No Safe Place - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345386124 ISBN 13: 9780345386120

Synopsis

A thriller by the author of "Degree of Guilt" and "Silent Witness". Its setting is seven days in a presidential primary election, during which political violence, abortion politics and potential scandal converge. The central character is a young New Jersey senator whose brother has been murdered.

About this title

Review:

Richard North Patterson steals from the headlines to kick start No Safe Place, but then charts a course that is all his own. He starts with Senator Kerry Kilcannon, a candidate in the presidential primaries whose brother was assassinated right after winning the California primary 12 years before. Then he adds the fact that Kilcannon seems unable to run clear of a two-year-old affair. Sound familiar so far? Add to the mix the fact that Kilcannon is himself being hunted by a right-to-life activist who has already killed three people in a women's clinic, and you have a real thriller.

Patterson has the reputation for being a writer of courtroom dramas, but what he really writes are taut thrillers scripted like great movies--the books jump cut from the past to the present, in the process developing parallel plot lines that are masterfully and satisfyingly resolved. And he does this in the context of authentic situations, using characterization to make you care; he steers you through complex plots, though often away from the path the story will eventually take. Silent Witness and The Final Judgement, Patterson's two best novels until No Safe Place, are indeed courtroom dramas, but they involve people with serious aspirations. The jump to people with political aspirations is easily and deftly executed. It's a small pleasure, but still fun, to find a few of Patterson's recurring characters (Tony Lord and his wife) with walk-on parts.

At times this thriller is not a traditional page-turner. There are moments when the descriptions of domestic violence, for example, cause one to put the book down for a while they are delivered with such power. No Safe Place is just the right reach for Patterson, and the perfect place to spend some time.

Review:

-High drama . . . Emotion-rich characters . . . The pages turn quickly.-
--The Washington Post Book World
-Engrossing . . . Ambitious and well-written, No Safe Place is a sort of ethical suspense novel.-
--The Wall Street Journal
-What is striking is how exactly right Patterson gets the politics and the journalism while telling a gripping tale that intertwines abuse and betrayal, ethics and ambition, romance and dysfunction.-
--The San Jose Mercury News
-Prescient . . . An important and impressive work of fiction . . . An exceptionally convincing, complex, and moving love story.-
--The San Diego Union-Tribune

"High drama . . . Emotion-rich characters . . . The pages turn quickly."
--The Washington Post Book World

"Engrossing . . . Ambitious and well-written, No Safe Place is a sort of ethical suspense novel."
--The Wall Street Journal

"What is striking is how exactly right Patterson gets the politics and the journalism while telling a gripping tale that intertwines abuse and betrayal, ethics and ambition, romance and dysfunction."
--The San Jose Mercury News

"Prescient . . . An important and impressive work of fiction . . . An exceptionally convincing, complex, and moving love story."
--The San Diego Union-Tribune

About this edition

• ISBN 10: 0345386124
• ISBN 13: 9780345386120
• Binding: Paperback