Customer Reviews
Frightening insight into American politics - By: Janie U, 12 Nov 2008 
I know this book is fiction but I also know that Richard North Patterson researches his booksin great detail & isin contact with a lot of peoplein US politics - having to believe that there are some elements of truthin the plot is very frightening & made me have even less beliefin politicians than previously.
On the cover the main character is described as an honest man which is the basis of his personality, although even he has many secrets & failings.
I loved reading the book & particularly enjoyed all the behind the scenes negotiating & deal making, although at times it did become overly complex, leaving me with the feeling that the book started off much larger & was condensed into a manageable size at the editing stage.
The excitement built up heading towards the end of the book & the ending was very well written.
Brilliant - By: BG123, 28 Aug 2008 
As a British student with a keen interestin American politics, I stumbled upon this novel as you tend to do when browsing on Amazon. I thought this book looked fairly interesting & so decided to get it.
My expectations were, to be frank, not very high but now the standard has been set for political race thrillers. The book sees a young senator with high morals & standards try to become the GOP's nomination for president. In the tough primary season, Senator Corey Grace, our hero, has to try & defeat his two main rivals - the darling of the Republican establishment (i.e. the rich men who fund the party) & the right-wing evangelical Christian who believes that he has been ordained by God to run. This novel throws up two huge areas of influence within the Republican party. Here, it seems, the author is making a serious point about the direction & focus of the GOP - one which, although personally a committed Democrat, is an intriguing subject & one which actually makes for much of the book's success.
Senator Grace is on the left of the Republican party & a truly honest man who plays politics notin the back rooms but outin the open. Richard North Patterson is painting the image of the perfect politician - not one with slicked back hair & a gleaming white smile, but a man with a true passion for justice & a firm beliefin a set of principles.
As the primary battle continues, a Karl Rove character begins to emerge for the establishment's candidate. After some very sinister dealings, the novel reaches its nailbiting climax at a deadlocked national convention - whichin the end sees a truly surprising outcome.
This is a book which tries earnestly and,in my humble opinion, successfully to paint a picture of a presidential nominee race for the very soul of the Republican party. In short, R.N. Patterson tries to put the 'Grand' back into the Grand Old Party.
Honesty? It's not on our policy list. - By: Stephen A. Haines, 30 Jun 2008 Senator Corey Grace was raisedin Ohio & flew a US Air Force combat fighter. Almost inevitably, that makes him a Republican & a Presidential hopeful. A few impediments standin his way. He's divorced, hardly a noveltyin the 21st Century, but he's currently dating an African-American actress, Lexie Hart. There was a younger brother, Clay, deadin disturbing circumstances during his first year as a cadet at the Air Force Academy. As a final, almost insurmountable obstaclein US politics, Corey struggles hard to be honest. Given the power of the Republican Party's election machine, that probably is the biggest challenge Corey faces.
In this fast-paced & revealing novel, Patterson pits a caring, almost crusading, young senator against the forces of establishment politics & the passions of Protestantism. For there is a new element every presidential hopefulin the US must contend with - the Christian convinced that the US is under the special attention of a deity & requires a scourging to cleanse it of threats both internal & external. The party establishment is represented here by Rob Marotta, Senator from Pennsylvania whose political life is run by his puppet master, Magnus Price. The Protestant Christian theme is carried by Bob Christy, a crowd-mover who plays many ends to earn himself the role of President-maker.
Patterson builds his characters well as he conveys them through the twisted maze of a US party nomination campaign. Readers must be attentive or they're likely to be lostin the plots, counter-plots & other crosscurrents of political maneuvering. Various hidden pasts are revealed & "family values" are given the traditional exposure requiredin US politics. Corey struggles to keep the campaign centred on issues, but that's almost a futile hope. "Personal character", so easily impugned, becomes the focus of all the candidates' managers, with salacious revelations keeping the reader's rapt attention to see what happens next.
Two events that would test anyone, an assassination attempt & a "terrorist" attack, provide Gulf War hero Grace with an opportunity to reinforce his stature. Neither is terribly plausible, especially the second, but Patterson is writing for an audience willing to accept such distortions if the conclusion of the book points to a path out of the swamp of fear they now occupy. One interesting element here is that Patterson focuses on the Republican nomination campaign on the assumption that party will inevitably triumph over their Democratic competition. Although Grace expresses disapproval of the sham of the Iraq crusade, he is able to stand above it. The Republican Party, although tarnished by the current administration, remainsin the author's mind the steadfast pillar representing US society. Corey Grace is the political messiah who will bring his party out of the wilderness - one way or another. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Sadly Averge - By: Mr. Ian G. Nisbeck, 25 Jun 2008 
I am a big fan of Richard North Patterson's previous politcal novels. So I was excited to get this book. Unfortunately it was a huge disappointment. I think Patterson has written thisin autopilot. He has rehashed elements of his previous novels, particularly the main character Corey Grace who is a slightly modified version of Chad Palmer from his previous novels. (Moderate republican, former prisoner of war, Maverick politician.) Huge parts of the story are skipped over or donein such a superficial way, to do this story justice this book should be twice as lomg. If you want to read a really good political novel, read Pattersons Kilcannon trilogy overwise don't bother.
Truly excellent - By: Music Guru, 20 Apr 2008 This book was so much better than I was expecting. I love American political thrillers, but have recently been a little disappointed with many of the recent examples on this genre. So, with great expectation, & some wariness, I tried this out.
It is, put simply, one of the best books I've ever read. I'm a PhD student, studying US politics, & I found that all of Patterson's arguments (from both sides of the political spectrum, though Republicans are the main partyin this novel) were considered & eloquently put. Rarely did he ever make his more eccentric characters seem completely unlikely or ludicrous.
The pacing is superb, never allowing things to be dragged down by extraneous details. The novel is very lean as a result, & it's almost impossible to put this down (I kept reading until 3am to get it finished). I've since ordered his other political series, starring President Kilcannon (I think that's his name, anyway, it hasn't arrived from Amazon, yet).
I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interestin politics & also anyone interestedin reading very high quality fiction. You won't regret it.
