Over the past three years, Bill Clinton and James Patterson have developed a bankable formula: In their previous thriller, a U.S. president went missing. In their new thriller, a president’s daughter goes missing.
If this keeps up, someday we’ll have to read a thriller about the president’s lost cat, his missing keys, an errant sock.
And why not? “The President Is Missing” was the best-selling novel of 2018, demonstrating that, as in politics, nothing sells like name recognition. Tellingly, “The President’s Daughter” opens with a shout-out to Washington super-agent Robert Barnett, who convinced these two American brands they could cash in yet again. It’s the economy, stupid.
Readers expecting a sequel, though, will discover that this new novel offers an entirely different cast of characters. “The President Is Missing” gave us President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan, a former Gulf War hero who battles a dastardly terrorist. But “The President’s Daughter” gives us President Matthew Keating, a former Navy SEAL hero who battles a dastardly terrorist. It’s a change as startling as the shift from tan to beige.
With this brave and monogamous hero, Clinton has once again revealed such a naked fantasy version of himself that you almost feel embarrassed for the man. And that’s pretty much where the revelations peter out. The publishers claim that Clinton has contributed information that could be provided only by a former president — or, I would add, by somebody who’s. . . .