A Perfect Political Thriller: While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

I cannot remember exactly the reason why I decided to pick up from my local library shelves While Justice Sleeps. Maybe because I´ve watched some interview with democrat politician and activist Stacey Abrams once or some presentation of the book...But definitely, I am interested in politicians and public personalities in general writing books although I am aware that few of them only actually write the books. My interest is the result of the curiosity towards the approach of different topics that usually reflect a political stance. I may have other less noteworthy reasons as well. But again, all were soon forgotten as I advanced through the book.

Set on the background of a Supreme Court crisis, when one irrascible and difficult yet libertarian Justice Wynn is suddenly in incapacitated. Suddenly he fell in a coma shortly after he assigned power of will to his faithful talented assistant Avery. But Avery has some skeletons in her closet, and the Justice as well and it seems that the minutiae o the arrangement planned by Wynn are not mean to resist the test of the political circumstances. Among others, president Stoke, a grandomaniac patriot (sounds familiar, isn´t it), who is interested to obtain a favorable decision regarding an interesting merging of biotechnology companies. 

And those are only a couple of details only, as the story is becoming more and more complex as the narrative develops, and surprising twists are changing completely both the course of action and the understanding of the events. 

Stacey Abrams is not only a fine observer of the political games in Washington DC, but she knows both the law and the very complicated mechanisms of power. Equally, she planned the book in the smallest details both in terms of the very serious research in very disparate topics as constitutional law and biotechnology, but also in building up a story developing in chess moves. The idea of creating biogenetic weapons developed to target religious groups based on common ancestry is only one of the many excellent twists introduced into the conversation. 

Although the topics brought into discussion is upgrading the complexity degree of the game they don´t sound unrealistic. It is not only because they may have a ´Made in America´ kind of stamp, but because it moves within knowledgeable timelines and details.

Stacey Abrams is a great political storyteller. While Justice Sleeps is her first novel released under her name and hopefully she had in the making more such intellectually entertaining books. 

Rating: 4.5 stars