Customer Reviews

The Book of Fate

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Wes Holloway, an aide to the President of the United States, is shot and his face disfigured during an attempt on the President's life. But that's not the worst of it. Even more devastating is the death of Ron Boyle, one of the President's close friends and advisors. Shot through the chest by the deadly assassin, Boyle bleeds to death on the way to the hospital in the back of an ambulance normally reserved for the President himself. And Wes had put Boyle in the President's car, making him feel as though he were responsible for Boyle's death.

Fast forward eight years and we find President Manning now a former President because of that "fateful" day. A picture surfaced during the scuffle with Secret Service agents and the shooter that showed Leland Manning (the Prez) behind a woman. The photo looks as if Manning is hiding behind her, even though he wasn't, thus awarding him the public name of "the cowardly lion." Wes remains at his side but his life is eventually thrown into disarray by the presence of a man who sounds like ...like Boyle. Could he still be alive?

That is the basic gist of this extremely heavy tome. To go into further detail would risk putting book review readers to sleep ...which is what THE BOOK OF FATE will do for many. That readers may actually finish the book is more an act of determination than joy, as the story is so poorly put together that its very structure nearly defies description.

However, there is one word that fits it perfectly: overwritten. Checking in at over 500 pages (or 15 CDs for the unabridged audio version), the novel could've easily been cut in half, if not in a third. Most of the problems lay with overly-drawn descriptions or overly-dramatic prose. There are so many times in the book where Mr. Meltzer (author) starts in on an initially tense action scene, only to have it fall completely flat by describing every hair follicle on a character's arm, every chair in a room, every piece of paneling on a wall, and every crook in a person's finger. It boggles the mind that an editor didn't get his/her fingers into this forgettable story and cut it down just for the sake of saving a few trees!

This one is a definite bypass...

Usually I enjoy any audiobook that Scott Brick narrates. He killed this one, I have to say.

I purchased "The Book of Fate" on the first day it was released in anticipation of a good story of the Freemasons. After starting this audiobook two times, I can't even get through CD #1 because of Scott Brick's slow, choppy, monotone narration. And, as the previous reviewer noted, the story is just too long. Could be more interesting if there were less of it! I have no desire to hang in there for 14 more CDs.

This one will go back on the shelf for awhile. Perhps it will peak my interest at another time.

Get it from the library and/or get the print version. I am sorry I rushed to purchased this one. Fortunately, I had a discount coupon and didn't pay full price!

The first time i read about his book was amazed by the following up the pages that i didn`t leave the book til I finished it but sometime his books not reachable in my country so whenevere I travell I try to get one his books, he is a marvelouse in writing ,though i read for john grisham & patterson his book is really amaizing.

Scott Brick gives us a superior reading of a decent but not superior book in the conspiracy genre. All in all, it does qualify as a thriller though one which undermines its impact by having too many plot lines which are not developed in such a manner as to earn applause when their linkage to the central dilemma is revealed.Too many times
a plot line is developed only to end up nowhere in terms of the center of action. More rigorous use of the editorial blue pencil would have helped.
Despite the author's failures, the book was entertaining and, overall,successful at creating a number of interesting characters and subplots. The reader's acting adds sufficient value to the book io make it easy to recommend as a good" listen".

Nice price for unabridged edition of this book. First read of this author, and I recommend his books.

This book actually has next to nothing to do with any Freemason conspiracy.

It is promoted as something akin to Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons", but in reality it turns out to not be like it at all. The heart of the conspiracy is actually within the US gov's intelligence beureaus who use the Freemasons as a scapegoat. Meltzer even admits to this cop-out at the end of the book by stating any group that had his uncle as a member couldn't be all bad!

For the record, I have nothing personal against the Masonic brotherhood, nor do I believe them to be an evil world-dominating organization. It's more that they are promoted as being central to this story, and they aren't at all, so I was ultimately disappointed.

If it was promoted as a government-oriented conspiracy I wouldn't have been disappointed. But the way the book is promoted leads you to believe that a secret societies conspiracy is involved and they aren't at all--except for reference to Washington DC being designed with the Mason square and compass in its blueprint, which is pretty much common knowledge.

First I would like to comment that the narrator of this audiobook was superb. The narrator can make or break your enjoyment of the story. Now that said...

The plot and characters of this book were sufficiently covered in the Amazon information as well as other reviews, so I won't rehash it here.

I will say however, there was a lot of anticipation that this involved a secret plot by the Masons, and it was in fact, not at all about the Masons. The only relation to the Masons was found when President Manning made some scribbles next to initials of White House staff and it turned out to be a secret code adopted from a code developed by Thomas Jefferson. That is where any relation what-so-ever to the Masons ends.

Also, the story was a little longer than it needed to be. I agree with another reviewer who said this was overwritten. Still... the plot was interesting enough to hold my attention to the end, which is truly the reason that I gave this book 4 stars instead of 3.

I enjoyed the story line, but for some reason it lacked the mystery I was hoping for; took me awhile to get into, but enjoyed the more I became acquainted with the characters; arrived in timely fashion and in great shape

I first read Brad Meltzer with the book, Zero Game. The Zero Game was about the game that drew in characters. Fantastic book with proper heroes and heroines throughout the heavy part of the book. The beginning was slow and the murder of the first hero threw you, but it had a fabulous plot and fantastic ending.
The Book of Fate has absolutely nothing to do with Masons other than a so called secret map of the streets of DC. The book of fate is only about the psychotic assassin and what his mother told him as a child. You only hear the reference in the mumblings of a nut case. This story starts out hot and heavy. The plot is good until there are so many twists near the ending I wanted to scream, ENOUGH! There came a determination just to get to the end. The build up at the cemetery kept me in, and then... and then... and then..... Nothing! I wanted to find Meltzer's home and bop him on the head. It is a cruel trick to lead you to such a peak and then drop you into nothingness. Yet, that is what the author did. We have no idea what happened at that cemetary other than the nutcase shot and killed a first lady. We don't know what happened to the evil Roman, who rescued whom, nothing. The next thing you know you are having a painfully stupid meeting with the former president. After going through all that nothing and ready to explode at the author, the epilogue saved Meltzer. Elizabeth was in and out as a main character, but there she was. She took a bullet for Wes, was beaten and almost died, a plump unattractive gossip columnist that ends up having a love affair with the Extremely handsome but scarred hero. You go girl! Love the green Mustang.

IF there was any significant mention/reference to Thomas Jefferson and or the FreeMason conspiracy, maybe I missed it as I nodded off during this too long, weak plot waste of good forest product. Skip this at all costs and pray they don't make it into a TV movie. The book description leads one to believe there might be a story here, there isn't. A Total waste of time!