The Confirmation

The Confirmation is a political thriller with simply no thrills. Contrived dialog, ravenous clichés and a plot bordering (or not) on ridiculous creates a tiring narrative. Most of Reed’s time seemed to be spent on setting scenes instead of moving the story. He spent copious amounts of the book identifying every article of clothing of every single character...in excruciating detail. The plot itself requires everyone to be so ignorant of everything going on around them as to be farcical. The result...The Confirmation fails to entertain and is at times simply painful to read. If you have an interest in political intrigue, there are literally hundreds of better written books for you to choose from including The Whole Truth, by David show more Baldacci (4 stars, Recommended). Short of that, you might be better served turning on C-SPAN. show less

Oy veh. This book proved absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to stomach! For one thing, "thriller" is pretty much a misnomer in this case ... there was nothing thrilling about it, nor even anything suspenseful. Most of the "action" was telegraphed far in advance -- or so predictable that it was painful to read. And being written by a member of the Christian Right [to which I had paid no notice when I requested it originally], there was no tough language that one pretty much expects when reading a thriller/suspense novel. I don't necessarily WANT someone to swear a blue streak at every turn -- it's just not reasonable to expect that NO ONE in Washington cusses -- EVER. One character even mentions that a man looks at her "bootie" [which is misspelled show more -- and yes, I know this is an ARC, but still!] rather than the "a-word" most people would expect to see. Honestly!
If it were possible to give no stars for this book, I definitely would. DO NOT waste your time with it! show less

Meh. This has all the makings of a good TV script. For anyone who has ever lived "inside the Beltway" in the Washington DC area, it is more of the same-oh, same-oh.

Written by a so-called Washington insider, with book blurbs by such auspicious beings as Karl Rove, and a dedication to Oliver North (among others) I did not want to read it at all (my political leanings are on the other side of the fence.) However since I got it for the Early Review program, I read the whole thing.
It's not a bad book, but if there was the equivalent of political chick-lit, this is it! The characters are caricatures and there are far too many of them. I had to get a paper and construct a scorecard to keep track of who was who. There were 27 major players show more introduced in the first 35 pages.

The plot is dully predictable, and for cripes sake, the editor can't even recognize that THERE IS NO LETTER "J" in the Italian alphabet! The author has one of the main characters traveling through Italy sprinkling "Bon Journo" all over the place. HELLO---it's "Buongiorno" or at least if he's speaking french, it's "Bonjour". This is the kind of sloppy publishing that makes me less than positively disposed to recommend a book to others.

Basically it's the story of an unpopular president (he was elected by the House of Representatives after capturing only 37%? of the vote, who must fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Senate of course is going to take its constitutional responsibilities very seriously and make sure that they are really the ones doing the appointing. There are the usual scandals, lobbyists, back door doings, lives ruined, check-ins to rehab, etc etc etc. When you get to the end, you're just glad to have it over with. Sorta sounds like real life in DC right?

If you are a political junkie, don't mind cardboard characters and a plot that trudges along like a deadlocked senate, you might like this one. If you're looking for a thriller, there are plenty of better ones out there. show less

This book was received from LibraryThing under the Early Reviewers program.

Reading this book, just reminded me of all the dirty political maneuverings that our country’s elected officials and the media are constantly using to manipulate the running of this great nation. Sometimes I wonder if it is so important…who we elect? According to the story, we (the people) votes do not count.

Everyone in the novel is working deals, scheming and plotting and the scary part is there is so much that rings true that there is no way you can’t believe that Washington doesn’t run like this narrative.

Couldn’t wait to finish the book. Main beefs about the book were: too many characters, slow start, too many details of incidentals, depressing and show more am sick of the subject of our political system. show less

I read this whole book, every page. It is not a good book. It is a thriller with no action that drones on through political manipulations with hypocrisy at every turn. The president of the United States is an independent , beholden to neither party, who is being blackmailed for support given during the election and going forward by an pretty insane pastor. The president was a democrat until he was outed in the primary but he chose to fill his cabinet with very conservative types, including his AG who also being influenced by the crazy pastor and betrays the president at one turn. The author continually rails against judges legislating from the bench but the whole book is about religious conservative manipulating the system to get a show more judge in the Supreme Court who will do just that for them. The women in the novel are all beautiful and ravishing but the only ones the author finds interesting enough to write much about are the bad guys. He mentions the evils of "gotcha" politics but uses them to discredit the leading Democratic senator. I honestly thought the pastor was going to turn out to be the bad guy with his manipulating way but I think he's supposed to be one of the heroes in the end.
Really, this book made me sad. It wasn't Christian literature but a political weapon to put forward a political agenda using God. It seemed like just a another trick that one of his character's would use to get their way.
I like Christian literature but often it seems like publishers are pushing out books with more of an idea to make money than to create well-written novels that are entertaining with a faithful theme. show less

I got this book for free.

“The Confirmation” by Ralph Reed is a fictional political thriller set in the near future. The book starts with the election of Bob Long for the presidency. President Long is the first independent president and, even though he doesn’t know it, is in for rollercoaster ride. Early in Long’s tenure, Supreme Court Justice Peter Corbin Franklin, the “liberal conscience” of the Supreme Court, dies during troubled times when same-sex marriage is on the ballot, Roe v. Wade is being challenged and a huge anti-trust suite against an Internet conglomerate is on its way to the court’s docket.

Franklin’s demise opens the door for Long to appoint a conservative judge as a way to repay the millions of show more evangelical Christians who helped him put into office. Together with his team of political sharks, President Long takes on the Democratic Senate and the bitter Republican Party in a nasty smearing campaign of his nominee - Marco Diaz, which, if confirmed, will be the second Latino judge . All this while Ethiopian pirates stole a boat load (literally) or weapons’ grade uranium, Iran has developed a nuclear bomb and making sure Israel’s hawkish candidate wins the office of Prime Minister.

Let me admit this right off the bat, I’m a bit of a political junky and I’m especially interested in Constitutional Law – in an amateurish manner (I read “The Federalist Papers” several times and keep it for reference). I try and read all the Supreme Court decisions because I realize that they affect our everyday lives even though it might not seem like it..but, I enjoy reading them. I especially enjoy the opinions of the justices I usually don’t agree with.

What I found most enjoyable in “The Confirmation” was the inside knowledge on how decisions were made, regardless of the politics of parties (the liberal left are the opposition in this novel). I have not always agreed with the views of the protagonist, nor did I always agree with their opposition since I try and evaluate each case separately regardless of party ideology (as our Founding Fathers intended), yet the way the politicians viewed the confirmation, the hidden agendas, power games and political backstabbing were fascinating to read.

Mr. Reed, who has worked in politics, writes fluidly and with conviction. It seems he is very familiar with the act, which we know as confirmation of Supreme Court nominees, but in reality is nothing but a search and destroy mission by Congress

Even though I felt that the author’s more conservative views prevailed, he still tried, and I believe managed, to respectfully introduce the opposing points of view. Towards the end, the book got a bit preachy; however I did not feel it took away from the story. If you ever watched “The West Wing” and enjoyed the staff’s bickering more than the drama – this book is for you.

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Okay, I admit it – I’m lost on this review. Having been brought up to believe that if you can’t say anything good about something, you should not say anything at all, I approach this review with great trepidation.

I found this novel to be a depressing tutor in modern politics. A part of me wants to hope that it is no where near this bad in 'real life' Washington, but my common sense tells me it probably is. If you are easily depressed, do not read this book. You may give up on democracy and the ability of mankind to govern altogether if you do.

The love story did not seem to go anywhere; the hinted at military attack did not materialize – all that did happen was an upscale, adult, Washington version of ‘Mean Girls’.

One thing show more is sure – I obviously will never be selected for one of the ‘Ten Best Dressed’ crowd because I frankly found the in-depth descriptions of what every single person introduced in the story was wearing to be utterly boring. Here I was, becoming engrossed in the novel and suddenly I’m being given a lecture on Prada - again.

I describe myself as a political junkie which is why I thought I would enjoy this novel. Maybe the author is just too close to the subject to write about it without some latent bitterness creeping into his keyboard, but after forcing myself to finish it, this book left me feeling pretty empty.

Oh, and as he wrote this, Danny was wearing a Wal*Mart T-shirt and shorts so old, he does not remember where they are from. Yeah, I know – but after all that Channel and Prada along with a few other names that I will never be able to spell, let alone wear, I just thought everyone would appreciate knowing what the ‘real’ people were wearing tonight.

Not funny? Read the book and you’ll get it – trust me. show less