Synopsis (from
the publisher):
Sometimes the weakness we fear most can become our greatest strength ...
Jack McClure has had a troubled life. His dyslexia always made him feel
like an outsider. He escaped from an abusive home as a teenager and
lived by his wits on the streets of Washington D.C. It wasn’t
until he realized that dyslexia gave him the ability to see the world
in unique ways that he found success, using this newfound strength to
become a top ATF agent.
When a terrible accident takes the life of his only daughter, Emma, and
his marriage falls apart, Jack blames himself, numbing the pain by
submerging himself in work. Then he receives a call from his old friend
Edward Carson. Carson is just weeks from taking the reins as President
of the United States when his daughter, Alli, is kidnapped. Because
Emma McClure was once Alli’s best friend, Carson turns to Jack,
the one man he can trust to go to any lengths to find his daughter and
bring her home safely.
The search for Alli leads Jack on a road toward reconciliation ... and
into the path of a dangerous and calculating man. Someone whose actions
are as cold as they are brilliant. Whose power and reach are seemingly
infinite.
Faith, redemption, and political intrigue play off one another as
McClure uses his unique abilities to journey into the twisted mind of a
stone cold genius who is constantly one step ahead of him. Jack will
soon discover that this man has affected his life and his country in
more ways than he could ever imagine.
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— ◊ —
First Daughter
A Jack
McClure Mystery
Eric
Van Lustbader
Forge (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-7653-2170-X (076532170X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-2170-1 (9780765321701)
Publication Date: August 2008
List Price: $25.95
— ◊ —
Review: Racial
tensions, religious intolerance, government deception, kidnapping and
murder all play important roles in First
Daughter, a gripping and topical political thriller by Eric Van
Lustbader.
Just weeks before the inauguration of Edward Carson, the newly elected
moderate Republican President, the current President seeks to make sure
his beliefs become laws of the land. For eight years he has tried to
return the United States back to its roots as a Christian nation. He
envisions the country's future as a “fortress America”, one
able to withstand all foreign terrorists. Working against him is a
group that calls itself E-Two, the Second Enlightenment, in reference
to the Age of Enlightenment that spread through Europe in the
eighteenth century. When President-elect Carson’s daughter, Alli,
is kidnapped, for current President is secretly delighted as it gives
him an opportunity to devote considerable resources to not only
locating the girl and, as a cover, to bring down E-Two at the same
time. Carson, however, wants his old friend, Jack McClure, a top
Washington AFT agent, to lead a search for Alli, much to the dismay of
the Secret Service (and the current President). When McClure's command
is quickly undermined, he continues on his own to search for Alli and
return her to her family.
First Daughter is one of
the most intriguing and exciting novels to be written this year. In
addition to the suspense generated by the search for Alli, there is the
compelling backstory of McClure who rose from being a homeless teenager
suffering from severe dyslexia to being one of the top agents of the US
government. There is also the personal connection between McClure and
Carson: they were roommates at college and McClure lost his own
daughter in an automobile accident. His determination to accomplish his
mission for the safe return of Alli is both admirable and thrilling.
There's undoubtedly intended to be a "greater good" message here, but
the author seems to intentionally be noncommittal as to what it is,
rather, and probably wisely, leaving that for the reader to decide on
their own.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of First Daughter and to Planned Television Arts for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read First Daughter? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
First Daughter
Forge (Hardcover), August 2008
ISBN-10: 0-7653-2170-X (076532170X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-2170-1 (9780765321701)
Last Snow
Forge (Hardcover), February 2010
ISBN-10: 0-7653-2515-2 (0765325152)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-2515-0 (9780765325150)
Omnimystery keywords for First Daughter ...
Location(s) referenced: Washington DC.
