Balance of Power

For these reasons, the NRA has an immense power over the gun industry—perhaps even, as has been demonstrated in the past, the potential to create a credible threat of such crippling economic harm that an individual company fears being forced out of business. Special thanks to Paul Januzzo, Ken Jorgenson, Bob Scott, and Ed Shultz for sharing their diverse perspectives as current or former executives of Glock and Smith & Wesson.

    Gun violence is the leading cause of death in domestic violence incidents. My outstanding colleagues at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Janet Carter and Esta Soler, helped me present the dynamic of an abusive marriage, and Esta was kind enough to review the manuscript. Also of great value were several publications by the Fund. And Susan Breall, Sarah Buehl, and Juan Cuba helped me present both the legal and personal aspects of this tragedy.

    A number of people advised me on other subjects: Letitia Baldrige, former social secretary to the Kennedy White House, concerning the Kilcannon's wedding preparations; Fr. John Blaker with respect to the religious aspects of the wedding; Katie Couric on the nature of the media competition for the Lara Kilcannon interview; Alan Dershowitz with respect to the intricacies of the Kilcannons' privilege claims; Dr. Kenneth Gottlieb and Dr. Rodney Shapiro regarding the psychological issues surrounding the Bowden's marriage, and the reactions of both Kerry and Lara Kilcannon to the murders; San Francisco Homicide Inspector Napoleon Hendrix on the details of the murders; John Phillips and Mary Louise Cohen on the role of inside informants in complex litigation; and Terry Samway of the Secret Service regarding the problems surrounding the protection of the Kilcannons and the attempts to protect Lara's family. All helped enrich the texture of this novel.

    My understanding was also enriched by reading, including the book Making a Killing by Tom Diaz; The Gathering Storm by Morris Dees; Gun Violence: The Real Costs by Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig; and Public Guns, Public Health by Dr. David Hemenway. I also read relevant articles, papers, surveys and opinion pieces by Philip Alpers, Matt Bai, Paul Barrett, Carl T. Bogus, Thomas Cole, Philip Cook, John Donohue, David Grossman, Arthur Kellerman, Abigail Kohn, Stephanie Molliconi, and Garry Wills. Publications by the Brady Campaign, Americans for Gun Safety, and the Violence Policy Center were also immensely helpful.

    Finally, I would like to thank my wonderful publisher, Gina Centrello of Ballantine, for believing that there is a place for serious popular fiction on controversial social and political topics; Nancy Miller and Linda Marrow of Ballantine for their discerning editorial advice; Fred Hill, my sharp-eyed and indefatigable agent; and, of course, the wonderful Alison Porter Thomas, my assistant, who comments both conceptually and in detail on every page until the days' work more or less meets her approval. My wife, Laurie Patterson, reads and comments on each chapter; when Laurie has a question about a character's behavior, I've found that it is well to listen. And there is Philip Rotner, who reads every line I write and has been, for nearly two decades, the best best friend anyone could have. This one's for you, pal.

    Because this book is also a cautionary tale about the costs of public life, I cannot leave this subject without an observation about those who elect to enter it. Very often, they are far better than we choose to believe; to the best of them, and they are many, we owe the better campaign finance system that we private citizens are often too detached or lazy to insist on. Every once in a while, someone makes us think of that, if only for a time. Laurie and I think often of Paul and Sheila Wellstone.

    Finally, Balance of Power marks the end of what I think of as the Kerry Kilcannon trilogy, which began with No Safe Place and continued with Protect and Defend. For me, it's been a wonderful experience, and I can only hope that my readers have enjoyed inhabiting Kerry's world half as much as I.

—New Year's Day, 2003

Addendum

It is six months since I completed and edited BALANCE of Power, and fiction and reality have merged in an uncanny way.

    In January 2003, survivors of the victims of the Washington, D.C., sniper filed suit against, among others, the manufacturer who noted the adaptability of the weapon for sniper-type activity, and the dealer from whom a juvenile and a man with a record of domestic violence somehow acquired a weapon. In March—following the lead of a majority of the House of Representatives—fifty-two Senators (forty-three Republicans and nine Democrats) introduced a bill that would immunize manufacturers, dealers, and the National Rifle Association from all such suits. As anticipated in my novel, the bill swiftly passed the House, and is now pending in the Senate.

    The only material difference from the scenario presented in Balance of Power is that this legislation is supported, rather than opposed, by the current administration. But, as in the novel, its fate rests with a handful of swing Democrats and Republican moderates in the Senate—who, because the President will sign such a bill, must join with enough Senators to reach the forty-one required to sustain a filibuster.

    As in Balance of Power, the gun lobby has deployed its full resources, hiring a large team of lobbyists, generating phone calls and letters to Senate offices, and suggesting to undecided Senators that the intensity of their opposition in the next election may turn on this vote. The resulting legislative battle has been as tough as my narrative anticipated. In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I know this first hand; I have been intimately involved in this conflict, meeting with Senators to urge support for a filibuster, and strategizing with opponents of the bill. By the time this novel appears in mid-October, the outcome may well be decided.

—July 7, 2003