The Book of Fate

By: Brad Meltzer

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

In six minutes, one of us would be dead. None of us knew it was coming. So says Wes Holloway, a once-cocky and ambitious presidential aide, about the day that changed his life forever. On that Fourth of July, Wes put Ron Boyle, the chief executive's oldest friend, into the presidential limousine. By the time the trip came to an end, Wes was permanently disfigured, and Boyle was dead, the victim of a crazed assassin.

Eight years later, Boyle is spotted, alive and well, in Malaysia. In that moment, Wes has the chance to undo the worst day of his life. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back to a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, mysterious facts buried in Masonic history, and a 200-year-old code invented by Thomas Jefferson.

But what Wes doesn't realize is that The Book of Fate holds everyone's secrets. Especially the ones worth dying for. The Book of Fate. What does it say about you?

©2006 Forty-Four Steps, Inc., All Rights Reserved (P)2006 Hachette Audio, a Division of the Hachette Book Group USA

Critic reviews

"Meltzer's many fans will enjoy this substantial meal of a book." (Publishers Weekly)
"Skillfully written...the plot fluidly integrates historical fact and fiction....Fans of thrillers that reach far back into history will be, well, thrilled." (Booklist)

The Book of Fate

This book was one long bore. The main character was hard to like due to his self pitying attitude and unrealistic loyalty. He couldn't see the forest through the trees and I finally had to stop listening because I didn't care what happened to any of them.

I agree, Hard to get through

I agree with most everything Bob said below. I?m only on the first half and I?m looking for something else to download because I just can?t seem to get into this book. While Scott Brick has been my favorite reader I have to say he?s getting a little old. He reads every book the same and so they all start to sound alike. Maybe I?ve OD?ed on him after the Dune books and many other since.

Scott, I know you have to make a living but I think you should give it a rest for awhile and maybe work on your style a little.

dissapointed

cant really say anything good about this book, maybe the condensed version would be ok. I almost wore out my fast forward button getting through all the repetition. Im sorry i wasted a credit on this,let alone burning 15 cd's for it.

Waste of Time

I agree with another reviewer that the books takes forever to get anywhere and is simply not believable. I have read this author before, and remember liking the books. In this one, the premise is wierd, the characters wooden, and the book tedious.

not as advertised

I rarely write an unkind review of any kind and I won't here. I will just simply say that the synopsis given of the book is "way off". If you are hoping to learn Masonic secrets and how Washington was designed you are much better off looking it up on the Internet. This book was just another cops and robbers and not very good at that. How it rated the NY Times Best Seller List is a mystery to me.

Whiner

The main character of this book is a self-pitying whiner. This is the last book of Brad Metzler I will listen to. The only bearable thing about this book is the narrator Scott Brick.

Can't do it

I just can't get into this book. I liked the premise. The narrator is terrible...he wines when he talks. I could go on but it would continue the waste of time.

Tedious

Way too long!(18 hours). Not that exciting & has nothing to do with Free Masons. THe main character is pathetic, evoking little if any sympathy. The abridged version is probably a little better.

Book af Fate

This book is terrible - difficult to follow - point of view switches so much - crazy assassin's rambling conversations with himself, or with people who are not there or dead. Please save you credits or money and listen to other books - even other ones by this author which are quite good.

Rambling Plot & Many Loose Ends

The only reason I actually finished this book was because I used credits to purchase it. The main premise is actually pretty good but the story rambles into a variety of tangents that leave you hanging. The Free Masons ties in Washington politics are mentioned but not developed, as promised by this book's advertisements and overview. A tighter, faster paced narrative would have been better. The details at which the author explores every single thought and emotion felt by the main character were boring and often ridiculous. The grande finale scene, a gunfight style showdown, took a whole hour to relate. One wanted to just faster forward to get through it . . . harder to do with an audio book than with a hard copy. On the positive side, the narrator was excellent.