Protect and Defend

Richard North Patterson

Jan 2000 · Kerry Kilcannon Ibhuku elingu-2 · Penguin Random House Audio · Kuchazwe ngu-Patricia Kalember

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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.

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Richard North Patterson is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 novels, a former chairman of Common Cause, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Formerly a trial lawyer, Patterson served as the US Security and Exchange Commission's liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor. He lives in San Francisco and on Martha's Vineyard with his wife, Dr. Nancy Clair.

Patricia Kalember studied acting at Indiana University and Temple University after being encouraged by her high-school drama teacher. She finished College with a BA in theater and immediately started acting in major regional and off-Broadway productions. In New York, where she was born, she worked in numerous daytime soaps, commercials, and theatrical events. She received a nomination for the Outer Critics Circle Award for her part in the long-running play The Foreigner.