The Book of Fate

by Brad Meltzer

"Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead. None of us knew it was coming."

So says Wes Holloway, a young presidential aide, about the day he put Ron Boyle, the chief executive's oldest friend, into the president's limousine. By the trip's end, a crazed assassin would permanently disfigure Wes and kill Boyle. Now, eight years later, Boyle has been spotted alive. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back into disturbing secrets buried in Freemason history, a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, and a two-hundred-year-old code invented by Thomas Jefferson that conceals secrets worth dying for.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Adventure

616 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 5, 2006

About the author

Brad Meltzer is the Emmy-nominated, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod, The Escape Artist, and eleven other bestselling thrillers. He also writes non-fiction books like The JFK Conspiracy, about a secret plot to kill JFK before he was sworn in – and the Ordinary People Change the World kids book series, which he does with Chris Eliopoulos and inspired the PBS KIDS TV show, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. His newest kids books are We are the Beatles, We are the Beatles, and I am Simone Biles. His newest inspirational book is Make Magic, based on his viral commencement address.

In addition to his fiction, Brad is one of the only authors to ever have books on the bestseller list for Non-Fiction (The Nazi Conspiracy), Advice (Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter), Children’s Books (I Am Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln) and even comic books (Justice League of America), for which he won the prestigious Eisner Award.

He is also the host of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History and Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel, and is responsible for helping find the missing 9/11 flag that the firefighters raised at Ground Zero, making national news on the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Meltzer unveiled the flag at the 9/11 Museum in New York, where it is now on display. See the video here. The Hollywood Reporter recently put him on their list of Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors.

He also recently delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan, in front of 70,000 people, including his graduating son. Entitled Make Magic and called “one of the best commencement addresses of all time,” it’s been shared millions of times across social media. Do yourself a favor, watch it here and buy the book here.

For sure, it’s tough to find anyone being so successful in so many different mediums of the popular culture. But why does Brad thrive in all these different professions? His belief that ordinary people change the world. It is that core belief that runs through every one of his projects.

His newest thriller, The Lightning Rod, brings back characters Nola and Zig in a setting that will blow your mind (you won't believe where the government let Brad go). For now, we'll say this: What's the one secret no one knows about you? It's about to come out. Nearly 2,000 five-star reviews. Raves by everyone from the Wall Street Journal, to James Patterson, to Brad's mother-in-law. Plus that twist at the end! And yes, the new Zig & Nola thriller is coming soon!

His newest non-fiction book, The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy -- and Why It Failed, which he wrote with Josh Mensch, is a true story about a secret assassination plot to kill JFK at the start of his Presidency and, if successful, would’ve changed history.

His illustrated children’s books I Am Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln, which he does with artist Chris Eliopoulos, were written for his own children, to give them better heroes to look up to. Try them. You won’t believe how inspired you and your family will be. Some of our favorites in the series are I am Mister Rogers and I am Dolly Parton.

His other non-fiction books, Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter, are collections of heroes – from Jim Henson to Sally Ride — that he’s been working on since the day his kids were born and is on sale now, as well as History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time.

He’s also one of the co-creators of the TV show, Jack & Bobby.

Raised in Brooklyn and Miami, Brad is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School. The Tenth Justice was his first published work and became an instant New York Times bestseller. Dead Even followed a year later and also hit the New York Times bestseller list, as have all thirteen of his novels. The First Counsel came next, which was about a White House lawyer dating the President’s daughter, then The Millionaires, which was about two brothers who

Reviews

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother warned me before I started the book so I shall warn you as well, because it was good to go into this book armed with the information I was told. Ignore the summary of the book, or most of the summary at least. It's written to sound like another Da Vinci Code with hundred year old secrets being unearthed... but that's not the case. Yes, Thomas Jefferson is involved... but maybe a page's worth altogether, not even enough to merit being mentioned on the back cover. I think if you pick up the book expecting old American mysteries being uncovered, you will be greatly disappointed, as my mom was. That's why she told me... and I wasn't disappointed with the book.

It was actually a good read. I'm not all that into mysteries, especially modern day ones with cliched twists. But this book still kept me relatively interested. A couple of times I was surprised with the things unearthed and revealed, but a lot of times I saw the "twist" coming. Those of you who are huge mystery buffs and could probably out-Sherlock Mr. Holmes himself will probably find this book rather tedious after the first dozen chapters after everything had been set up.

This is a book I would classify as a light mystery that makes you feel smart... or dumb depending on how knowledgeable you are about the government and history. Okay, so it's a light mystery for smart people, a complicated and confusing read for those who are ignorant to things besides Paris Hilton's latest shopping excursion. For me it was kind of in the middle, I'm far from dumb, I do know my history fairly well and I'm not completely ignorant on the goings-on of the government, though I think not knowing that much helped me suspend reality with this book. Any government official who may read this book will probably be thinking, "You can't do that!" "The president is not allowed to..." "That's not even plausible in this day and age!" throughout their entire read.

A bonus point was that the characters were not your stereotypical leads in a mystery novel. None of them could be described as glamorous. The book had just enough action to keep you reading but not so much you became overwhelmed and bored with it right away. It also starts with a bang, and that first chapter may be a good indication of whether or not you're going to like the book.

So if you're not dumb or a government official (don't even start with the comments that those are the same thing) more than likely you'll find this book a fun read. Just remember what I said... this is far from another Da Vinci Code, despite what the back cover may try to tell you. You go into it with that mind set, you will be sorely disappointed.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a quintessential airport book. It reads extremely quickly, the plot is fast-paced (and dubious at best), and it appears to be written at a third-grade level. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've loved every minute reading it, even though it's completely trashy.

If you ask me a month after I've read this book what it's about, I won't be able to tell you the plot. I'll only be able to say "Masons", and though that's a subplot in the book, it's not the main plot.

[Bart · Rating 1 out of 5]

A big, fat, flying "F" for the Book of Fake, I mean Fate.

This is without question the worst best seller I have ever read. Marginally better than the crap churned out by James Patterson, but at least he can claim that he doens't actually write any of it anymore. I think it's a machine . . .

But Brad Meltzer presumably still writes his own books, so he alone bears the blame for this lazy, implausible, utterly non-sensical drivel.

The worst part of it is the cynical marketing ploy of putting Masonic imagery on the cover. There's not even the barest justification of it in the plot, but I'm sure it suckered in a bunch of DaVinci Code fans.

[Rosemary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I can now say I've read a Brad Meltzer book.

Let no one say I can't learn from experience.

It will be the last Brad Meltzer book I read. It was so awful I can't even bring myself to iterate the reasons.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an awful book! A water down version of authors (Brown, Baldacci, Patterson, etc) who have come before him and already written this story BUT BETTER! It was like Meltzer was trying to form a melting pot of all these authors and write a better version of their story when in truth it was exactly the same but lack anything interesting, exciting, or remotely engaging.

The story is called the Book of Fate but where the hell was it? I thought there was going to be the huge conspiracy involving this book written by the Masons, showing off history of DC and the government, with assasins running around trying to kill people...BUT NO! BORING AWFUL, there was no Book of Fate, nothing to suggest it, and a weak presidential conspiracy involving forgettable characters and no racy love scenes. I can't believe this guy's a best selling author. My fate became nothing after reading this piece meant for the garbage.

[JBradford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I‘m breaking a rule by giving this novel a five-star rating, which I do not generally do for novels unless they are so unusual as to the extraordinary--but, frankly, I think this book falls within that range. The intriguing thing to me is that I have just glanced through a sequence of reviews of this novel (which I normally avoid doing beforehand, because I generally find them as useless as the publishers’ summaries on the back covers; the intriguing thing is that the vast majority of these reviews gave the book a one star rating and panned it left and right, with many of them complaining that they had thought it was going to be as good as a Dan Brown book but were disappointed. Since I do not care at all for Dan Brown’s books and I thought this one was fantastically good, I guess that puts me in the minority--but I’ve been there before.

This was a book that I plucked off a book-swapping shelf at the hospital last week, selecting it largely because the title made me think of the nonexistent book that Dean Koontz keeps referencing. I was reading something else at the time, but an empty interval appeared, and I picked up this book to start reading it for my traditional hour of reading the end of the evening. That turned out to be a big mistake, as I slumped lower and lower in my big plushy recliner chair and found myself turning page after page trying to keep up with the action. I had never read one of Brad Meltzer’s books before, and I found myself fascinated by the way he kept jumping back and forth between different actions and different actors in very small chapters, keeping the reader aware of parallel lines of activity and wondering how on earth they are all going to come together and how things are going to be worked out in the end. Let’s face it; as readers of mysteries, we all know that in all probability the hero protagonist is going to figure out who did what and defeat the villain in the end. But we’ve come a long way since the days of “the Butler did it,” with authors finding ever new ways to keep the reader interested. I was not really surprised to later find that Meltzer has also worked as a writer of successful television dramas, such as The West Wing; his novel reads like just such a show.

The book begins with an event that happened eight years in the past, when a young assistant to the then president of the United States of America makes a quick political decision and as a special favor invites someone who is giving him a hard time into riding in the president’s car enroute to a presidential appearance at a NASCAR race. When they rush onto the field and get out of the car, an assassin suddenly appears, except that the person he kills is not the president but the favorite guest, with a ricochet bullet also seriously disfiguring the face of the young presidential assistant. Eight years later, when the now ex-president travels to Malasia to give a speech, that same young assistant dashes into a room he is not supposed to enter and finds himself face-to-face with the same person who was killed eight years before. Thus begins a race against time that introduces the reader to a potpourri of inside information about how politics works, how Washington staffers interact and get treated (and mistreated), together with a collection of interesting historical facts, and the development of a non-romance between the ever running assistant and an overly persistent local reporter who smells a Big Story between the lines.

As I said, this was the first Brad Meltzer novel I had ever happened to come across, but I was so impressed I visited my local library the day after I stayed up half the night to finish the book. To my delight, my library had a shelf full of his books, and I found that the one I selected to read next was even better! Now what do I do--give that book six stars?

[Dakota · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really amazed that Meltzer could draw this book out for as long as he did. In the beginning there is a disclaimer about his "in-depth research" on the Free Masons. If you paid any attention while reading you would have realized that there is no signifigant mention of the Masons, or any sign of deep reseach.

This book did not end well and the story line itself was lacking any real substance. It seemed to me that he wrote this with a movie deal in mind, not really paying any attention to content.

He has his own television show, but like Meltzer, the people on the show are clueless and often insult viewers by humoring ridiculous theories and over-acting.

I really hope Meltzer stops writing books and gets a job more suited his skill set, perhaps community college creative writing.

[Brenda H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by Brad Meltzer -- though there are several on my TBR Pile. I enjoy his writing style: the multiple points of view, the doling out of clues, the varied chapter lengths. He kept me, as the reader, guessing til the end in this political suspense novel which means that I'll be coming back for more.

There were, however, 2 things in this story that are keeping me from rating it a 4: 1) I never really felt a connection with any of the characters. In fact, I found the main character both annoying and weak and 2) the story was a big tease. Initally, it appeared that the plot was going to involve significant detail re the Masons as well as the Founding Fathers but that all seemed to get lost as we got further into the story. Ultimately, the Masons ended up just being a side note to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed the read due to the style and the "spy" intrigue more than the characters or the promise of secret orders.

Rating: 3.5

[Jim B · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a poor imitation of National Treasure and The Davinci Code. The book's promoters claimed a connection to Masons and a Thomas Jefferson code, but this was an insignificant part of the book.

The book could have been edited to 1/3 the length -- characters kept repeating the facts to each other and yelling, "Are you listening?" (which gets annoying on an audio book!!).

Appeals to emotion were made in the same way throughout the book and (Scott Brick)the narrator's voice showed how predictable the conversations were by always using the same pattern.

[Carl Alves · Rating 3 out of 5]

As expected with a Brad Meltzer novel, The Book of Fate is very complex filled with plot turns and conspiracies. It’s the sort of novel that you have to play close attention to. In this novel, Wes Holloway is an aide to President Leland Manningnow. An assassination attempt is made on the president. The chief of staff, Ron Boyle, is killed in this assassination attempt and Wes is badly injured and disfigured. The novel forwards to years later when Manningnow is no longer the president, but Wes is still working for him. He finds out that Boyle is not dead, and is alive in Malaysia. Let the conspiracies begin.

As with most Meltzer novels, this is a page turner. It’s very intriguing to the end. However, in this novel he really goes over the top with the conspiracies to the point where the believability aspects are stretched to the limits. The reveal at the end wasn’t what I was hoping for, and really hurt the buildup. It was an interesting read, certainly fun, but not overly satisfying.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street

[Vanessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought it for $0.10 from the library. I shouldn't have wasted my money. The first 100 pages were promising (Attempted murder of the President, secret group of powerful players, religious fanatic in jail awaiting new orders, loyal kid who stumbles onto hidden truths) then....crash-boring, unimaginative, and silly. I had to skip sections in order to finish it. Bad.

[Devyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I lost a valuable sliver of my life reading The Book of Fate when I could of been doing literally anything else. Curse my gullible perseverance!

[Colleen (NerdyWoman) Kayter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was such a big fan of Meltzer's books and lamenting the fact that he is not as prolific as others who write legal thrillers. I rushed out and bought a hardback copy of this book the day it was released. What's the old saying about a fool and his money...?

This book could have been extremely good. I gave up half way through it. What ruined it for me was the 3-page chapters and frequent scene/location changes.

I think the problem lies in the author forgetting the purpose of writing. Prior to the publication of The Book of Fate, Meltzer began writing scripts for TV's popular "The West Wing" series following the departure of the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin.

With TV, you can't stay in the same room for 60 minutes, have long dialogs between two or three characters, or delve into narratives about the back story or the character's motivations.

These are the very elements that are so necessary when writing a story that is to be read rather than acted out on stage or screen. And these are the elements that The Book of Fate was fated to omit due to Meltzer's change in occupations.

If other readers find this book worth reading... more power to them. But if you want to see what this author can really do and do well, pick up The Zero Game, The Tenth Justice, or The Millionaires.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer
4★'s

From the Book:
"Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead. None of us knew it was coming."

So says Wes Holloway, a young presidential aide, about the day he put Ron Boyle, the chief executive's oldest friend, into the president's limousine. By the trip's end, a crazed assassin would permanently disfigure Wes and kill Boyle. Now, eight years later, Boyle has been spotted alive. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back into disturbing secrets buried in Freemason history, a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, and a two-hundred-year-old code invented by Thomas Jefferson that conceals secrets worth dying for.

My Thoughts:

I loved the story line and will say that I had given the book a 4.5 star rating with the expectation of a perfect 5...until... It had exciting action at every turn. A story with characters that you could love and trust in one chapter and hate and distrust before the next page. Everyone could have been the good guy and everyone could have been the bad guy. So what happened? An ending that went on and on and on and then an epilogue that was about ten minutes longer than it needed to be. Just didn't have the punch that the first 114 chapters had, not to mention that we never really found out what the tie in was with the Masons. That being said...it was an enjoyable book. I loved Brad Meltzer's television series, "History Decoded" so I will certainly read another of his future books.

[Eadie Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Brad Meltzer book. All in all, it was a very good read but I was disappointed as I expected a lot more information about Thomas Jefferson and the Masons. There was some tie-in to the story but not as much as I expected. I did enjoy the characters and the plot was very interesting. I had to read slowly at times because things seemed a little confusing and more concentration was needed. There were quite a few twists and turns and a surprise towards the end but the ending was a little drawn out. These complaints will not deter me, however, from reading another of Meltzer's books because I did enjoy his writing. I would recommend this book if you enjoy reading about presidents, FBI, CIA and the secret service.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was somewhat reminiscent of the Da Vinci Code, but the writing was nowhere near as good or engaging. OK not great.

[Steph Ollman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good page turner set in US politics. I was put off by the blurb as I thought it was going to be Da Vinci code style, but it wasn't!

[Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start with this:
If you liked the Robert Langdon novels, then you'll enjoy this political thriller.

This book had my attention. I'm not usually a fan of political stuff, but the way Brad Meltzer wrote this was fantastic. I'm not going to give away any spoilers. Read the book to find out what happens.

Just when you think you've got it figured out, another twist and another turn appear.

[Denise Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5.
Oh my goodness, such a long book.
I found myself glossing over parts after the first few chapters and losing interest.The chapter set in the cemetery was unbelievable. We have people being shot and beaten and passing out from the pain yet a few minutes later they appear to be almost fully functioning with one character grabbing another by the shirt and "whipping me around like an Olympic hammer throw".

[Zia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A conspiracy theory gone wrong, can be anybodies nightmare. The elephant man seeking answers being chased by lies... I wonder if this novel ever became a movie? (Please let me know, thank you).
Overall twisted thrilling suspense dangling on the edge of my seat.

5.5 Blasting Stars

[Natalie Bak · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars is more like it. Overall, an interesting, fast-paced read with lots of action. I simply enjoyed the fact that it reiterates my mantra of “trust no one but yourself”. Wish it would’ve had a deeper dive into the Masons though

[Joe Ohlenbusch · Rating 2 out of 5]

beginning was awesome but then it was just dragged out

[Melenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Audio was great and so was the story!

[Paula Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a 3 1/2

This was my 3rd time trying to read this book. I should have liked but....it felt flat and one dimensional.

I have other books of his but struggled so to finish this.

[Kacee Moreton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down!

[Ellen Spes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am usually not fond of stories surrounding politics. This one was a pleasant surprise.

[Mark Wall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s ok but doesn’t grip you like a Baldaci or Mariano

[Emma Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little cheesy in parts but it's Meltzer so i loved it ❤

[Tyler Cooksley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts were okay and ending was decent but didn’t really trip my trigger

[Nicole Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is no one talking about how much Brad Meltzer likes the word “Formica” ?

This book was a mix of new age political conspiracy and scandal and the DaVinci Codes mystery and puzzle solving. The cover is a bit misleading, as the main story line doesn’t follow a Freemason conspiracy directly but there are mentions to it and historically correct references. There are enough twists and turns to keep you from wanting to put the book down, I finished in three days.