http://lampbane.livejournal.com/59007...

"The back cover copy of Book of Fate talks about the Masons, a '200-year-old code devised by Thomas Jefferson' and 'a decade-old crossword puzzle that conceals secrets worth dying for.'

Okay, the only part the Masons play in the book is that the crazed assassin character is obsessed with the idea that the Masons are behind everything. They aren't. The Jefferson code doesn't come into play until there's only 100 pages to go (of the 500 pages of novel) and they don't even bother fully explaining/decoding it. As for the crossword puzzle, sure it conceals secrets, but secrets worth dying for? I think that's a bit of promotional exaggeration. The crossword puzzle is a MacGuffin, like almost everything else in the book. I could summarize the actual plot in the book in about three or four sentences. Instead we endure 500 pages of rising and falling action, points where it feels like they're about to ascend to the climax but then you realize there's still 300 pages to go.

Despite that, I found the book passable. The dialogue is snappy and Meltzer does a good job of conveying action, and he really did his research. What really killed it for me though, was the main character. Wes Holloway, presidential aide, was injured and scarred during a failed assassination attempt on the president, and eight years later, all he does is whine whine whine about how no one will hire him and no one will love him and everyone just stares at his horribly scarred face. Look, anyone who watched a colleague bleed out on the pavement and then had their face torn up by a stray bullet is entitled to their share of PTSD. It's understandable to have nightmares and be paranoid for years after something like that. But the "oh woes me" attitude is pretty ridiculous, because he pretty much blames the incident for everything that's gone wrong in his life... things that I'm not sure would go wrong. He's a former presidential aide and he can't get a new job? Really. Girls are repulsed by the sight of his horrible facial deformity? Sigh. People won't stop staring? Well duh, that's what they're biologically programmed to do, it doesn't make them bad people. By the end of the book things start to turn around for him, which I guess shows it was all in his head, but you have to wonder if he deserved the White House job in the first place, since it feels like he wasn't made of stern stuff to begin with." ( )

Really fun politcal thriller. Tons of twists and turns, you dont know who to trust, who the villians are, what everyones motives are. A very complex thriller that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. ( )

Wes Holloway was once an ambitious aide to the President of the United States. When an assassin's bullet permanently disfigures Wes and kills one of the President's closest friends Boyle, Wes is wracked with guilt. But when Boyle turns up, seemingly unscathed, eight years later, Wes is determined to uncover what really happened.

I loved the fact that Wes was not one of your typical strong, cocky heroes. In fact, he's incredibly emotionally vulnerable after the incident, and his mental health is largely supported by his devotion to the former President. I loved watching him wrestle with the idea that his 'rock' could be involved in this kind of plot. Wes' vulnerability both increases the stakes and sets this apart from many thrillers. As for the Masonic premise...it's not that I needed a far-fetched conspiracy involving the Freemasons - but when that sort of thing features so prominently on the cover & jacket copy... well, WHERE were my Freemasons?

More at my blog. ( )

August 20 2009: I just finished this book. The combination of a crazy assasin, the President (and staff), and Freemasons made this a fun book to read. ( )

Nice characterization. The crossword puzzle doodle code a bit difficult in the audio version but easy to skip over. A big reach to infer a Masonic uber plan. Many other plots and subplots to satisfy. ( )