Saturdays With Kaye: The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

The reader will be able to detect both personalities in this novel. I believe it should be classified as a techno-thriller. There aren’t any standard thriller passages, except for a brief shooting scene, and most of the tense action consists of meetings between high-level global powers, and frantic computer coding taking place in a secret room.

The story is told in first person, present tense, mostly by President Duncan. It’s not as edgy as most books written that way. That said, however, it’s a great glimpse into what it’s like to work in the White House; surrounded by so many people, it’s hard to keep track of them all at first. The president is spinning a lot of plates. His wife recently died of cancer, he is being afflicted by a rare disease that flares up under stress, and he doesn’t trust his Vice President or the Speaker of the House—both of whom want him gone. Plus, he recently committed a public blunder that may force him out of office.

Outside enemies, forcing the crisis, are unknown expert computer hackers, a mysterious hired assassin, a mole living somewhere among his six most trusted advisors, and the overall threat of “Dark Ages.” That’s the code name for what will happen if the computer virus isn’t stopped. The result will be the failure of every system connected to a computer: water, power, defense, transportation, hospitals, etc., resulting in a return to primitive living, and likely, humans turning to bloody competition in order to attain basic needs.

Once the threat has been issued and the clock begins ticking, President Duncan thinks it best that he comply with the orders from the unknown terrorists, and meet them alone. Hence, he dismisses his bodyguards and goes “missing” without informing anyone but his most trusted and loyal assistants. Or…so he thinks. A long read, but it’s also a fun

one.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Editor of Day of the Dark: Eclipse Stories, for Suspense Magazine