Cover Image: While Justice Sleeps

While Justice Sleeps

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Member Reviews

This was a spectacular story with intelligent descriptions and logical thinking which really fired up my neurons. I was invested in the story from the start, with its appealing characters and non stop action. The conclusion exceeded my expectations and I came away feel I had increased my knowledge, as well as having a thoroughly enjoyable experience..

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I read a lot about Stacey Abrams as political activist and I admire her work. This is her first book I read and it was an excellent read.
It's a gripping page turner I thoroughly enjoyed. Well written, great characters and a solid plot full of twists and turns.
It kept me reading till late in the night and I couldn't put it down.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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I loved this first book from Stacey Abrams. It’s reminiscent of an early John Grisham, has the twists and turns of an early Dan Brown and maybe the insight of a Tom Clancy. It’s fast paced but revealing just enough at a time to keep you reading just one more chapter. A brilliant new voice in this genre. I can’t wait for more from her.

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While Justice Sleeps is a gripping, complexly plotted novel set within the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court and was penned by Stacey Abrams, former member of the Georgia House of Representatives and fervent voting activist; this is her new legal thriller. Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, is doing her best to hold her life together--excelling in an arduous job with the court while also dealing with a troubled family. When the shocking news breaks that Justice Wynn--the cantankerous swing vote on many current high-profile cases coming before the Supreme Court in Washington--has slipped into a coma, Avery's life turns upside down. She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and she will have power of attorney over all of his affairs; naturally, this both antagonises and upsets Wynn’s wife and son. Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery finds that Justice Wynn had been secretly researching one of the most controversial cases before the court--a contentious proposed merger between an American biotech company known as American GenWorks and an Indian genetics firm, Avtar, which promises to unleash breathtaking results in the medical field. She also discovers that Wynn suspected a dangerously related conspiracy that infiltrates the highest power corridors of Washington.

As political wrangling ensues in Washington to potentially replace the ailing judge, who is apparently suffering from Boursin’s Syndrome and whose life and survival Avery controls, she begins to unravel a carefully constructed, chesslike sequence of clues left behind by the wily Wynn. She comes to see that Wynn had a much more personal stake in the controversial case and realises his complex puzzle will lead her directly into harm's way in order to find the truth. This is a riveting and completely enthralling legal thriller with taut plotting and corrupt politicians and lawyers at the centre of it all. Abrams is a lawyer who studied at Yale hence this is full of gritty realism and authentic depictions of the courts. It moves at a rapid-fire pace, gets the heart-thumping and twisty surprises are in abundance as Abrams cleverly and devilishly pulls you this way then that. Palpable suspense, fluid prose and exhilarating excitement are enough to keep you feverishly turning the pages. A high-octane thriller jammed with legal intrigue, While Justice Sleeps is multilayered and occasionally convoluted, ending in a terrific set-piece legal showdown between Keene and those ranged against her. A cunningly crafted, sophisticated novel, layered with myriad twists and a vibrant cast of characters, and drawing on her astute inside knowledge of the court and political landscape, Abrams shows herself to be not only a force for good in politics and voter fairness but also a major new talent in suspense fiction. Highly recommended.

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Stacey Abrams really rocks! She is multi talented and has proved that she can certainly write a wonderful legal/medical thriller.

What I loved was the authenticity of the American political system as portrayed in this thrilling and beautifully researched and written book which takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride which is never less than satisfying and fulfilling.

Excellent and a surefire best seller. Highly recommended.

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would like to thank netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book

a very american political book, and at times i didnt quite understand the lingo but the actually storyline hooked me in

someone at the very top is corrupt,, could it be the president

avery a lowly person at the best of times is suddenly thrust into the spotlight being given power of attorney and has to make all the decision for one of the justices... family and people of power are not happy

thrust into the limelight suddenly her life and her career is in tatters and suddenly a corruptness opens up that could go all the way to the top

her family and friends are all in danger....can avery and her closest allies unravel the clues before they are arrested or murdered

a tense political book but one i did enjoy

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This is an astonishing debut. It’s so well written, you’d imagine she’s honed her novel writing skills with numerous previous books. Not so.

It’s an action packed political thriller in which Stacey Abrams clearly uses her professional legal experience and political background as the foundation. The central figure, Avery, is given full power to carry out legal duties when his boss, a Supreme Court judge becomes comatose. She’s suddenly thrown into a world of riddles, mystery, deceit and lies and with risk to her life, is drawn into a race against time. There’s corruption at the heart of US Government involving the President and a possible act of genocide. It’s incredibly complex in both plotting and characters, but it’s so well written that the reader is drawn into the murky world that Avery is trying to unravel.

I’m part way through another political thriller written by Clinton and Paterson. Stacey Abrams book is better; the writing is better, the plotting is astonishing and her characters have real depth. This is surely going to be the first of many books by her and I’ll follow her with interest.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

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While Justice Sleeps is the first novel by prominent American politician Stacey Abrams,who has held several important positions and has even been tipped by Joe Biden as a future President despite her lack of national political experience. To be more accurate it's the first work of fiction published under her own name,she's already an established and successful author writing as Selena Montgomery as well as 2 best-selling non-fiction books under her real name.

The book is a cross between a John Grisham novel with more than a touch of Tom Clancy thrown in for good measure.
Avery Keene is a legal clerk for curmudgeonly Supreme Court Justice Howard Wynne.. As an important vote approaches Wynn falls into a coma and to everyone's surprise,not least her own,Avery finds he has appointed her Guardian of his affairs and given her power of Attorney. Avery finds herself thrust into the spotlight and discovers that Wynn has left her clues to a dark secret that powerful and shadowy individuals are determined will never be brought to light. As Avery fights the forces of darkness and finds herself unwillingly promoted from lowly clerk to Headline news she also has to deal with her mother,who leads a chaotic lifestyle of drink,drugs and brief encounters while complicating her daughter's life on a regular basis.

This is a fairly complex political thriller and Avery and the small crew of associates she collects as the tale progresses are all good characters. The book takes a while to get going but once in full flow there's hardly a dull moment with the theme being scarily plausible in the madhouse that American politics has become. It is easy to see which party Ms Abrams represents but there are a few digs at "the other side" rather than any rampant politicking.

As I read While Justice Sleeps I was thinking what a great movie it would make,then I discovered that it's already being made into a TV series.
The ending leaves the option open for a sequel,or even a series,I really hope so as it's a great read.

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I love a legal thriller, but I'm sorry but this one just wasn't for me. I nearly gave up after the long winded prologue (according to my kindle this was 4% of the length of the book) but the book seemed to have been heralded as the second coming so I thought I should persevere. For a short while I was glad I had, as it seemed to settle in to its stride, but I then realised that I'd been reading it for 2 weeks, had no appetitie to pick it up and having got 54% of the way through I decided life is too short and gave up.
I liked the premise and liked Avery (the main character) and her back story was intriguing with her 'problem' Mother, but it all just seemed very long winded. For me, the chapters were just far too long; I'm not recommending James Patterson size chapters (which sometimes barely last a page) but it just lacked 'punch', which shorter chapters might have helped.
So I'm afraid I'll never find out what happened to Avery..... perhaps Stacey Abrams needs to stick to politics. But in all honesty, had this been written by a complete unknown person, I probably woud have given up sooner.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller, although I'm not too sure what genre it fits into. Part crime, part legal thriller, part mystery and a wholeoad of corruption at the highest level. Mix into that a plot to develop a biogenetic weapon to wipe out the chosen ethnic group and you end up with a roller coaster ride. Do you have to suspend belief? Of course, but it didn't stop me rooting for the good guys.

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Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I decided to read this because it was by Stacey Abrams. I had no idea what it was about and didn't read the blurb. Turns out to be a great Legal/political thriller. Complex, but fast paced and lots of suspense and action. Right up my street. I can easily see this being adapted for TV as it contained a great cast of multifaceted characters. If you like thrillers, you'll enjoy this.

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A political thriller with pharma companies, FBI, Homeland Security, cutting edge medical research, the White House, conspiracy theories, there’s a hell of a lot going on in this book and it somehow manages to come out the other end in a satisfying and exciting conclusion.

I won’t go into the spiel as it’s fairly complicated and the publishers have done a pretty good job in their synopsis anyway. There is a lot to take in. It’s information heavy and it’s kind of one of its weaknesses in a way. There is so much going on that has to be explained, it can take away from the pacing of the book. I did also find that points were repeated ad nauseam throughout the book which also took away from the enjoyment.

The book gets off to a flier and also finishes at a breathtaking pace, with a satisfying ending but the middle drags a bit with information overload. I did feel the book was a little long(especially the middle part where it didn’t keep my attention)and the pacing suffered for it.

Still some well written characters, a strong, reluctant hero female character and a mad plot that somehow manages to reach a conclusion made this an overall enjoyable, if somewhat overlong experience.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

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Oh, this was incredible. It got going very quickly and I was drawn in immediately. It was thrilling, so many twists and turns and I loved the puzzles. I can see this being adapted into a TV drama, it is perfect for that.
A fantastic book and thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy.

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'Howard Wynn did not suffer boredom or mediocrity well. He felt equally dismissive of willful ignorance - his description of the modern press - and smug stupidity, his bon mot for politicians. To his mind, they were a gang of vapid and arrogant thugs all, who greedily snatched their information from one anotehr like disappearing crumbs as society spiraled merrily toward hell. With the current crop of pundits, bureaucrats, and hired guns in charge, America was destined to repeat the cycles of intellectual torpor that topped Rome and Greece and Mali and the Incas and every empire that stumbled into short-lived, debauced existence. Show man ignoble work and easy sex, and there went civilization. '

Mix John Grisham, Walter Tevis (Queen's Gambit), Dan Brown together and what do you get? Stacey Abrams.

Wow. This book was slow to start but once you persevere past the first two chapters, it quickly becomes unputdownable. As a written work, the serpentine twists and turns could get confusing at times - there are very few instances of narrative exposition so the reader learns at the same time as the protagonist.

I also appreciated how many of the side characters' personalities were gradually peeled back to reveal their inner motivations. My only grip (and it's a very minor one) is that I found the hints of a romance brewing distracting and unnecessary.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable read. I look foward to Stacey Abrams' next thriller. Please don't wait another 12 years!

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5 stars, what an excellent thriller. I enjoyed it from start to finish.b, it was fast paced with Avery the main character particularly strong. Highly recommend.

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I’ve been looking forward to reading this ever since it was announced. I was lucky enough to get an advance review copy, and dove in as soon as I could. I’m very glad to report that it is great: an excellent example of the genre, well-written and gripping.

Avery is an interesting and engaging protagonist. A clerk at the Supreme Court, gifted with a prodigious memory and intellect, she is a dedicated employee and assistant to an irascible curmudgeon of a Justice. She’s also something of an outsider, someone who looks different to many of the other clerks, with wildly different life experiences. When Justice Wynn falls into a coma, and she is thrust into the spotlight as his unsuspecting and surprise advocate, Avery must navigate a multitude of obstacles as the story unfolds: the Justice’s estranged wife determined to get her hands of Wynn’s fortune and also done with him; a shadowy group operating out of the White House with their own agenda and secrets; an image-conscious Supreme Court; a hostile and muck-raking media; a suspicious FBI agent; a critical public; and a junkie mother who keeps popping up at inopportune moments. For someone who’s spent much of her life trying to stay under the radar, Wynn giving Avery power of attorney truly upends her life.

Not only this, but the task bestowed upon her by Justice Wynn is also rather bizarre and complex. His medical condition leads many to think he’s suffering from paranoid delusions, but nevertheless Avery embarks on a twisty mission to unravel the secrets Wynn has eluded to and laid breadcrumbs for. Abrams does a great job of using Avery’s memories of her interactions with Wynn to explain why she was chosen.

Gathering about her a small group of allies, each of whom helps Avery navigate the aforementioned obstacles, While Justice Sleeps is an entertaining and page-turning mystery. All the while, there’s an ongoing debate and battle about the nature of the Supreme Court, it’s incredible power and influence in American politics, and the proscriptions related to replacing and/or appointing a new Justice should one become incapacitated (interestingly, it’s one of the only clauses that is absolutely clear — but, one that has become a potential minefield were a Justice to become indefinitely incapacitated). On top of this, the issues at the heart of the battle for the SCOTUS offer some interesting commentary and questions about medicine, science, and their abuse and relationship with politics. (I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave it at that.)

It’s worth mentioning the way Abrams has woven the politics into this thriller: it’s extremely well done. This might seem a bit strange to highlight, given that it is obviously a political thriller. However, one thing that’s often bugged me about novels that include politics is the tendency to Pause for Politics — the thriller/contemporary fiction equivalent of an info-dump, I suppose. An author will, effectively, pause the story to make their point. Abrams doesn’t do this — instead, the politics and issues are expertly woven into the story. The characters’ dialogue is natural, and the flow of the story is never disrupted when a conversation turns to politics or ideology.

While Justice Sleeps is a twisty, intriguing and gripping political thriller. It features a strong cast of characters, a propulsive plot, and will keep readers on the edge of their seats as they root for Avery. If you’re a fan of political thrillers, then I definitely recommend you check this out. I really enjoyed this, and can’t wait to read more by the author.

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Avery is a young law clerk, working for the legend that is Justice Howard Wynn. She is just about keeping her head above water juggling work with her troubled home life. She arrives to work one day to find out that her boss and mentor, Wynn, is in a coma. Still reeling from this information, she is even more shocked when she finds out that he has left instruction that she, Avery Keene, should now act as his legal guardian and granted her power of attorney. Why her, she is completely flummoxed? And scared. Especially when this piques the interest of several of the initialled authorities and she is almost arrested. It appears that Wynn had been researching a merger between companies specialising in biotech and genetics...
And so begins an intriguing tale of political and personal shenanigans that pits Avery against authorities and pretty much everyone else as she tries to work out friend from foe and, well, basically stay both alive and out of jail as she tries to get to the bottom of whatever in heck is actually going on.
This is a very fast paced legal thriller that kept me on my toes throughout. Holding my attention nicely all the way through until the wholly satisfying ending. Yes there is quite a lot of legalese to be found throughout, mostly of the American variety but what I didn't quite understand was easily accepted and didn't mar my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
It's very well plotted, clues that Avery follows which lead to further information or which takes her in a new direction. Kinda a bit DaVinci code-esque if you will. With Avery replacing Langdon! But don't let that put you off - Avery is far superior :)
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

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I'd give this offering six stars if I could. This is my first introduction to Stacey Abrams writing and I was thoroughly gripped by her well-plotted thriller. Meet Avery Keene, a brilliant law clerk, born on the wrong side of the tracks with a loosely-moralled, addicted mom. Avery works for cantankerous and demanding Justice Howard Wynn. Swallowing a cocktail of drugs, Wynn deliberately falls into a coma and his nurse calls 911 instead of informing the shady individuals she is working for. The State is dumbfound to discover Wynn has left explicit instructions that neither his ex wife or his son should serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney - instead that role falls to Avery. When Avery discovers Wynn's nurse has been left in her apartment with a bullet in her head and listens to a cryptic message on her home answer machine giving opaque references the action takes off. She discovers Wynn had been doing his own research into a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm. Who stands to gain from the merger and why is the Deep State involved in trying to shut down Avery's research? This is an excellent thriller, I loved Avery's character and how she solves the clues that Justice Wynn has left for her to solve. Clever, clever writer.

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Phew! This is a gripping story. I’m not going to pretend that some of the political and scientific jargon didn’t go over my head(!), but I was literally hooked. How on earth anyone could even think up a plot like this beats me! An outspoken and cantankerous Judge who suffers from Boursin’s Syndrome slips into a coma, and his law clerk, Avery, finds that he has made her his legal guardian and has given her Power of Attorney over his ex-wife and his son. The Judge often has the swing vote in the Supreme Court and the President, and many others, would like him to be removed. There is nothing they won’t do to achieve this. Avery is left to solve a mystery by following cryptic chess clues that the Judge has left for her. This is a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller, and I absolutely loved it!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

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Stacey Abrams is someone I really admire, and when I saw she had written a thriller, I had to read it. I was not disappointed at all, and would highly recommend it – whatever your politics. I had sort of expected it to be anti-Republican, but it was not overtly so. President Stokes was definitely not modelled on Trump – and indeed, it took me a lot of the book to work out whether he was a bad guy or not. There was obviously something suspect going on – but whether or not it was a matter of genuine national security, whether the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security …. were involved, trying to stop terrorists (if so, which terrorists?), playing party politics – or something altogether more sinister – remained to be seen. In the tradition of all top-class thrillers, I was kept guessing.
The hero, Avery Keene, was a young female legal clerk, who was thrown into an unholy mess when the Supreme Court judge she worked for fell into a coma, and named her as holding his power of attorney – not his son, not his estranged wife, not another judge. Why? There is a very important (again why?) ruling coming up for the Supreme Court, where Justice Howard Wynn is expected to cast the deciding vote. If he dies – another judge can be appointed. But so long he is in a coma, nothing can be done. By the way, he has an incurable disease, which makes it likely he will not come out of the coma. Avery does not only have the ethical (turn off life-support or not) and politics of the situation to deal with, but family issues too. Her mother is a junkie, always looking for money to feed her habit. And then people connected to Avery and Justice Wynn go missing and/or die. Like Avery, the reader is left floundering in the dark.
Justice Wynn is not a sympathetic character. He expects everyone to dance to his tune, regardless of how much his machinations destroy their lives. He could have made things a lot more clear – but instead chose to hide obscure clues in chess games and other esoteric places. Thankfully, Avery finds two people she can trust, to help her.
Apart from a very good plot that kept my avid interest throughout, the book was really well written. A couple of the lovely phrases that appealed to me were:
““Such a shame about poor Howard,” offered an eggplant-attired matron of impeccable breeding and questionable chromatic theory.”
and
“Aware that her family ties to the White House faded with each president, she had made ingratiation her blood sport.”
The book also raised important questions about the way the USA is governed. I like to think that anyone on the Supreme Court has earned their place there, and will make judgements based on the law and not personal desires or politics. But what should happen if a justice is no longer capable of doing their job. As one character points out, the founding fathers did not know how much or how quickly medicine could advance. Two hundred years ago, a job for life would have had a much more limited term.
They also did not know how science could change, or the media – did anyone?
“Despite knowing how vulnerable technology can be, bureaucrats placed their faith in the myth of privacy. Their job relied on the fairy tales Americans told themselves about their government, despite ample proof to the contrary. Surveillance. Covert research. Targeted retribution. All disguised by pleasing stories told by men like Vance and President Stokes.”
Medical ethics and scientific discoveries play a big part in this story – making for a very thought-provoking – as well as compelling and fascinating – read.
“I am suggesting that scientific curiosity may get the better of humanity yet again. As it always has. Oppenheimer wasn’t a pioneer. He was just another scientist afraid to stop thinking.”
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by either the author or publisher.

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