Get The BookBrowse Anthology, our 880 page collection of our past decade of Best of Year reviews, now available in hardcover!

Summary and Reviews of The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer

The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer

The First Counsel

by Brad Meltzer
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (3):
  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2001, 496 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Dec 2001, 496 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

With trademark surgical plotting, razor-sharp dialogue, and lightning pace, Meltzer explores the charged atmosphere of life inside the White House as it's never been seen.



John F. Kennedy, Jr., was Lark.
Amy Carter was Dynamo.
Chelsea Clinton was Energy.
Meet Shadow.


With New York Times bestsellers The Tenth Justice and Dead Even, Brad Meltzer emerged as one of the hottest new authors writing thrillers today. Now, with his trademark surgical plotting, razor-sharp dialogue, and lightning pace, he explores the charged atmosphere of life inside the White House as it's never been seen.


THE FIRST COUNSEL


Shadow is the Secret Service code name for First Daughter Nora Hartson. And when Michael Garrick, a young White House lawyer, begins dating the irresistible Nora, he's instantly spellbound, just like everyone else in her world.


It's a world all of us have heard about but few of us really know. A world where power is an aphrodisiac, your father is the President, your close friends wear earpieces and carry guns, and everyone watches your every move.


Like most, Michael thinks he can handle the pressure. Until, while together late one night, he and Nora witness something they were never meant to see - and become ensnared in a secret agenda, a scheme by a White House insider that includes betrayal and murder.


Suddenly, this young Washington power broker, who just yesterday was out on a dream date, finds himself trusting no one, not even Nora, in a battle to prove his innocence. It's a battle that will shake the walls of the Oval Office to their foundations - and may ultimately cost Michael Garrick his life.


In a fresh and knowing voice, Meltzer takes us down the rabbit hole of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and paints a riveting picture of a danger only one man will know-what it's like to fall in love with the world's most powerful daughter.


THE FIRST COUNSEL.
The President's Daughter.
You've never dated anyone like this.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Entertainment Weekly
Meltzer is so good.

Miami Herald
The next John Grisham.

People
Meltzer has earned the right to belly up to the bar in the company of John Grisham, Scott Turow, and David Baldacci.

USA Today
Meltzer has mastered the art of baiting and hooking readers quickly into a fast-moving plot.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The First Counsel, try these:

  • The Ghost jacket

    The Ghost

    by Robert Harris

    Published 2008

    About this book

    More by this author

    Adam Lang was Britain's longest serving prime minister of the last half century. Retiring to Martha's Vinyard to write his memoirs, his ghostwriter suddenly and mysteriously washes up, dead. Enter our hero -- Lang's new ghostwriter; and it doesn't take him long to realize he has made a fatal error in judgment, as he begins to unearth the ...

  • Zero Game jacket

    Zero Game

    by Brad Meltzer

    Published 2005

    About this book

    More by this author

    The Zero Game has everything: risk, reward, mystery, and the thrill of knowing that, just by being invited to play, you've confirmed your status as a true power broker; but the Game is hiding a secret so explosive that it will shake Washington to its core.

Read-Alikes are one of the many benefits of membership. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Brad Meltzer
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The River Knows Your Name
    by Kelly Mustian
    A haunting Southern novel about memory and love, from the author of The Girls in the Stilt House.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Fairbanks Four
    by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue

    One murder, four guilty convictions, and a community determined to find justice.

  • Book Jacket

    The Seven O'Clock Club
    by Amelia Ireland

    Four strangers join an experimental treatment to heal broken hearts in Amelia Ireland's heartfelt debut novel.

  • Book Jacket

    Happy Land
    by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

    From the New York Times bestselling author, a novel about a family's secret ties to a vanished American Kingdom.

  • Book Jacket

    One Death at a Time
    by Abbi Waxman

    A cranky ex-actress and her Gen Z sobriety sponsor team up to solve a murder that could send her back to prison in this dazzling mystery.

Who Said...

People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

J of A T, M of N

and be entered to win..