Full masala, tadka missing

Despite a heady cocktail of characters and engrossing plot, this presidential drama has no big revelations to make

James Patterson and I have collaborated on a couple of thrillers in the past Private India [2014] and Private Delhi [2017] so I know the JP drill: storytelling scores over writing, chapters are treated like tightly woven scenes, characters are always painted larger than life, suspense is sprinkled at every opportunity and any chapter that does not advance the plot is inevitably dropped. I picked up his latest book, The President is Missing, with some trepidation because I noticed that Bill Clinton-s name appeared first on the book cover. So, would this be a Clinton book or a Patterson book?

Having read the book at a single go this weekend, I am happy to report that Patterson lives. The book is unputdownable and all the elements work perfectly in trademark Patterson style. There is a ticking clock — a computer virus called Dark Ages that could paralyse the country, a Turkish mastermind called Suliman Cindoruk who heads a terrorist group called Sons of Jihad and adding to the mix is a drop-dead gorgeous Bosnian assassin, Bach, so named because she loves classical music. Topping off the cast of characters is the ultra-hot Abkhazian Nina who has coded the virus; Lester Rhodes, the Speaker of the House, who perpetually takes political potshots at the president; and finally, President Jonathan Duncan who goes undercover to save the nation even though he suffers from thrombocytopenia, a terrible blood ailment that makes him dependent on steroids and IV drips. The icing on the cake is a traitor deep within the President-s inner circle. It-s a heady cocktail of characters, each with a deep backstory. For example, Bach is plagued by memories of the terrors that she and her family endured at the hands of Bosnian Serbs.

James Patterson. Pic/Getty Images

The fictional President Duncan is nothing like the President Clinton we know. Yes, there are some stray similarities. For example, Duncan is brought up by a single mother and meets his future wife in college just like Clinton. But the similarities end there. Duncan is a military veteran unlike Clinton who dodged the draft during the Vietnam war. Duncan is a widower who is still utterly devoted to his late wife. Do I really need to point out the contrast? Duncan comes across as a blend of Harrison Ford in Air Force One and Michael Douglas in The American President but many miles away from Kevin Spacey in House of Cards. I must admit that Clinton-s insider view on the nature of American politics and the dirty deals that lubricate the machinery of Washington DC make this particular thriller different to any of Patterson-s previous books. At times, the Clinton narrative slows down the usual breathless pace of Patterson but that is precisely what makes this story immensely engrossing and propels it beyond the boundaries of the usual airport thriller. The partnership works brilliantly.

The book is peppered with some great lines that describe the nature of the politics, press and democracy. Sample this: "Participation in our democracy seems to be driven by the instant-gratification worlds of Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and the twenty-four hour news cycle. We-re using modern technology to revert to primitive kinds of human relations. The media knows what sells — conflict and division. It-s also quick and easy. All too often anger works better than answers; resentment better than reason; emotion trumps evidence." Or this: "If this guy ever had an unselfish thought, as my mama would say, it would die of loneliness." But make no mistake. This is a Patterson book — a relentless, powerful and incessant flow of suspense, action and thrills that never stop. You are simply strapped into a rollercoaster. You do not turn the pages by choice but are compelled to do so.

Pic/AFP

The book is not without flaws though. While the people surrounding this amazingly handsome widower president are mostly women, none of them have an affair with the guy. Why? Ghosts of Monica Lewinsky? The combination of first-person and third-person narratives are vintage Patterson but they have an unintended consequence. For the reader, the president is never really missing because he is narrating a substantial part of the story. Some parts of the story could have been edited down. Case in point: several pages are devoted to guessing a single password. If you are expecting juicy insights, gossip or secrets that a former president could bring forth through a work of fiction, you will be left disappointed because there is nothing in here that reasonable research would not reveal. But frankly, none of that comes in the way of stunning gun battles, femme fatales, car collisions, capsizing boats, ticking countdowns and Hellfire missiles that zip by in the 128 short and snappy chapters that describe three tumultuous days in the life of a heroic American president.

One does not read a Patterson thriller expecting literary genius just as one does not watch a Salman Khan film expecting a nuanced narrative. What one expects is over-the-top entertainment, fireworks, dramatic twists, a gripping plot and characters that we love, hate or fear. This latest book from the Patterson stable delivers all that in abundance. It-s fast food but sinful and enjoyable. And as customers of McDonald-s would say, "I-m lovin- it."

Ashwin Sanghi ranks among India-s highest selling English fiction authors. He is the author of bestselling titles, The Rozabal Line, Chanakya-s Chant, The Krishna Key, The Sialkot Saga and Keepers of the Kalachakra in his Bharat Series.

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