Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Protect and Defend: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Protect and Defend: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Protect and Defend: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Protect and Defend: A Novel

    Written by Richard North Patterson

    Narrated by Patricia Kalember

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateDec 12, 2000
    ISBN9780375417658
    Unavailable
    Protect and Defend: A Novel
    Author

    Richard North Patterson

    Richard North Patterson is the author of over twenty bestselling and critically acclaimed novels. Formerly a trial lawyer, he was the SEC liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and has served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups. He lives in Martha's Vineyard, San Francisco, and Cabo San Lucas with his wife, Dr. Nancy Clair.

    More audiobooks from Richard North Patterson

    Related to Protect and Defend

    Related audiobooks

    Political Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Reviews for Protect and Defend

    4/5

    116 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      5751. Protect and Defend a novel by Richard North Patterson (read 11 Jul 2021) This is the 7th novel by this author I have read. It involves a late term abortion sought by a 15-year-old girl because she fears the fetus is likely to have no brain and that she will be unable to have more children since the child will have to delivered by C-section. The father of the girl is a lawyer and professor and staunchly pro-life. There is a trial and the father opposes his daughter. . The case gets to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals where the judge who has been nominated to be the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and who when young had a child out of wedlock decides in favor of permitting the girl having an abortion. The arguments for and against permitting the abortion are set forth fairly. The novel is successful in holding one's interest, even though some of the action is implausible. One's interest is held by the book till the last page.
    • 4/5
      I generally don't list books here that I don't like. Usually, I don't finish them. But, I kept reading this one thinking it would get better. It has such unfulfilled promise. The fresh, new, Democratic President is being sworn in by the very old and very conservative Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As soon as the swearing in is over, the Chief Justice drops dead. The new president's first job is to find a replacement who will, of course, be the swing vote on the court. So much could have been made out of this story. And, even though, for me, the fatter the book the better, this sucker could have been told in less than half the pages used.
    • 4/5
      If this work is characteristic, Patterson writes very literate mystery/thriller novels that take a public issue and dissect it from multiple viewpoints. Protect and Defend has been described by one reviewer as the most accurate portrayal of the Washington political scene. The issue is abortion, specifically fifteen year- ld Mary Anne Tierney’s struggle to abort late-term a severely hydrocephalic, brainless, and otherwise deformed and defective fetus. A normal birth has been deemed impossible and she worries that a Caesarian, as often happens, will prevent her being able to have children later. Her family are vigorously antiabortion under any circumstance Her father is a brilliant law professor and he is pitted against her in the courtroom as the legal representative of the unborn child. A subplot is the political struggle to have a new chief justice confirmed. The recently elected president, Kerry Kilcannon, introduced in a previous book of Patterson’s, [book:No Safe Place], chooses to nominate Caroline Masters (Patterson’s [book:The Final Judgment]). There are allusions to events that take place in both of these earlier works, neither of which I have read — the stack grows ever skyward. Kilcannon and Masters are both very strong, principled characters, who, nevertheless, have skeletons in the closet that provide a most interesting backdrop for an examination of ethical dilemmas. The centerpiece is the sensational, nationally televised trial that pits Mary Anne against her family and becomes an issue in the Masters nomination. Mary Anne’s attorney is a young lawyer who wants to overturn a recently passed law that requires parental consent for abortions. Patterson excels at presenting all sides of an issue quite objectively, and it’s often difficult not to sympathize with all the parties in this difficult case.

      Patterson’s an attorney who knows the law, and his novel reflects considerable research. The book could almost be a primer on abortion law and how it has evolved uniquely in this country — it’s hardly an issue in most other countries. It’s also a lesson in how politics is conducted. He talked with both Clinton and Senator Dole about how they would promote or try to defeat a Supreme Court nominee, and he relates that the strategies he learned from these two politically astute people were mesmerizing.

      Clearly, Patterson understands the different threads of belief that go into making the conflict so bitter in this country: the patriarchal strain in fundamentalist religion that suggests that women must play a secondary role in the home, making reproduction a male prerogative; a negative cultural response to the perceived licentiousness of the much maligned sixties; and the genuine and respectable view against abortion that relates to the devaluation of life. A difficulty has been for the pro-life movement to define death. According to Patterson, they have been unable to resolve the distinction between biological death and brain death. The Pope, ironically, has accepted brain death as a sign that life is gone, but he has been unable to accept that no brain, i.e., no cerebral cortex formation may be the same thing. For an excellent discussion of the distinction between life and being a human being, I recommend [book:The Facts of Life: Science and the Abortion Controversy] Patterson deliberately chose to write about a partial-birth abortion because he felt the moral and ethical issues can be brought more clearly into focus. He noted in a television interview on C-Span-2 that “partial-birth” is not a medical concept. It’s a political term that has been used to redefine what abortion means. The book also deals with the relationships within families. “People project their own supposed loveliness as parents on the world at large, and their reaction is terribly personal: ‘I’m a good parent and I would want to be involved,” What they don't stop to consider is that first, if they’re in a functioning family, chances are really good their daughter isn't going to require an Act of Congress to talk to them about this. Second, we may be lovely parents, but what about incestuous families, abusive families, alcoholic families, families where the kid is used as a bone of contention between parents who are at war? All sorts of things which mean that in a given case, you’re either going to get a delay or perhaps a baby out of it, because the minor ultimately doesn’t know what to do. Or, in the worst case, death, either from illegal abortion or because of some act of family violence which is triggered by the exposure of the father’s sexual abuse of the daughter.” This is a fascinating book.

    • 4/5
      Worth the effort....I guess.
    • 5/5
      I picked up this book not knowing what it was about. There was no description on the back. If I had known it was about abortion rights, I probably would not have listened to it right now. The last three Richard North Patterson books I've listened to have been emotionally heavy and have had sad endings. I was pleasantly surprised that this one did not have a totally sad ending, although there was enough drama/trauma throughout the novel. The book was fast-paced and short. I highly recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Kerry Kilcannon is a new president who is presented with some interesting challenges with the Supreme Court and his position on abortion. In this novel Kerry appoints a women (Caroline Masters) to be the next chief justice. This appointment is fought in the Senate and new president has make decisions based on his beliefs
    • 4/5
      A fast paced legal thriller that looks at the abortion debate from all sides . The books takes us behind the scenes in Washington to see the politcal manuvering.....I found the book fast paced and fascinating. It is a wonder that the United States can pass any law, let alone function, with the special interest groups having the power they do. Raises many relevant issues about abortion on both sides of the issue - although it probably favors the pro-choice movement a little bit- a though provoking must read!
    • 5/5
      This is a fantastic look at the reality of abortion rights in the US and how they are slowly, but surely, being chipped away.People who support restrictions on abortion rights really should read this book - it will show the other side to those restrictions, and how they actually play out in lives, as opposed to on paper.