The First Counsel
by Brad Meltzer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Brad MeltzerEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-12-01
ISBN: 044661064X
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of The First Counsel
Book Review: Overwrought
Summary: 3 Stars
Starting with Meltzer's first novel, "The Tenth Justice," I've now read four of his books and am embarking on the fifth (The Zero Game). Often, when I find a new author, I read their books in the order in which they were written. With Meltzer, it honestly doesn't matter much because he starts each book with a clean slate, and has yet to resurrect any of his characters or even give them a cameo appearance in later books.
I can't quite put my finger on what it is about Meltzer's style that I find hard to digest, but he reminds me a bit of a Michael Bolton song. It is like every phrase has to be italicized and carry three exclamation points. There is just something a little too breathless and overwrought in the storytelling...as though the characters are on massive doses of adrenaline 24/7. I realize thrillers are supposed to be exciting and edge-of-your-seat, but that isn't what I'm talking about here. The pace of the story itself can be breakneck, and the plot can be suspenseful, but in almost all Meltzer's books the characters themselves are too amped up to come across as real. Frankly, there is sometimes a thin line between excitement and exhaustion, and I'm finding his books lean more towards exhausting than exciting. I'm curious to see if anyone out there shares my opinion on this after having read a couple books by Meltzer. I'm not basing this assessment on a single book, but rather as a recurring part of his style. I also find that the dialog is often overly witty...as if people aren't really talking to one another, but rather at one another...always trying to one-up each other by raising the cleverness high bar.
This particular book centers around Michael Garrick, a young White House lawyer who finds himself unexpectedly dating the President's daughter, Nora Hartson. Hartson, sick of the Secret Service shadowing her every move and depriving her of a private life, turns out to be not just a "wild child," but a near-psychopath, taking Garrick on an adrenaline-fueled ride through D.C. on their first date that ultimately ends on a deserted road where they are shocked to secretly see Garrick's boss leaving an envelope with $40,000 inside for some unseen person. Drug money? Bribery? Garrick and Hartson aren't sure, but when Hartson pockets $10,000 of the money on one of her unexplainable whims and the pair are later pulled over by the police for speeding, Garrick tries to cover for the "First Daughter" and quickly finds himself at the center of not just an investigation into stolen money, but murder as well. The rest of the book unfolds as a true "whodunnit" where Garrick doesn't know if he can trust anyone...his boss, Nora, his friends, his colleagues, the police, the FBI, or the Secret Service.
The story itself was good enough, and believable enough, but as I said in the first portion of this review, the style is my problem here - not the story. It feels a bit like listening to a 33 rpm record at 78.
I give it 3 stars - more for the story itself than for the storytelling. Actually, if I could fine tune the rating, it would be more like 2.5 stars...a C rather than a B-.
Summary of The First Counsel
John F. Kennedy, Jr., was Lark. Amy Carter was Dynamo. Chelsea Clinton was Energy. Meet Shadow. Shadow is the Secret Service code name for First Daughter Nora Hartson. And when White House lawyer Michael Garrick begins dating the irresistible Nora, he's instantly spellbound, just like everyone else in her world. Then, late one night, the two witness something they were never meant to see. Now, in a world where everyone watches your every move, Michael is suddenly ensnared in someone's secret agenda. Trusting no one, not even Nora, he finds himself fighting for his innocence-and, ultimately, his life.Aficionados of the hit TV show The West Wing who are suffering through holiday reruns will jump right into Brad Meltzer's third novel (after The Tenth Justice and Dead Even), which takes readers into the White House office of the president's own law firm and introduces a first daughter whose complex psychological problems jump-start this fast-paced thriller. Michael Garrick loves his job as deputy counsel, but when he falls for Nora Hartson, the president's daughter, the conflict between his professional ethics and his growing love for her puts him right in the middle of a murder plot that may reach all the way to the Oval Office.
Meltzer excels at plotting, and he knows the back corridors, family quarters, and secret tunnels of the executive branch as well as those of the Supreme Court, which he revealed in his first two blockbusters. He's not as skillful at characterization. It's hard to believe that the sociopathic tendencies of people in a president's inner circle--or even his family--would have managed to escape the scrutiny of an FBI investigation during his rise to power. And Nora, in particular, doesn't quite come off as the misguided victim she must be in order to make the rest of the story credible. But that's not a huge quibble; Meltzer manages to make Edgar Simon, Michael's boss, the most interesting White House counsel since John Dean. The First Counsel is a cleverly commercial mix of legal thriller and political chicanery guaranteed to keep you turning pages until Meltzer puts the third branch of government in his sights, too. --Jane Adams
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