Drury is an amazingly erratic novelist. Here's my list, reviews, and possible nits of the books of his I have read.

ADVISE AND CONSENT--His best book. A President (who is probably based on FDR [the book was written in 1960], but comes off today as being like Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton) wants a controversial figure put on as Secretary of State (at the time, much like Alger Hiss, but now overly familiar to viewers of the Bork/Thomas hearings). The Senate holds confirmation hearings that bring numerous secrets and dirty deals to light. This is an excellent book, partly because of his near-idealistic nature mixed with the usual Drury cynicism. It has good characters, some contrivances, and aside from outdated Russian stereotype villains, it is very topical. A+

A SHADE OF DIFFERENCE--A controversial African leader comes to the U.S., experiences American racism, and ends up condemning the U.S. in the UN. The book unpleasantly seems like an American whining about the UN at times (which, given the UN's mood towards the U.S., may seem topical today too), but is well written and has powerful scenes. The book is more episodic than the first (it is a sequel, even though not all the old characters are back), but comes alive very nicely in the finish. A-

CAPABLE OF HONOR--The President in Drury's fictional U.S. is running for re-election, opposed by the slippery Governor Edward M. Jason of California. Things come to a head with violence and theatrics at the convention. This may have been written before the terrible '68 Democratic convention--if so, it is remarkably prescient. Other than that, the book is sort of a dud, with too many characters making shrill speeches. Good points--a suspenseful convention, the well-rounded character of Governor Jason, the reappearance of the controversial character of Bob Leffingwell from the first novel. Bad points--an awful ending that offers no resolution, having to listen Drury rant about how awful the media and liberals are. B

PRESERVE AND PROTECT: Arguably the worst of Drury's "political" series. After the President is renominated, he dies (under mysterious circumstances, natch). Senator Orrin Knox, the hero of most of the books, must now be the standards-bearer against Governor Jason. Awful, awful stuff here--I want to know where this army of mad rioters comes from at every turn. Also, the scene when a character is killed by a laser gun just seems laughable. I'm sorry. And that ending--it's like you're reading the season finale of "Dynasty" or something. D

COME NINEVEH, COME TYRE: In one form of reality after the ending of "Preserve and Protect," Governor Jason became President. Naturally, since he's a liberal, he leads the country to destruction. The whole novel is like a Pat Buchanan/Rush Limbaugh wet dream, which also may make it perversely readable for liberals. At the very least, it has a beginning and ending, so it's better than the last one. C-

THE PROMISE OF JOY: In one form of reality after the ending of "Preserve and Protect," Orrin Knox became President. Even though he's a conservative, the country may be led to destruction. This book is pretty darn derivative and dumb up until the midway point, when the sudden and goofy use of hydrogen bombs causes big fun for all participants. From then, it becomes an interesting if dull book that tries to seriously examine what would happen if world tensions broke out. The ending is an inane example of Drury trying to be "clever." C+

And then there are two separate Drury novels...

DECISION: A killer appeals to the Supreme Court after he is sentenced to die. Controversy ensues. This sounds like a good novel. At the beginning, it has the germ and conception of one. Then things go wrong--the killer is a bizarre Drury creation (he's a hippie, but he's a cold, unlikeable hippie that murders people and has no real motivations for what he does--just that he's unhappy); one of the killer's victims is a Supreme Court Justice's child (HOW can that judge even work on the case?); and the ending is one of the worst endings on record (SPOILER--the killer gets out of jail with the help of his lawyer, a young Jodie Foster type. He kills her, finds and murders the prosector and key witness, goes to Washington D.C., gets into the Supreme Court, attacks one of the Justices, and leaves. He is then killed by a ridiculous character--a big, angry, black youth that apparently has nothing better to do than to harass and kill murderous white hippies.) I was laughing all the way after reading those passages. On the plus side, the prosecutor is a cool character, and the novel IS at least one of the fairer Drury novels on liberals and conservatives. It just has no real ending. C-

THE THRONE OF SATURN: NASA sends an astronaut team to either Venus or Mars, I forget. The team consists of a hero-type, a show-offy vet type, a possible homosexual, and an angry black, all of which are familiar Drury characters. The Russians also send a team, and the novel, which is about 300 pages longer than it needs to be and has WAY too many characters, is about the competition from the two teams, the in-fighting, the protests from anti-space people, and what happens during the mission. I was frustrated as this seemed like a cool idea for a novel, and I got sick of Drury injecting his politics into what should have been a fantasy/sci-fi novel. The beginning, before they went on the message, features an union leader who works as a Russian agent, something that vaguely upset me because it insinuated that all unions are under Russian control. In a goofy, enjoyable scene, the union leader tries to sabotage the shuttle, but ends up blowing himself up. The President doesn't care because he was "evil." During the shuttle flight, the Russians, for no real reason, attack the Americans, and the black (a terribly annoying character) decides to kill his fellow crew members because he's an angry black guy. It roars to possible life at the end with Senate hearings over what happened, but that is quickly scrubbed with more inane things. All in all, a frustrating Drury novel. C-

You know, as soon as I've paid off my library debts, I think I'll check out this book (Advise and Consent -Mod). Although I doubt it, what with my To Read List so large and all.