Avery Keene is back! The fan-favorite former Supreme Court clerk has finally gone out on her own, securing a prestigious position at a high-end law firm in Washington, D.C., where she is about to earn real money and get her life in order after a tumultuous run working as a clerk on the Supreme Court. With her reputation preceding her, Avery is quickly tasked at her new job with becoming a corporate internal investigator.
Her new client is Camasca—a mega-tech firm that's on the forefront of developing a new integrated AI system poised to revolutionize the medical industry, particularly by delivering vastly improved health care to veterans. The AI potential is breathtaking, but some disturbing anomalies have plagued Camasca in early testing—including the mysterious death of a Camasca engineer. Avery and her colleagues, Jared, Ling, and Noah, find themselves on a journey to determine whether the anomalies are mere technical glitches, or something much more concerning.
Coded Justice by Stacey Abrams will be published on July 15, 2025. Doubleday Books provided an early galley for review.
This is the third novel in Abrams' Avery Keene series. Having enjoyed the first two, I was ready to dive back into her world of politics and intrigue. This time she was touching on the computer/software/tech space, a world I spent several decades in myself as a software developer.
Abrams is tackling very topical themes with the AI aspects of this tale. So many people harbor concerns and fear of machines taking over, and this story brings those to bear. Her approach is balanced and fair, covering it from a variety of angles. She also ties in with popular culture portrayals of AI by tagging both Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The sci-fi nerd in me appreciates these greatly.
However, the amateur author in me can't help to recognize some of the writing missteps that appear in this work. From a drawn-out starting chapter (take it from someone who knows - programming is hardly dramatic to anyone except the programmers themselves) to several expository info dumps (with some done awkwardly through dialogue to characters who would already know that information) to dialogue that is bolstered by targeted tags, these are things that the average reader might forgive. Other writers, however, will wince at them. An editing pass that worked out these kinks can easily move this story from a good thriller to an even greater reading experience.
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