While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

Doubleday, 384 pages, $28

Stacey Abrams is a lawyer and a political force in Georgia. She is also the writer of romance novels. “While Justice Sleeps” is her first fiction venture out of that genre. (There is a touch of romance, although there is no hanky-panky.)

Avery Keene has the coveted position of clerk to a Supreme Court Justice. That justice, Howard Wynn, travels to his own drummer, has a high standard for himself and others, and is brilliant. Avery is proud to have such a mentor. Then one day she receives the news that Wynn has fallen into a coma and that she, Avery Keene, just out of law school and with an addict for a mother, has been appointed his legal guardian. What about his ex-wife? His son? No, it is Avery who holds his life in her hands.

Abrams has another storyline running through and it’s not immediately obvious what it has to do with Justice Wynn's or Avery's current dilemmas. Wynn’s vote on a case before the court will determine whether a corporate merger between an American biogenetics company and an Indian biotech company will be allowed. The case is in limbo because Wynn is comatose. 

Abrams has plotted a convoluted thriller. People are dying. There are several attempts on Avery’s life. The big question is why she has become a target. There is pressure on her to resign Wynn from the court, there is pressure for her to disconnect Wynn’s medical devices, there is pressure for her to take care of her wayward mother. And to repeat: Why does someone want to kill her?

Avery has an odd group of people she thinks she can trust: her roommate, a doctor; Judge Wynn’s estranged son; Wynn’s lawyer; and maybe an FBI agent. It’s crazy-making!

As with most thrillers, this plot relies on a premise that stretches the imagination. The politics of the book doesn’t resemble (too much) what is currently happening. The book is definitely make-believe.

I wish I could say this was a great book, because I admire Stacey Abrams to infinity and beyond. However, it was an unremarkable, albeit competently written, book. There were moments of interesting character development and tension, but nothing was sustained.

The Scorpion by Christian Cantrell

Random House, 336 pages, $27.00

“The Scorpion” is a book one should read after reading the second or third in (what surely will be) the series. It is the origin story that filmmakers would shoot after their series has proven to be a hit. That’s because the origin story can sometimes be slow moving and incomprehensible, but might be enjoyable because you know how it will turn out. I didn’t feel any sort of jolt until two-thirds of the way into the book. Then, for me, the action and the story’s cri de coeur became clearer. Two-thirds is a long time to read without being swept away. Why did I keep going? Why? Why?

Quinn Mitchell, senior analyst in the CIA, becomes, after a couple of red herring candidates, the main character. She is despondent after the death of her young child and the subsequent break-up of her marriage. Focusing on catching “The Elite Assassin” revives her.

“The Elite Assassin” operates worldwide. He (or she) kills seemingly unconnected targets. They range in age from old to (gasp) a nine-month-old baby. The victims have numbers marked on their skin. The assassin goes to great lengths to accomplish his murders. These are not casual, off-the-cuff endeavors. There is some sort of sick rationale behind the choices.

It becomes obvious from the first that the book’s world is more advanced technologically than ours. But it is similar enough that we can recognize pizza, yoga, the Large Hadron Collider, Emirates Airlines, suitcases. The difference is in Christian Cantrell's world AI assistance is ramped way up. For example, the suitcases imprint on their owners and follow dutifully along without needing to be minded. The Assassin uses many tech advancements to plan and execute the kills. Quinn is an expert at using the tech tools at her command to hunt the Assassin. Who will succeed with their quest: the assassin with an unknown kill list or Quinn?

One of the big differences in our world and Cantrell's fictional world is in Cantrell's world Seoul, Korea, has been destroyed by a nuclear weapon. Henrietta Yi, one of Quinn’s colleagues, was orphaned by that blast. She has many degrees and accomplishments but chose to work for the U.S. government, even though she is a world-class brain and could write her own ticket within a commercial venture. Why would the government need such high-powered brains? Because there is something on the horizon that is inexplicable: It appears a message has reached the present-day world from the future. It would be nice if someone could decipher it. Could Henrietta be the one?

“The Scorpion” is a techno-thriller — the first time I have ever used that designation — and if you don’t like your adventure novels with some geeky physics stuff, keep walking. Has Keanu Reeves or the Wachowski siblings read this book?

P.S. The usual good guys versus bad guys thing doesn't work here. And there are cliff-hangers.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Celadon Books, 336 pages, $28

The ultimate meta-novel has been written. Author Jean Hanff Korelitz has pulled off a thrilling mystery, rich with plot and character and twisty insides. And it should also satisfy readers with a literal yearning for literate literature by the literary.

“The Plot” begins with a poor schmuck who unfortunately hit it big with his first novel when he was in his twenties. It is unfortunate because the schmuck, Jacob “Finch” Bonner, couldn’t manage an adequate successor book. He drifted further down the writing chain, from a few weeks of running a writing class at a low-profile school to eventually editing other people’s stuff, trolling online for new clients. (Let me pause and say I consider the work of editors and writing teachers to be sainted positions.) 

However, before Jacob hit his version of rock bottom, one day an arrogant, self-promoting “student” appeared in one of his last years of teaching a writing class in person. Although Evan Parker (nom de plume: “Parker Evan”) had never written a book before, he had written one now, which he claimed was a sure-fire bestseller, guaranteed to be on the New York Times best seller list. He didn’t want to share his writing, which sort of defeated the purpose of a writing class, Jacob informed him. Hahaha, Evan Parker/Parker Evan replied and basked in his high self-regard. But eventually Evan Parker revealed the plot to Jacob. Then several years passed, in which Jacob’s life fell into disrepair.

By chance, Jacob comes across some information which leads to his renaissance. But nothing good ever happens without A Price to Be Paid. Korelitz perfectly plots her book. The second half explores the mystery and a reckoning. “The Plot” has so many aha! moments, I am loathe to describe more about the book. I will say I was enthralled, I raced to the end, I was deeply satisfied.

MBTB star!

(P.S. You only have to pay half-price for this review.)

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Square Fish, 416 pages, $11.99 (c2013)

On the eve of the Netflix broadcast of its series based on Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha books, which it corporately renamed “Shadow and Bone,” I read the first book in the series, “Shadow and Bone.” (I feel there was too much redundancy in that first sentence, but without redundancy we would not be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Not that Bardugo’s book is doomed or mistaken; it was fabulous and enjoyable, in fact.)

The Grishaverse, as it has been styled by Bardugo’s fans, is both comprehensible and strange. People with very human traits of anger, jealousy, love, madness, curiosity, and pique populate the country of Ravka, overtly fashioned on old Russia. They are at war with neighboring countries. The other countries have repeating rifles, but Ravka has the Grisha, people who wield what we book readers would call magic. 

Alina and Mal are orphans who were raised on the estate of a minor lord who took many war-created homeless children under his wing. He was often gone, so their care was left to his household. There were good times and there were uncomfortable times, but mostly they survived, thanks to their friendship. When Alina and Mal got older, they joined the army, Alina as a mapmaker apprentice and Mal as a tracker. 

One day, the Darkling, lord of the Grisha came to their camp just as their company was set to traverse “The Fold.” The Fold was created by a Grisha. It is never-ending darkness that envelops what used to be verdant and productive farmland. Now the gray wasteland is populated by volcra, vaguely human-shaped, flying monsters. There is nothing volcra like better than the taste of fresh meat. Because of their specific powers, it is the fate of some of the Grisha to help navigate silently through the utter darkness of The Fold. There are some fire-casters who can defend in case the volcra manage to find them anyway. At this point Alina does not realize she, too, has a power and will eventually become a Grisha (sorry, minor spoiler). At this point she is simply a scared mapmaker.

Anyway, the Darkling lord whips into camp just before the journey. He is on board the desert ship that will roll into western Ravka, cut off by The Fold from the rest of the country. During the voyage, the volcra find them. Alina finds her unique power when she saves Mal from a volcra’s claws.

It is not clear whether being a person of power will benefit Alina. She has a soft bed to sleep in, clean clothes, fresh food, but she cannot control her power. What good is she? And there truly begins the saga.

Young adult-ish reading, but that shouldn’t stop old adult-ish people from digging in. Bardugo has a fairly traditional, comforting style of writing. She pays attention to details and doesn’t make her world so outlandish it is a struggle to understand characters’ motivations. Thoroughly enjoyable!

P.S. We have made it a human mission to repeat mistakes over and over again.