Honesty? It's not on our policy list. 
Senator Corey Grace was raised in Ohio and flew a US Air Force combat fighter. Almost inevitably, that makes him a Republican and a Presidential hopeful. A few impediments stand in his way. He's divorced, hardly a novelty in the 21st Century, but he's currently dating an African-American actress, Lexie Hart. There was a younger brother, Clay, dead in disturbing circumstances during his first year as a cadet at the Air Force Academy. As a final, almost insurmountable obstacle in US politics, Corey struggles hard to be honest. Given the power of the Republican Party's election machine, that probably is the biggest challenge Corey faces.
In this fast-paced and revealing novel, Patterson pits a caring, almost crusading, young senator against the forces of establishment politics and the passions of Protestantism. For there is a new element every presidential hopeful in the US must contend with - the Christian convinced that the US is under the special attention of a deity and requires a scourging to cleanse it of threats both internal and external. The party establishment is represented here by Rob Marotta, Senator from Pennsylvania whose political life is run by his puppet master, Magnus Price. The Protestant Christian theme is carried by Bob Christy, a crowd-mover who plays many ends to earn himself the role of President-maker.
Patterson builds his characters well as he conveys them through the twisted maze of a US party nomination campaign. Readers must be attentive or they're likely to be lost in the plots, counter-plots and other crosscurrents of political maneuvering. Various hidden pasts are revealed and "family values" are given the traditional exposure required in US politics. Corey struggles to keep the campaign centred on issues, but that's almost a futile hope. "Personal character", so easily impugned, becomes the focus of all the candidates' managers, with salacious revelations keeping the reader's rapt attention to see what happens next.
Two events that would test anyone, an assassination attempt and a "terrorist" attack, provide Gulf War hero Grace with an opportunity to reinforce his stature. Neither is terribly plausible, especially the second, but Patterson is writing for an audience willing to accept such distortions if the conclusion of the book points to a path out of the swamp of fear they now occupy. One interesting element here is that Patterson focuses on the Republican nomination campaign on the assumption that party will inevitably triumph over their Democratic competition. Although Grace expresses disapproval of the sham of the Iraq crusade, he is able to stand above it. The Republican Party, although tarnished by the current administration, remains in the author's mind the steadfast pillar representing US society. Corey Grace is the political messiah who will bring his party out of the wilderness - one way or another. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Keep Religion and Corporate Interests Out of Politics
In =The Race=, Patterson explores a fantasy about whether a white man, who isn't anti-gay or particularly pro-Christian AND has a black girlfriend, can succeed in a presidential race and still manage to maintain his integrity while speaking truth to the people. In the process, Patterson asks questions about our current political situation that need to be asked.
The antics that result from the unholy alliance between so-called Christians and corporate henchmen in the book are as ludicrous and horrifying as they are in real life.
The Race
The Race I'm still reading it and I cannot put it down, just like the one Richard North Patterson wrote before Exile, but I've been taking care of my sister's cat that has kidney and liver problems and at this moment my sister cannot move because she two slipped discs "lombalgia". All Richard North Patterson books are worth reading, I've read them all and have already pre-ordered his latest. Good Read, everybody! Ana Santos
reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
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based on 51 reviews
