliation to name a few topics covered. It is a liberal speech and easy for me to take because it is preaching to the choir where I am concerned. However, I was reading this to escape the partisan bickering and wanted just a good political mystery so wouldn't have missed the political lecture even if it wasn't aimed at me since as I said I agreed with the sentiments already, and I am not sure someone who was very conservative would have been reading this one to begin with, given Clinton being co-author.

Overall though, it was a good story. But holy heck it was kind of scary, since as I am reading about spearfishing and hacking on the news they are talking about hacking the Clinton campaign and DCCC using spearfishing and the use of hacking to influence the 2016 election. The story felt too real and possible for complete comfort and it made the tension more palpable. Not great literature, but Patterson isn't presented as great literature, but worth the time to read.

(Finished July 14, 2018)