Customer Reviews

The First Counsel

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

The First Counsel is one of the best books I have read in a long time. This is the first Meltzer book I've read, and as is usually the case, the first book by an author is usually my favorite since you don't have any clue as to how the author writes or where he is going with the story.

This book truly was a page turner and very easy to read. Instead of telling us, Meltzer uses a lot of dialogue to keep the story moving quickly. Authors like James Patterson are easy to read but his novels are so short. When I read Scott Turow, just a few pages wore me out. The First Counsel is full of twists and turns and substance and easy to read 60 to 70 pages at a time.

The opening chapter had me hooked. White House lawyer Michael Garrick is dating the president's daughter Nora. They elude the secret service and see Garrick's boss Edgar Simon at a gay bar. Simon then drives out into the forest to make a drop of $40,000. Nora and Michael go exploring and Nora takes some of the money. From there a murder is committed and the evidence keeps mounting against Michael.

I enjoyed this book so much because most of the action revolved around the White House, which seemed very intriguing to me. The First Daugher Nora was also a great character. She just wanted to live a normal life but had so many flaws. As the book draws to an end, we have to see if Michael can figure out who is trying to frame him and keep from getting killed. We also have to see how Michael and Nora's relationship worked out. I admit that I liked this book because the idea of dating the president's daughter seemed cool to me. The idea of any kind of outsider having access to the White House is intriguing.

This is one of those books where getting to the end is half the fun. Meltzer takes the reader on a great ride. The climax is believable and exciting and well written. It has a few twists and also sheds some doubt onto Nora's character and all of her previous actions. I just finished reading the book a few minutes ago, so I haven't yet decided yet what kind of person Nora truly is. Is she a sympathetic victim or an evil manipulator, or both?

I've read a few reviews that have criticized this book. Maybe Meltzer's other books aren't as good as this one, but I'm definitely going to read them. I was surprised at how much I became involved with the outcome of the story.

I recommend this book to anyone.

Having never read any of Brad Meltzers books prior to this fine novel, I was intrigued when I found him popping up now and then on nationwide television to discuss the White House and the subject of the children of our Presidents (The First Daughters). It certainly piqued my interest in this book, and once I started it, I was unable to put it down. It was a pager turner of a book that never really slowed down. While so many authors have a difficult sustaining the suspense and drama for a book this size (480 pages), I found that Meltzter kept things moving even through the middle part of the book. While some of the characters could have been developed better, I found that for a 3rd novel by a young author he has done a great job of getting down the plot and even getting the reader to believe in the characters backgrounds and faults. From the main character,Michael Garrick, to Edgar Simon (the true first counsel) to all the junior White House attorneys and aids, every character played an integral part in this book. I had heard the author mention that he had spoken to every First Daughter from the LBJ presidency to the Clintons, and it certainly has paid off, as he has provided a great insight into what the life of a First Daughter or First Son must be like. Obviously not every child of a President will not be subject to the intrigue and problems of Nora, the fact of the matter is that Meltzer has brought the plight of so many children whose parents are the President and First Lady. One of the most underrated parts of the book was the First Ladies Birthday party, arranged as part a national interview, and the First Ladies reaction to her childrens present. I have a distinct feeling that he will have hit a nerve with this incident. All in all this certainly was a very fine introduction to a new author, and if his future ventures continue to build on this foundation it will not be hard to compare him to Grisham, Baldacci and Steve Martini. Hopefully Meltzer will be a name that will be added to the evergrowing list of new legal fiction authors. By the way, don't feel poorly if you missed his first two books, I am sure they will show up in print again just like Grisham's A Time To Kill eventually resurfaced much to the delight of his fans.

Brad Meltzer has written a slick thriller that is, indeed, a "page turner". His knowledge of the White House is superb and we are led skillfully through corridors of power, mystery and intrigue at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The dialogue is good. The plot holds our interest to the very end. The characters, however, are not even remotely believable. The behavior and problems of Nora, the First Daughter, could never have escaped the scrutiny of the FBI or the media. Michael, our earnest young hero, puzzles us as he persists in a relationship with a bizarre young woman the reader will see immediately as out of control, manipulative and self-serving.

Edgar Simon, Michael's boss, could be a fascinating study, but he is portrayed in a superficial manner, as are the other "players" in the story.

Despite the contrived ending, including the probable solution to Michael's tribulations with his father, those who read the book will be swept along by the momentum of the tale and will enjoy it for what it is. It is only by comparison with the author's fine first novel, The Tenth Justice, that we preceive the flaws in this book and are disappointed.

Meltzer has penned a master thriller with "The First Counsel." This is better than anything Grisham has ever written. Meltzer throws the reader right in with a bang of a first chapter...and things only get more intense after that. The characters are extremely intriguing, and I felt as if I had my own White House badge...as Meltzer took me inside the White House for a detailed portrayal of how things really work. We get a view of old-fashioned politics...all wrapped up in a thrilling, suspenseful, action-packed novel. The plot is strong, with plenty of twists, and it doesn't let up from beginning to end.

This is Meltzer's best yet. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes to read action-packed books and/or political and legal thrillers.

This story involving the totally out of control sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll daughter of a sitting president is completely over the top, and yet it works in a big way. Michael Garrick, a young White House lawyer, has begun dating Nora Hartson, the president's daughter, as the novel begins. Because of a wild and seemingly spontaneous action on Nora's part as they are out one night, Michael and Nora witness something they should never have seen, something inexplicable, something which embroils them both in a dangerous situation from which there may be no escape. Michael's chief concern at the outset is protecting Nora and her reputation, while Nora's motives and concerns remain both ambiguous and enigmatic. When Michael finds a White House co-worker dead in her office, it soon becomes apparent that he has inadvertently stumbled upon a scheme involving blackmail and murder. As evidence is skillfully manipulated to implicate Michael in both the blackmail plot and murders, Nora is reluctant to alibi him even as she continues to play with his emotions and promises that she won't let him go down. But can she be trusted? The pace is positively breakneck as the evidence against Michael continues to pile up and he realizes that he can trust no one because someone -- perhaps his lover, perhaps his boss, or perhaps his best friend -- has set him up from the beginning. By the last quarter of the book, Michael is on the run from the FBI and the Secret Service, frantically searching for any shred of evidence which will clear him. The ending is an absolute shocker and, unlikely premise notwithstanding, I enjoyed this thriller immensely from beginning to end.

The Tenth Justice wasn't a bad book, so I was excited to get The First Counsel. Here Meltzer gives us a female character who is repugnant and creepy, yet he insists that she is "complex" (about 5 times) and extremely appealing. And our main character is supposed to be brilliant, but he's fairly imbecilic sometimes. Metzler doesn't understand that the characters have to act smart or appealing, not merely be described as such. Meltzer does know enough to keep his novel fast paced, but lordy! it's cluttered with dead ends and false leads. He does not create and maintain suspense; instead he throws in as many ingredients as he can find. It's a mess. He attempts to cook everything together in the last dozen pages, but all we end up with is a mess in the kitchen and no edibles.

I have read Mr. Meltzer's previous book, Dead Even, and was disappointed. That is why, with some trepidation, I decided to try his newest novel. I could not be more pleased. Meltzer has really grown as an author. He no longer goes for the cheap laugh or stunt and has created and intelligent,intricate, thriller that also takes you into the "backstage" of the White House.This is truly an enjoyable book and I highly recommend it.

Audiobook aficionados may well remember the sterling readings by Scott Brick of "The Lion's Game" and "The Ice Limit." He's every bit as effective with his rendering of this mesmerizing tale of D.C. intrigue.

Michael Garrick, a promising young White House lawyer, is more than attracted to the President's daughter, Nora. While the path to true love has never run smooth, this path for Michael soon proves to be land mined with insurmountable obstacles.

There's a sinister plan afoot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue masterminded by a White House insider. When Michael and Nora accidentally witness something better not seen, the attorney finds himself locked in a struggle for his very life.

Scott Brick's suspense laced reading adds luster to this timely thriller.

If you are willing to jettison incredulity over unconvincing characters, and jump straight into plot, this thriller may not disappoint. The plot is certainly thick with suspense,and Washington DC connaisseurs in particular might be thrilled to recognize many local references. Meandering through the passages of the White House and Old Executive Office, vividly described in the first voice of the main character, the reader almost gets a virtual tour of rooms and offices rarely accessible to the general public : "Lucky for both of us, we have first-floor office - whcih means we also have the shortest walk to the West Wing..." "The second floor of the West Wing houses some of the best hig-powered offices, including the First Lady's personal office and the one imnmediately to my right...." "Instead, we stop at the closed door of the main conference room....where Kennedy's staff weighed in on the Cuban Missile crisis..."

(Little wonder that some reviews of the novel report a vicarious sense of proximity to the White House. After putting down the novel, and fresh with the images of its unmistakable setting, I was persuaded, after fourteen years of working within a one to two block radius of the White House, to consider joining one of the public tours offered daily.)

The novel centers on the relationship of a young White House staffer, working in the office of the White House Counsel (the President's legal adviser), and the First Daughter. The latter's quixotic, if also mentally disturbed persona, makes for the most memorable character in the novel. The plot ably combines a succesion of suspense-raising developments, each adding a new layer to a growing mystery -- a late night exchange of funds in the proverbial brown envelope witnessed by the two main characters; the mysterious death of another White House staffer; the curious relationship of the President's daughter to an old family friend who is also one of the White House aides; and an ex-convict's logged visit to the White House. Given the scope of the plot and its political implications in real world, you might be surprised to discover that characters you would otherwise expect to figure prominently - like the President and First Lady - appear only episodically.

Other than requiring almost 500 pages of perserverance, this thriller is mentally undemanding. In retrospect, I thought of better ways I could have spent my July 4th weekend. The engaging mystery did not dispel my sense of a plot animated by cardboard characters who seemed out of place, not only in the real world, but also in the microcosm of this thriller.

Young White House attorney Michael Garrick gets more than he bargains for when he starts dating the President's daughter, Nora Hartson. The product of a phony political upbringing, Nora, in search of a 'real' life, has become a thrill-seeking schizophrenic fruitcake. Michael is mesmerized by her aura, energy, and craziness. But he is quickly suckered into a political vortex of murder, blackmail and sexual deceit.

While on a date with Michael, Nora shakes off her Secret Service detail for the fun of it. But the laughter ends when she and Michael think they have witnessed a crime by a White House insider. But what do they think they have seen, and what does it mean? As Michael starts to uncover the truth and its political consequences, powerful people set him up for the fall of his life. As a political neophyte, Michael is an amateur among the White House powerful.

THE FIRST COUNSEL is fast reading out of the blocks, then slows during the middle innings, and finishes amid suspense and a surprise ending. For a fictional work, it is an interesting and insightful look into the inner workings of the White House and the transient families that occupy it. The storyline itself is probably not plausible, but this does not diminish the enjoyment of this political love story.