Balance of Power

Rating:
Summary: Balance of Power completely unbalanced
Review: I have never read such political tripe disguised as fiction in my life! Every conservative in this book is depicted at best as spineless and at worst as inherently evil and selfish. I don't read fiction to gain political knowledge and I resent RNP's attempt to preach to me and other unsuspecting readers.

Of course if I had bought the book off the shelf instead of on Amazon, I would have caught the reviews by Clinton and Ted KEnnedy. That alone would have made me put it back!

Rating:
Summary: He covers it all
Review: To those who say the book is slanted or too black and white I say this:

Read the afterward, the NRA wouldn't even take the authors calls to comment. Usually the sign of a coward who couldn't stand up to simple questions.

The NRA has NEVER, EVER bent or compromised on any issue of any significance (check the record), fearing if they give an inch....and even THAT is covered in this book.

So, it is NOT the author who is so black and white, it's the NRA. Come on, they had to get "Moses" to speak for them!

The book is long, extremely detailed and sometimes hard to follow but never is it boring or irrelevant.

At 600 pp. an extremely fast read and a wealth of information.

Rating:
Summary: Kilcannon for President in 2004
Review: Being mostly a romance reader, the relationships/characterizations in the RNP novels are of greater interest to me than the political machinations involved. However, one cannot help being caught up with the political drama--and learn something too. Listening to the unabridged audiobook version brings each character to life for me. It would be tough to choose a favorite between No Safe Place, Protect and Defend and Balance of Power. Hopefully we haven't heard the last of Chad Palmer, Kerry Kilcannon and especially Sarah Dash, hint, hint Mr. Patterson?

Rating:
Summary: People Bad -- Trial Lawyers Worse
Review: The final chapter if the Kerry Kilcannon trilogy is simply enthralling. Do NOT pick this book up unless you have several hours to spare. However, despite my personal choice to not have guns in my home, I believe that the 2nd Amendment clearly gives people the right to do so. I think that to some extent, Patterson forgets that right in his zealous attempt to portray the gun lobbyists as evildoers who think about nothing but their political agenda.

Patterson's character development is exceptional and the reader feels for President and First Lady Kilcannon as they deal with the death of the First Lady's family at the hands of an estranged husband who purchased a gun illegally. The lack of balance in the story is apparent in that even the sleezy Plaintiff's lawyer comes across as being a sympathetic character. The SSA lobbyists get no such positive treatment from Patterson -- they are coniving, evil and downright dishonest.

Despite the obvious imbalance between the issues and the characters, Balance of Power is a well-written and engaging novel. There is no question that it makes a person think about the issues involved and possible solutions to those issues. I came away from reading this novel with two thoughts: first, that we do need to address tort reform in this country and second, that we need to enforce existing gun legislation with an eye toward preventing the tragedy fictionalized in this story.

Rating:
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: I am ...ah was a fan of Patterson. I looked forward to a good read and was treated to a harangue on gun control.
It was like being repeatedly pounded on the head with a mallet. The good guys and especially the bad guys (gun nuts) are painted with such broad strokes they are caricatures existing just to deliver a sermon.
Surely, Patterson is skilled enough to deliver his message without being boring.

Rating:
Summary: No balance in this book
Review: There may be an entertaining, suspenseful novel buried under the propaganda here, but I couldn't find it. No, I'm not a member of the NRA, nor do I aspire to be. But this book was so skewed to the left, I couldn't finish it. The characters were either so good or so evil as to be completely unrealistic.

Rating:
Summary: Slow pacing and large cast muddles down the plot.
Review: President Kerry Kilcannon is busy planning his wedding to journalist Lara Costello when a shocking act of violence sets forth an avalanche of politics and legal maneuvers.

Lara is busy being the First Lady when she receives news of her sister Joan being attacked by her abusive husband John Bowden. Lara knows the abuse has been going on for years and it's time to stop so she asks Kerry to help.

With the best interest of her daughter in mind Joan gets help from her future brother-in law to have her husband arrested. As the days go by Joan begins to question her decision and when John starts calling to beg for forgiveness she is sent into a turmoil of emotions. As the separation becomes harder, Joan feels herself getting weaker and willing to give her husband another try, but John doesn't want another chance, he wants revenge on those he feels ruined his life.

Lara and Kerry's wedding day should have been the most beautiful day in their lives, but the act of violence that leaves three dead, will have Lara dealing with grief, and Kerry facing a battle to enforce strict gun control laws.

'Balance Of Power' is a well written novel about a controversial topic...gun control. The large cast of characters is fleshed-out, and the various story-lines do tie together, but things get a little hard to follow and somewhat boring half-way through the book. At the hands of Richard North Patterson the reader is treated to expert storytelling in an easy to read style and over the years he has written some excellent legal novels, unfortunately this is not one of them. While this novel isn't terrible, it isn't as good as some earlier titles either; such as 'Silent Witness', 'Final Judgment', 'Eyes Of A Child' etc. The pacing is a little slow, the length is a little long, and the political intrigue isn't very exciting...resulting in a mediocre novel.

Richard North Patterson is a very good writer, but one that writes better in the legal genre rather than the political.

Nick Gonnella

Rating:
Summary: GUNNING FOR THE PRESIDENT
Review: Thia third entry in the Kerry Kilcannon trilogy is a masterfully written, if somewhat cumbersome, novel. The prime issue in this one is gun control, and Patterson's tale captures the complicated issues in a straightforward, terse narrative. The shifting focuses keep the novel from becoming too stagnant, while there are times where it seems Patterson pads the book with a little too much personal philosophical meanderings. However, they do not tremendously overcome the power of this strong novel.
President Kerry Kilcannon finally asks his long-time lover Lara Costello to be his wife. Kerry and Lara remain strong, flawed, but extremely committed individuals, and they both face tremndous obstacles to marital bliss within three days of their wedding. The shocking murder of six innocent people by an abusive husband sends the Kilcannon's world into an intense and grief-stricken whirl. Further strengthening the president's intense desire for better gun control, this event leads him and Lara into some difficult and compromising situations.
The supporting characters of which there are many are developed with care and we become familiar with the different personalities. Chad Palmer, one of Kerry's best friends, becomes both a hero and a villain, and his quandaries are well depicted. Sarah Rush, the lawyer from a previous Kilcannon novel, returns given the harsh task of handling a wrongful death client in an effort to bring down a powerful SSA (Sons of the Second Amendment). Lara's family is capably drawn and the subsequent tragedy is heart-wrenching.
Patterson has done a tremendous amount of research in this book, and if you're previously "put off" by political novels, Patterson's stories have a tense dramatic core which makes for informative and compelling reading.
Overall, a fitting finale to the Kilcannon series; will RNP now go back to his defense attorneys and murder cases? Who knows, but Patterson will be heard from, I'm sure.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding drama
Review: Desperate and frightened Joan Bowden, sister of the First Lady, calls her brother in law, President Kerry Kilcannon because he once promised to help her. A repeat physical abuse victim, she tells Kerry that her husband John held a gun to her head, placing not only Joan in danger, but their six-year-old daughter Marie as well. From his days as a prosecutor Kerry knows first hand the consequences of battered wife syndrome so he and Lara try to help.

Tragedy occurs anyway. In DC sides on the gun control issue begin to form for another war. The Sons of the Second Amendment (SSA) have gun lobbyists with senators spouting apple pie challenge the bloody pulpit of the President and his congressional supporters, sick of massacres and innocent children dying. The Congress is bitter and divided by party lines as the debate turns ugly, personal, and acrimonious.

The third Kilcannon tale (see NO SAFE PLACE and PROTECT AND DEFEND) is a powerful, in your face, condemnation of the American political system that abets gun violence. Author Richard North Patterson makes no apologies as he denounces a system in which money buys Congressional votes, ethics mean nothing, and the second amendment is used as a convenient wrapper though the political infighting on the hill seems to simple. Fans on the side of seat belts on guns will appreciate this strong chiding of the American way while those who oppose any restriction will detest the novel.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: I hate this book
Review: These libruls have no idea what their talking about. I don't read much anyway, so imagine my constellation when one of Amurca's better writers of psychological thrillers goes all pinko. Why does Richard North Patterson hate Amurca? Since I'm preznit, I just might have to make him sorry. Get Ashcroft to investigate his ash! He he, jes kiddin', folks!