First Daughter
Eric Van Lustbader
Reviewed by Cynthia Murphy
Eric Van
Lustbader’s First Daughter is a
fast-paced psychological thriller. It is
definitely action-packed, but unfortunately some of the action is
unnecessary. Van Lustbader flashes
between past and present with ease, but there is a complicated
political
subplot that takes away from the main plot.
Without the subplot, this would have been a stronger book.
The hero of
First Daughter, Jack McClure, is a
respected ATF agent with a complicated past.
At the start of the story, he is still grieving the death of his
only
child, Emma. Coincidentally, Emma’s best
friend, Alli Carson, is about to become the First Daughter. Alli’s first appearance in the novel is
intriguing. The action starts on
Inauguration Day with Alli about to open a vial of anthrax. Then Van Lustbader flashes back to her recent
kidnapping. Alli’s disappearance and the
mystery surrounding her captor form the heart of the novel. Jack McClure joins the search for Alli at the
request of the president-elect.
The search for Alli is only a small
part of the novel. Her disappearance
actually ties into a part of Jack’s past.
After Alli is found, Jack realizes that he faces a much more
dangerous
adversary than he originally suspected.
The cat and mouse game between Jack and Alli’s kidnapper
provides some
of the most suspenseful moments in the book.
Van Lustbader does a great job of creating tension among his
characters.
The villain in First Daughter is one of the most
intriguing villains I’ve seen in
a recent thriller. He is complex and
very creepy. He has an important link to
Jack’s past, but the link isn’t clear until the end. The mystery
surrounding
his true identity and his motive is the most intriguing part of the
plot. As the mystery unraveled, I found
myself
wanting to know more about him.
Van Lustbader has created an
interesting hero in Jack McClure. Jack
struggles with dyslexia. This challenge
has been an important part of his life.
Jack did not learn how to overcome his dyslexia until he was a
teenager,
but he can’t always cope with it in moments of extreme stress. This lifelong struggle makes Jack’s life
difficult, but it also allows him to see things in a different way. In turn, he solves the puzzle of Alli’s
disappearance and the link to his own past.
Overall, the construction of the
novel is good. The pacing is quick,
albeit a bit jumpy as the action flashes from past to present. However, there is a political subplot that is
very distracting. Van Lustbader doesn’t
develop the characters involved well enough to make it interesting. The subplot needs better character
development and a better reason for its existence.
At the moment, it’s not even a red herring
like in some of the classic mysteries of the past.
It merely distracts from the better written
plot.
First
Daughter is a complex thriller. Its
hero and villain are intriguing characters, and the link between them
is
surprising. It also has one of the most
interesting plot twists I’ve seen in a few years. Aside
from the superfluous subplot, it is a
well-constructed thriller and a good read.