The Book of Fate literally starts off with a bang;presidental aide Wes Holloway gets
Ron Boyle,one of President Leland Manning's senior staff members,into a limo with the
President on his way to a public appearance at a NASCAR track and winds up regretting that he did so. A madman named Nico Hadrian opens fire and Boyle dies during the shooting. Wes takes a bullet to his face,leaving him with permanant scars and loss of facial movement on one side.
Eight years later,Wes is still an aide for the now former President Manning and has retreated from any old ambitions he once had,haunted by guilt over Boyle's death. On
a public speaking event in Malaysia,Wes takes a time out and goes into the waiting area set up for Manning,only to run into a stranger who tries to flee. This stranger is rather a familar face(changed somewhat by plastic sugery);it's Ron Boyle,seemingly back from the dead...or did he die at all in the first place?
When Wes gets back home to Palm Beach,Fla,he decides to pursue this mystery further with the help of old friends Rogo and Dreidel as well as an unexpected ally in gossip reporter Lisbeth who stumbles upon, and then pushes her way into the investigation. Other complications crop up,such as a pair of Federal agents hot on Wes' tail and the escape of former assassin Nico,who fervently believes in a Freemason conspiracy that is his sacred duty to bring down.
This may sound like a Da Vinci Code redux but,believe you me,it certainly isn't that. Meltzer does add quite a bit of interesting facts about the Freemasons,whose members included John Wayne,Harry Houdini and Winston Churchill(to name a few)and who did influence the city construction of Washington,DC,but this story is more of a good,snappy thriller at heart. With quick,smartly tuned dialogue,well developed characters and an intense plot that doesn't take any easy outs,The Book of Fate is a riveting rollercoaster of a read.
If you click the title link above,you'll find a fun game tied into the novel that lets you in on Who's a Mason? and shows you some of the Masonic symbols that are hidden in plain sight. Meltzer's thrillers make for great storytelling and why they haven't been snatched up for the movies yet is beyond me. With the success of TBOF, hopefully that oversight will soon be corrected.
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