Balance of Power

Kerry Kilcannon #3

by Richard North Patterson

Five months into his term in office, President Kilcannon and his fiancee have decided to marry. The day of the ceremony the nation is plunged into mourning following a massacre of innocents in a lethal burst of gunfire. Kilcannon vows to curb gun crime but the cost to him and his wife is going to be high.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Politics, Legal Thriller, Legal, Political Thriller

800 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2003

About the author

Richard North Patterson is the author of fourteen previous bestselling and critically acclaimed novels. Formerly a trial lawyer, Patterson served as the SEC’s liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and has served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and women’s rights. He lives in San Francisco and on Martha’s Vineyard.
Macmillan.com Author Profile

Awards
Edgar Award, 1980, Best First Novel for The Lasko Tangent

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, International Award, 1995 for Degree of Guilt

http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...

Reviews

[Diane Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read! well written and has all things about world views/social justice etc inside..highly recommend (paperback!)

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish.

Today's USA focus (June 8, 2022) is on gun... GUN... G.U.N. --- control. Seems the worst economy in 40 years, Russia threatening to attack US bases in Europe, War in Ukraine, Covid-19 and shortages of everything just isn't worth our congressmen's time. Attack the 2nd Amendment is all they think about. It's my right to own guns and own them I shall. 'Merica Baby!

So... After listening to the evening news and the whining for more- MORE- M.O.R.E. gun control, I go to this audiobook and what do I hear? An author who in his fictitious novel is crusading for gun control. GUN CONTROL! Guns are bad- BAD... B.A.D!!!! Sorry but I don't want to spend my recreational time getting more democratic brainwashing on the subject. I read fiction for entertainment not a way to regurgitate the evening bad news and to be brainwashed with liberal thought.

We made sure that after 9/11 we didn't paint all Muslims as radical terrorists. Let's give the law-abiding American gun owner THE SAME RESPECT. Can I get an Amen?

If you read this and figure "hey, maaaaaaan. I'm gonna start arguing with this guy" you can forget it. I won't engage you and I will delete you. Funny thing about all these elitists who tell the average Joe that we don't need guns to protect ourselves. They all seem to have armed security hitmen to surround and protect them 24/7/365.

These same MFing hypocrites won't give a dime to protect our children for the 8 hours they are locked inside our schools... yet give billions to arm Ukrainian civilians with automatic assault rifles. These same morons won't build a wall to prevent illegal entry (invasion) through our southern border but put up walls around their homes and security fencing around their workplaces. Yeah, I'm talking to you Obama and Pelosi! Your homes look like walled fortresses. Their fears get addressed but not ours. I have no use for these hypocrites or others who tell me that my safety from crime is less important than anyone else's.

*** BTW: When I don't finish a book they get an AUTOMATIC one-star review. If you don't like it? Tough.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was written 15 years ago, the subject matter is still modern and prevalent. Sometimes reading a 600 plus page book can feel daunting, but I wouldn't have minded another 100 pages. It was facinating and instructional reading about the interworkings of the three branches of the givernment and those groups that strive to influence them. Richard North Patterson is an ultimate story teller.

[William Sutherland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written in 2003 and is still relevant today. We are still dealing with gun violence, the influence of lobbyists and the public destruction of political figures. Proponents of the NRA will not care for the depiction of the gun lobby.
I truly enjoy Richard North Patterson. His ability to take legal issues and turn them into personal stories is a real talent.
This is the 3rd and last book of the Kerry Kilcannon series. I recommend reading No Safe Place and Protect and Defend first.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of the three books I struggled with one. I couldn't get into the story this time....but I finished. Had to check out the book three times but finished it.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kerry Kilcannon, President of the United States is the quintessential fictional image of a Kennedy like president—had he of course, come from a poor background with an Irish American cop for a father that beat his mother with some regularity. Kilcannon is, however, handsome, extremely intelligent, politically astute and unshakable in the pursuit of his ideals. Although divorced he pursues and marries a beautiful Hispanic TV reporter and then is immediately confronted with a family tragedy as his new wife’s brother-in-law shoots and kills his estranged wife as well as her mother and another sister. Kilcannon and his new wife are devastated with grief and guilt as it becomes apparent that his position as well as his advice to the dead sister was a factor in the murder. Kilcannon and his wife Laura begin a campaign to change gun laws in the U.S. but are immediately confronted by the Sons of the Second Amendment (SSA), the most powerful lobby in Washington. The story rapidly becomes entangled in the intrigue and minutia of the legislative and legal system as the Kilcannons’ find that when political power is at stake nothing is out of bounds including blackmail and potential personal scandal. The combination of judicial indifference and regulatory permissiveness is all too familiar in revealing the political chicanery that often assures that the many of the nation’s elected representatives are in the pockets of an evermore exclusive minority of plutocrats. The novel may be fiction but unfortunately the infighting and political methodology rings true.

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Balance of Power is a large novel length tirade about gun policy in America. First off I guess it’s important to say that if you like gun ownership and have strong views about freedom and guns in America than you probably won’t like this book.


The novel while being fictional is essentially a description of the political and legal process that would likely need to occur to increase gun control in the United States.


In saying that the characters are OK, many of the minor ones are skilful half-real politicians and the initial storyline has some interesting tension.


Perhaps the real problem with Balance of Power is its extreme length. While I find the topic interesting and the novel is obviously the result of much hard work, one finds themselves drifting off during the legal and political arguments. The novel could have been much better with some thematic subplots, and some more human action, rather than so much procedural junk.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is agit-prop for gun control. Loaded with startling fact about gun violence. It falls somewhat short on the story side, but still better than 75% of political thriller nonsense available. I believe we all need to express our views on the outrageous amount of gun violence in America. As a young man I grew up in a hunting family and owned several guns. I was a member of the NRA. I volunteered for the Army. My godfather was a gunsmith and a member of the Presidents 100. I have forsaken all of those associations, and own no guns. I have no objection to hunting, although there is a lot of drunken louts with a gun in one hand and a beer can (or seething limper) in the other who call themselves hunters who stagger through the woods, shoot game and leave it to rot because they are too far from their car to pack it out. All I need to protect myself is my brains. Anyone who needs more doesn't have any brains.

[Mikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a novel this is a powerful portrait of the gun lobby, the world of special interests, and politics. When the president tries to put forth gun controls he is unsuccessful until a tragedy in his family forces a legal decision about responsibility. Close to the truth.. note latest Supreme Court decision.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Patterson takes on a current issue and makes one evaluate their own stand. This time it is the gun lobby and the second amendment. What exactly was meant by the "right to bear arms' and how does that fit in with 200 years of technologic growth.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to quit about halfway through. Just bored, bored, bored and it made my brain hurt. I have an excellent vocabulary, but Patterson's use of words that are so out of the normal realm made me feel like I was reading a graduate level text book.

[Shannon Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and preachy. Could not finish.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a gun control advocate who is puzzled by Americans' weird obscession with weaponry, this was well done AND the good guys won. The story is shockingly true to life down to the "Sons of the Second Amendment's" impersonation of the crazies at the NRA. President Kilcannon, a victim himself of an attempted assassination, uses the death of three of his wife's family members to attempt to improve gun safety. The SSA, their attorneys, and the legislators they support use corruption, chicanery, and deception that startlingly mirror today's reality and are nearly successful in changing law for the worse in spite of overwhelming opposition from the public. Patterson is a known gun control advocate, and I hope his future works continue to show the idiocy in permitting weapons that are solely intended to maim and kill.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finish this book as the country is once more embroiled in a seemingly pointless debate about gun control. This book was written in 2003, and since then, there has been ZERO movement to bring our violent culture under control. The challenges remain the same... Politics, power and money take precedence over the safety of the citizenry.
I am sure that in today's Washington DC, the machinations of Senators, Congressmen, and the NRA (thinly veiled in this book as the SSA) is just as sickeningly convoluted. The fact that, in this book, President Kilcannon was able to bring about at least SOME change gives me hope that it is possible in real life.

[Terry Giardina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is ultimately about gun control and the political debates surrounding it told in a very good “mostly” fictional story. Parts of the story have been taken from real life and those are outlined in the Afterword and Acknowledgements which is also good reading. I found this book to be at times very upsetting knowing (even before I read the Afterword) that this is how politics works in this country. Our politicians have less concern for public welfare and safety than they do for the advancement of themselves and their careers and they sell their souls for both in a heartbeat. Now I will get down off my soapbox and just tell you to make sure you read this book.

[Ph. D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The good: Taut, entertaining, accurate, meticulously researched. Patterson doesn't get enough credit. His novels top the list of the legal/political fiction genre.

The bad: Twenty years later and not a goddam thing has changed with regard to the influence the NRA exercises over the Republican party. Ditto for right-wing Christians and abortion (book 2 in the Kilcannon trilogy, Protect and Defend).

The sad: President KFK is a heartbreaking reminder of what a President RFK might have been.

[Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third and final book in the Kerry Kilcannon trilogy, a series best read in the order the books were written. All three books are excellent! Published two decades ago, the issues discussed in this book - domestic abuse, gun control laws, and campaign finance reform - are as timely today as they were then. This is a political thriller where self interest reigns, power is wielded ruthlessly, and past sins are never forgotten. I'm looking forward to reading more works by Richard North Patterson.

[David]

Short review: even the good guys suck. I admit: I wanted to see the lawyer, Nolan, shot and killed by the gun he was defending. Sorry that didn’t happen. Even the people whose policies and beliefs I agree with are caught in the “exposure/pressure/blackmail/influence trading” of U.S. politics. A work of fiction, I know. And in fact, Canada has no high moral ground. All very sad. If only it were entirely the work of a novelist’s imagination.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting and well written book. It took me a long time to read for a couple reasons. First, I only read it at the cabin. Second, it was a very detailed and complex story. Gun control, the workings of Congress and the President, the judicial system and of course the characters.

While the book was published nearly 20 years ago, the issues addressed are still mostly unsolved today. Worth your time, but note… it’s nearly 600 pages long.

[Niki Florin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The president is opposed to guns, de SSA is opposed to any laws restricting the possession of guns. I get it. There is no need to repeat this over and over and over ... The story could have been good but after page 250 I was so bored of reading the same thing again that I put the book away. Not finishing a book is something that rarely happens but here, I am sorry. Too many good books waiting and too little time to read them all.

[Amanda Labossière-Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously a lot of thought and research went into writing this book, so I have a lot of respect for the author. Though it was fairly well-written, I did have a hard time getting through it. If I had a better understanding of US politics, it likely would have been easier to read. This is not my typical genre. Many topics are still relevant today, even though this book was written over 20 years ago. More of a 3⭐️ based on my tastes, but I gave it a 3.5⭐️ rounded up.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched, and well-written, this political thriller has a theme which divides America, the need for gun control. A real page-turner, and well worth reading. My wish would be that somehow, America and all other countries so afflicted with love of guns can take note of its plea and do something to fix the problem.

[Elinor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, gender role tropes, implausible plot, painful dialogue. I came for the thoughtful arguments favoring gun control only to find the handsome male leader as the great savior accompanied by his smart and beautiful wife who isn't permitted any agency of her own. Couldn't see past any of that. Gross.

[Susan J. Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it was first published and quickly became caught up in the story. I very much enjoyed the book, but it's so heartbreaking that despite everything that's happened since, the gun lobby in the States seems more powerful than ever.

[Barb Chamberlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to go and search out when this book was written, it saddens me that we have made absolutely no progress in the area of gun control, or in campaign finance reform. Just hope that 15 years from now the same won't be true.

[Christopher DuMont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow - this is such a fascinating read and so many twists and turns. It is a hard subject and hits very close to home - it is long but worth the investment - need to go back and read the first two in the series

[Meakin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #3 last of the series....Now I know I don't like politics and I know why...All three are very well written and true to life as can be.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yawn. Find a better story Too much drama over this topic

[John Uzzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast read but preachy.

[Kathryn Giddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard North Patterson writes well and I've loved most of his books. I read this one a while ago and would like to re-read before locking in a review.