(2001)Pretty good thriller about an assistant Counsel to the President who is in love with the President's daughter. He finds himself a prime candidate in first one and then another murder involving the West Wing staff. Turns into a tale of child abuse victim who is the Pres's daughter.

I found "The First Counsel" interesting enough to allow me finish it and find out who was the "bad guy", but all along the way I found myself distracted by the fact that the characters, their behavior, and the dialog was unrealistic. None of the characters were believable, and I was totally unsympathetic to their ongoing difficulties. If it wasn't for the fact that I have somewhat of a stubborn streak, and wanted to finish what I started, this was the kind of book I could have easily simply put aside half way through and never pick it up again.
And any comparison of Michael Garrick, the lawyer in this book, to the lawyers in any of John Grisham's books is limited to the fact that they may both be practicing attorneys. But this book had little or nothing to do with being a lawyer, and as a character, Michael Garrick was most unlawyerly. ( )

Brad Meltzer knows how to right a political thriller. This latest of his is as good as the rest. Michael Garrett is a White House lawyer and he's dating the First Daughter. For a kick one night they try, successfully, to ditch the Secret Service agents and then see Michael's boss drop what has to be blackmail money in a hiding place. And the adventure begins. It's wild and it's fast and it's really good. This book won't be out until December but it is worth the wait, I promise. ( )

Could not put it down for about the last 80 pages.

Taught, stressful story.

Great Washington detail and political feel. ( )

I would have rated this a little higher normally because I do enjoy reading Brad Meltzer and have been working my through his books since I first read Book of Lies. After reading that book I decided I need to work my way through the authors other works. So far this is the only one that I felt was slow to get going, but once the story moved I loved the twists and turns. Even though I gave this one a three start I still plan on reading the rest of the authors books so far. ( )