The Book of Fate

July 24, 2006
Set against a backdrop of Oval Office corruption, bestseller Meltzer's overblown thriller opens with a frantic assassination attempt on President Leland Manning, who manages to elude the gunfire. Manning's deputy chief of staff, Ron Boyle, is killed, and his top aide, the cocky, ambitious Wes Holloway, is left facially disfigured. Eight years later, his motivation and confidence drained by his handicap, Holloway still toils away for the out-of-office Manning, fetching refreshments and handling the daily social calendar. On a goodwill junket to Malaysia, however, Holloway spots Boyle, surgically altered, but unmistakably the same man who was supposed to be dead and gone. From this turning point, Meltzer (The Zero Game
) follows Holloway step by excruciatingly slow step as he tries to find out what really happened eight years earlier. Authentic details about Washington politics and historical mysteries enliven the predictable path. While readers looking for efficient plotting may be disappointed, Meltzer's many fans will enjoy this substantial meal of a book. 15-city author tour.

Brad Meltzer's latest entry to the NYT Bestsellers list sounds as good as it looks, thanks in large part to Scott Brick, who brings a sense of urgency to the characters. Wes Holloway is scarred in body and soul after the failed assassination of his boss, the President of the United States. Brick brings out the humanity of Meltzer's hero, who isn't a superman who laughs in the face of death, but a regular guy. You can hear his confusion when he sees a friend he thought was dead and his fear when he learns that the man who scarred him is back for a second try. And no one does icy villains like Brick. Better allow some extra drive time--you won't want to turn this off. M.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine