CHOP IT UP: While Justice Sleeps

A young law clerk works for a Supreme Court Justice who falls into a coma. Before his faltering health, he has given guardianship to his unexpected clerk with strict instructions for her to abide by his wishes. Furthermore, he has planted a trail of clues leading her to unveil a conspiracy aligning the US President in connection to a biological experiment with designs of enacting genocide toward a specific community of people. Stacy Abrams's suspense thriller, While Justice Sleeps, was an automatic buy for me this year. No doubt. While the book was released in early May, and I bought it soon after, I'm just not getting to it and finishing it; I'm so troubled by the expression of "too many books with too little time."

Either way, I was excited to make it a focus venture this month, and I have to say I really enjoyed the book. I knew Abrams was going to implement an intelligent thriller. Like, I just knew it. And I wasn't disappointed–at all. She used her character, Avery Keene, to take us readers through legalese court and justice realms. Also, the often-infuriating chess game of politics (though the commentary wasn't as involved), biological weaponry, and personal avenues featured the main protagonist and her addict mother. Nevertheless, it is a busy, busy thriller. But unlike many thrillers I have attempted to read, Abrams' pace was outstanding! I'm a "I need more details" type of reader, so breakneck suspense isn't always fun for me. However, While Justice Speaks was suspenseful, it carried a balance of engaging details. Each event or uncovered clue brought information and motion. And, once again for emphasis, the book remained sharp and intelligent throughout. 

The story was way bigger than I anticipated, and not a single moment in the story's unfolding felt convoluted or read too conspired. However, I would say from my overall experience, two things did kind of bug me.

One: while the thriller was brilliant, I was hoping Abrams would pull away from lots of thriller conventions and present us with something fresher. Certain areas of the story were predictable, only because they mirrored standard patterns seen in thriller books. This is especially evident with the characterization of some of the antagonistic characters.

Two: while I enjoyed Avery, for whatever reason, I had trouble settling on what type of character she was. She's young at twenty-six, but serving as a clerk, it was evident she was intelligent. But I felt like she allowed too many characters to speak down to her, and I explicitly grew angry every time a male character would grab her arm. Nevertheless, in some cases, her rebuttal to being treated like a child often turned into moments of reinforcing the notion. Essentially, I recognized she was in command, but I never quite felt it completely. A lot of times, it felt like it was more projection to me. I also felt like she need more personality, and given that she's biracial, I would have loved more commentary on her experiences. Without those last two elements, she was borderline serviceable and placid at times. But not to get it twisted; she was great when she was great, which is throughout most of the book.

Anyway, I just wanted to run those thoughts down. I hope another book is coming out featuring this same cast.