Rating: 
Summary: An ambitious effort. Intense.
Review: Richard North Patterson's newest is a follow-up to his excellent "No Safe Place" published several years ago. Kerry Kilcannon is now the recently elected Democratic President, and things begin to fall apart on his very first day in office. During Kilcannon's inaugural address to the nation, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court dies from a stroke while on the stage. Kilcannon's nominee for Chief Justice is a controversial female federal judge from California, Caroline Masters (also from his earlier novels).In the midst of the intensely partisan confirmation process, a volatile late-term abortion case is moving its way up through the California courts and appears headed for the Supreme Court. Patterson gives us a look at the interesting inner workings of the federal courts and the Senate as they wrestle with difficult issues. This book is a good read. I got a little tired of what seemed like overemphasis on the pros and cons of abortion, but I guess it was necessary in order to provide a balanced view. Nevertheless, this is one of those big, sprawling novels that you can really sink your teeth into. BUY IT.
Rating: 
Summary: Too bad there are only 5 stars
Review: I read this latest Patterson book as the country was going through the nightly reports on the John Ashcroft Confirmation Hearings for Attorney General. What a timely work ! In Protect and Defend, immediately after the new President is sworn in, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has a fatal stroke. Newly elected President Kilcannon now has the opportunity to nominate a liberal candidate of his choice to take over this spot on the court. The big issue in the confirmation hearings, just as in the Ashcroft hearings, is abortion. The plot of Protect and Defend involves the right of a young girl, and the bitter fight that ensues, to have a late term abortion against her parents wishes. This work presents the thinking of the pro-choice forces and the pro-life forces with a great deal of sensitivity and information. It also gives much needed information on late term abortions and the rationale, if such is possible, for allowing them to be performed. Whatever your personal beliefs and value system require in your thinking regarding roe v. wade, this book will give you reason to think and reflect on one of the most difficult political issues that face Americans today. The characters become real people with the emotions and difficulties that each reader will find somewhere in his own family. Most of them were introduced in prior novels by Patterson, so for the Patterson fan, it's like revisiting some old friends with new problems. However, if this is your first Patterson book, the background is filled in whenever necessary. This, in my opinion, is Richard North Patterson's best yet in a long list of great books.
Rating:
Summary: strong work, excellent research but needed editing
Review: This was my first exposure to Patterson's work and I was very impressed. His knowledge of the dynamic and process of politics makes this a compelling read. His presentation of the contentious debate about Women's Reproductive Rights is very fair. My only quible is that the book is just too long. When a sentence would have worked, he gives us a paragraph. When a paragraph would have sufficed, we get a chapter. A tighter narative would have given greater momentum to the last third of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Great story, suspect politics
Review: I have read and enjoyed several of Patterson's novels; this one joins the others as an absorbing well-written "page-turner". Patterson interweaves several characters and their stories into one, focusing on the trial of a pregnant minor carrying a hydrocephalic and desiring a late-term abortion against her parents wishes. Kerry Kilcannon makes a return appearance now as US president, plus good old Caroline Masters is now striving for the Supreme Court. This book held my interest and once again I was caught in the familiar position of sacrificing sleep time to read "just one more chapter". As a story it deserves 5 stars, but unfortunately it's obvious political biases detract from the tale. While Patterson accurately relates the pros and cons of the abortion argument, pretty much all of the book's "heroes" are pro-choice, and its "villains" are pro-life. Even the one pro-choice character Kilcannon doesn't care for ends up doing the right thing for the president. Many of the pro-lifers are caricatures, while the pro-choice characters consistently have depth and compassion. In the end Patterson's own feelings are so obvious there is little doubt how things will turn out and the only plot twist involves a supporting character. Maybe someday someone will write a story that shows people on both sides of this issue who are caring, compassionate, and honestly believing they are doing the right thing.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Novel: Patterson's Best Yet
Review: PROTECT AND DEFEND is one of the most intelligent and exciting novels I have ever read. I couldn't put this book down. This book is what good writing is all about. It has drama, suspense and believability. The character development of all of the main players is superb. I think that this may be Patterson's best book to date. Kerry Kilcannon is the new President of the United States of America. Caroline Masters is the President's nominee as the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The nomination is not well received by a conservative Senate led by Majority Leader and presidential aspirant Macdonald Gage; and Gage sets about to defeat the nomination by any means necessary. Set against this backdrop is an ongoing trial (nationally televised) involving the pregnant teenage daughter of Christian fundamentalist parents challenge to the constitutionality of a law passed by Congress called the Protection of Life Act: favored by anti-abortionists groups and disfavored by pro-choice groups. Richard North Patterson has created a well-researched novel about the current political issues of our times. PROTECT AND DEFEND challenges our notions about campaign reform, abortion and whether or not those who aspire to public office have any right to or expectation of any modicum of privacy in their private lives. Reading this book will lead you out of the grip of any unconsidered opinion you may have had about these issues. A thoughtful reader will find here a certain level of skepticism that lifts the mind out of all certainties but doesn't then corrupt it with cynicism. Be sure to read Patterson's acknowledgements at the end of the book. It will give you insight into why this novel was so well crafted.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating from beginning to end
Review: Protect and Defend is a captivating book that investigates the inner workings of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government, combining fictional characters with real issues to create a thrilling twist on the battle between good and evil: the fight between Pro-Choicers and Pro-Lifers, Democrats and Republicans, and Females and Males. The events in the novel are on opposite sides of the country, in Washington D.C. and San Francisco. In Washington, immediately after the inauguration of Kerry Kilcannon, a democrat, the Chief Justice, a conservative, has a stroke and drops dead. The vice president is a female. With the death of Chief Justice Bannon, the president must start searching immediately for a replacement, only one day into his term, against a strikingly Republican senate led by MacDonald Gage a vicious man whose main desire and ambition is to become president. In San Francisco, Mary Ann Tierney, just fifteen years old, is seeking an abortion at five months pregnant. Without parental consent, she cannot abort the fetus, which is hydrocephalic and if delivered, could ruin her chances to have children in the future. Her parents are famous Pro-Lifers and her father is a law professor, well-known and respected for his consistent, anti-abortion views, so she gets a lawyer, young Sarah Dash to represent her in a case suing her parents for permission to get an abortion, challenging the Supreme Court in their recent rulings on late-term abortions. Also from San Francisco is Caroline Masters, a female liberal whom Kilcannon nominates. Patterson's novel examines many different perspectives on abortion an different political views taken by members of the government. Giving an in-depth look at both the Pro-Life and Pro-Choice movements, the book shows the effect of the issue on different lives and the struggles it causes families internally. It also demonstrates the ruthlessness of politicians and the extremes they will go to in order to get their ways. Patterson's extensive research on the subject shows and his realistic sketches of the characters are enthralling, keeping the reader's attention with every flip of perspective and countryside.
Rating:
Summary: Patterson triumph: Protect and Defend
Review: I had never heard of Richard North Patterson until I read this book. I am a 65 year old Gynecologist who does not read a lot of fiction, but since reading Protect and Defend (P&D), I have read two other works by Patterson: the newly retitled Caroline Masters and No Safe Place. While these are not so fine as Protect and Defend, which I consider on a plane with The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevski, they are also compelling books of their genre. Back to P&D - As a close observer of the political scene for the past 50 years and one with an extensive and hardwon knowledge of the abortion issue and its advocates on both sides, this book is a like a college course in current American political life and mores as well as the highly complex and agonizing partial birth abortion controversy. I was surprised and pleased that someone who was neither a physician nor a politician could "get it right" on so many levels: current day partisan political infighting over a supreme court nominee, campaign finance and the serious consequences of its current practice, the highjacking of the once responsible Repubilcan Party by special interests and the Religious Right, the extreme difficulty of adhering to principle by politicians dependent on the hugh sums of money poured into the politican system by one issue interest groups on both the left and the right, and last but not least, the complexity of the compelling legitimate arguments on both sides of the abortion issue. While North might seem to favor the Pro-choice forces, he demonstrates admirably the compelling arguments and the sincerity of many in the rank and file on the Pro-life side in his portrayal of the Tiernay parents and Senator Chad Palmer, while portraying accurately the crassness and insensitivity of radical partisans on both sides in his picture of the Christian Committment's attorney's (Pro-life) and the Anthony's Legions' leader's (Pro-choice) willingness to destroy anyone unwilling to march the last mile with them. I have recommended this book to every friend and aquaintance and patient I have seen in the last month, since I bought and read it, and will continue to do so.
Rating:
Summary: Protect and Defend: An Intellectual Read to be Enjoyed
Review: Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson is a book that intertwines politics and ethics, career goals and the instinct to do what's right. It begins with Democrat Kerry Kilcannon narrowly winnning the office of Commander in Chief. When Kilcannon first assumes position in the Oval Office, he faces choosing a replacement for the Chief Justice for the United States Supreme Court. The president selects Caroline Masters, not only a liberal, but a woman. Republican opposistion includes Senator MacDonald Gage who searches to find the well hidden secret on this Californian judge to stop her from assuming office. Meanwhile, a recent law passed has sparked a historical case regarding abortion. Young lawyer Sarah Dash fights for 15-year-old Mary Ann Tierney not only against the church and pro-life supporters, but against the pregnant girl's parents. As the case battles forward, secrets and deceit are revealed on others besides Caroline Masters and Mary Ann Tierny. The fight for truth against ambition can be encountered by many characters in Patterson's masterpiece. Protect and Defend leads up to a riviting decision that will forever effect the United States. I am a teenager, yet I found Protect and Defend very interesting and revealing of politics. The plot and characters are easily grasped, and the reading is relatively easy with the short chapters. However, the actually length of the book left a little to be desired, after awhile it felt like the numerous pages were bogging me down and halting me from enjoying the book's true potential. I have no other complaints, I know I will have to read the book again to search for details missed, but I can honestly say I will not mind doing so.
Rating:
Summary: an good book
Review: I just found this book and I was blown away by it, it is a very good book and everyone should read it.(it about abortion rights)
Rating: 
Summary: Disclaimer! Amazons scale requires this book to be overrated
Review: A work can be slanted, biased, and intellectually compelling, but not here. Patterson's CONTRIVED PROPAGANDA for the feel-good masses should be a disappointment for all admirers of his early novels. How do you create a book Bill Clinton calls a must read? Lift characters from current events, vilify mainstream opponents of your views, and white wash your own extremist positions. Go to far and you end up with, as an earlier reviewer notes, a Masters and Killcannon... "so saintly and self-righteous, they are nauseating." If you're comfortable with the views of gun violence and reproductive rights advocates like Patterson, that to use weapons to defend your family and your life is wrong but killing partially delivered babies is right, buy this book.
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