The President’s Daughter

A former American president turns action hero in Clinton and Patterson’s disappointing follow-up to their bestselling The President Is Missing. President Matt Keating, who was vice president when his predecessor died from natural causes, orders an operation targeting an Islamic terrorist, Asim Al-Asheed, at his Libyan compound. Al-Asheed survives the attack, but his wife and three daughters are killed. During the next election cycle, Keating’s vice president, Pamela Barnes, successfully challenges him and is elected president. After Keating leaves the White House, Al-Asheed abducts Keating’s 19-year-old daughter, Melanie, while she’s hiking in New Hampshire. Al-Asheed announces three conditions for Melanie’s safe return: freeing three of his comrades, a full pardon for crimes he may or may not have committed against Americans, and $100 million in bitcoin. Melanie’s mother, Samantha, distrusts President Barnes’s promises to do everything possible to rescue the teen, and ultimately Keating, a former Navy SEAL, must take action himself. The authors don’t sweat the details (when Melanie’s kidnapped, Keating and Samantha, who are in different places, don’t try to contact each other), and too many convenient coincidences propel the plot. Die-hard Patterson fans will best appreciate this one. Agents: Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell, Williams & Connolly. (June)