USA: "'Balance of Power' weighs in as Book Club selection "

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from USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2003-11-05-balance-of-power_x.htm

'Balance of Power' weighs in as Book Club selection

By Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY
Guns and abortion reign as two of the nation's most polarizing issues. Richard North Patterson wrestles with both in his new book, Balance of Power (Ballantine, $27.95). His 12th novel is the new USA TODAY Book Club selection.

Like fellow authors Scott Turow and John Grisham, Patterson uses his legal background to explain complicated issues to the lay reader.

A former trial lawyer and Ohio assistant attorney general, Patterson, 56, also worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. He retired from law in 1993 to write full time.

Patterson combines serious contemporary issues — domestic violence, presidential politics, late-term abortion — with an accessible writing style that has resulted in seven consecutive international best sellers. Patterson began writing about gun violence before the Washington area was terrorized a year ago by snipers. (One of two suspects is now on trial in Virginia.)

Patterson, who is pro gun control, says, "You can't recall a bullet." Guns, particularly handguns, make teen suicide too easy, spousal abuse too lethal and our nation too violent, he says, adding that "30,000 people are lost every year to guns."

In researching the novel, Patterson tried to interview National Rifle Association officials but says he found little assistance.

In addition to attending a gun show, Patterson also spoke to gun makers. He was surprised to discover that he came to appreciate the craft of gun-making and the fine line manufacturers walk between both sides of the gun control issue.

To understand the workings of the Senate, he spoke with John McCain, Edward Kennedy and Bob Dole. He also talked with former president Clinton.

Balance of Power is Patterson's third and last novel about President Kerry Francis Kilcannon, an unhappily married politician from New Jersey who has a tormented love affair with reporter Lara Costello. After many tribulations, the couple are finally together, only to have their happiness shattered by a shooting spree.

Patterson considers himself a native of San Francisco, even though he attended Case Western Reserve law school in Cleveland and spent 10 years of his childhood in Ohio. Today he lives with his family on Martha's Vineyard.

He penned his first novel, The Lasko Tangent, in 1979. His 1993 Degree of Guilt proved to be his breakthrough book. "Writing a best seller is like being hit by a moon rock, only more pleasant," he jokes.

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