Protect and Defend

On a cold day in January President Kerry Kilcannon takes the oath of office-- and within days makes his first, most important move: appointing a new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Kilcannon's choice is a female judge with a brilliant record. And a secret.

While the Senate spars over Caroline Masters' nomination, an inflammatory abortion rights case is making its way toward the judge--and will explode into the headlines. Suddenly, the most divisive issue in America turns the President's nomination into all-out war. And from Judge Masters to a conservative, war-hero senator facing a crisis of conscience and a fifteen-year-old girl battling for her future, no one will be safe. Protect and Defend takes us on a riveting journey between what is legal, what is right . . . and the price of finally knowing the difference.

Richard North Patterson’s ten previous novels include six consecutive international bestsellers. His novels have won an Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere. Formerly a trial lawyer in Washington and San Francisco, Mr. Patterson also served as an assistant attorney general in Ohio and as the SEC’s liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor. He now serves on the boards of Common Cause, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Handgun Control Inc., and Ohio Wesleyan University. He lives with his wife, Laurie, and their family in San Francisco and on Martha’s Vineyard.