Meltzer’s third high-octane thriller (Dead Even, 1998, etc.) sinks a junior White House staffer in the world of woes that result when he accepts a date with the president’s daughter. Accepts a date, because Nora Hartson is even more hard-charging than her father: she’s a determined, demented go-getter who knows and takes whatever she wants. What she wants now out of Michael Garrick is ditching her Secret Service escorts and going on a joyride to what turns out to be a gay bar in Adams Morgan, where she and Michael spot his boss, straight-arrow White House counsel Edgar Simon, and tail him to an isolated place where he drops off a packet containing $40,000—$10,000 of which Nora impulsively retrieves just ahead of the addressee. Things rapidly go from bad to worse: the cops catch Michael driving around with the undocumented cash; when he tells his story to White House ethics chief Caroline Penzler, she replies that Simon’s just told the same story about him; then Penzler’s murdered, with every indication that Michael admitted her killer to the impregnable Old Executive Office Building. On cue, the press closes in, the FBI closes in, the suspected killer closes in—and Michael’s left to battle them all, fighting for his job, the president’s reputation, and his life, wondering all the while how much he can trust the friends he’s counting on to feed him information and lie on his behalf. He’s also increasingly certain that the First Daughter who got him into this mess is a piece of work beyond his wildest imaginings. Meltzer doesn’t weigh his supernova plot down with niceties like political policy (the president could be Bush, Gore, or Grover Cleveland), authentic spycraft (the cloak-and-dagger stuff sounds lame even to Michael), or psychology (apart from Michael, every single character remains shadowy except the one code-named Shadow). Nothing gets in the way of the adrenaline jolt Meltzer delivers like a master.

Attorney/author Meltzer offers us a novel of conspiracy and skulduggery at the highest levels of Washington's power structure. Michael Young, an idealistic lawyer in the White House counsel's office, is on a date with Nora, the very sexy, intriguing, enigmatic daughter of the president, when they see the chief counsel in a compromising position. Nora's questionable behavior quickly throws them into the middle of a plot that involves blackmail and murder, with every indication of guilt pointing directly at our hero. Is it concern about reelection that keeps Nora from coming forward or a desire to make things worse? Her strong propensity for danger and risk and serious problem with truth do nothing to prevent Michael, ever the boy scout, from risking everything he has to shield her mostly from herself. He runs afoul of the FBI, mistrusts his friends, and consorts with known criminals all in an effort to save his reputation and life as well as preserve the well-being of his father (a unique character to say the least). Although this novel breaks no new literary ground, the Washington color and scenery and the unusual cast of characters take it a step above your average page-turner and will keep you reading until the startling conclusion. --Danise Hoover

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 suspenseDMichael is always sensing someone watching him or peering through slowly opening doorsDand 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) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

What is the most dangerous thing a young White House attorney can do? Stumble upon a conspiracy while out on a date with the President's daughter. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.