No Safe Place: Summary and book reviews of No Safe Place by Richard North Patterson, plus links to an excerpt from No Safe Place and a biography of Richard North Patterson.
No Safe Place
by Richard North Patterson
Hardcover: Aug 1998,
497 pages.
Paperback: Aug 1999,
513 pages.
In his first book since the national best-seller Silent Witness, Richard
North Patterson uses his mastery of characterization and suspense to give us a story of
startling realism and originality--an extraordinary novel of presidential politics.
In the year 2000, Senator Kerry
Kilcannon's insurgent campaign against Vice President Dick Mason has come down to the last
seven days--the time remaining until the California presidential primary. Whoever wins in
California is likely to win the Democratic nomination, a prize that the Vice President is
determined to deny Kerry at any cost. And for all the votes and enthusiasm his passion and
personal magnetism have gained him, Kerry's problems are formidable.
He is haunted by the tragedy of his older
brother, James, a presidential candidate who was assassinated in California twelve years
earlier. Kerry has stumbled in his advocacy of abortion rights, and a right-to-life
fanatic has pushed this explosive issue to the forefront by murdering three people at a
women's clinic. In addition, a journalist for a national newsmagazine is striving to
verify the lethal story that, two years ago, while still married, Kerry had a secret love
affair with Lara Costello, a reporter assigned to him on Capitol Hill. And now, even more
threatening, Kerry is being stalked by the abortion-clinic murderer himself.
This narrative is seamlessly interwoven
with scenes from Kerry's past: his youth as the son of a drunken and abusive father; his
self-image as the less-gifted younger brother of a brilliant yet distant senator; his
reluctant ascension to his brother's place; his poignant romance with Lara Costello. And
when Lara is ordered against her will to cover Kerry in California, he is forced once more
to evaluate his life, and the terrible cost of his ambition to become President of the
United States.
With rare authenticity, Richard North
Patterson depicts the world of high-stakes presidential politics on the verge of an
explosion that is as dramatic as it is thought-provoking. But No Safe Place is also a
story of people at their best and at their worst: their passions, their ideals, their
flaws. A novel that will hold the reader enthralled from the first to the last sentence.
No Safe Place is my favorite kind of book: one that brings seemingly different characters together and shows that, lo and behold, they are not so different after all. One that illuminates the connections that the characters have, and that, ultimately, we all have... a fascinating story that urges us to remember that unless we are all safe, none of us really can be.
Media Reviews
San Francisco Chronicle
A powerful account of how twisted the political process has become.
Wall Street Journal
Engrossing...Ambitious and well-written...[An] ethical suspense novel.
The Washington Post
The temptation to match his characters to real players is strong...He does a good job of
accurately rendering the political world and fusing high drama with personal drama. . .The
pages turn quickly as the moment(s) of truth approach and the madman murderer gets nearer.
Entertainment Weekly - Tom DeHaven
A flawed...lawyer hero is nothing new in a Patterson novel, but what is new this time out
is the hero's turf...the campaign trail....uneven, often sluggish...mechanical
plotting....Everything fits, but nothing surprises....But for all its failings, No Safe
Place is still uncommonly readable.
San Jose Mercury News
I was 24 when I read Alan Drury's Advise and Consent. Although I've read a fair number of
political novels in the intervening 25 years, none ever rose to the standard Drury set.
Until now!
Chicago Tribune
Riveting...Highly entertaining....Patterson scores big.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Jennifer Fictional Kennedy This book is about a man who resembles a fictional JFK-type man, acknowledging the similarities in the text. I don't always like political novels, but this book really pulled me in. The main character, Kerry Kilcannon, is idealistic enough to... Read More
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