User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Over the past three years, Bill Clinton and James Patterson have developed a bankable formula: In their previous thriller, a U.S. president went missing. In their new thriller, a president’s daughter goes missing.
If this keeps up, someday we’ll have to read a thriller about the president’s lost cat, his missing keys, an errant sock.
And why not? “The President Is Missing” was the best-selling novel of 2018, demonstrating that, as in politics, nothing sells like name recognition. Tellingly, “The President’s Daughter” opens with a shout-out to Washington super-agent Robert Barnett, who convinced these two American brands they could cash in yet again. It’s the economy, stupid.
Readers expecting a sequel, though, will discover that this new novel offers an entirely different cast of characters. “The President Is Missing” gave us President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan, a former Gulf War hero who battles a dastardly terrorist. But “The President’s Daughter” gives us President Matthew Keating, a former Navy SEAL hero who battles a dastardly terrorist. It’s a change as startling as the shift from tan to beige.
With this brave and monogamous hero, Clinton has once again revealed such a naked fantasy version of himself that you almost feel embarrassed for the man. And that’s pretty much where the revelations peter out. The publishers claim that Clinton has contributed information that could be provided only by a former president — or, I would add, by somebody who’s. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
Rating: really liked it
If they think they've kidnapped some typical college kid who's going to demand a pillow and safe place, Mel is relishing the chance to prove them oh so very wrong.
…
I quickly sit up, pull my SIG Sauer, and I'm on top of him now and press the muzzle end of my pistol right under his chin, and I say, “You talk too much.” And I pull the trigger twice, blowing off the top of his head.
The first novel by the odd couple of James Patterson and former President Bill Clinton, The President is Missing, was completely unserious and yet completely entertaining. But could their follow up effort,
The President’s Daughter, live up to the guilty pleasure heights of the first? Fear not,
The President’s Daughter is bigger, brasher, and equally absurd.
President Matt Keating orders an attack in Libya on the world’s most dangerous terrorist, Asim Al-Asheed. But by the end of the operation, Al-Asheed has escaped, his wife and daughters are dead, and President Keating’s political prospects are dim. Several years later, after losing his party’s primary and the Presidency to his Vice President, former President Keating is living a quiet life in New Hampshire. Quiet, that is, until Al-Asheed takes his revenge by somehow sneaking into the US and kidnapping … (checks title) … The President’s Daughter!
Now, this plot could be the basis for a serious, weighty, and realistic story.
The West Wing did an arc on this exact idea, and those episodes were some of the most emotional and dramatic of the entire series. And this book does have some interesting observations about the life of an ex-President. But I’ve withheld one fact that will reveal why this story was delightfully unserious: former President Keating just so happens to be, in an amazing, necessary coincidence, a former Navy SEAL.
The President’s Daughter is full of clichéd characters. The writing is fine, though the book constantly repeats characters’ names and jobs, as if not trusting the reader to remember who’s who. The plot moves quickly, and the book is formatted like a typical Patterson novel, with short chapters and lots of little cliffhangers. There are interagency squabbles and political intrigue, and the motivations behind the current President’s actions are difficult to fathom. Eventually the book becomes a military thriller, written by two men who never served, so get ready for some off notes, some lucky coincidences, and a stunningly resourceful kidnap victim. Still, if you’re looking for an unserious romp, you could do a lot worse than the entertaining
The President’s Daughter. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Rating: really liked it
The President’s Daughter is a smart, taut, utterly fantastic roller-coaster that had me holding on for dear life: a combination of every parent’s worst nightmare — a daughter abducted by a terrorist with a scimitar — and the inside world of Washington, DC, (a place where, arguably, the knives are pretty damn sharp, too).
Rating: really liked it
This review was first posted on Mystery and Suspense. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews.https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/th...President Matt Keating was a Navy Seal, a Congressman from Texas, and Vice President before he ascended to the presidency, and he means to protect America.
So Keating orders a drone strike on vicious Libyan terrorist Asim Al-Asheed, who captured and crucified a Navy Seal and slaughtered women and children in cold blood.
The attack misses Asim but kills Asim's wife and two daughters. Keating is appalled by the death of innocents and goes on TV to apologize.
Given the mood of the country this is a bad idea, and Matt's disloyal Vice President, Pamela Barnes, challenges him in the next election and wins.
Matt is now living in a wooded retreat in New Hampshire, his wife Samantha - an archaeologist - is supervising an important dig in Maine.....
......and the Keatings' 19-year-old daughter Mel is a student at Dartmouth College.
Mel is too old for Secret Service protection, and when Agent David Stahl - who's in charge of Matt's Secret Service detail - tries to safeguard Mel with trainees, the Barnes administration makes him stop.
This is unfortunate because Asim Al-Asheed, who's furious about the death of his wife and daughters, has been planning his revenge for years.
Thus when Mel is hiking in New Hampshire's White Mountains with her boyfriend Tim, Asim kills Tim and kidnaps Mel.
Asim makes demands, but President Pamela Barnes, under advisement from her machiavellian Chief of Staff Richard Barnes, who's also her husband......
.......doesn't take the steps Matt expects her to.
In the meantime, China sees Mel's abduction as an opportunity. The United States has been putting pressure on China by filing lawsuits over copyrights and patents, complaining to the World Trade Organization, and running ships and planes near Chinese bases in the South China Sea. Chinese officials want to improve relations with America......
......and order their agent in Libya, Jiang Lijun, to make a deal with Asim Al-Asheed and rescue Mel. However Jiang blames America for the death of his father, and engineers plans of his own.
When President Pamela Barnes drags her feet over meeting the terrorists' demands, Matt reaches out to his friends in Saudi intelligence and Mossad, who agree to help search for Mel.
Matt then launches a secret rescue operation of his own.....
.....which is discovered by Pamela. The president is vexed, fearing a heroic Matt would vastly outshine her, and she's willing to do almost anything to stop him.
Meanwhile, Mel is in the clutches of Asim Al-Asheed and his cousin, but she's not the shrinking violet they expect. When Matt became president, the Secret Service told Mel what to do if she was kidnapped, and these directions - along with Mel's innate smarts, nerve and bravery - serve her well.
Not everything in this book is as it seems, and Matt's side has some nifty moves of its own, with planes, helicopters, satellite images, drones, weapons, a certain thumb drive, sheer nerve, and more.
The story is told from the rotating points of view of the major characters, and zips along at a steady pace.
My major quibbles with the novel are the stereotypical characterizations of the wicked foreigners, and the depiction of President Pamela Barnes - who lets her pugnacious husband Richard call the shots.
A male president would NEVER be portrayed as following directions from his wife.
That aside this is excellent escapist literature, an exciting page-turner that would appeal to fans of thrillers.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
Rating: really liked it
Never sure what to expect when his name dons the cover of a book, I reached for this James Patterson thriller with some trepidation. After reading just a few pages, I was hooked and could not get enough of this collaborative effort with former US President Bill Clinton. The story was both intense and well-structured, with details that added to it throughout. Patterson and Clinton write well together and keep a political, emotional, and dastardly high throughout the plot, leaving the reader to wonder what’s to come. I could not put it down and can only hope that they will collaborate once more, in the coming years.
The presidency of the United States is a delicate balance of decision-making and appeasing the masses, as Matt Keating has come to discover. On one fateful night, while trying to extract some soldiers in a far-away land, President Keating made a fateful mistake and caused a gaffe that resonated around the world. The fallout of this led to his own vice- president challenging him for re-election and Keating was sent packing from the White House.
With a new Administration in control, the Keatings return to some semblance of order in New Hampshire, trying to recapture a life of solitude and normalcy. However, Matt Keating’s past can never entirely separate itself from him. While out hiking one day, Mel Keating, the former First Daughter, is come upon by a group of men. They take her into their custody an set off a series of panicked calls. Mel Keating has been kidnapped and the Secret Service meant to protect her has failed.
What begins as a small panic soon turns disastrous, as ransom demands are made by a powerful terrorist group, claiming retribution for an attack in Libya years before. Matt Keating is beside himself and does all he can, but the new POTUS stands firm with her decision not to negotiate with terrorists. After a video of Mel Keating’s execution is broadcast, things turn dark and the world takes notice.
As a former Navy SEAL, Matt Keating cannot sit idly by and wait for fate to take its course. He vows to do al that he can to find the man responsible for the kidnapping and murder of his daughter, seeking his own form of retribution. Working back channels and avenues no politician could be expected to know, Keating travels to the far reaches of Africa in search of a man who has also lost a great deal. Two fathers, a similar sentiment in them both... one fate. A stellar piece of writing from both Patterson and Clinton, which kept me flipping pages and gasping.
While I have had mixed results when it comes to novels by James Patterson, this was one book that did not disappoint in the least. The writing was top-notch and the story continued to develop throughout the reading experience. I could not get enough of things and kept pushing to learn more with each moment I had to enjoy. Patterson and Clinton make a formidable duo and their style is sure to impress many who enjoy the thriller genre. Mixing politics with personal passions, the story was truly impactful and sure to be talked about well into the future.
While Matt Keating is the obvious protagonist, the story pulled on the first hand accounts of many throughout the experience. The struggles of being a world superpower cannot be dismissed, but it is Matt Keating’s role as father that fuels much of his development in the novel. Having had to make some tough decisions, it is all on his shoulders to right a wrong, or at least save his family from the fallout of his choices. His grit and determination is like no other, as he faces down many who would again wish him to fail. The love of a father cannot be overlooked, on both sides of the coin.
Experiences drawn from the Clinton White House surely flavoured parts of this book, but they can only go so far to create a stunning thriller. The writing must take the reader that extra step and create a story that is worthy. Patterson and Clinton do that here quite effectively, pushing the limits with political backstory and emotional development. The narrative worked well to drive things forward, gaining momentum with each passing chapter. The plot did not remain stagnant or follow a linear path, but rather twisted at the right moments and kept the reader on the edge of their seats. Strong characters on both sides emerged, as well as a third party with their own ideas on how to capitalize on the situation, making for added intrigue when the time was right. I could not get enough of this piece, which still included the Patterson-esque short chapters to tease the reader throughout. I can only hope there is more to come by these two men in the foreseeable future.
Kudos, Messrs. Patterson and Clinton, for a winner. Just what I needed to pick me up at this time of year!
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Rating: really liked it
This is the second political thriller written by Patterson and Bill Clinton, and like the first, features a president who has to take matters into his own hands when a crisis occurs. There was quite a bit of set up at the start of this novel before we got into the action. Vice President Andrew Keating became president when the sitting president died. This angered the person he chose for his VP, who felt she should have been the rightful president. She ran against him and won. So we have former President Keating, President Barnes, the President’s husband, who is also her Chief of Staff, and a bunch of other players. The president’s daughter is kidnapped, and due to political maneuvering, there is going to be no rescue mission. A very tense political thriller!
Rating: really liked it
The 19 year old daughter of former President Matthew Keating is kidnapped by a Libyan terrorist who blames Keating for the deaths of his wife and three daughters. Keating is at odds with the new president, his former vice president, so he forms his own plan to get revenge for the kidnapping. He uses his contacts in the current administration, as well as contacts he made around the world, to launch a military style operation. At the same time, Chinese spies have their own plans with respect to the kidnapping.
I liked this book more than the first book in the series. Although there is no denying that the plot is improbable, the book is always entertaining and sometimes thrilling. I hope the authors continue with the series. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by a full cast. I don’t know who read which part, but the man who narrated the Matthew Keating part was very good, with a light Texan drawl. I did recognize the first voice on the recording, it was Dion Graham. As always, he was terrific. 4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
I was surprised by this book. I didn’t read the prior book because I thought it was just a cookie cutter type book that Patterson has been doing and Clinton’s name was just a hook. But in fact, it was a pleasant read. I could see Clinton’s input in the sections narrated by President Keating.
The book is long at 608 pages, but the short chapters help keep it moving. I enjoyed the fact that each chapter was a first-person narrative by different people. I got a personal perspective of a number of people which to me made it more interesting. The story is action packed. I found it interesting that there was information about the relationship between the US and the various countries in the story. The book is a good read, and I recommend it.
I read this as a hard back book. It is 608 pages published on June 7, 2021 by Little, Brown & Company.
Rating: really liked it
Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com
‘The President’s Daughter’ is the second offering from Bill Clinton and James Patterson. This time we meet ex-POTUS Matthew Keating, a former SEAL who was arguably too honest for his own good as President. The book is delivered in five parts with an epilogue at the end. The chapters are short and we see the action in the present tense from a multitude of perspectives in the third person. When we spend time with Keating, the story is told in the first person.
We meet a SEAL team on a mission to capture a notorious terrorist; as an opening hook, this works well as a catalyst for events that follow and Keating has made a vengeful enemy for life.
We witness the adjustment Keating has to make when he no longer has the ultimate power he enjoyed as president. The ex-FLOTUS, Professor Samantha Keating, is now following her own career and their daughter, Mel, is based with her father in New Hampshire and is delighted to no longer be followed everywhere by a security detail. However, this makes her an easy target for a terrorist group who want to extract revenge on her father for ordering the neutralisation of their leader, Asim Al-Asheed.
How much effort is really being put into securing Mel’s release? Will the former president remain passive as the agencies of state try to find his daughter? As an ex-SEAL, the answer to the latter question is emphatically no. He will go back into the field and to the ends of the earth if necessary to find his child.
What unfolds is a story based on the tried and trusted theme of good versus evil. The pages are filled with political intrigue, in-fighting, rivalry, jealously, resentment, frustration, anger, blackmail, betrayal, and fear, versus the unconditional love and loyalty and shared values of a committed family.
There are many diverse individuals, as one would expect in a real life situation but it is often difficult to incorporate so many names into a book. The co-authors get around this by giving the reader a succinct backstory to embed each new person, no matter how brief their appearance. I enjoyed the supercharged relationships between some of the characters, particularly the sour dynamic between Keating and his former vice-president. I was happily prepared to suspend reality as the story unfolded but found the teenage Mel’s steely grit and determination in the face of life-threatening adversity, perhaps a little too incredible.
As with the previous book written by this partnership, the plot, structure and syntax, read very much like a trademark James Patterson novel with literary techniques galore. It’s an exciting, fast-paced, all-action, easy read and it will definitely appeal to Patterson fans. I award 4.5 stars.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 ☆If due to the pandemic you've been missing summer blockbuster movies with action, gunfire, and international intrigue, then
The President's Daughter may partially fill the void. Because while this thriller is fast-paced entertainment, it also requires a hefty suspension of disbelief. Think of the POTUS from "Independence Day," sprinkle on the father's desperation from "Taken," and then from other films, add some action from an elite military squad against a terrorist cell.
Former POTUS Bill Clinton has again collaborated with James Patterson in crafting a thriller novel. I haven't read their first effort. Clinton's involvement was clear in the depiction of the down-and-dirty politicking, D.C. gridlock, and other parts of presidential work, including the Disposition Matrix database (aka the kill list).
As a congressman, vice president, and then POTUS, I at least had the illusion that I could make decisions and choices, and most times, they were followed through with as they filtered down through the bureaucracy.
The President's Daughter had a strong and engaging beginning. An unsuccessful SEAL mission in Libya planted the seeds for a vendetta held by terrorist Asim Al-Asheed and the end of POTUS Matt Keating's bid for re-election. Keating described the SEALs' target, Asim Al-Asheed - as a
"freelance terrorist with no ties to a nation-state, like one of the evil types Ian Fleming used to come up with back when things were simpler, but with a worldwide network of supporters."
After Keating's retirement to his New Hampshire property, his 19 year old daughter, Mel, was kidnapped in broad daylight. Although the plot's pacing remained brisk, Clinton's wishful thinking began to emerge. Not only was former POTUS Keating a veritable eagle scout who was respectful of civil employees, suspicious of politicians' agendas, and yet free of underhanded political machination, but he was also a retired SEAL. And the fraternity and bonds of the military were titanium strong because the kinds of assistance an ex-politician, even a former POTUS, could muster were eyebrow-raising.
The men and women out there now, in the field, doing their very best to find Mel - I trust and believe in them.
But their superiors, the directors and bureaucrats with clean fingernails and stained consciences?
Not so much.
Out there in those government buildings are deals to be made, grudges to be maintained, and in this emerging crisis, I know that some hard hearted souls will be seeing this as an opportunity for their own advancement, and nothing else.
The story did benefit from the political maneuvering between the current and the newly retired POTUS. The plotline was further flavored by outside interference reflecting that we're in a global society. And given current geopolitical realities, the two authors had chosen an operative from China.
This was my second novel from James Patterson, and I remain on the fence about his books. This type of scenario could have turned very intense and gritty but the two authors didn't take
The President's Daughter in that direction. For thriller fans, it felt like PG 13+ entertainment which presented a very (if not
too) positive image of the former president, the daughter, and the Secret Service. I decided to read this because I had just completed Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, a fantastic nonfiction about the Secret Service. And I couldn't help but compare the historical accounts with the imaginary depictions which sometimes augmented but usually decreased my level of enjoyment. POTUS Keating's comment -
"If being weak is taking responsibility for your mistakes ... then I'm all right with them" - definitely was one of those that made me ponder.
I'm giving this 3.5 ☆ and I vacillated between rounding it up or down. It's a popcorn thriller that will be very satisfying for some.
Rating: really liked it
My review is on my website www.bookread2day.wordpress.com
I didn’t read the book The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson, but The president’s Daughter can be read as a standalone thriller.
The hardback The President’s Daughter is split into 4 parts and an epilogue.
This story The president’s Daughter a political thriller with easy, short chapters of a few pages per chapter. Matthew Keating is a one-time Navy SEAL and a former US President. He is a good man, he’s always cared about his family and defended them and his country.
What I loved about how Bill Clinton and James Patterson is how they had the knack for setting the scenes in the rooms so well with all polished floors filling cabinets, computers, and television screens, it all clearly tapped into my imagination to imagine every room and every character.
Matthew Keating is a one-time Navy SEAL and a former US President. He has always cared about his family and his country.
Alarm bells should ring for Mr.President when he is told, terrorists are keying up to strike to kill him. What the president is not expecting is for his daughter Mel Keating to be kidnapped. This is every parents nightmare. My mouth went dry fearing the horror of what the kidnappers will do to Mel. The president now has the tough challenges ahead is trying to get his daughter back. The biggest question is just how is the president going to get Mel home and will he have to strike a deal with the kidnappers to get his daughter back safely ?
With the tension inside these chapters I have to recommend reading The President’s Daughter.
Rating: really liked it
601 pages of pure thriller
It took me a few chapters ( my fault for not reading the blurb such was my keenness to read this ) to realise this is 100% stand alone and nothing to do with the previous ‘The President Is Missing’…..it is a completely different family and thus story, so both can be read in either order
It is fantastic, it really is, the story superb, the writing top notch/edge of seat stuff and the mix of Patterson’s story telling and Clinton’s experience and insight just makes for a tremendous affair!
There is a part in the book that is so ‘No, this can’t happen, it can’t’ then it does it really jolts you and from then on the book is one non stop adventure, it is tense and feels real and puts you right there, part of it
I loved everything about it and so hope they do a 3rd book
An amazing collaboration, an amazing book
10/10
5 Stars
Rating: really liked it
If there is one thing this book has reminded me of, it is how much I used to enjoy reading a good old all action thriller. The pacing, the tension, the thought that everything hands on a knife edge and everyone is conspiring against out hero in their aim to achieve a positive outcome. That's exactly what we get with The PResident's Daughter, a tense, action filled political thriller in which former US President Matt Keating faces a race against time to save his daughter from a terrorist who is holding a very personal grudge against him. But it's not just the obvious adversary he has to watch out for - not everyone in the home quarter has his back ...
Talk about your edge of the seat thriller. From the very beginning, in which the authors skilfully set up the background to this most personal of grudge matches and the reason for Keating's fast fall from grace, I found myself hit with the tension and atmosphere I love, and that heart pounding pace and excitement that really drew me into the novel. Although Keating's role in this particular episode is very much back seat, the moments we did spend with him I was drawn instinctively to him as a character. With his chapters told in first person, you get a feel for who Keating really is, a blend of honour, humility and perhaps a touch more honesty than his advisors would like him to display. I liked him. I was happy to spend time in his company. Which is just as well the scene is well and truly set for one hell of a bumpy ride so liking the protagonist is definitely key.
I do like the way in which the characters have been developed in the book. Although a lot of our focus is on Keating, and his point of view or perspective on those around him, there is enough time spent in the company of other key characters to determine who we like - definitely pro SS Operative David Stahl, and Keating's wife Samantha and daughter Mel, without question not in favour of Keating's successor or her closest advisor. Mel was a great character and I think that she was portrayed with just the right amount of intelligence, bravery but also vulnerability to make her an authentic character. It would have been easy to make her too capable, to assured, especially given her circumstances through most of the book, but. for me the balance was just right. Determined, defiant, but still scared. And I loved how Samantha maintained her integrity but. stepped up and played a very canny game when the time came.
The balance between the action and the emotion worked well for me, the authors drawing us right into the heart of the military and rescue operations with a plethora of technical detail which I'm sure is part fact, part fiction - they're not going to give away all of the US security secrets after all. But it was enough to keep the interest there without overwhelming with detail, slowing the pace and therefore the tension. It flowed well, the pacing only dropping when the more emotional scenes play out, but lulling you into relaxing just a fraction too much before the stakes, and the speed, pick up once more. I'll admit that the first third of the book is perhaps a little slower, while the story is established, but once you get into the heart of the novel, I really found myself tearing through it, fully focused and driven by the action on the page. I have the fitness tracker data to prove the impact it had on me.
If you like a top notch, political based action thrillers, then this is definitely one I'd recommend. Yes - some of the story may push the boundaries of what may be believable, but then that's the fun of a great novel. It carries you off and takes you to a place where you just don't care. I cared about the characters, I was completely engrossed in the story and I loved the action and the pace. After studying to American history and politics to degree level, I never really saw myself reading another book written about or by a US President. Just goes to show you - never say never. Loved it.
Rating: really liked it
I don't rate books 5 stars very often. THis one was a great read and a fun one. Lots of action and suspense. The book fulfilled its mission.
Rating: really liked it
Embarrassing is probably the best word. Trite, superficial, silly. Big macho super hero above the law believes the end justifies the means as long as his will be done. We’ve come to adopt that sort of culture , it seems, but I long for the culture where community mattered and a couple of friends could shake hands and it meant something. All this psychopathic killing of others in the name of “my” interests seems abhorrent to me. I hate that a former president promotes such a world view.
In addition to hating the plot, the flat characters and the theme, I found the writing itself about at the 10 year old level..I’m not meaning to insult literate 10 year olds. This book is just plain atrocious.
