Shortly after losing her Secret Service chaperones by means of a high-speed, downtown car chase, Nora takes Michael to a seedy bar where they settle into a corner for some quiet, uninterrupted conversation. He also happens to have won Nora's fancy, and it is on their first date that her reluctance to conform to the expectations made of White House occupants becomes clear.

Michael Garrick is a young attorney who works in the White House as one of many legal counsels to the President. In this book, Meltzer introduces us to Nora Hartson, the alluring First Daughter whose recalcitrant nature threatens to raze her father's political ambitions. Underlying the story is the tangible tension that envelops a president seeking re-election and the ends to which a campaign will go to ensure that the First Family's secrets remain secret. The publication of his newest book, The First Counsel, serendipitously coincides with the resolution of one of America's most controversial and protracted presidential elections. I wouldn't be where I am now without that effort.' 'I sure did learn a lot while writing it, though. 'I've just about given up hope that it'll get published one day,' he says, thinking back to his days in college when the environment of fraternity life provided the inspiration for his literary muses. Originally published in the Tampa Tribuneīrad Meltzer's first novel sits on his shelf undisturbed, long since last read, thereby allowing the dust jacket to serve its appropriate purpose as a collector of dust. BOOK REVIEW OF BRAD MELTZER'S ' THE FIRST COUNSEL'

The first counsel by brad meltzer