The Book of Fate

While I think that some of the plot "twists" were obvious, I very much enjoyed this book. It is a combination of action, suspense, and conspiracy. I will read more of Brad Meltzer. ( )

Good read. ( )

This conspiracy thriller may never be fated for any movie treatment. There are several mysterious characters, power-mad intriguers, and complicated plot twists too intricate for any producer to accurately capture the mood of this novel. But not to worry.

The material contained in this novel may seem extremely familiar, especially if the reader has viewed any “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded” series that has been featured on the History Channel. Seminal ideas supporting the TV series are used throughout this work. Freemasons are exposed in “The White House,” “Statue of Liberty,” and “Secret Societies” segments and federal government agencies’ finagling are traced in “D.B. Cooper,” while the underpinnings for this book’s plot involve “Secret Presidential Codes.” Add to this complexity the psychotic visions of an assassin guided by some mystic Book of Fate (“2012”) and the novel is complete without being fatalistic.

The plot essentially follows Wes Holloway, a Presidential aide who is wounded during a very public assassination attempt by a deranged sniper manipulated by a cabal. Within a decade of his survival, Holloway encounters the supposedly accidentally murdered President’s friend and, with the help of a clever roommate and a newspaper gossip columnist, he plunges into globe-trotting searches for the phantom only to be pursued by and finally exposing the disguised forces at play.

The action, of course, unwinds through four or five various threads, each interlaced with thrust-and-parry exploits contained in these short 117 chapters. There are nice touches of humor to keep reader’s interest, even if some of the characters aren’t that attractive or if the numerous technical explanations bog down.

Unfortunately for today’s readers, some of the technological aspects and instruments employed in the book do show their gray whiskers. That’s the fate of a story using six-year-old technology. Current readers might wonder why no viral videos, personal blogs, phone cameras, or smartphone texting aren’t used. For those techies, consider this work a period piece—or view “Decoded” for any upgrades. ( )

This story was another okay read from Brad Meltzer. From the description on the cover I thought I was going to read a story about Masons, codes and the book would be a thrill to read. The Masonic plot never really developed and the ancient codes was a big let down. I suppose this book was marketed to perk up all the readers that enjoyed Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code" and they would step up and buy this book. The marketing ploy worked on me, because I bought it. In summary, its not a terrible read, but with a little more time spent on developing the story by the author, the book could have been a great read. ( )

i enjoyed this book a lot. my only complaint is that the description on the cover was incredibly misleading as to the content of the book. it was a fun romp, but it wasn't as "conspiracy theory" as i was hoping. ( )