Page 15. That's when I knew I was in trouble. The opener to Lustbader's book, FIRST DAUGHTER, has the title character being whisked to her father's inauguration. As she stands on the dais with her family, she reaches into her pocket and lifts out a "vial of specially prepared anthrax."

"And like the contents of Pandora's box, out would come death in amber waves of grain."

I find myself struggling to explain why this line so perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with this book's prose. It wavers between insightful and just plain senseless, and in both cases it is a caustic color of purple. Our author is obviously an intelligent and well-spoken man, but even his best passages are over-flourished and his metaphors are schmaltzy and bizarre ("The early morning was waxy as a spit-polished shoe" is one of my favorites).

This ties in perfectly with the book's largest theme, which is one of Religion vs. Reason. Most of the other reviews I've read oversimplify Lustbader's central point. He's not necessarily complaining about religion, just about its zealots. The outgoing president of the novel is one of those hypocritical idealogues that are ga-ga about God, someone who will break nine of the commandments just to make sure that you don't break the tenth one. And on the other side is a specious organization named E-Two, an off-shoot of the First American Secular Revivalists (lets call them Motivated Atheists). In between the two we find Alli Carson, the kidnapped daughter of president-elect Edward Carson.

So the book takes every opportunity it can (every single one) to wax philosophical on faith, hope, the spirit, the soul, and belief. It's obvious that Lustbader believes in a world beyond our ken (the book is filled with obtrusive "miracles" that are left vague enough to be debatable), but his quasi-pantheism is mostly a distraction from the needlessly complex "intrigue" of the novel. We have double-double agents, a corrupt NSA official, a rogue hitman with his own agenda, and an ATF agent with dyslexia.

Yes. That's Jack McClure, whiz-kid at hunting down criminals, but not so great when it comes to reading road signs or getting along with his estranged wife, Sharon. The novel tries to tie Jack's abusive childhood with the current goings-on, but the connections aren't exactly believable or even rewarding. Likewise, his dyslexia is referenced many, many times as a source of both shame and power. Apparantly having dyslexia gives you the ability to make three dimensional decisions in a matter of seconds (Air Force pilots take note!). It's basically a plot contrivance, and one that -- like the religious posturing -- becomes something of a nuisance.

When the story focuses on what it really should be -- a police procedural -- it's not half bad. But the book wants to make several deep and potent points about life and love. That, combined with some of the worst dialogue I've ever read in my life, denudes the espionage of any tension it might have supplied. What you're left with is a messy diatribe against fundamentalism and a bunch of gibberish comparing the church to a brain-washing assassin.

Okay. And some unintentionally funny metaphors.

I have to agree with the other reviewers about the not-too-subtle anti-religion message and the blatant stereotypes. But I found the reader's voice on the audio version very difficult to listen to, and dangerous if one is driving a car while listening, because it will put you to sleep. But I tried to stick with it. However mispronounced words are completely inexcusable. I could not finish the book, and don't even care how it ends.

I found the story in this book extremely enthralling. It's a story about the daughter of the President-elect being kidnapped from her dorm room at a fictional college outside of Washington, D.C. After the kidnapping, ATF agent Jack McClure is brought in by the President-elect to help find his daughter. Along the way McClure has to face his down inner demons because his deceased daughter was best friends and roommates with the kidnapped victim.

The story is told both in the present day, and also as a flash back from when McClure is a kid. Thus it combines good action with real character development into what makes McClure tick. He's sort of a Jack Bauer type, but with a bit more "regular Joe" flaws.

Based on just the plot and the writing, I'd give this book 5 stars with no reservation. However, the problem is the author's overriding political agenda gets way out of hand and, towards the end, actually overtakes the action in the book and in some cases may insult the reader.

Lustbader created the character of the President of the United States as a caricature of what he believes George W. Bush to be and proceeds to use the book to criticize religion and specifically, evangelicals. Even though I don't agree with what Lustbader's obvious political feelings are, I was able to overlook his bashing of my beliefs for most of the book. But towards the end the characters go on long diatribes about the "evils" of organized religion. While I finished the book, the diatribes were just over the top and unnecessary.

Lustbader has written an excellent novel with a personally very likable character in Jack McClure. People who like characters like Jack Bauer or Jack Ryan I think will like McClure too. However Lustbader has marred an excellent book by letting his political agenda get in the way of his fiction.

The first chapter (not officially chapter one) of this book illustrated Mr. Lustbader's talent in writing. I was glued to every page and couldn't wait to finish the whole book. Then Chapter One went back in time, before the events I just read, and everything seemed to fall flat. The reflections of real life nuances with present day politics was something I didn't want to read about and the writing wasn't at the same fever pitch as what I had just read.

This one just didn't do it for me.

Nothing but Bush bashing. Rambling and uneven. Had to force myself to finish. Too bad I've always enjoyed Van Lustbader in the past.

The First Daughter is entertaining but not outstanding. It has an astute take on George W. Bush and his power-hungry and amoral minions, and I identified and sympathized with the hero, whose dyslexia and unhappy childhood are both his weaknesses and strengths. At times, though, the implausibility of the plot was irritating. Sure, it's a thriller: The reader is supposed to accept coincidences as long as they are properly foreshadowed. I just got tired of the manipulation. As for the prose, this author has never met a simile he didn't like. Again, the thriller genre is not known for elegant prose, but I would have liked to read a page without wincing at an awkward phrase or absurd comparison.

Read The First Daughter if you love political thrillers. Look for something else if you seek excellent fiction.

First Daughter, by Eric Van Lustbader


Van Lustbader paints a compelling picture of an everyday hero in Jack McClure. He's out there, catching bad guys and making the world a better place while his own relationships fall apart at the seams. Jack is on the case of a kidnapping - the new President's daughter's been snatched from her bed at an upscale college campus near Washington, D.C. Who wants her, and for what purpose? Jack's past and present intersect when someone from his childhood resurfaces in a colorful way. Jack's an interesting and complex character; the plot meanders but grips when necessary; and the up-to-the-minute political landscape is very real. It's a thrilling book; I'm very happy to have Van Lustbader back on my library shelf!

The daughter of the President-elect has been kidnapped just shortly before the new administration is to take over. Who did it and why? How will Alli Carson be rescued, if she is alive? Eric Van Lustbader has written an engaging suspense thriller that keeps the reader immersed in the plot.

Jack McClure, the main protagonist, is someone with whom the reader can easily sympathize and support throughout the story. A survivor of an abusive father and dyslexic, Lustbader develops McClure's character with a combination of the present and flashback's to Jack's past. We know for certain why Jack is where he is and why he is the type of person he is. Lustbader's description of Jack's struggle with dyslexia, in particular his description of the real agony suffered as he tries to make sense of words in critical situations, makes one feel a strong sympathy for all those who have this problem. All the other characters are, for the most part, in supporting roles, mostly, for me, working as mirrors to Jack's personality, reflecting back similarities or contrasts.

The story line is gratifyingly intense, with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing as to who is up to what, never quite sure as to who are ultimately the good or bad guys. This is all reinforced by a backdrop of religious and political conflicts - one side overzealous evangelicals; the other equally committed secularist/humanists. Lustbader expresses these conflicts thru the outgoing and incoming administrations, and the reader could not be blamed for mistaking the outgoing administration for a caricature of the current Bush administration.

I have two peeves for this work: First, Lustbader's portrayal of the black characters in his book are no different from the stereotypical and politically correct characters we see in movies today: they are all either wise and heroic beyond belief, or they are low life thugs. Second, Lustbader moves the story along with dialogue between characters who debate issues of faith: is there a God? Why does suffering exist? Is there an afterlife? etc. This is all well and good so long as both sides are getting a fair airing, which they do until the very end, when it appears that one side of the debate is given the upper hand as the plot resolves itself to its conclusion.

Overall, however, the action, the suspense, the intrigue, all keep you fully immersed until the very end.

I stopped reading this book before the end of the first chapter due to language, so I can't leave much of a review. All I can say is if you don't appreciate bad language and God's name being taken in vain, then you probably do not want to get this book.

In plain speak, I didn't enjoy reading this book.That is hard for me to say as I usually like reading many diverse themes but this is way to improbable and some of it difficult to swallow.
I usually like political fiction but this is just way over the top even for a moderate like me.
The book needs toned down some for the average book reader, otherwise it would only be attractive to a small group of people
.Sorry I really was looking forward to this one but it was a real disappointment.

Eric van Lustbader's latest novel, First Daughter, is an enjoyable and entertaining read.

Whether or not you enjoy it will probably depend on what you are looking for. It's not "high art" (such as any novel by Kazuo Ishiguro), and it's unlikely to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. It's not as lengthy or detailed as a typical Clancy yarn, and it doesn't carry the same thematic consistency of Grisham's novels.

However, if you are on a long flight and need something to hold your attention for an hour or two, or, if it's a lazy weekend afternoon and you want to relax and enter into a good story - First Daughter might be perfect.

...but is over-shadowed by the religious aspects of the novel, often making the reader feel as if he was being preached to. That part was over-done and off-putting at times, I had to skim some parts. People believe what they want to believe or not. That will never change. Even good people sin, we know that already.

This is a timely novel, what with a real Presidential election around the corner... and the plot line is inventive, and keeps moving along. There is a lot of other action going on besides debating religion, what with all the subplots and interesting characters. Reviewer Scott Bright did a really good job of reviewing this novel (on Sept 17th). He also enjoyed the backstory of agent Jack McClure, the development of his character was the most interesting part of the book for me.

I am not sorry that I read it. It kept me interested, for the most part, even if I didn't always agree with the viewpoints, one doesn't have to, to enjoy the writing. The author is a well established novelist in his own right, long before picking up the continuation of the Bourne series for Ludlum.

There is a lot to like and to dislike as well. Just enjoy it for what it is a good "fiction" novel.

To my way of thinking, thrillers must be tightly written if they are to succeed. "First Daughter" is not a tightly written book. Not when an entire paragraph in the early going is devoted solely to what a female secret service agent is wearing, and what kind of make-up she has on. Not when a paragraph later we are treated to a similar descriptive segment devoted to her male counterpart. Van Lustbader has written this thriller without the taut pacing that a political thriller of this ilk needs.

"First Daughter" by Eric Van Lustbader is a murder mystery that held my attention the whole way through! Jack McClure came from an abusive home and is now a top ATF agent (the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). He has dyslexia, but this does not hinder him in his job, it gives him the ability to look at things from a different perspective, which actually makes him excel.

Jack's marriage falls apart after his daughter's death. While trying to cope with these losses, he gets a call from the president elect, Edward Carson. Edward's daughter was a best friend to Jack's daughter, and now she's gone missing.

I enjoyed learning about Jack's character, though I'm not sure it all had a lot to do with the main plot of the book. Learning of Jack's life could have been a book in itself!

I enjoyed this book tremendously and would recommend it highly! I'm not one for political stuff - but I looked at that part of the book as just a piece of the story and it I really enjoyed the book! There are a few unexpected turns that add to the desire to get to the end!! Read it!!

- 1smileycat :-)

First Daughter draws a picture of Washington DC at the transition to a new President. It starts on Jan. 20th, and ends on that same Jan. 20th, the whole story being about how things came to this.

But it's not about election day. It's about the out-going President's personal (maybe neurotic) need to assure his "Legacy" -- and about one of the President's operatives ( deep cover black ops) who likewise lusts for a Legacy worthy of his career.

Lustbader shows us both the roots of the far-left Liberal ethics and the far-far Right Conservative stance -- plus a thorough examination of the middle or centrist position.

To do this, he uses many viewpoints. The main character is an ATF operative seconded to the Secret Service detail of the incoming President's family. This fellow is massively dyslexic. Lustbader shows us what the world is like for such an individual -- what it looks like.

The dyslexic has been taught to read by physically examining 3-dimensional shapes that are letters.

The most marvelous accomplishment of this novel is Lustbader's use of the shifting point of view techniques to highlight the 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzle an investigator must put together, not in the usual mystery forms, but in the view of the dyslexic who is assembling a word in his mind from these 3-dimensional shapes.

When the last bit of the puzzle falls into place at the end of the novel, the reader KNOWS how that dyslexic percieves the world. It is an amazing accomplishment!

This is a completely mundane political thriller -- but it delivers the exact punch Science Fiction readers look for; a glimpse of the world seen from an "alien" point of view. That in itself is a special thrill.

I enjoyed this novel very much. It was engaging with just enough twists and turns. I am recommending this one to all of my family members. I would have given this one 5 stars except that I felt the character development was just a bit lacking. Either some characters were not developed fully enough or they were not completely believable; it is difficult for a reader to relate to characters under these circumstances. In any event, the book is still quite entertaining so give it a try.

I have to start off saying that I've read lots of EVL books and I've enjoyed all of them. This book was no different. I like the fast paced writing of this genre and the twists and turns made me not want to put the book down.

EVL is a great storyteller and this book is worth reading/buying.

Eric Van Lustbader has penned a number of books in different genres, including the ongoing Jason Bourne series. Overall, this one is on par with that series, meaning it's just average. The main drawback to this novel is Lustbader putting his political views into the novel. The story is better than average, and the beginning of the novel gives the reader something to look forward to as it develops later in the novel.

If you can stomach the political views and enjoy political thrillers, then I'd recommend this one.

I have read this author for many years and this is a good story with a quick capture of your attention. Sometimes the breaks in the story line were a bit choppy. I really enjoyed the adaptations to deal with a disability.

An interesting premise-take the extreme wing nuts from both sides of the political spectrum and make them the folks fighting for control of society. Throw in a cop who is almost a cliche-except that his dyslexia is his greatest strength, a presidential family kidnaping and of course a conspiriacy and what do you have-a pretty good read actually. While some might see the extreme views-especially of the religious right as hateful, they provide a space for the character to struggle with the complexities of faith and its place in post modern culture.

This was a book I swallowed in one read. The ending came completely as a surprise and the journey to get there was engrossing. Very few things were predictible

I recommend this book. A great end of summer read

There were many things I liked about this book and quite a few that I disliked. It took me about 100 pages to really get interested in the plot and characters (the book is about 400 pages total), but after that I was more or less hooked. I particularly liked the development of the main character, Jack McClure, and wondered if the description of his dyslexia as a type of disability accompanied by extreme giftedness is accurate or rare. I just finished the book tonight, so I'm looking forward to researching that.

For me, Jack's backstory was even more interesting that the main plot. I thought the author did an excellent job of creating a sympathetic character with texture and depth and really liked the Gus character as well. The rest of the characters weren't nearly as well developed, and some were merely caricatures.

This leads right into what I liked least about the story. The debate over whether or not organized religion is a good thing or bad thing began early in the book and continued through to the end. While the outgoing U.S. President was presented early on as a stark raving mad religious zealot, there were also evil characters on the godless side. It appeared for at least half of the book that the author was trying to portray both arguments from a somewhat neutral position. This changed in the latter part of the book, however, to relentless diatribes about the evils of religion and the idiocy of those that choose to believe in God and any form of afterlife. I felt I was being preached at during many parts in the second half, and that's just annoying.

Instead of being a suspense novel with some bits thrown in about religion, this almost felt like an editorial about what's wrong with religion and why we should all be atheists encased in popular fiction to make it more palatable. Based on that and my opinion that the actual writing was pretty good but not great, I just can't recommend this book and don't plan to read other books by this author.

The opening pages have all the indications of a great mass market thriller -- the the President-elect's daughter is about to make a terrorist attack at the inauguration. Just as she's about to open a vial of anthrax, the book flashes back two months to her kidnapping and the selection of Jack McClure, an ATF with dyslexia, to rescue her. Cool.

The book quickly falls flat though, a victim of stilted dialogue, inaccuracies of forensic science, a complete lack of understanding about the ways that DHS, the White House, and the Secret Service work, and a completely weird and unbelievable plot about a war between religious fundamentalists and secular reformer/protest/terroists....something or the other. Frankly, the sections of the book that discuss relgion and secularism are babbling nonsense.

This book should never have made it past the first level of editing, much less the final publishing process. In my experience, if I enjoy a book by an author, I can find something new by looking for other books by the same publisher -- good editors make great authors. I won't be buying anything from Forge Publishing any time soon.

What can I say...I like at least a touch of subtlety in a book. This one has none past the opening chapter, which was promising. I felt like I was being beaten over the head with the author's 'messages' to the point that I couldn't relax and enjoy the plot. I can excuse some amount of preaching, but please do it as a subsidiary of the story instead of screaming it out on every page.

The heavy-handed approach was applied to the characters as well. The bad guys are raving, bug-eyed stereotypes that are insulting, and even worse, boring. The good guys are average, but brilliant, people bravely and honorably struggling against the odds stacked against them. Sure, he tries to give the good guys some character flaws, but that also felt contrived.

There's probably a good book in here somewhere, buried under the clumsy approach. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief this time. Lustbader can, and has, done much better.

Readers of Eric Lustbader's earlier novels are most likely familiar with his style of twists and turns in his story telling. FIRST DAUGHTER, although it takes a while, is no different.

Jack McClure, who has Dyslexia but a brain that works faster than ordinary, has recently lost his daughter in a car accident and as separated from his wife. He is asked by President Elect Edward Carson to find his abducted daughter, Alli, who was a close friend of McClure's daughter Emma.

McClure teams up with FBI agent Nina Miller and, working through a great deal of red tape and verbal abuse from various government officials, attempt to find out exactly what happened to Alli.

Readers will not be able to compare FIRST DAUGHTER to Lustbader's previous novels, since the quality of writing is somewhat lacking. However, his ability to mold characters to his main theme, and a surprise ending is enough to recommend the book.

Great book! The author grabs you right up front in the first chapter, and from there on, you're hooked. There's lots of suspense, surprises, and twists and turns until the mystery of who kidnapped the president-elect's daughter and why is solved. This is my first book by this author, and I plan to try some more, because I'm very impressed.

I liked the book but at times I think the author was trying to add to many plots to the story and then trying to link them together. I liked the characters and the main plot.

I am not going to give the story away but if the author had kept the story to a little more narrow plot line he could have saved 100 pages.

A few weeks before President-Elect Edward Carson is to be inaugurated, his daughter Alli goes missing. Neither prone to rebellion nor suffering from depression, it is assumed that she has been kidnapped. But that assumption becomes more puzzling as time passes with no contact specifying ransom or other demands.

With Alli's life at stake, Carson turns to the only man he believes can bring her safely home, ATF agent Jack McClure. Dyslexic, words stymie Jack, but he can work out solutions to problems at a speed near that of light. McClure is apparently in good company with the likes of Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci, to name a few fellow sufferers.

Jack has some allies in the government, not the least of whom is Carson, but there are some men with overinflated egos in positions of power who hate Jack's guts. Unless Jack can maneuver around the resistance and attacks from that faction, rescuing Alli may become impossible. Fortunately, he has Nina to help him. An agent with ambition to match her beauty, Nina will do anything --- literally --- to further her career, and if it means getting close to McClure, so be it. She, too, has friends in high places. Not the same high places as Jack's, but they may prove to be helpful nonetheless.

Despite the myriad barriers and roadblocks, Jack manages to narrow down the list of suspects to one Ronnie Kray --- at least, that's what he's calling himself these days. While not dyslexic, Kray is outstanding in his own way. Driven by a sickness, unafraid of death and lacking the fear of God, he is an explosive cocktail of emotions and motivations. And his timing is perfect. The handover of the reins to the incoming administration leaves the government vulnerable and at its weakest.

Further complicating Jack's efforts is the outgoing president's religious zealotry. The man's narrow vision of God and God's plan for mankind leads the president to make some very bad decisions in the name of righteousness and pushes the investigation in the wrong direction. Fortunately, Jack sees the case differently.

As Jack chases clues only he seems to realize the significance of, a deep dawning horror overcomes him. He has a growing fear that he knows this kidnapper from long ago --- only he didn't just abduct his victims back then; he killed them.

To understand how Jack got where he is today, it is necessary to visit him as a youngster. He grew up in the same neighborhoods he now fights crime in. From an early age, he learned how to make his disability an asset. His education came from a streetwise mountain of a man who stuck to his beliefs despite the personal danger it placed him in. Now, Jack must use every strength and advantage that his mentor taught him in order to save Alli.

FIRST DAUGHTER is a lightning fast read with a terrifying plot. There's a new twist just about every other page. Don't make the mistake of believing you know how it's going to end. Lustbader will surprise you. He has an uncanny knack for formulating ideas with a razor's edge. A story this timely will leave you wondering: Could this really happen?

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

What a disappointment. This book held out so much promise. An assination attempt at the inauguration, carried out by one of the "first daughters".

Here are a few reasons I actively disliked it.

1. The circumstances were implausible. An ATF agent was assigned to be a major player in an investigation that would be handled by the FBI and possibly assisted by the secret service. (If my memory serves, after the Kennedy assination, congress gave the FBI was exclusive jurisdiction over head-of-government-branch assinations. This was to prevent the fed vs local squabbles that led to Ruby's killing of Oswald and so many conspiracy theories.)

2. The racist, religous ranting. I understand that it was important to show the soon-to-be-ex president as someone who was hanging on to power with the fervor of a zealot, but the long diatribes were boring and pointless and, even worse, offensive.

3. The insistence that dyslexia is a handicap that causes embarrassment, needs to be kept secret, yet endows the people with it with special powers to observe things in rooms that othes did not notice.This is just simply wrong!

Skip this one.

Probably not, but like the author's other protagonists he's an interestingly flawed individual about whom we'd like to know more. Eric Van Lustbader has created a new character in Jack McClure that is certainly worthy of further development. "First Daughter" introduces us to this dyslexic ATF agent in an entertaining story that will keep you glued to the page (and possibly up a bit later than you'd planned). A very good read that will have you rooting for Jack as he pursues a unique villain with ties not only to Jack's past but to the highest echelons of our government.

As my title suggests, First Daughter combines many unusual elements in its characters and story line. There's plenty in here to fascinate and repel many people.

This is going to sound silly, but the people who will like this book best are dyslexic atheists who enjoy conspiracy stories about Republican presidents.

The people who are going to like this story least are conservative, church-attending Christians who favor Republican politics.

Without spoiling the story, First Daughter opens provocatively with a scene that portends grave potential risk to the future of the United States. Next, we move backward in time to find out how that moment came to occur.

Jack McClure is the flawed, but brilliant, hero of the book. He works at ATF and is called in to help when the president-elect's daughter is kidnapped just before the inauguration. Jack is dyslexic, but compensates by able to absorb lots of visual information at the same time. He's depressed by guilt at the loss of his daughter, a loss that has cost him his marriage as well. Reader also follow McClure through being abused by his father, dropping out of school, and learning to make his own way in the underbelly of society.

In the background, there are forces that don't want the investigation to succeed, and Jack struggles mightily against a most diabolical and effective villain to find the missing Alli Carson.

I like complex books with lots of elements, but I felt like First Daughter overdid it. I didn't find the plot line about pro and anti atheist factions to be very engaging or credible.

Ultimately, the villain didn't make a lot of sense to me, either.

Although I liked the parts about Jack McClure's background, the rest of the story didn't work all that well for me. Perhaps Mr. Lustbader will bring back McClure in another novel with a more credible and engaging plot. That would be good.

This book reads along the lines of a Joseph Wambaugh or Tom Clancy book, but is set entirely here in the USA. Once you start reading, be sure to keep everything in memory for it will come into play later in the book. If you think you have all the answers, think again, except the last chapter of the book which is totally predictable. For all of the things Eric Van Lustbader had his characters perform to try to give Christianity a "black eye" I say, you will have to answer to each and every one yourself, including your reason for sometimes starting "God" with a capital letter, and sometimes not, what was that all about? Had it not been for the negative feelings the author obviously has for God, I would have given the book 5 stars, what a pity.

By page 38, I had no idea who had been in an accident, who had been killed or what was going on and I really didn't care. The first chapter started off in an interesting way, but the second chapter went to some sort of totally bolixed up flashback. Lustbader's writing style and the premise of the novel failed to grab my attention. Frankly, I would have had to force myself to read on and since this was not on some "required" reading list for education (think school), I put the book aside and moved on. The premise is downright silly.; the world of real politics provides a much more riveting read.

Eric Van Lustbader's FIRST DAUGHTER is a page-turner that hurtles through the storyline and gives readers a hero to root for as soon as he steps onto the scene. It even gets away with one of the plot gimmicks I usually most despise. The novel starts out at the inaugural ceremony for the newly elected President of the United States, introduces an element of duplicity and treachery on part of the First Daughter, then flips back in time a month to when events leading up to this showdown began.

I persevered in spite of myself and sank immediately into the story. Lustbader is a good storyteller - not always a structurally sound novelist - but always succeeds in grabbing people's attention. He was a natural choice to continue the Jason Bourne books, the third of which was recently released.

I don't know if the author intends Jack McClure to become a series character or not, but Jack has enough depth and problems that I want to see him again. Since I have ADHD with some mild OCD, and have children that have those as well, I was even more fascinated by Jack's dyslexia and the fact that his brain processed information faster than a normal person was able to. Jack's inability to read pertinent information at times was something I clearly understood. I get easily frustrated with instruction pamphlets and often have to hand them off to my wife.

Jack has also recently lost his daughter in a tragic car wreck, and - subsequently - his marriage because he wasn't able to get past his guilt of not being there for his daughter. He works for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, but President-Elect Edward Carson calls Jack in when his 19-year-old daughter Alli gets kidnapped. The personal tie exists between the two men because Emma, Jack's daughter, was Alli's roommate at college.

Immediately, Jack takes up the trail. The resonance between not being their for his own daughter and getting the chance to save another young girl comes home at once. Unfortunately, Jack also steps afoul of the Secret Service and other government agencies seeking the kidnapper.

This inter-agency rivalry screams plot manipulation on part of the author, but I liked the way it was handled. The rivalry became a stumbling block and something that had to be dealt with, but it wasn't the largest part of the story.

One of the things that took me out of the book - at first - was Lustbader's insistence on telling Jack's backstory. I was confused and irritated when I turned to the first chapter that showed Jack as a kid getting abused by his father. I didn't know what that had to do with the plot. And, in truth, it didn't have that much to do with everything, in my opinion, despite the fact that Jack and the killer had a history together.

However, I soon found myself looking forward to those chapters involving Jack's past. The character ended up getting a lot more depth that way, and I bought into him more heavily than I would have than if I'd read the kidnapping/murder plot only. Admittedly, some of what Jack experienced was over the top, because I really don't think a man like Gus would take an interest in the boy that Jack was. But it's good fiction.

While working on the kidnapping, Jack gets a chance to understand what happened to Emma as well. All of those things are eventually tied together, and it makes the machinations on part of the villain even more evil. I enjoyed the fact that the record got set straight, and it made Jack's loss more poignant, but it came so fast at the end that my attention was divided between that and what was going on at the time with Alli.

The religious references bugged me too. I still don't quite understand why they were in the book as much. And I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about the presentation. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel threatened by rising conservative Christianity or if I'm just supposed to be made aware that it's out there. There were sections of the novel that grated and slowed down due to the diatribes that went on.

Overall, though, readers wanting a suspenseful tale well told will enjoy FIRST DAUGHTER. It's a blistering quick read with a hero that will become real to you.

I have always had the utmost respect for Eric Van Lustbader, ever since I picked up a copy of The Ninja many years ago. It is good to see that his skill and mastery of writing thrillers has not diminished.

As we stand poised, not so far removed from our own Presidential election, and inevitable inauguration, Van Lustbader brings us First Daughter, with the basic premise that the President-elect's daughter has been kidnapped a month prior to the inauguration ceremony. Tasked with recovering her, and tracking down the kidnapper, is Jack McClure - an acquaintance of the President-elect.

Born dyslexic, McClure rose up from being a runaway teenager, and came to use what many would view as a disability instead as an advantage - as a top ATF agent. Muddying the waters somewhat is the fact that his recently deceased daughter was the friend and room-mate of the President-elect's kidnapped daughter.

As McClure delves deeper, running against enemies high up in the Government who seek to find ways to stop him (not the least of which includes his demise), he also tries to vindicate FASR - a group which is against organized religion, and which the current President (in the book) hates with a passion - who is fast becoming a scapegoat for the kidnapping.

Soon McClure begins to realize that there are links between the kidnapper and his own past, and he must soon face a nemesis he thought he'd killed years before...

Van Lustbader has provided us with a first-rate thriller, deftly handing us fairly short chapters which keeps the reader picking through the various characters like the weave of a fine tapestry. The style, and nicely kept tension, urges the reader to keep reading "just one more chapter" till you've read far more than you'd planned, to the author's credit.

Van Lustbader also delves deeply into the political scene, giving the reader a sense of the power in the Administration of the Government, the layers of intrigue, the lies and deception, and the absolute uncertainty of who is friend or foe. For those who find politics boring, I assure you, there is nothing boring about this book.

Finally, the author touches on the topics of guilt, redemption and the shadowy-world of the afterlife. Perhaps he's right - there is no plan, no chaos...life just is.

I highly recommend this book.

Van Lustbader was very ambitious in his approach to this novel. The conflict between the main character Jack McClure (a Dyslexic investigator for the ATF) and his past - growing up with a criminal and a minister, the conflict in America between organized religion and those who don't believe in religion (plus the whole issue between those who believe in God but not religion). Then there is the abduction of the incoming President's daughter and the evil genius who has a much grander crime in the works. He is also dealing with the loss of his daughter (which ultimately finds it's way right back into the center of the main plot). and the subsequent separation from his wife. McClure's struggle with Dyslexia actually gives him abilities that other investigators lack, his view of the world different because of his handicap (or gift).

I think this stew gets about 90% of the way there. I had to finish this book, to see how it ended, but I found some of the dialogue, especially between the evil sitting President (who sounds like a paranoid version of a cross between Richard Nixon and Dubya) and his evil advisers is just too simple, and this stew lacks some spice. A decent book, and a very interesting concept. While not one of my top-ten books, by any means, it made for a n enjoyable means and if you like these types of books you'll enjoy it.

I enjoyed this suspenseful, exciting, thoughtful political and psychological thriller in which the protagonist, ATF agent Jack McClure, is investigating the abduction of Alli, the 20-year-old daughter of Edward Carson, the moderate Republican president-elect. McClure, who is dyslexic, fled his abusive home as a teenager, and has since discovered that his disability, which he has always been ashamed of, gives him a strong intuitive ability and an unusual creative way of seeing situations, so he can often tell what's really going on (sort of like the way Adrian Monk's OCD attention to detail helps him see truths other detectives miss). We know early on that Alli is being held by a violent, homicidal anti-religious fanatic, is developing Stockholm syndrome, and is being programmed to perform a terrorist act at the inauguration.

The current, unnamed president, a sanctimonious, extremely conservative religious-right Republican who has it in for secularist organizations, seems like a caricature, obviously a grotesque exaggeration of G.W. Bush, rather than a real person. However, most of the other characters, especially the more sympathetic ones, are well portrayed. This story is a real page-turner with a complex plot, plenty of action, interesting characters, and much consideration of the nature and implications of religious faith and moral secularism. Toward the end, I thought I'd figured out exactly what was going on, but as it turned out, there were a few more twists than I'd expected.

It is very rare when I find I can't finish a book. This is one of those times. Maybe the second half is better than the first, but somehow I doubt it.

The premise is interesting if not improbable. It starts out with an apparent terrorist attack on a Presidential inauguration led by the new President's Daughter. Then it cuts away to her kidnapping a month earlier from a tony women's college. Her Secret Service agent is really in the BATF which is odd and his dead daughter was her roommate.

In the middle of it all is a whole bunch of strange Presidential religion led by the old President who is clearly deranged and to all appearances wants to stay in office.

This might work if it were not so preachy and the characters so unlikeable.

Take a pass on this one.

It must be the upcoming election. First Lee Child, now Lustbader, two authors who have degenerated into hate-filled, frothing, rabid fearmongers.

In this book, Republicans are bad, bad people, unless they're basically liberals (or, in this book, "moderates"). Early on you'll meet an evil, bad, nasty, nutty, religious Republican President with ties to big oil, who uses an army of pundits for damage control. It's the most ham-fisted characterization since Dan Brown's in his other book, I forget which.

Unfortunately the author has only one audience in mind - conspiracy theorists who are totally invested in his brand of insane hatred. Because a normal reader - that is, anyone who takes writing and reading seriously, and is informed enough to know that the author is living in a fantasy world - would be sickened to his gut by this display of unmitigated cluelessness, and would find it difficult to get past Chapter One.

I'm not kidding about the writing. "Still, he was of a species - the political animal - that she despised." Then, a chapter later, about someone else, "He was a purely political creature ... and therefore dangerous." There are too many descriptions about gestures and movements. "Nina Miller settled herself by scooping the sides of her skirt under her thighs. Her eyes were bright, inquisitive, completely noncommital." "He had stood up, moved over to the window so sunlight spilled across the pages. He kept his back to the others, shoulders slightly hunched." Yuck.

Now, another pet peeve. The people in this book don't talk like actual people; they talk like they're reading off cliche cards or talking points:

"No plan could be so cruel, no plan could excuse my daughter's death. Better to say it was the work of the devil!"

Father Larrigan looked like he were about to faint. "Mrs. McClure, please! Your blaspheming-"

Horrible writing. No priest would react that way, unless he had been living in a fridge for most of his life. But it seems like the author has never actually met and talked to anyone religious, from the way he imagines they talk. And, as you can see, it's not just religious people who get this kind of cliched claptrap as their dialogue in this book. It's as if most of the book were just filler to let the author spew on about evil Republicans.

Be warned. If you like this kind of stuff, go ahead and buy it. If not, try the first two chapters first.

This story had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it was never realized.

Although the author could have made this a great novel, he failed to deliver. Instead of focusing on the main plot, Van Lustbader pursued an agenda of anti-religious bigotry. Much of the action is implausible. Some of these are not just the run of the mill farfetched events in a novel, they are too over the top to have any credibility. The editing is also substandard.

The main idea of the story is that ATF agent Jack McClure is recruited by the president-elect to find his recently kidnapped daughter. The McClure character could have been a great one, but was not well developed. Also, the author tried to turn McClure's dyslexia into some sort of mystical super gift that gives him the ability to 'see' things that no one else can in multiple dimensions. This silly plot device was never expanded to the point that it would make any sense.

Mr. Van Lustbader did his best to portray any people of faith as moronic and phony. One example is this: 'But Father Larrigan wasn't full of grace, nor was any priest.' This is just one example of many.

The errors included ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) listed as AFT in at least two places.

There are a lot better action novels out there. I'd suggest anything by Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, or many others before this. I'd recommend skipping this one.

The newly-elected President's daughter, Alli Carson, is on her way to her father's inauguration, carrying a vial that will release, in the author's words, "death in amber waves of grain." What in the world has brought this apparently stable and poised young woman to this point?

ATF Agent Jack McClure, who has survived an abusive upbringing and whose past holds disturbing secrets, is mourning the death of his daughter Emma, who died in a car crash, shortly after he spoke with her. McClure is haunted by regrets that he didn't spend enough time with Emma, and his marriage is suffering, as well. Distraction comes, when he is called upon by new President Edward Carson to track down Alli's kidnapper. Alli and Emma were best friends and college roommates, and by solving Alli's case, McClure hopes to gain insight and closure on Emma's death.

Once he begins the investigation McClure discovers that the kidnapper may have ties to a murder case that took place during his youth, after he left home and was mentored by the Rev. Myron Taske, minister of a church in an area "filled with gangs, crimes and drugs," and under whose tutelage, McClure begins to realize he has a knack for detective work. Sifting through aliases, cold cases, and threats from terrorist groups, he finds that Alli's rescue involves more than just removing her from her captors, and that Emma had secrets of her own which are key to solving the case.

"First Daughter" is a suspenseful, action-packed thriller, by the international best-selling author of the "Bourne" novels.

Blaming himself for the accident that ended his daughter's life, ATF agent Jack McClure vows to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a newly elected president, an effort that pits him against a lethal and calculating adversary. BT.
I wasn't real enthused by Lustbader's work with the Bourne novels so it came as a little bit of a surprise when I started reading this one and enjoyed the heck out of it. I liked the writing style as well as the character development. The plot was original and topical, though not as solid as I would like. I would highly recommend this novel to all thriller readers.

I was more than disappointed with this ridiculous book. Everything was fine until the last half of the book when the dialogue and the plot became incoherent. I do not mind suspending disbelief one or twice in a thriller. But the author insisted I do so a couple of dozen times which ruined the book.

ATF agent Jack McLure has a troubled life - he's struggled with dyslexia, his wife left him after the death of their daughter, and he carries a burden of guilt over his daughter's death.

Jack's learning disability gives him an edge over other investigators, since his mind see details differently, so when he is asked to investigate the kidnapping of the soon-to-be-inaugurated president, who happens to be his late daughter's college roommate, Jack jumps on the case.

The use of flashbacks to Jack's youth can be a bit trying, and the book's religious undertones can be off-putting to some, but the exposure of Washington's corruptness and political machinations feel like they hold some truth.

First Daughter was a good, fast-paced political thriller with some great twists, and the fact that the U.S. is about to elect a new president makes it all the more enjoyable to read.

Eric Van Lustbader is better known as the author who has picked up the Bourne series since the death of Robert Ludlum. This book has some similarities to that series in that we have vast government conspiracies, brainwashing and one man versus the system.

Positives:
The action in the book is strong.

Negatives:
The back story Van Lustbader told to introduce us to the main character, Jack McClure, is much more interesting than the main plotline.

The politics in this book are laughable. The President is a thinly disguised clone of Bush43 (Iraq, 9/11, Patriot Act, Faith-based initiatives, etc.) except he has the paranoia and anger level of 3 or 4 Richard Nixons. The President makes new policy initiatives in his last week in office. With less than a month to go he has a major negotiation with the Russians, even though everyone knows that no one negotiates with a President with so little time left in office - his replacement will just countermand all of them in a matter of days!

Atheist terrorist groups abound (or maybe they don't there's a big plot hole here), even though there's no such thing. People will kill for their religious beliefs, but I can't imagine anyone killing over their lack of belief...

Even more annoying is Van Lustbader's insistence on ridiculing religion throughout the book. The President is a religious fanatic. The President-elect uses religion as a tool to get elected. The minister who is out to save the neighborhood sells out in a political alliance. A grieving mother finds comfort in the church of her youth - but she leaves it and now acts much more sane. A religious peer of McClure (the only one) ends up leaving the church and McClure congratulates him for it. The bad guy comes off as sort of a good guy in this anti-religious mindset.

It is one thing to decry religion in politics. I'm very religious and I don't like religion in bed with politics. But, it is entirely another thing to decry religion altogether. Maybe Vas Lustbader thought he was being subtle, but he was about as subtle as a wrecking ball.

Recommendation: There are plenty of other action/political thrillers out there.

A right-wing religious ideologue and his corrupt cronies are leaving the White House after 8 years and are frantically attempting to establish a
legacy, meanwhile the daughter of the more moderate President-Elect has been kidnapped...

In addition to presenting a thriller with an intriguing main character and lots of twists and turns, the author raises many interesting and timely questions regarding personal beliefs in the political arena, the separation between Church & State as well as freedom of (or possibly from?) religion.

I believe this is the first thriller hero I've encountered who has severe dyslexia and I thought the author's use of this difference as a strength as well as a weakness was quite creative and added much to the novel.

Eric Van Lustbader begins his political thriller First Daughter at the presidential inauguration of Edward Carson, where something shocking and unthinkable is about to take place. He essentially takes the reader to the edge of a precipice, teeters on that edge and then steps away and goes back to where it all began. Slowly, he works back to the present, to that event that is lurking in the back of reader's mind all the while. Of course, that means that this novel is quite a page-turner.

Van Lustbader weaves a thrilling story as Jack McClure navigates a dangerous political landscape to track down the soon-to-be first daughter and her elusive abductor. McClure makes a sympathetic, likable hero. There were one or two supporting characters who I would like to have gotten to know better and could have been developed further but overall, I was pleased with Van Lustbader's character development, which in this genre can easily be overpowered by the fast-paced plot.

I struggled a little with the dialogue in this book. It could have been fine-tuned to seem more natural and less cumbersome. This, however, didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the story, thanks to the perfectly paced plot. There was a coldness, a darkness lurking in the background throughout the book that was palpable. I could feel and sense the dark underbelly of Washington, D.C. The ruthless and deliberate brutality of the murderer made my skin crawl. And then there was the shock value: I didn't see several plot twists coming. I was on the edge of my seat from the first few pages until the very end.

The release of this gripping political thriller is perfectly timed to dovetail with current events. There are some underlying but well-supported assumptions about corruption in our political system, separation of church and state, and the viability of such things as faith-based initiatives. It was difficult not to notice thinly veiled parallels between our current administration and the outgoing administration in First Daughter. The political element in this story was very interesting, especially in light of the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader sounded better in the blurb than it is in reality. I have to admit, it didn't beat my 100 page rule (if I'm not completely engrossed by 100 pages I stop reading.)

The book is about an ATF agent who is personally requested by the president elect to look for his adult-aged daughter, Alli, who has gone missing. The agent's own daughter used to be Alli's roommate until she was killed in an automobile wreck several months before.

Jack McClure, the agent, has to counter the skepticism of the Secret Service who don't think an ATF guy should be investigating on their turf. He's also dyslexic and tries to hide his inability to read from everyone around him. His wife left him after the death of their daughter, and he's lost his faith. The poor guy's got more pathos in his life than he knows what to do with.

First I have to admit that I had a kneejerk reaction against the religious nature of the book. I couldn't turn a page without someone praying, or talking about redemption or complaining about how atheists were ruining the country. However, I might have been able to put up with that if the book had been better written. Somehow, despite giving McClure more than his share of challenges, the author couldn't make me care about him. He was just too much of a caricature-- stoic investigator, riddled with guilt after the death of his daughter, disillusioned after his wife had an affair with another man, brought in to solve a case that hits too close to home because of the relationship between the victim and his daughter. The only cliche the author seems to have missed was the hero being a jazz afficionado, although it's possible that he is disclosed as such later in the book.

People of faith will possibly like this book-- if they don't mind reading something that's trite and formulaic. If that's not you, pick up one of Tom Clancy's early Jack Ryan novels. You'll enjoy it much more than this one.

One month before moderate Republican Edward Carson is to be sworn in as the president of the US, his nineteent years old daughter Alli Carson is kidnapped in spite of Secret Service agents. ATF agent Jack McClure leads the hunt to rescue Alli; whom he knows as his late daughter Emma's boarding-school roommate.

Those who abducted Alli are brainwashing her to do a terrorist deed at the inauguration ceremony. Meanwhile as Jack struggles with making progress in his investigation, the current POTUS invoking God like he always does declares a holy war against the First American Secular Revivalists and the E-Two terrorists, who he blames.

Jack is an interesting hero as he struggles to overcome dyslexia and his search for the abducted Alli turns FIRST DAUGHTER into a strong thriller. However, the current President's invoking God's wrath as a motive to declare a new war on terrorism seems over the top even if this is a hyperbole of the claims of Mr. Bush and some of his more fundamental supporters. Thus when the story line focuses on Jack and Alli it is a strong exhilarating thriller; when POTUS is featured it turns inanely satirical. Still readers will enjoy this exciting tale.

Harriet Klausner

First Daughter
By Eric Van Lustbader
Forge Books

This book is timed just perfectly for a presidential election year. The time setting is of an outgoing administration that has held office for the last eight years and the soon to be new administration. The president on his way out does not really want to relinquish power while the president elect definitely has some different plans in mind. Shortly before the new president takes office his soon to be "first daughter" is abducted. Who did it and why? That is what the main character Jack McClure must find out. He himself is recovering from the accidental death of his own daughter who was the best friend of Alli, the first-daughter. The president -elect feels there is no one better for the job, against the wishes of the secret service. One unique quality that Jack has is dyslexia. While it is and has been a hindrance to him throughout most of his life, it also gives him the ability to see a situation three dimensionally often finding the answers long before anyone else.
The book opens with a bang and you are instantly caught up in finding out what is going to happen. I at times felt slightly disappointed in the writing because it seemed to me that a character was acting odd and I did not see why this author would write about them is such an odd way. Hah! I eventually found out why some of the characters seemed odd to me. It all made sense in the end. I had no idea some of the things that were coming and enjoyed every minute of it.
Not only was this a book about an abduction it also was about spirituality and religion. Throughout the book the characters were dealing with the idea of the impact of religion on their lives. How they justify their behavior with their beliefs and how much the government should allow religion to determine the direction of legislation. This was though provoking and gave the book much more depth than your average everyday mystery/thriller.
Much in the book will seem to mirror the present political climate in the U.S. Only you can decide how much is fact and how much is fiction. The rest we will never know.
I enjoyed this book.

First Daughter is a thrilling tale of political intrigue, a shocking crime, and one man's love and loss that will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Alli Carson, the daughter of President-Elect Edward Carson, has been kidnapped just weeks before the Presidential inauguration. Carson personally calls in ATF agent Jack McClure to aid in the search for Alli.

Brilliant and perceptive, Jack is different; an Outsider. Jack is dyslexic and, while he struggles with simple tasks such as reading, his condition gives him an advantage over the other investigators. Because of the unique way his mind works, he is able to pick out details that would be lost to other people. He also has a personal connection to the case: his daughter Emma was Alli's best friend and college roommate. Emma was killed in a car accident months earlier, and Jack still harbors a tremendous amount of guilt and sorrow because of her death.

During the course of the investigation, it becomes clear to Jack that whoever is behind Alli's kidnapping is also connected to a crime that touched his life twenty five years earlier, and, surprisingly, the last conversation he ever had with Emma.

The novel starts with a jaw-dropping twist just prior to President Carson's inauguration. First Daughter then takes the reader back to the search for Alli as well as points in Jack's adolescence. All of these events build towards the threat we know is waiting at the inauguration. Flashbacks can be tricky things, and generally I'm not a fan of them as a literary device. If used unwisely, flashbacks can ruin the narrative flow and make the story seem choppy and disjointed. Eric Van Lustbader, however, uses these glimpses of the past very effectively. He masterfully weaves the flashbacks into the main narrative so that rather than disrupting the main story, they enhance it.

I enjoyed the political elements of First Daughter, but the real highlight for me was the variety and quality of the characters. There's the ultimate corrupt politician in the outgoing President, the disenchanted teenager in Alli, the anguished mother in Lyn Carson, the gangster with a heart of gold in Jack's surrogate father Gus, all culminating with the broken, grieving father and brilliant investigator in Jack McClure.

First Daughter is a timely political thriller that is sure to excite and surprise readers. Clear some time on your calendar during this election year to enjoy Eric Van Lustbader's latest offering.