Rating: 
Summary: STACKED DECK
Review: Richard North Patterson is a compelling storywriter, and up to this point, I have found his books to be wonderfully executed and gripping. However, Patterson should return to the "thriller/murder cases" and get out of this pontification on abortion and seedy politicians. Caroline Masters and Kerry Killcannon, who I sincerely enjoyed in their previous appearances, are now given halos and are so saintly and self-righteous, they are nauseating.
First off, Kerry, being a Catholic insinuates that he is pro-life, but defends the rights of those who aren't. As a Catholic, he's forgetting that abortion is not condoned, and if he wants to walk the walk, he needs to stand behind that; otherwise, he becomes a hypocrite, as indeed he does in this book. He is not the vital force evidenced in "No Safe Place," and he merely appears smug, determined to do whatever he wants in the name of doing what is right. He even sends the FBI after information from a newspaper doing a story on the trial. It's okay, Kerry says, to break the law, if you're noble in doing it.
All of the political backstabbing gets extremely tiresome, and so overdrawn, it's cartoonish.
However, it is the Mary Ann Tierney story that proves Patterson's pro-choice stance, and in this book, everyone who is prochoice is either mentally ill, outright cruel, insensitive and wrong. Meanwhile the prochoice people behave so magnaimously, and they are portrayed as the victims. Heading this farce of a philosophy is young, FEMALE Sarah Dash, who takes in Mary Ann when her parents continue to force her into having her baby, even though it will probably be born dead, and Mary Ann may never have any more children. Stacked deck indeed.
First off, Mary is only 15; she had sex with her boyfriend in the back of his car; he didn't use a condom because it wasn't as much fun. She says her parents never told her anything about sex. Now, she's pregnant, and all of a sudden this fifteen year old girl is something like Joan of Arc; where did all this maturity come from? And why did she neglect to tell her lawyer that her mother DID talk to her about sex, but obviously mary Ann didn't listen? Seems that her mother became sterile after having Mary Ann. Stacked deck again. Also, is it really realistic that so many people have had abortions, as evidenced by Chad Palmer and Lara soon to be Mrs. Killcannon? The death of one of the other young people just to prove how heinous the press and abortion are, is totally manipulative and ultimately a cruel plot mechanism to advance Patterson's love of Masters and Killcannon. Also, when Mary Ann finally has the abortion, wouldn't it have been interesting if the baby (not the fetus, as Patterson keeps calling it!!) would have been normal? No, Patterson is not content to pull that kind of twist.
What a sad world where abortion is so prominent; granted, this was a tough choice for Mary Ann to make, but her total disregard of her parents (who were also portrayed as evil villains) left her to make that choice alone.
I really disliked this book; and I will not read any more of Mr. Patterson's treatises on abortion or gun control. If he sticks to his earlier works, I'll certainly continue to enjoy them, but I don't want to be exposed to such one-sided partisan views in my entertainment.
NOT RECOMMENDED.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty exhaustive, if biased coverage to two big issues
Review: I will first compliment the author on doing a pretty good job of trying to present MOST of the issues covering the topics of this book; namely abortion and political maneuvering. I say pretty good, not outstanding for a few reasons. First, the author, clearly liberal, does try to humanize most of his conservative opponents, which I doubt a conservative writer taking on something this big would do if the situation were reversed. Yet ALL the liberal characters portrayed are compassionate human beings, and ALL the really nasty people happen to be on the conservative side. There are also a few missing pieces in the abortion argument, which I'll address later. By the way, the author of this review leans slightly towards the left for his political camp. The book builds up to interesting stories at once. First, the machinations involved in selecting a Supreme Court Chief Justice. The second is a challenge by a fifteen year-old pregnant girl who wants to have an abortion without her parents' consent. Less compelling of the two is the Supreme Court story, only because it does leave a bad taste in one's mouth about how high-stakes politics works. No player is without blame in this story, which makes one wonder sometimes if we are doing it right. The argument for this centers around the practice that getting into power is by far the most important goal, much more than actually doing the best thing for the people they govern. So much so that they will do whatever they can to hinder the progress of government when the other guy is in power to show that your own side can do it better. Both sides will also present extreme cases as the norm when trying to deface the other side, which the issues in this book do big time. The issues of smear campaigns and digging up personal dirt also get examined. I should point out that in the book it is the conservatives who publicly drag a liberal's sexuality through the mud, where the only real instance of this I can recall is the liberal smear campaign of Clarence Thomas. Just trying to play fair here. The other story concerns the abortion story. I will give credit to the author by bringing most of the arguments both sides have on the issue, and going into great depth on both sides. The author clearly thinks abortion is the way to go, but he does give the pro-life ample time by describing the actual procedure of a so-called "partial birth" ( a media-generated term, we learn) abortion, the one the fifteen-year-old would have to have. But he leaves out two important issues, which tend to tip HIS argument in HIS favor. First, while proclaiming that abortion is good because it prevents unwanted children from being born to parents that can't afford them, the fact remains that most abortions are done by middle and upper class women as a convenient form of birth control. Lower income women keep their babies more than upper class women. Second, the abortion doctor they present is a compassionate one who would only perform "partial-birth" when it will benefit the health of the mother. It doesn't bother to mention that most abortion clinics really are "mills", where the academic worst of the medical-school crop run businesses strictly based on the fact that the more abortions they perform, the more money they will make. This, and the fact that most of the pro-lifers in the trial do get there heads handed to them by the young feminist lawyer point out that all that is right and true seems to belong to the liberal world. As a left-leaner, I don't buy all of it.
Rating:
Summary: intolerance speaks
Review: At the end of the book, Patterson writes that the 2 largest pro-life groups did not respond to his request for information. They must have read the manuscript and realized how hopeless it was. Patterson goes to great detail in investigating the pro-choice arguments but litters the opposite side with the standard southern, white, male, close-minded stereotypes. His blame of lack of research on the pro-life groups is lame and without support. He should have spent some time trying to understand the mindset of conservatives and pro-life advocates and he would have been much more successful in articulating this difficult subject. He ends up with the tired liberal picture of being tolerant of anyone who does not believe in absolute truth. And intolerant of anyone who does. He could have done so much better.
Rating:
Summary: Preaching to the Left-wing Choir
Review: From the pulpits of east and west coast liberal meccas, Martha's Vinyard and San Francisco, Patterson rants to his masses. His praises are sung on the review pages by such unbiased reviewers as Mario Cuomo, Barbara Boxer, Molly Ivins, Archibald Cox and the head of the ACLU - gee I wonder in which direction we are headed? This book is laden with cartoon characters - good hearted, good natured, big thinking liberal lawyers and alternately thuggish or hopelessly misguided and bovine Christian conservatives. As the book opens, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (a card-carrying Conservative) is so apoplectic over the Democratic swearing in ceremony that he collapses in a fatal stroke. Frankly, its all downhill from there. Patterson's treatise is a pre-emptive cruise missile strike paving the way for the salvation of partial birth abortions. America, as portrayed in this novel is a land of manipulative mean-spirited, deep-pocketed Christians and liberals courageous enough to battle these evil minions. Regardless of what the reader may think of the abortion debate, there is nothing quite so tedious as being bludgeoned with terribly one-sided arguments for over six hundred pages. I would recommend reading Patterson's thrillers and suggest to the author that he leave the left-wing diatribes to writers for the Washington Post and New York Times.
Rating: 
Summary: Great insight inside the Beltway
Review: To start out I have to say I think Kerry Kilcannon is one of the best-done characters I have ever read. I also think he has a cool name, but that is less important. This deals with some very timely and interesting stuff, as in the abortion themes. The details of his transformation from one more senator to Mr. President is also greatly entertaining. All of the characters are interesting and leave you wanting more. The plot is clever and smart, but drags and is in need of a jumpstart at more than one point. Of course, it is still worth your time and money. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: AUDIO VERSION - SARDONIC, SARDONIC, SARDONIC
Review: This is an okay book. It's a little too heavy on the meaningless detail - and it tries too hard to weave too many separate stories together. However, what absolutely drove me nuts, was the overuse of SARDONIC and MORDENT. It's so annoying when an author thinks they've discovered a little used word and then proceeds to beat us about the head with it. I almost had to turn it off at one point because I thought I would scream if I heard it one more time! The woman who reads it, however, does an excellent job.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, informational, and entertaining
Review: One of the best books I have ever read....relevant to today's political and philosophical conflicts. This book captures your attention from beginning to end and on after the last page is turned.
Rating:
Summary: Very compelling reading
Review: This book is about abortion, and does not avoid the more emotion-laden issues of late-term abortion. It also shows clearly how important the presidency can be in the nomination of Supreme Court judges. It is a very thought provoking and entertaining read. Before reading Protect and Defend, I was moderately pro-life. Patterson does an excellent job of showing many of the faces and facets of the abortion issue. He hasn't changed my mind (hard to do with this subject!), but has gotten me thinking about the issue in a more humane and thoughtful way. Chad Palmer is a character that resonates strongly. The Tierney parents are very compelling. Mary Ann (and her lawyer) are real and tragic. Patterson generates in these characters a quality that touches down deep. Patterson treats the Christian Right in a quite heavy-handed manner. Much of what he says seems deserved, and until close to the end of the book, the Tierney parents do a good job of stating the case for pro-life. When we discover the parents' flaw, however, Patterson's arguments become suspect. He has gone too far, and in a way that seems unnecessary. At least, these were my initial reactions. On reflection, it is not hard to believe that it would take just such flawed persons to have a child in the situation presented.... The book evokes strong emotions: the quality of the book is shown most clearly by having us wanting to understand Patterson's (Mary Ann and her lawyer's) reasoning, even when we are strongly disagreeing. The Tierney parents are not the only couple here that have significant flaws. It seems everyone in this book does. Is that human nature, and part of the problem with pro-life's stance? I'm not sure Patterson intended this. The number of personal problems revolving around childbirth and abortion make portions of the storyline seem contrived. Even so, Protect and Defend more than holds it own as engaging, thought provoking, and most worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: A must for the current times.
Review: Wow!! what a book to make you think about your values. I couldn't put it down. Even though some of the things presented in the book go directly against some of my own basic values, it got me thinking and I couldn't wait to find out how the author resolved some of the issues. A delightful read and you will come away with a whole new perspective on the subject of abortion.
Rating:
Summary: Morality Lesson is Still a Good Read
Review: Never read this author before, but now I want more about these interesting people. I liked the Senator who was on the "wrong side" of the issue best, and frankly, so did most of the other characters in the book. Even the "good guy" president has plenty of personal regrets that should keep him up at night, and it would be interesting to see which of them come back to haunt him in future novels. At first I was skeptical that one of the key attorneys would allow himself to be adverse to his own daughter in a higly publicized trial. But this device revealed a tenderness and complexity not always seen in such committed people, and also moved the plot along rather nicely, so Patterson can easily be forgiven. How refreshing to close a book with conflicting and changing reactions to the people in it!
While I really enjoyed the people in this book, the reason I picked it up in the first place was to see how someone could write a cogent novel about such a politically charged issue as abortion. Patterson succeeded pretty well, no, very well. While his pro-choice bias is evident, he really does present the pro-life views with some understanding and sympathy.
So, while the incidence of abortion as a core issue in the lives of the characters is quite a bit higher than in the general public, this book is a pretty credible summary of the diversity of opinion on abortion in this country. It is also a great insight into the complexities of Washington politics and the labrynth of judicial appointments. Most of all, it's a great yarn, and filled with people you would not mind knowing better.
|
