The First Gentleman: A Thriller

by James Patterson; Bill Clinton

Genres: Fiction

1 pages, Audio CD

Published June 2, 2025

Reviews

[Virginia Fontaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read. It kept you guessing until the end if he was guilty or not guilty. This is the 3rd book I've read by Patterson lately (I stopped a long time ago because he novels were too much of a formula) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe the partnering of him with Bill Clinton added believable and interesting information?

[Diane Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh….the first one about the daughter was riveting. Suspenseful, well-conceived characters, easy to follow story line. Maybe my problem was I listened to the Audible version and the main narrator was about a half a second too slow. It was hard to listen to at times. And the story line was a bit too convoluted. I tried but this is not a favor of mine.

[Hina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I've read a James Patterson book, but I feel like I remember that someone always dies. That is true here as well. I was surprised, but maybe I shouldn't have been, that one of the central characters died early in the story. In The First Gentleman, co-written with Bill Clinton, it's easy to where Clinton's contributions shine. This is a story about First Gentleman Cole Wright, husband of President Madeline Wright (hey, can we get a FEMALE President of US in real life as well? pretty please??), who is being investigated, and then put on trial, for the murder of Suzanne Bonnano, a cheerleader who he dated during his time as a member of the Patriots football team. I have never cared for this kind of spectator sport, so it just makes me roll my eyes how revered and god-like a (former) football player is deemed to be. Both in this story and in real life.

Bill Clinton, with his knowledge of the Presidency, (and also, I'm sure, drawing on the experiences of his own spouse, Hillary Clinton), allows for a level of detail and authenticity about dealings in the White House that wouldn't be possible with Patterson alone. Though I have to say that it- the story, the conspiracy, the details- often felt like TOO MUCH. Just how large is this web, how many people are involved, who can really be trusted?

This book is divided into three sections, which I can't perfectly recall since there is no table of contents. But, to the best of my memory, the first section is the investigative part, which seems to have begun with Garrett Wilson and Brea Cooke's quest to write a book about the First Gentleman and his role in the death of Suzanne Bonanno. The second section is the trial; while the first section had my head sort of spinning by all the information and the huge cast of characters, the second section was much easier to follow since it was essentially taking place in a closed environment. The third section is post-trial, because, it turns out, getting a verdict in a murder trial isn't always the end of the story. There's more information to be uncovered. Including, but especially, the truth.

While I think this was a very good book, I just didn't feel that it was, to me, a great book, though I'm not sure I can quite pin down the reason. Maybe because some of it seems outlandish, like people conveniently remembering things from 17 years ago, and that they're even able to be tracked down. But it was a good enough book that I'm intrigued to read the other two books on which the authors collaborated: The President Is Missing and The President's Daughter.

[Gretchen Waitley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio. On the plus side, they had different people voicing different characters. However, there were a couple of voices that were just hard to listen to. So while I’d recommend it, I’d say read it and don’t listen to it.

Spoilers:
1. I thought it was completely unbelievable that the jury found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So many reasons to doubt and no real solid irrefutable evidence.
2. WTH at the end? We don’t ever really hear what happened with Pierce and how they nailed him. One minute he’s talking to Brea, and the next, the president is talking about how she shouldn’t have trusted him.
3. IRL, when additional evidence comes up after someone is found guilty, it seems like there’s a lot more legal wrangling to get the conviction overturned; 1st gentleman or not. And the police don’t keep looking for a new suspect when someone else has been found guilty. Say nothing of is not having a clue how Pierce was taken in and how they figured all that out. The whole thing seemed to fall apart at the end for me.

[Tracy Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. I thought it was an intriguing topic and it was definitely enriched by have co-author Bill Clinton, who clearly provided great details on how things run at the White House, with the Secret Service, etc. It was a little predictable as I got farther in book, but had other elements that kept me guessing.

[Donna DeYoung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spent a lot of time developing the characters before it got to the heart of the story.

[Pamela Persson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply loved this book!!! I know I will read it again

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not great literature. But fun

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an easy read. I didn’t find it overly thrilling but there were enough twists and turns to keep it interesting and I looked forward to picking it up every night.

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading the Dutch version, unfortunaley goodreads hasn't the dutch version in their list. Only the audio version in the Netherlands.