As the story begins, Allison Carson - the first daughter - is on her way to the inauguration. As the Speaker of House takes the podium, Alli reaches into her pocket for a vial of specially prepared anthrax. The story then flashes back one month to her abduction.

Our hero is ATF Agent Jack McClure who specializes in arson and explosives. Jack is the product of an abusive father who often humiliated him because of his dyslexia (which also plays a prominent role in this novel). Furthermore, Jack's daughter Emma, who recently died in a car crash, was Alli Carson's roommate at fancy Langley Field College. On the night of the accident, Emma called Jack with a "real problem" but he was coordinating a raid.

Jack is a self-proclaimed "outsider" because of his dyslexia and numerous references are made to the book The Outsider by Colin Wilson with whom Van Lustbader relates personally.

Given the plethora of really good thrillers currently available, including The Whole Truth (Baldacci), Rules of Deception (Reich), and The Orpheus Deception (Stone), I would put First Daughter on your wish list only after you have read all those above. While, it does have some content reminiscent of The Manchurian Candidate and a nice twist at the conclusion, even the action in First Daughter can't overcome the roadblock of the many diatribes made by the President about religion.

--Jerry Solot