Balance of Power, by Richard North Patterson 612pp, Macmillan, £17.99 Mark Lawson admires Richard North Patterson's bold stand against the gun lobby, Balance of Power Lawyers are trained to argue hard cases and Richard North Patterson, a trial attorney turned bestselling thriller writer, has continued to pursue positions to which the average American juror would be hostile. In his last book, Protect and Defend, Patterson gave his most persuasive characters arguments... (GunPolicy.org)