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.

[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