Protect and Defend

A Novel

By: Richard North Patterson

Narrated by: Patricia Kalember

Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

A compelling new novel from Richard North Patterson - a major departure, and that confirms his place among the most important popular novelists at work today.

A newly elected president faces the unexpected chance to nominate a new chief justice of the Supreme Court. His first choice is a nationally respected Court of Appeals judge, a woman whose nomination faces two serious obstacles: a long-held personal secret; and the prospect that a volatile abortion case - a trial pitting a 15-year-old girl against her pro-life parents - will come before the court. And the Senate majority leader is determined to thwart the president's nomination for reasons that cross the boundary between the political and the personal.

As these stories intertwine, building in complexity and suspense, Patterson gives us the resounding clash of competing ambitions between the president and the majority leader; the equally momentous collision of science and culture in the courtroom; and, in an unprecedented novelistic depiction of the legal process from the perspective of the judge rather than the lawyers, a revelation of both how the judicial system works and how it intersects with politics, for better or for worse.

Protect and Defend is a triumph - the definitive novel of politics and law at the dawn of the 21st century.

©2000 Richard North Patterson (P)2000 Random House, Inc.

Outstanding!

Fully addresses all of the issues in an intelligent, caring and insightful discourse. We could only wish our good politicians were as good as the good ones in the book. Superb reading.

Great story - lousy production

Have listened to more than a hundred titles - this is the first one that randomly repeated sections. Would like to think it was just a download problem, but suggest that Audible check it out.

Excellent story but...

This story was well written and performed. However, there were some technical difficulties with my copy. Several times it fell back and repeated several hours of the book. This book is listed at over 30 hours but actually probably around 25 or so.

Able to see both sides

As a father and grandfather I can see the parent's point of view, but I can also see amd understand the daughter's side of the issue. If we are at a pont where we can only write politically neutral books, it's become a sorry state of affairs. All in all it was simply a great political mystery thriller that kept me wishing I could spend more time in the car listening to it to see what would happen next.

Read it for the enjoyment of the story

Don't read this book for its stance on politics, only as a good story. I read for enjoyment and this book was very enjoyable. It made you think about the stance between "no abortion" and "justifiable abortion". It was a great read. I watch movies and read books for enjoyment only and don't let any of the theorizing or politicing influence my opinion of a well written script.

Controversy and corruption blend well

This story, was well written and narrated. The subject matter, parental rights over their minor child's right to abortion, being the back story to rampant and biased corruption in law and politics. The outcome becoming predictable only in the last chapter or two... Nicely done !!

Chapter repeats

The story is great and the reading sound. However, several chapters repeat. It happened twice in this particular book which was seriously annoying since I was listening on a long car trip and had to try to fast forward while driving or listen to four to five chapters again.

Wonderful Book

This was a great book. I was sorry it had to end. It kept me on the edge, I could not wait to find out what was going to happen. At night I would listen to it for hours. I would recomend to to everyone. Take a chance would will be glad you did. No character is safe, not even the president.

AWESOME!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

You will fall in love with the characters as you walk through their plights. I had two favorite characters Sarah and Caroline, both had to stand behind their convictions while others tried to undermine the values they had established for themselves. My next two favorite characters were Senator Palmer and President Kilcannon, again both of these men had secretes that undermined their stated values but in the end each had to decided what was right.

What does Patricia Kalember bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

Patricia was an incredible story teller and made the characters some to life.

Any additional comments?

The book is excellent and you will enjoy the story and it might even challenge your beliefs. The only complaint I have is that in section 1 and section 2 several hours of the audio are duplicated and trying to figure out what parts were re-recorded versus new was troublesome. Hopefully someone will fix the error in the recording.

Future ability to bear children

It's only fair to be correct on the central issue of the legal fight in this book - protecting the teenager's ability to have future children, not racing the calendar before the probably-nonviable fetus was beyond 6 months old and permanently damaged the mother's ability to have more children.

The legal arguments on both sides of the law requiring teenagers to obtain parental consent to abortion were interesting. In addition, the political maneuvering over the appointment of a Supreme Court judge were too realistic for comfort. I recommend this book with the caviat that you will examine your personal philosophies on abortion, right to privacy, rights of teenagers versus parents, and lifestyle choices of public officials because of the content.