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Protect and Defend

A couple weeks ago, I picked up a few used books downtown on one of my lunch hours. After perusing the shelves for awhile, I'd picked one by and author I'd previously read, one by a new author and I was looking for a third. That's when I realized the creepy old guy in a suit standing about 5 feet away was creepy because he was flipping through a playboy magazine. Slightly unnerved, I finished reading the back of the book in my hand, figured it'd do and went to pay for my selections.

That book was Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson. Now, I'm not sure if I've read anything by him before. The name is somewhat familiar which is why I'd picked up the book to begin with. I left it to be read last out of the books I bought because the story did interest the heck out of me. A story about a new president forced to select a new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The woman (yep, woman) he chooses to nominate has a secret. This nomination causes dissent in the senate. Just to add a little complexity to the situation, the author throws in an abortion rights case that will eventually end up in the supreme court.

I'm about 200 pages into this novel and am very impressed with the book overall. In my opinion ( based on the reviews on Amazon, not everyone agrees with me), the author has done an excellent job of portraying the characters involved, their pasts, the decisions they've made as well as both sides of a very divisive issue. I'm barely a third of the way through this book, but I think it's one that's going to remain a permanent part of my personal little library, alongside novels by Grisham, Lescroart and Louis L'Amour.

posted by Erin @ 3:32 PM