Book Review: Protect and Defend

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Protect and Defend     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Richard North Patterson
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Political Intrigue   Thriller   Legal Setting
Series: Kerry Kilcannon
Knopf, Dec 2000, $26.95, 550 pp.

A fifteen-year-old girl is pregnant carrying a brain-damaged fetus. She wants to abort her child, but the recently enacted federal law requires parental permission for a minor to obtain a late stage abortion. Her devout pro-life parents will never agree to the abortion. If the child comes to term, a c-section is required that might leave the teen sterile. Lawyer Sara Dash accepts Mary Ann's case in an attempt to prove the law is unconstitutional and the court should repeal the congressional law.

Kerry Kilcannon has just been sworn into office as president. One of his first decisions is to nominate the Honorable Caroline Clark Masters as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Sarah was once Caroline's law clerk and each hold the other in high regard. If Sarah takes the case on appeal, Caroline will sit on the bench, jeopardizing her chance to become Chief Justice because she will vote for the abortion. Conservatives will then have the ammunition to defeat her nomination. The newly elected President faces his first test in office because he is determined that Caroline will be the next Chief Justice.

In a land where law and politics go hand in hand, there is a heroic president, a fine Chief Justice nominee, and an idealistic lawyer battling to see justice occurs. The cast on both sides of the complex abortion issue seems very believable because their motives appear genuine and honorable. This is what makes Richard North Patterson's novel an exciting, impossible to put down political thriller

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner