Most Popular Books by Richard North Patterson

In the high-stakes, high-pressure world of presidential politics, where predators carry microphones and one misstep can savage a lifetime of achievement, Kerry Kilcannon is the rarest player of all. Kilcannon believes he can make the system work. And he just may die trying. Driven by the violent nightmare of his childhood, fueled by forces that few could understand, and burdened by secrets no one must know, Kilcannon is running for President--and entering the crucial battleground of California with seven days to go. But for Kilcannon, there are hurdles that his courage, charisma, and compassion may not overcome: the network correspondent he still loves; the reporter bent on their exposure; the rival who''ll do anything to win; and the fanatic who believes that he must murder Kilcannon to protect the right to life.

From a #1 "New York Times" bestselling author comes the mesmerizing story of a lawyer who must defend the woman he loves against a charge of conspiring to assassinate the prime minister of Israel. Available in a tall Premium Edition.

#1 New York Times–bestselling author Richard North Patterson delivers a riveting novel of suspense and a powerful family’s secrets Peter Carey was born into privilege during the McCarthy era, when the paranoia of Washington infected his parents’ house and seeped into Peter’s bones. His father was so obsessed with the family publishing business that he never had time for his son. Even as a teenager, Peter barely knew his father—and one dark night, an accident on a lonely road ensured he never would. Peter’s memories of that horrific night have been erased by amnesia, but decades later he is still tortured by nightmares. When a strange conspiracy threatens to steal his company and take his life, he will have to remember . . . and find the key to survival that is locked in his own mind.

“A crackerjack thriller” by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Silent Witness: A lawyer defending a Vietnam vet is caught in a kidnapper’s web (Publishers Weekly). All of America is watching when a sniper’s bullet cuts down presidential hopeful James Kilcannon. As the nation rises up in outrage, one lawyer is bold enough to represent the Vietnam veteran accused of firing the fatal shot. Tony Lord has never shied away from a fight, and he will do whatever it takes to get his client a fair trial. A year later, tragedy strikes Kilcannon’s rock-star girlfriend, Stacy Tarrant. Her assistant is kidnapped by a masked terrorist known as Phoenix, who threatens to execute him on live television unless he meets Phoenix’s demands. As Tony helps Stacy through the ordeal, he discovers that Phoenix has connections to the Kilcannon slaying and intends to mount his own televised trial—in which Tony and Stacy are the defendants and Phoenix is the executioner.

An epic story that moves with force, passion, and authority, Balance of Power begins when President Kerry Kilcannon and television journalist Lara Costello at last decide to marry. But the momentous occasion is followed by an unspeakable tragedy—a massacre of innocents by gunfire—that ignites a high-stakes game of politics and legal maneuvering in the Senate, the courtroom, and across the country, which the charismatic but untested young President is determined to win at any cost. But in the incendiary clash over gun violence and gun rights, the cost to both Kilcannons may be even higher than he imagined.

Trial confirms Richard North Patterson’s place as “our most important author of popular fiction.” In a propulsive narrative that culminates in a nationally televised murder case, Trial explores America’s most incendiary flashpoints of race. A Black eighteen-year-old voting rights worker, Malcolm Hill, is stopped by a white sheriff’s deputy on a dark country road in rural Georgia. His single mother, Allie, America’s leading voting rights advocate, restlessly awaits his return before police inform her that Malcolm has been arrested for murder. In Washington D.C., the rising, young, white congressman Chase Brevard of Massachusetts is watching the morning news with his girlfriend, only to find his life transformed in a single moment by the appearance of Malcolm’s photograph. Suddenly all three are enveloped in a media firestorm that threatens their lives—especially Malcolm’s.

The mysterious, violent death of a prominent New England patriarch exposes a nest of dark family secrets in New York Times bestselling author Richard North Patterson’s twentieth compelling novel. From #1 bestselling author Richard North Patterson comes a spellbinding psychological puzzle filled with unexpected legal twists, potentially criminal turns, and one family’s shocking fall from grace. After ten years away from home, Adam Blaine returns to Martha’s Vineyard to attend the funeral of his estranged father, Ben, a famous and charismatic writer who was fond of sailboats, good wine—and women other than his wife. When Adam learns that Ben disinherited his family in favor of his mistress, he begins to wonder if his father’s death—caused by an inexplicable fall from a cliff—might have been suicide or murder. Using his training as a CIA operative, Adam unearths some shattering revelations about the mistress’s past. But even more disturbing are the family secrets that can’t stay buried any longer—secrets that make Adam question everything he thought he knew about every player in this fateful game. Even himself...

In Dark Lady, Richard North Patterson displays the mastery of setting, psychology, and story that makes him unique among writers of suspense, and one of today''s most original and enthralling novelists. In Steelton, a struggling Midwestern city on the cusp of an economic turnaround, two prominent men are found dead within days of each other. One is Tommy Fielding, a senior officer of the company building a new baseball stadium, the city''s hope for the future. The other is Jack Novak, the local drug dealers'' attorney of choice. Fielding''s death with a prostitute, from an overdose of heroin, seems accidental; Novak is apparently the victim of a ritual murder. But in each case the character of the dead man seems contradicted by the particulars of his death. Coincidence or connection? The question falls to Assistant County Prosecutor Stella Marz. Despite a traumatic breach with her alcoholic and embittered father, she has risen from a working-class background to become head of the prosecutor''s homicide unit. A driven woman, she is called the Dark Lady by defense lawyers for her relentless, sometimes ruthless, style: in seven years only one case has gotten away from her, and only because the defendant took his own life. She has earned every inch of both her official and her off-the-record titles, and recently she''s decided to go after another: to become the first woman elected Prosecutor of Erie County. But that was before the brutal murder of her ex-lover--Jack Novak. Novak''s death leads her into a labyrinth where her personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined. There is the possibility that Novak fixed drug cases for the city''s crime lord, Vincent Moro, with the help of law enforcement personnel, and perhaps with someone in Stella''s own office . . . the bitter mayoral race which threatens to undermine her own ambitions . . . her attraction to a colleague who may not be what he seems . . . the lingering, complicated effects of her painful affair with Novak . . . the growing certainty that she is being watched and followed. Making her way through a maze of corruption, deceit, and greed, trusting no one, Stella comes to believe that the search for the truth involves the bleak history of Steelton itself--a history that now endangers her future, and perhaps her life. For his uncanny dialogue, subtle delineation of character, and hypnotic narrative, critics have compared Richard North Patterson to John O''Hara and Dashiell Hammett. Now, in the character of the Dark Lady, he has created a woman as fascinating as her world is haunting. Dark Lady is his signature work.

A Northern lawyer in a Southern town risks his life to bring a killer to justice in this suspenseful legal thriller by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author. A Yankee through and through, Adam Shaw never felt at ease among the upper crust of the Deep South. An attorney to some of the most powerful people in Alabama, he is close with only two of them. When Adam’s best friend, Henry Cantwell, disappears after his wife is murdered, Adam starts asking questions, delving beneath the town’s tranquil facade. While the police hunt for the killer, Adam risks everything—his professional standing, his marriage, and his very life to save Henry from the electric chair and bring the right man to justice.

The bestselling novel by one of today''s great authors of legal thrillers, Richard North Patterson''s The Final Judgment. A young man has been murdered. His girlfriend, twenty-two-year-old Brett Allen, is found at the scene of the crime. She claims she is innocent—even though she''s dripping in blood, the murder weapon covered with her fingerprints. Enter attorney Caroline Masters, Brett''s estranged aunt. She''s been summoned back to her affluent New England hometown to help Brett out of this mess...and revisit the troubled family she left behind. Caroline learned a long time ago that the ties that bind can also be broken. Now that she''s back home, she can''t help but doubt her family''s motives—and Brett''s innocence. As the trial heats up, Caroline finds herself up against those who would kill to keep dark secrets hidden...and the state prosecutor, who happens to be her former lover and will do anything to expose the truth. Now, with her family''s fate—and her own reputation—hanging in the balance, Caroline must assume the role of a lifetime as she fights to save her niece. Or destroy them both... "Compelling...very possibly Patterson''s best." -USA Today

"An absolute humdinger of a murder mystery . . . unrelenting suspense [and] a close look at the dysfunctions of military justice and of one particular family." —Scott Turow, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Presumed Innocent A "riveting legal thriller" by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Trial ( Publishers Weekly, starred review) The McCarrans and the Gallaghers have been close for decades, ever since Anthony McCarran—now one of the army''s most distinguished generals—met Jack Gallagher, a fellow West Pointer later killed in Vietnam. Now a new generation faces combat, and Lt. Brian McCarran, the general''s son, has returned from a harrowing tour in Iraq. Traumatized by experiences he will not reveal, Brian depends on his lifelong friendship with Kate Gallagher, who''s married to Brian''s commanding officer, Capt. Joe D''Abruzzo. But D''Abruzzo also seems changed by the experiences he and Brian shared in Iraq, growing secretive and remote. Tragedy strikes when Brian shoots and kills D''Abruzzo on their Virginia army post. He pleads self-defense. Kate backs him up, saying her husband had turned violent and abusive. But Brian and Kate have their own secrets, and now Capt. Paul Terry, an accomplished young JAG lawyer, must defend Brian in a high-profile court-martial. Before the case is over, Terry will become deeply entwined with the McCarrans—and learn that families, like war, can break the sturdiest of souls. "Powerful . . . Patterson long ago established himself as one of the nation''s best writers of serious thrillers, and his latest novel burnishes his reputation." — Richmond Times-Dispatch "Readers will find themselves engrossed as well as pleased by a twist revealing that there''s more to this powerful yet seemingly straightforward story than first meets the eye." — Booklist "Patterson''s insights into PTSD are fascinating but never interrupt the story''s flow to its explosive ending, and his courtroom drama is as intensely engaging as the most action-filled thrillers." — Library Journal (starred review)

On a cold day in January, President-elect 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’s 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.

June, 1968. America is in a state of turbulence, engulfed in civil unrest and uncertainty. Yet for Whitney Dane - spending the summer of her twenty-second year on Martha''s Vineyard - life could not be safer, nor the future more certain. Educated at Wheaton, soon to be married, and the youngest daughter of the patrician Dane family, Whitney has everything she has ever wanted, and is everything her all-powerful and doting father, Charles Dane, wants her to be. But the Vineyard''s still waters are disturbed by the appearance of Benjamin Blaine. An underprivileged, yet fiercely ambitious and charismatic young man, Blaine is a force of nature neither Whitney nor her family could have prepared for. As Ben''s presence begins to awaken independence within Whitney, it also brings deep-rooted Dane tensions to a dangerous head. And soon Whitney''s set-in-stone future becomes far from satisfactory, and her picture-perfect family far from pretty. A sweeping family drama of dark secrets and individual awakenings, set during the most consequential summer of recent American history.

"Mr. Patterson is a natural storyteller....Fast moving...A handsome job."-- The New York Times William Lasko is a self-made millionaire with an eye for wealth and influence, the ear of the president, and a talent for using both to get what he wants. Now the Economic Crime Commission wants Lasko brought down, and US Attorney Christopher Paget is tipped to take on the job.

Corey Grace, a Republican senator from Ohio noted for voting his own conscience rather than the party line, becomes locked in a no-holds-barred presidential primary campaign with his rival, a member of the party establishment and leader of the Christian right.

A man has been found dead, a gun still wedged in his mouth. It looks like Ricardo Arias killed himself...but the physical evidence tells a different story, in Richard North Patterson''s riveting legal thriller, Eyes of a Child. The police investigation turns up all sorts of troubling data—a bitter estrangement between Ricardo and his wife, Terri; an ugly custody battle over their six-year-old daughter, Elena; charges of child molestation. And before long there''s a murder suspect: San Francisco defense attorney and political hopeful Christopher Paget. But where''s the motive? It could be that Paget is Terri''s new lover. Or that Paget''s own teenage son is the one who''s accused of abusing Elena. But a series of long-hidden secrets—on both sides of the case—are slowly rising to the surface...and threaten to explode in the courtroom, where the final verdict will be delivered. Where the truth about what really happened to Ricardo Arias will either be revealed—or buried for good...

From the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author comes the harrowing story of a possibly innocent man, the labyrinthine politics of death row, and one lawyer''s personal and professional crisis.

After the murder of his high school sweetheart left him shattered, Tony Lord vowed never to return to his Ohio hometown of Lake City. Twenty-eight years later, Tony is a successful California criminal lawyer with a beautiful celebrity wife. He''s living the good life...until long-buried memories come crashing down when he hears from an old friend, who needs his help. Sam Robb is a track coach at Lake City High. He swears he is not responsible for the death of one of his female team members... even though forensic evidence reveals that he''s the father of her unborn child.

A Murder trial thick with sensation and scandal The victim - a world famous (and infamous) novelist. The defendant - one of the most celebrated women in TV journalism, claiming self-defence against attempted rape. The defence attorney - a high profile lawyer, once the focus of national attention during an investigation that brought down a president. The trial unfolds. The defendant''s claim of self-defence is slowly undermined. The truth is gradually revealed. The defence attorney is faced with an inescapable and explosive dilemma of ethics and emotion, as the secrets of his own life become intertwined with the trial itself.