Still having barely enough reading time this June, I reached for an easy to read book, more like an airport read…
Author : Brad Meltzer
Date of First Publication : September 5, 2006 (Hardcover)
Publisher of First Edition : Grand Central Publishing
This Edition’s Publication Date : May 1, 2007 (Paperback)
This Edition’s Publisher : Warner Vision
ISBN-10: 044661212X
ISBN-13: 978-0446612128
No. of pages : 622
The Story :
A crazed assassin attacks the U.S. Presidential entourage at a NASCAR race and changes Wes Holloway’s life forever. Wes, the President’s aide, survives with disfiguring facial while the President’s best friend, Ron Boyle, is shot and killed. But after eight years, Wes spots Boyle, very much alive. The CIA and the FBI are after him for information and the assassin is on the loose once more. Now Wes must figure out the mystery of Boyle buried in old crossword puzzles, Freemason history and Jefferson’s two-hundred-year-old codes, before the Book of Fate catches up to him.
The Review :
One of the factors influencing my decision in purchasing a book is the one-liner reviews from respected magazines, newspapers and authors, just like these encouraging comments for the book:
“Move over, Da Vinci; take your code and shove it!…a page-turner.” —- Liz Smith, New York Post
“Meltzer’s tale of intrigue and pathos in politics engrosses.” —– Entertainment Weekly
“A teasing code and a tireless pursuit….the jolts just keep coming.” —- New York Daily News
Most of the time I can rely on these little snippets. But this is one time these people have completely missed the mark. How they can describe this book in glowing terms make me suspect these may be paid opinions.
As a thriller, it isn’t so thrilling. Meltzer has given us a bland plot sprinkled with mysterious symbols, both of which seem to make the book trail sadly after Dan Brown’s wake. With puzzles, symbols and the references to the Freemasons (for perhaps more mystery), it looks like Meltzer is simply trying to cash in on the tidal wave from Dan Brown’s popular theme of weaving symbolism into his thrillers.
Alright, he says he meticulously researched everything. I am not disputing that. It’s just why try to style yourself, no matter how much less, after another author?
One other thing, it feels as if Meltzer is trying too hard. Why the FreeMasons are so crucial to the plot, I haven’t a clue. Even the schizoid character, Nico, seems simply thrown in to up the ante albeit being an unnecessary angle. Moreover , the whole story simply does not focus on its title, The Book of Fate, which from beginning to end appears to be some sort of vague Bible. There is not much reference to it nor does the plot give it any importance. I believe the novel was probably titled so because it just sounds great and intriguing. After all, it must sell, sell, sell!
To Read Or Not To Read :
Reading this book is like grabbing something so one has something to do. After all I’ve said though, it isn’t very bad when you get down to reading it but it isn’t great either. Rather mediocre. A read, toss, and forget-about-it novel of which its mediocrity is its merit of getting you adequately by when you’re just killing time.
In A Nutshell :
In the end, you come out not clear about what the novel’s Book of Fate really is. Oh and the whole conspiracy theory is really not much of an attention grabber, either. Again, bland and boring.
The Book of Fate is definitely an airport read, if you don’t mind the watered down Dan Brown wanna-be. It’s engaging in the first dozen or so pages then the gripping interest peters out and the action stays on an even keel throughout the middle. Not an engrossing piece; but guaranteed you won’t miss your plane with this one.
My Mark : Mediocre — A not so thrilling thriller