“The President is Missing” by Bill Clinton is a thriller that combines a presidential pedigree with the James Patterson brand.   It’s a typically fast-paced and twisty, as a Patterson product should be, salted, so the book jacket claims, with Clinton’s insider knowledge.  Clinton is only the second president to produce a work of fiction (the first was Jimmy Carter’s “The Hornet’s Nest”). In “The Hellfire Club” by journalistJack Tapper, a former history professor turned Congressman finds himself over his head in a political chess game he does not fully understand.  “Tapper’s backstage portrayal of Capitol Hill is breezy and knowing” (Kirkus Reviews).