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28 / Columbia River Reader /August 15, 2021
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While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams By Jan Bono
T
his was not a book I would normally pick up, and I didn’t. It was a gift from a friend who knew Stacey Abrams is one of my heroes. “Just try it,” he replied to my skeptical expression as I unwrapped his gift. And so I tried it. And what do you know? This political thriller had me hooked at the first hint of “Could this actually happen?” and my mystery-loving mind kicked into overdrive. When imagination dances as close to reality as Abrams’s does, it’s hard to put the book down, and I found myself canceling social events to have more time to read. A U.S. Supreme Court Justice, in failing health and the swing vote on an upcoming landmark decision involving an international merger of two controversial pharmaceutical developers, places himself in a medically induced coma, thereby keeping his seat on the court from being filled by a President he despises in the event the Justice suddenly dies.
The Justice’s young, chess-playing clerk is then compelled, by legal decree designating her as his Power of Attorney, to figure out, through the clues he’s left, just what and who is behind blocking the merger of the companies whose combined research might cure many genetic diseases, one of which the Justice and his son both suffer from. For this light, mainstream mystery reader, the book was a challenge to power through. Yet, despite having to strain my brain to figure out who the bad guys were and hoping the good guys would stop getting bumped off, I loved and highly recommend it to you. “Just try it.” ••• Long Beach resident Jan Bono is the author of the 6-book S y l v i a Av e r y Cozy Mystery series set on the S.W. Washington coast. www. JanBonoBooks. com.
