Gun violence in America is a subject of daunting complexity, spanning politics, law, medicine, public health and culture. In Balance of Power, Richard North Patterson uses a fictional story to probe every aspect, using the points of view of fictional Democrat president Kerry Kilcannon, as well as gun company executives and a woman trapped in an abusive marriage with a gun-wielding husband. Patterson is a strong advocate of common-sense measures to curb gun violence. He's a member of several political lobbies and his anti-gun stance comes through. Even though this book is fiction, he has striven for accuracy, and the story is firmly rooted in the reality of the US. It's not the most entertaining thriller, but readers patient enough to stick with it will learn much about gun rights.