No Safe Place

Richard North Patterson

Aug 2003 · Kerry Kilcannon Book 1 · Sold by Ballantine Books

About this ebook

In the high-stakes, high-pressure world of presidential politics, where predators carry microphones and one misstep can savage a lifetime of achievement, Kerry Kilcannon is the rarest player of all. Kilcannon believes he can make the system work. And he just may die trying.

Driven by the violent nightmare of his childhood, fueled by forces that few could understand, and burdened by secrets no one must know, Kilcannon is running for President—and entering the crucial battleground of California with seven days to go. But for Kilcannon, there are hurdles that his courage, charisma, and compassion may not overcome: the network correspondent he still loves; the reporter bent on their exposure; the rival who’ll do anything to win; and the fanatic who believes that he must murder Kilcannon to protect the right to life. . . .

Ratings and reviews

A Kennedy-esque Senator Kerry Kilcannon is running for his party's nomination for president against the vice president. This book follows Kerry's campaign across the country in the days leading up to the primary. In the end, the focus is on California, where Kerry needs to win. Haunted by the assassination of his older brother whose footsteps Kerry now follows, Kerry is determined not to let an old affair ruin his chances to be president. The real suspense comes from a right to life fanatic, wanted for murdering three abortion clinic workers, who tracks Kerry to California, where he plots the assassination of the presidential hopeful. This book is like a train wreck: It is obvious what is about to happen; what is not obvious is who the mysterious assassin is. The author effectively uses flashbacks to give us a glimpse of Kerry's past, which dramatically influences who he is today: his abusive father, his Irish godfather/mentor who guides Kerry's political career, and the importance of his campaign manager. The details about the campaign, the press, and the Secret Service are astonishingly clear, but not a surprise given the research Patterson did in writing this book.

About the author

Richard North Patterson's eight previous novels include the international best-sellers Degree of Guilt, Eyes of a Child, The Final Judgment, and Silent Witness. To write No Safe Place, Mr. Patterson traveled with the 1996 campaign, attended a national political convention, and observed the intimate workings of the Senate. He interviewed more than fifty people, including a former President; presidential candidates; United States senators; a cabinet secretary; senior White House staffers; political consultants, campaign managers, press secretaries, and pollsters; members of the national press; and Secret Service agents.
        Mr. Patterson is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and Case Western Reserve School of Law, and he studied creative writing with Jesse Hill Ford at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has won an Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He and his wife, Laurie, live with their family in San Francisco and on Martha's Vineyard.