Balance of Power

Balance of Power, Richard North Patterson's twelfth novel, tells a story about politics and the background posturing and backstabbing that is endemic therein. It is not a particularly pleasant book but it is interesting and well written. The core of the narrative is a battle between President Kerry Kilcannon and the SSA (Sons of the Second Amendment) obviously a pseudonym for the NRA (National Rifle Association). In a previous book, Kerry's brother James, had been assassinated while running for president. Kerry, who later became a U.S. Senator also was shot by a would be assassin during an election campaign. He recovers and goes on to become President. Obviously gun control is close to his heart and this book describes Kilcannon's efforts to institutionalize a modicum of safety measures in the face of the intractable SSA. The Plot After unraveling the president's plan to get gun manufacturer's to voluntarily provide locks for their handguns and require background checks on sales at gun shows, SSA president, Charles Dane goes on the offensive against the hated Kilcannon. As the Republican Parties main contributor, many members of the Senate and Congress are beholden to the SSA, so Dane meets with the Senate Majority leader, Frank Fasano, to go over strategy to neutralize his perceived enemy. The Story Shortly after taking office, President Kilcannon, a divorcee, marries his lady friend, the beautiful, former Lara Costello, previously a news correspondent. However, prior to the wedding, Lara, while in San Francisco, confronts her sister Joan, a victim of spousal abuse and forces her to talk to Kerry, who was a former prosecutor, specializing in spousal battery. After getting Joan to file a complaint against her husband, John Bowden, Police secure the gun from him that he had held to Joan's head a few days previous and he is arrested and subsequently released on bail, with the stipulation that he stay away from his wife and six year old daughter, Marie. But John is a troubled man. John Bowen, obtains passage to Las Vegas, where he attends a gun show purchasing a gun that has been banned in California, along with especially deadly bullets, from a private seller, at the gun show. Then he returns to California where he awaits the return of the Costello family from Washington DC, where the five Costello women had attended Kerry and Lara's wedding. At this point the stage it set for tragedy, leading, subsequently, to a round of Machiavellian intrigue, which would make Robespierre proud. Conclusion Balance of Power is a long complicated book of 605 pages. It is both heart wrenching and inspiring. During the inspiring parts, I'm not ashamed to admit my eyes would water. If you pick up this book you are in for an emotional rollercoaster. This book would not appeal to gun advocates, since it depicts the gun lobby as unalterably set against even the most modest safety measures, even those volunteered by gun manufacturers. The author, Richard N

By way of disclosure, I am a Republican who supports reasonable gun restrictions. Having said that, this was an enjoyable work of fiction that is based on solid research. To his credit, Patterson doesn't hide his bias as he discusses them in the "Afterward and Achnowledges" section. He consulted with political experts (both Republicans and Democrats), gun specialists, even a Catholic priest to try to bring an informed realism to the story. At this, he succeeds mightily. The issue revolves around guns and the links between the gun industry and the NRA-like Sons of the Second Amendment. While the author is more sympathetic toward the Democratic side of the equation, I did detect some lack of approval of some aspects of their tactics and methods, though clearly not as much as the Republicans. In a sense, this is realistic in that it shows events as they are happening, generally, though not always, from the Democratic president's point of view and not in isolation of other things going on. I enjoyed the introduction of the characters. While people who read his other books would be familiar with the principle characters, I was not as this was my first book in this storyline. However, I don't believe that detracted from my enjoyment of the story. The ending was not all that realistic as the timing involved rarely happens in real life. However, having said that, this IS a work of fiction and we shouldn't expect the whole thing to be realistic. I will definately search out the two volumes that come before this and I certainly hope that this isn't, as he implied in the "Afterward and Acknowledgements", the last volume in this series.

The author is an excellent writer. His two major themes of Gun Control and the political process leave one wondering about what really goes on in Washington, DC. Whether Charleton Heston or Sarah Brady are your heroes, Patterson does an excellent job. Keeping track of the political maneuvering throughout the book is a process in itself. His cast of characters was a great help. His writing is a reflection of today's politics, whether good or bad. At times, his writing is cumbersome and stilted, but then, so is reality.

With numerous stage, television, and film roles to her credit you'd expect Patricia Kalember to deliver a first-rate reading - she does and raises the bar with her rendering of Richard North Patterson's latest D.C. based thriller. With "Balance of Power" Patterson once more focuses on fictional Democratic politician Kerry Kilcannon. Recently elected to the presidency Kerry is set to marry his fiancé, television journalist Lara Costello. When Lara' sister is again brutalized by her abusive husband, John Bowden, Kerry intervenes. Then, the horrific: shortly after the wedding Bowden goes on a wild rampage shooting the innocent, including his wife and their daughter. Kerry is so affected by this carnage that he promises to battle gun violence which means turning over Washington's most powerful lobby, the SSA or Sons of the Second Amendment. It's at this point that Patterson's knowledge of Washington, its politics and power brokers really comes to the fore as Kerry becomes involved in a no-holds-barred battle with his nemesis, Senate Majority Leader Frank Fasano. There is enough political intrigue and legal maneuvers in "Balance of Power" to keep everyone listening from rapid-fire start to boffo finish.

Richard North Patterson is known as powerful, literate author of suspense novels which explore social, political and legal issues. Although Patterson's bias almost always shines through, he makes a valiant and usually credible attempt to explore both sides and let each proponent in his novel make the best case for their position. "Balance of Power" is neither a suspenseful novel, nor a balanced view on the issue at the core of the book, gun control and American politics. Nonetheless, the novel is a masterful, well written, page tuner. It is also an advocacy brief in novel form.If Patterson's goal in writing is to affect the public debate, he is unlikely to succeed despite the muckraking quality to the book. When Upton Sinclair and other muckrakers wrote their advocacy novels in the early twentieth century, their works were serialized in the only mass media of the day: newspapers and popular magazines. Today the mass media has already been so saturated on this issue that Patterson's work brings nothing new to the public debate."Strict constructionalits" who believe that when the Founding Fathers made reference to a "well organized militia" they meant individual citizens or believe that the right to bear arms trumps the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" will dismiss "Balance of Power" as the work of "Nazi jackboot" who wants to take away a hunter's right to own a hunting gun. For those who believe in responsible gun control, the book is sermon directed at the choir. I cannot predict how those in the middle will react, but I suspect anybody who reads "Balance of Power" with an open mind is more likely to join the choir than the NRA.