What'a snooze. I did some heavy duty skimming and still got the jist of it. I enjoy mindless fiction as much as the next person, but I can't believe this was the most popular book of 2018. ( )

I found this hidden gem at the annual "Friends of the Library" semi-annual book sale. I'd heard about this novel when it originally came out in 2018. I didn't have the time or the opportunity to read it at that time. So, I was happy to come across this copy.
I'm a fan of Mr. Patterson, so I had high hopes for "The President Is Missing". I was certainly not disappointed! From the first page to the last, this well-written novel by Mr. Patterson and Ex-President Clinton held my interest. All of the characters were intriguing and realistic. Throughout the plot, I found myself wondering what our world would be like if these events actually took place. Even though this novel was published six years ago, a lot of the issues hold true today.
If you have not had the opportunity to read this older novel, I would highly recommend it! ( )

I figured out who the traitor was by the middle of chapter 4. It seemed to have a pacing problem. ( )

I mean, it was kinda entertaining, I guess... It just wasn't the most believable? ( )

Mystery

A fun book to read. Kept your interest. Premise way over the top! No way all the events described happen at the same time. Kirkus: It?s textbook synergy, as the marketers say: A media-savvy ex-president teams up with the ringmaster of mass-produced pop fiction to churn out a by-the-numbers thriller.It?s a telling sign of the times that the very first bit of text in this scrappy potboiler by Clinton (Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy, 2011, etc.) and Patterson (NYPD Red, 2012, etc.) is a shoutout to the lawyer who brought them together ?and occasionally cracked the whip.? That said, Clinton lifts generous hunks of his own presidential biography in this yarn celebrating the gnarly President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan (think William Jefferson Clinton, natch), who is being assailed on every side. There are Islamic terrorists, but worse, the Congressional committees grilling him from Page 1 on, questioning Benghazi-like episodes in which the Sons of Jihad have been mowing down innocent Americans. Then there?s the ?tall, leggy, busty? assassin who?s coming for the Prez without rancor but with clinical certainty. It doesn?t help that Duncan?s veep�?a parasite, living off her host?¥may be plotting to take over, nor that the media is given to leaking that he intends ?to try to cut a deal with the House Speaker to spare me impeachment if I agree to a single term in office.? And did we mention the killer computer virus that?s about to turn the switch on the information age? What?s a beleaguered politico to do when the klieg lights are on and the bullets are flying? Hunker down and hit the mattresses¥but then go all Jack Ryan or maybe even all Dubya (?In the coming dayswe will find out who are America?s friends and who are America?s enemies. Nobody will want to be an enemy?), recruit a Lisbeth Salander or two, line up NATO pals and maybe even the Russkis, and go mano a mano with the assembled bad guys, foreign and domestic.Formulaic but reasonably fun provided you have no expectations concerning probability or literary quality.

Enjoyed it a lot, tight, realistic, fast with a bit of a message as well... ( )

(2018) A book that came out with a lot of hype as it was by President Clinton, but at its core it is another hack job by Patterson. A pot boiler, quick read, but down deep not really a good book. President seems to go missing but is really in deep undercover so that he can figure out how to stop a computer virus from bringing the country to its knees. He suspects his vice president and 6 others in his inner circle. Turns out it was his chief of staff who at literally the last second provides a password that averts disaster. This is why I hate Patterson, this books are pap with everything tied up in a neat bow when life is really messy and this couldn't possibly happen. Clinton gets to riff on his favorite issues of the time in the end as well. Ho-hum.KIRKUS REVIEWIt's textbook synergy, as the marketers say: A media-savvy ex-president teams up with the ringmaster of mass-produced pop fiction to churn out a by-the-numbers thriller.It's a telling sign of the times that the very first bit of text in this scrappy potboiler by Clinton (Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy, 2011, etc.) and Patterson (NYPD Red, 2012, etc.) is a shoutout to the lawyer who brought them together ?and occasionally cracked the whip.? That said, Clinton lifts generous hunks of his own presidential biography in this yarn celebrating the gnarly President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan (think William Jefferson Clinton, natch), who is being assailed on every side. There are Islamic terrorists, but worse, the Congressional committees grilling him from Page 1 on, questioning Benghazi-like episodes in which the Sons of Jihad have been mowing down innocent Americans. Then there's the ?tall, leggy, busty? assassin who's coming for the Prez without rancor but with clinical certainty. It doesn't help that Duncan's veep�?a parasite, living off her host?¥may be plotting to take over, nor that the media is given to leaking that he intends ?to try to cut a deal with the House Speaker to spare me impeachment if I agree to a single term in office.? And did we mention the killer computer virus that's about to turn the switch on the information age? What's a beleaguered politico to do when the klieg lights are on and the bullets are flying? Hunker down and hit the mattresses¥but then go all Jack Ryan or maybe even all Dubya (?In the coming dayswe will find out who are America's friends and who are America's enemies. Nobody will want to be an enemy?), recruit a Lisbeth Salander or two, line up NATO pals and maybe even the Russkis, and go mano a mano with the assembled bad guys, foreign and domestic.Formulaic but reasonably fun provided you have no expectations concerning probability or literary quality.Pub Date: June 4th, 2018ISBN: 978-0-316-41269-8Page count: 528ppPublisher: Little, Brown and KnopfReview Posted Online: May 15th, 2018Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15th, 2018

Really good page-turner. Could hear the voice of Bill Clinton VERY clearly! ( )

I wanted to rate it 2 1/2 stars but have no idea how to do so, so I stuck with 3.

The book is is a super fast read, mainly because the chapters are no more than a few pages and the writing is not deep or complicated in any sense of the word. What was fun was trying to figure out which parts were written by Clinton. Patterson isn't the greatest writer and it shows in the story and overall plot. The title also is irrelevant since the president is missing, but it only plays a minor role in the overall telling of the story. My guess is that they thought it was a great title and would bring lots of attention to the book

Definitely a good beach read though. Unfortunately the book, characters and story leave your memory as fast as a wave.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/35097255-the-president-is-missing?utm_cont... ( )

Look, I have a to-read list that realistically, I already won't finish in my lifetime unless the singularity occurs, and that's without adding any impulse reading to the list. But I was in the bookstore Bern train station, looking down the barrel of 12 hours of travel to get back home, all of my books AND all of my library ebooks that I'd brought with me already read and this was the only English language book that they had I'd ever heard of.

So. I didn't really have high expectations. And, you know, it kept me occupied for most of my flight, so that's a plus. But it's DUMB. So, so dumb. First of all, Clinton should not have written a book with a focal point of an impeachment scandal. Especially in which the impeachment scandal is apparently caused by the president trying to be a national hero. Also, the monologuing. So much monologuing. Most of which I ideologically agree with, but, still.

All of which would be forgivable if the action/adventure part of this show were good. Or lukewarm. It's 12 hours of travel time -- good is unnecessary. But it wasn't. It was dumb: first of all, there was very little action. Second of all the Surprise!Traitor was so obvious I called it 500 pages in advance. No exaggeration.

So, I guess, in conclusion, if you too have nothing to read and half a day of travel time and this is the only English language book you can find, go for it! In any less extenuating circumstances, do yourself a favor and find something else. ( )

Loved it! I could hear the President speaking throughout. Very interesting concept of how dependent we are on technology. Loved the interesting twists and turns.

Presidents of the United States have to make difficult decisions and learn which people to trust. Unfortunately, some things in politics never seem to change; divisiveness being primary. ( )

President goes missing to save the world from terrorists. Good bus book but Patterson should stick to his own and not joined forces to often. ( )

La presidencia de los Estados Unidos pende de un hilo. El presidente, Jonathan Duncan, está a punto de ser destituido y es presa fácil de los tiburones de Washington cuando, acorralado por la prensa, cuestionado por la opinión pública y sus propios colaboradores, se enfrenta al mayor ataque que Estados Unidos haya sufrido nunca. Sin nadie en quien confiar, el presidente Duncan deberá desaparecer para actuar en la sombra, aún a riesgo de que le consideren sospechoso y traidor. Tres días de infarto en los que el hombre más buscado del planeta se verá inmerso en un juego de estrategia política sin precedentes para poner a salvo el futuro de la nación.

Just could not finish this book. Characters were uninteresting. Plot was plodding. Very slow and I finally gave up. ( )

I will preface this by saying that I am not a James Patterson fan. But I think Clinton is a better speaker than Patterson is a writer so he could only improve things. And I think it did - this was quite an entertaining read. There are a lot of tongue in cheek moments that are more humorous and/or effective because you know Clinton was involved in the writing. This was just a fun, pulp read and I enjoyed it as such - a good 3.5 stars. ( )

James Patterson is one of the most versatile and prolific authors in the world, and I've enjoyed a few of his "thrillers," as well as his novels about the bird children. I bought this one, however, because I was fascinated by the idea of a major author collaborating with an ex-president on a novel.

Skip it: on their publicity tour for the book, Clinton made it clear that he served primarily as a "technical advisor," while Patterson did all the writing. And, in fairness, it's not a bad story, although not up to Patterson's usual standards. If you're a hard-core Patterson fan, you'll enjoy it. If not, you might give this one a pass.

Not recommended. ( )

President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan is fending off possible impeachment. While rehearsing for a House Committee testimony required because he is accused of working with Suliman Cindoruk, the leader of a cyber terrorist organization called Sons of Jihad (SOJ). The possibility of an imminent terrorist cyber attack, which would wipe all of the information from all computers in the United States, comes to light when a message is conveyed, through his daughter at school in Paris, detailing the presence of a traitor in his close advisors. President Duncan agrees to meet with Augie (a Suliman associate) at a baseball game. It does not go well with the Paris informant, Nina killed, and President Duncan and Augie spirited away to hiding. ( )

Excellent collaboration. Fierce characters and a spellbinding plot. I couldn't put it down. ( )

President John Duncan has to confront a terrorist threat and keep the nation from being destroyed.

Fast pacing, lots of POVs, and lots of interesting story lines in this one. Short chapters that made for tight, quick storytelling. I would enjoy another book by this duo. I really liked that the authors gave the president a fairly serious medical condition. Kudos for giving major characters disabilities and making them awesome! It was a super interesting plot. Check it out from the library for a good beach read.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. ( )

I did consider this book to be full of mystery and intrigued. There were enough clues given for you to understand what was going on but not who was doing what. There is an assassin hunting someone. Is it the president or someone working with him? There is a traitor in their midst but who is it? You don't find out until the very end and it came as a surprise to me. Will they stop the disaster in time? Well, I think we already know the answer to that but the ending is still really good, it seems to be a typical ending of coming down to the wire, but is it? I really enjoyed the book. The only reason I did not give it the 5th star is because the main character, President Duncan, was written to be a bit over the top, too good to be true, James Bond, Einstein and Ghandi all rolled into one character. Makes me wonder if President Clinton sees the presidency in that light or just himself. Whatever the case it didn't matter to me. I spent several nights not wanting to put the book down and to me that gives it high marks. ( )

My Review: A little too political ( )

I could not put this book down. Scary how this could potentially come true. Well written and fast-paced. ( )

Not bad, I listened to the audio book which was read by Dennis Quaid so that was enjoyable. But it was a good story and I enjoyed it ( )

Not bad, I listened to the audio book which was read by Dennis Quaid so that was enjoyable. But it was a good story and I enjoyed it ( )