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Summary: Protect and Defend
Review: A "Great" read. A real eye opener as far as politics is concerned. I did not want it to end, and would like to hear more of the Kerry Kilcannon character in the future.
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Summary: Forget the politics - a fascinating read.
Review: This is a excellant book. Patterson treats both sides of the issue involved fairly, in my mind (I was as irritated at the anti-abortion characters as other reviewers were at the pro-abortion leanings). The book was suspenseful. The characters were well drawn. The plot was compelling. If you can get by the politics, it is a wonderful novel.
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Summary: One of the Best books I have ever read
Review: This is a book that I am recommending to all of my friends. It is a must read. While truely a fictional piece, one can see the "seek and destroy" that our political system has become. Don't start the book until you have plenty of time, because it is one that you will have trouble putting down. I have always enjoyed Richard North Patterson, but this is his best yet. While it does have a "left wing" slant to it, read it with an open mind.
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Summary: what might have been
Review: This is a well written novel that has been tarnished by the authors liberal pro abortion views. Liberals are painted as heros fighting for the rights of the poor suffering young girl. Pro life views are caricatured. Attorney Saunders is a bully. Christian pickets torment women. Any attempt to protect human life results in terrible consequences for the pregnant woman. No mention is made of ANY good that pro life people do. This is nota novel. It is a political tract. If only Patterson had made some effort to credit the pro life side with fair and honest motives, this would have been an excellent book.
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Summary: Patterson just raised the bar
Review: Of the many books I've read, including all by Richard North Patterson, I have never read one so rich and compelling. Mr. Patterson is brilliant, not only in his exhaustive research, (his acknowledgements are substantial), but also in his ability to deeply comprehend his findings and then relay them in such an intelligible style. The many complicated facets of this book--politics, medicine, morality and legality--are beautifully and skillfully conveyed. The thing I loved most about this book was how much the author managed to teach me, while keeping me totally absorbed in the gripping plot line and numerous compelling characters. We learn something from everything we read; indeed, many of us read to gain knowledge while being entertained. In this regard, no book surpasses PROTECT AND DEFEND by Richard North Patterson. Thank you, sir, for this enlightening, captivating, unforgettable novel.
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Summary: Good guys--bad guys
Review: It was past midnight and this 82-year-old body needed its sleep and I still had fifty pages to go--but no way was I going to put down the novel until the bad guys got their comeuppance. What's with this 'propaganda' charge levied by a few disgruntled readers? Is it not true that one of our major political parties has its hand deep into the pockets of the Christian fundamentalists and the NRA? And is it not also a fact that this same political party has fought political finance reform tooth and nail? I believe Patterson has shown restraint by not touching ont the murders committed by the fundamentalists in the name of the pro-life movement. I've read all of Patterson's novels and I think this is his best. Can't wait for his next one--I may buy two, to make up for the reader who says he'll not buy another. I'm sure the reader will have lost more than Patterson. Talk about 'cutting off your face to spite your face'.
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Summary: Washington Intrigue and Down-and-Dirty Politics
Review: Richard North Patterson's latest novel, Protect and Defend, takes some old characters to new places, and gives us a riveting and educational story. As Kerry Kilcannon completes his oath of office as President of the United States, swearing to "protect and defend the Constitution", the Chief Justice of a bitterly divided and partisan Supreme Court collapses and dies. Unexpectedly, one of the new President's first acts will need to be the appointment of a new Chief, who will be the tie-breaker on the new Court. Kilcannon, whom we met in an earlier novel when his candidate brother was assassinated, chooses Appellate Judge Caroline Masters from California, also significant in previous Patterson stories, to be the first woman Chief Justice. At first this seems both a good political and statesmanlike call. Masters has a solid and balanced judicial record, no controversies, and is a female. She also impresses Kilcannon with the sensitivity of her rulings. Then the problems start. One of Masters' former clerks, now an associate in Master's former law firm, pro bonos for a San Francisco women's clinic. Sarah Masters is a promising, sharp lawer. She is also sympathetic to the case of a fifteen-year-old, six-months pregnant unwed mother-to-be who has just learned that her baby will have little, if any, brain and is unlikely to survive after birth. Moreover, because of the baby's hydrocephalism, it must be delivered by classic c-section. This means there is a significant risk that the mother will bear no other children. She wants an abortion so that she will be able to have other, living children. A new federal law, however, prohibits late term abortion for minors without parental consent. The girl's parents are avid pro-lifers who refuse to consider consent. Her only hope is to challenge the federal law, and to do so quickly, before she comes to term. Since the lawyer in this case is a former clerk, and somewhat protege of the nominee for chief justice, and since the case will be heard in the nominee's appellate circuit, the case becomes a bellweather for the nominee's confirmation in the Senate. Sides are quickly drawn, pitting a conservative Republican majority against a brand new President who barely squeaked by in his election. The politics are dirty, the characters are finely drawn, and the story is fascinating. Patterson has produced a winner. This reader's only concern with the books is the near sterotyping of some of the characters. Like TV's West Wing, most of the republicans are almost single-issue demagogues and most of the democrats are rational, sensitive, moderates. Rational, sensitive, conservatives do exist, but they don't get much play; and some democrats do take knee-jerk, extreme and single issue positions. But, hey, this is a novel and it is a darn good story.
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Summary: Couldn't put it down!!
Review: Patterson does it again!! Super plot, timely subject matter. This should be required reading for every so-called "pro-lifer" out there. Maybe it will make them think.......
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Summary: Thoughtful novel of politics, law and ethics.
Review: "Protect and Defend," by Richard North Patterson, is a timely look at some very controversial issues that are of great concern to Americans. These include the reproductive rights of women vs. the rights of the unborn, the purchase of political influence by the wealthy and the powerful, and the destruction of privacy by the scandalmongers in the media. Kerry Kilcannon, a Kennedyesque figure, has just won the Presidency of the United States by a narrow margin. However, his hold on power is tenuous, since there are powerful forces arrayed against him. The first crisis of his administration occurs at Kilcannon's swearing in, when the conservative Chief Justice of the Supreme Court suddenly dies. Kilcannon's most pressing task as President is to nominate a new Chief Justice who will be able to win Senate confirmation. Kilcannon's choice has wide-ranging ramifications that come back to haunt his administration, and that lead to ferocious political confrontations. Adding to Kilcannon's problems is the case of Mary Ann Tierney, a fifteen-year-old pregnant girl who wants to abort her hydrocephalic fetus, even though her pregnancy has passed the first trimester. An abortion in this case is illegal, and a young and ambitious lawyer named Sarah Dash takes Mary Ann's case. The Tierney case becomes a litmus test of the suitability of Kilcannon's nominee for the Supreme Court. Because of this emotionally-charged case, Dash, Tierney and Kilcannon find themselves in the midst of a personal and political maelstrom. These and other plot lines play out over a very long 546 pages. The book's length is one of its weaknesses. The story loses steam before its long-awaited end. Another weakness is the plot device of giving several of the major characters deep, dark secrets that, if revealed, would cause them deep embarrassment. These secrets introduce a little too much melodrama and predictability into a book that otherwise has a great deal going for it. On the plus side, the level of legal discourse in the book is sophisticated and enlightening. Patterson makes us feel as if we are in the courtroom with Tierney and her parents, who legally oppose her abortion. The author has done his homework thoroughly, and he brings the Tierney case to life with great skill. Patterson also makes the ugly political machinations that go on in Washington seem very real and threatening. Most of the characters, especially Kilcannon, Caroline Masters (the Supreme Court nominee), Sarah Dash and Mary Ann Tierney are nicely drawn and the dialogue is crisp and realistic. On the whole, "Protect and Defend" is an intelligent and fascinating look at the moral and social forces that are at the heart of political life in America today.
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Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: See story summary above. I also thought this was an exceptional story that took me right into the fray of the abortion issue. The characters all had their own personal feelings and their own agendas in regards to this issue. It's interesting to see just how this one issue can raise ones emotions to the point of excess. Mr. Patterson has written an engaging novel that involves some touchy subjects. With arguments presented on both sides, he has done an outstanding job. Protect and Defend is a good book with some strong characters. I recommend this book to readers who like to get the insight on how Washington DC works and to readers who like a good argument. Recommended
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