Overview
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.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewThe future looks bright for Michael Garrick, a young lawyer working in the White House Counsel's office. Only six years out of law school, he's a rising star in the Hartson administration, doing challenging, useful work. Besides that, he's just begun a relationship with the vivacious Nora Hartson, the President's daughter (a jealous colleague has branded him "The First Counsel").
On their first date, Nora eludes her Secret Service escort and brings Mike to what they subsequently realize is a gay bar. Later in the evening they spy Mike's boss, White House Counsel Edgar Simon, at the bar. Intrigued (Simon is supposedly happily married), they follow him to a deserted stretch of woods, where he leaves an envelope containing $40,000. Already confused, Mike becomes even more flustered when he discovers that Nora has impulsively taken $10,000 from the envelope, which, to his dismay, is discovered in his glove compartment by a DC cop, who later pulls them over, suspecting them of being drug dealers. This being an election year, Mike gallantly tells the cop that the money is his, thereby helping Nora avoid scandal.
Mike spends the next few hours screwing up his courage to tell ethics officer Caroline Penzler about Simon's actions. When he finally does, she informs him that Simon had accused Mike of the same thing. Penzler is murdered only a few minutes after Mike departs, and circumstantial evidence mounts against him. Finding himself hip deep in a vast conspiracy that threatens to cost the President his reelection, Mike struggles to prove his innocence, even as he protects Nora from exposure.
If I had to sum this book up in one sentence, I'd describe it as a blend of elements from Kevin Costner's film No Way Out (itself an update of the classic Ray Milland movie The Big Clock, adapted from the Kenneth Fearing novel) and TV's megahit, The West Wing: a classic race against time flavored with an insider's view of the White House. Although it's true that the "lawyer in trouble" subgenre is getting crowded, The First Counsel is well worth your time -- its impeccable pacing and Meltzer's uncanny talent for cliffhangers make for compelling reading. How compelling? Well, I started reading this at 10pm on a Tuesday and finished it early the next morning. Draw your own conclusions.
--Hank Wagner
Hank Wagner is a book reviewer for Cemetery Dance magazine and The Overlook Connection.
People
Fast-paced and suspenseful…ups the ante for legal thrillers with its intricate plot and clever, complex characters…the perfect setting for perilous crimes…Entertainment Weekly
A potent cocktail of pulp fiction and inside-the-Beltway politics...hard-boiled...pedal-to-the-medal pacing...Publishers Weekly
A date with the president's daughter draws an ambitious young lawyer into a bewildering web of scandal, extortion and murder in this formulaic but lightning-paced suspense thriller set behind the scenes at the White House. Michael Garrick works for Edgar Simon, counsel to the president, and knows the inside workings of Washington and the precarious image-management duties of the First Family. But he finds himself quickly out of his depth on a date with the volatile First Daughter, Nora Hartson, when the two see Michael's boss in a gay bar. Nora insists on following the married lawyer, and the two witness Simon making a suspicious cash drop. Subsequent events link Michael to the cash and the murder of Caroline Penzler, friend of the First Lady and the lawyer who has the dirt on all the big shots. With his career, a presidential election and perhaps his life at stake, Michael cannot trust anyone, least of all Nora, who is dogged by rumors of drug use, promiscuity and general wildness. She is the only witness to his innocence, but he is intent on protecting her, and the president, from suspicion. Meltzer (The Tenth Justice; Dead Even) sprinkles his tale with many interesting details of working in and around the White House. He relies on some heavy-handed techniques to generate suspense--Michael is always sensing someone watching him or peering through slowly opening doors--and the plot has a familiar Hollywood ring to it. But Meltzer's relentless narrative finally digs its hooks in, and even skeptical readers will want to continue through the twists and turns, if only to confirm their own predictions. Agent, Jill Kneerim. (Jan. 9) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.Library Journal
The internal workings of the White House, the powers behind the Oval Office, and a glimpse into the private lives of the First Family are featured in both versions of Meltzer's obvious application of his knowledge of what goes on behind the closed doors of this presidential mansion. Deputy counsel Michael Garrick is a 29-year-old lawyer who enjoys the trappings of power that come from working there but is enough of an outsider not to be corrupted by the byzantine maneuverings between the president and his aides. Michael is attracted to the First Daughter, Nora, who entices him with her reckless disregard of Secret Service protection and the need to maintain a modicum of decorum in her public affairs. A first date soon turns into a desperate game of cat-and-mouse as Michael finds himself being drawn into a web of deceit, deception, danger, and death. The unabridged version, read by Scott Brick, gives more of an insight into the various characters. The First Lady, Michael's boss, Nora's brother, and many others who only make brief appearances in the abridged tapes narrated by D.B. Sweeney are fleshed out and given more substance in the full version. However, the abridged set cuts through some of the unnecessary verbiage and focuses solely on the web of intrigue that envelops Michael at every step. The nifty surprise ending in both versions comes as more of a shock in the abridged program because we have not come to know all of the main characters as fully as we have in the unabridged story. Whatever version your library buys, The First Counsel is a top-notch political thriller that takes readers into the very heart and soul of the White House. Recommended for all public libraries. Joseph L. Carlson, Lompoc P.L., CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.Jennifer Wulff
Fast-paced and suspenseful throughout, Meltzer's First Counsel ups the ante for legal thrillers with its intricate plot and clever, complex characters.—People Magazine