Can Bill & Hillary Clinton Add Successful Fiction Writer to their Resumes? My Review of The President’s Daughter and State of Terror

Can Bill & Hillary Clinton Add Successful Fiction Writer to their Resumes? 

My Review of The President’s Daughter and State of Terror

This blogger says yes!  I just devoured State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny.  Prior to that I read Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s second book, The President’s Daughter.  And…I thoroughly enjoyed both.  

Since as long as I can remember, I have loved crime and espionage novels, honing my reading skills on Robert Ludlum (for non readers - he is the creator of Jason Bourne.) If you are a fan of Lee Child, Vince Flynn, Harlan Coben, James Patterson, etc you will like both of these novels.   

Let me start with The President’s Daughter.  I had been searching the racks at the local library for the Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny book for weeks when I found this one.  I figured while I was waiting for State of Terror, I would try the Patterson collab with Bill Clinton. Although at times I found the plot obvious, I enjoyed the story and characters very much.  The main character, President Keating, is very likable although maybe a bit predictable.  One could argue that his actions are foreseeable because he was fully developed as the main character, so maybe it was the plot that was predictable.  Several of the minor characters’ motives were less obvious, which kept the pace moving; I’m not telling you who - you will have to read to find out on your own. I loathe spoilers.

There were a few moments when I felt the plot could have moved faster or a few technical details could have been excluded, but overall I really enjoyed the book.  I have not read their first collaboration, but I will add it to my list!

State of Terror:  If you have read my Louise Penny post you already know that I am a huge fan of her work.  If you haven’t read it yet, you can find it here. I have been anxiously awaiting reading this novel, and it was everything I hoped it to be and more.  At first I thought there was too much bashing of the fictional previous administration, which interestingly may or may not coincide with a recent administration of our own country.  However, it was part of a well developed foundation for all of the events to come within the novel, which only increased the suspense and “state of terror” for not just the characters but for myself as well.  

The continuous action did not interrupt the development of a number of characters whom I really enjoyed.  Just like in Louse Penny’s books, each of the characters move through deep human emotion realistically whether it be fear, grief, shame, humiliation, etc.  My favorite character is the protagonist’s best friend Betsy, who was created as a fictional homage to the authors’ friend.  I may have liked her the best because she was a former English teacher, but she was just the right amount of resilient, funny, wise, compassionate, and charming.  One of the small details that endeared her to me was a code she and the main character, Secretary of State Ellen Adams, used, which was a play on literary devices.  For example one of them would start a text with “a synonym walked into a bar…” and the other would have to respond using a synonym.  This small addition, not necessary to the plot, is an example of what makes a great novel as opposed to a good novel and exhilarated my inner English teacher. 

There is a lot of political content in terms of how certain actions and events are processed within the White House in addition to the job of the Secretary of State.  Woven into this as well is the journalist’s perspective through both the main character and several minor characters; I found the insight into politics and journalism very informative in regard to the plot and in general.  

I was super excited to see that Louise Penny’s main character, Armand Gamache, and her fictional village of Three Pines are delicately interwoven into the threads of this plot.  To introduce the quaint Quebecois town and some of its characters could have been awkward and perhaps disastrous, but Penny and Clinton, unsurprisingly, rise to the occasion and flawlessly link these two very different worlds. 

As you might be able tell, I loved State of Terror.  I highly recommend anyone who likes a good political thriller to read this book.  

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