He's not a candidate himself, but Patterson enters the presidential campaign with this portrait of ornery Republican senator Corey Grace (e.g., he battles the Christian Right) and ends up in the primary fight of his life. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Patterson's latest absorbing thriller centers on a timely topic, a heated presidential primary. Corey Grace is a war hero turned moderate Republican senator who is considering a run for president. Honest and somewhat unpredictable, he is reluctant to get into a race he knows will be drawn out and ugly. Complicating matters is his burgeoning relationship with Lexie Hart, an African American actress who also happens to be a liberal and a former heroin addict. Once he enters the race, Corey faces two fierce opponents: Rob Marrotta, a senator groomed from infancy for the presidency who is willing to do anything to win the nomination, and Bob Christy, an earnest but unrelenting evangelical. The contest comes down to two hot-button topics: stem-cell research and gay rights, and Corey's views do not match those of his opponents or the most conservative voters in his party. Marrotta's unscrupulous campaign manager makes it his mission to smear both Corey and Bob Christy, bringing the men together in an unexpected way. Initially readers will recognize similarities between actual political figures and Patterson's characters, but once the story starts cooking, the characters step beyond their molds. For anyone fascinated by how American politics works, this is a gripping read.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2007 Booklist

Patterson (Exile, 2007, etc.), whose Kerry Concannon trilogy already showed one fictional paragon's run for President (No Safe Place, 1998), trots out another perfect candidate just in time for the 2008 election cycle. Sen. Corey Grace (R, Ohio), an authentic war hero with Presidential hankerings, is the perfect alternative to Senate Majority Leader Rob Marotta (R, Penn.), a calculating hack, and televangelist Bob Christy, founder of Christian Commitment, who's convinced the planet's headed toward a Rapture that certainly won't include agnostics, gays or Democrats. Slowly, circumspectly, Corey tests the waters, and the voters like him. That's no surprise, since he always speaks articulately and judiciously, often several paragraphs at a clip. As his campaign trudges through Iowa and New Hampshire to South Carolina, a series of flashbacks reveal the skeletons in Corey's closet--the error in judgment that killed his navigator in Iraq and won Corey a medal, his dead brother's closeted homosexuality, his romance with African-American actress Lexie Hart--but while all these revelations threaten Corey's election, none tarnish his honor. The road to the nomination is arduous, but whenever Corey gets into real trouble, he's rescued by his iron principles or (twice, amusingly and unforgivably) by providential terrorist attacks that give him a chance to show his mettle. The race, which gives Corey many chances to ventilate his mom-and-apple-pie stances on abortion, birth control, school prayer and godless liberals, is as exciting as Patterson's ingenuity and melodramatic flair can make it. The characters, however, are strikingly less original. Even the most casual Monday-morning political analysts will have no trouble seeing through the shamelessly thin fig leaves meant to cover figures based on Colin Powell, Karl Rove, Pat Robertson, Rupert Murdoch, Rick Santorum and Jim McGreevey. A satisfyingly self-righteous update of Advise and Consent that reminds you how little American political fiction has changed over the past 50 years. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Leaving courtroom thrills behind, Patterson crafts an absorbing and suspenseful account of a dirty run for the Republican presidential nomination. Sen. Corey Grace, a Republican from Ohio, became a public hero during the Gulf War after surviving the crash of his jet and enduring months of captivity and torture. Thirteen years later, he's 43 and one of a national magazine's 50 "sexiest men alive." Corey has a real shot at winning his party's nomination-if, as his advisers constantly remind him, he can just rein in his impulsiveness, his party-line crossing votes and his habit of telling the truth. When Corey falls for sexy African-American actress Lexie Hart, who comes to Washington to lobby for stem cell research, Corey's advisers wring their hands. But they soon have more pressing matters to deal with: among the other candidates in the Republican field are evangelist Rev. Bob Christy and Sen. Rob Marotta of Pennsylvania-a man under the de facto control of Machiavellian campaign director Magnus Price, "The Darth Vader of American politics." The perfidy and mendacity that follow mesmerize as much as they ring true. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved