This was a surprisingly fast read. I had no idea India was so involved in Pharmaceutical development. Main character is a recent law school grad who is clerking for a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Justice’s behavior continues to spiral until one night he takes the wrong medicine and falls into a coma. He has appointed the clerk his power of attorney much to her surprise. She discovers he was researching a pending decision the court is facing without her. The more the clerk learns, the more she understands his rationale. The clerk is trying to do right by the judge while keeping herself and her mother alive. I found myself rooting for the clerk to stay safe and finish what she started.

If readers intend on looking for the right side of justice in today’s crime fiction, then they must pack the halls and courts with Stacey Abrams new legal thriller 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀. Abrams’ character-driven, complex-plot, and suspenseful fiction pulls you in immediately before your fingers can form a true relationship with the pages. With a keen knowledge of the courts and a political savvy, Abrams fashions her heroine Avery Keene, much like herself, to unearth the political corruption that is nestled in the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court. While the justice sleeps in his coma, Keene’s race for the truth intensifies and America awaits its fate.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 is the political, crime thriller I didn’t know I needed this summer. Mind you, the last suspense thriller I read was John Grisham’s 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁, which was in middle school because I don’t read crime fiction, but I’m glad I did. Abrams’ writing was fast-paced, intense, and mesmerizing—perfect for a political thriller. It’s good to venture out of your comfort zone. The entire time I was rooting for Avery Keene—she kept giving me “Scandal-Gladiator vibes.” I became furious at the other characters and their antics/behaviors throughout. I became so invested. Plus, there’s so much interesting information about biowarfare, political strategy, and chess references and I feel so well-learned now, too. Abrams, is there anything you cannot do well?

I Want It Now! Buy It! Get Me Two Copies! I Want One! Get It On Audio!

👩🏽‍⚖️ Order in the Court! 👩🏽‍⚖️

The people have spoken—please get your copy, now!

When Supreme Court Justice Wynn falls into a coma, his law clerk, Avery Keene, is given power of attorney, bypassing his wife and son. When Jared, the judge’s son, decides to join forces to discover clues the Justice left to Avery to decipher, they stumble upon a matter that involves Homeland Security and the President. Some of the scientific explanations are a bit intense, but the mystery and the main characters, including the attorney, Noah and Avery’s roommate Ling, make for an intriguing book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

It's been a while since I've read a political thriller, and I was excited for the chance to read one penned by Stacey Abrams. While this first go at the genre was a little confusing and busy, I look forward to her fine-tuning her writing and coming out with more!

This was a fun read that gave me major Clive Cussler vibes (and that's not an insult!). I liked the way chess and puzzles were integrated throughout the story because I'm a sucker for logic games in my mysteries. I would say this book is like if Clive Cussler wrote a Supreme Court thriller after binging The Queen's Gambit but it just seems ... so wrong to compare Stacey Abrams to two dead white guys. *insert hiding face emoji* But that was my surface-level impression!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. I wanted to love this because I love what Stacy Abrams is doing in the world, but I had to force myself to finish, even though the plot was compelling. The writing style wasn't for me, it was longer than it needed to be, and some of the characters were underdeveloped. That said, if you're really in to legal thrillers you will probably love it!

I've always admired Stacey Abrams, and now I can also admire her as a writer! This book was terrific-well written, suspenseful, excellent character development, and a very interesting setting. I look forward to recommending it to our library patrons!

Boy, was this a fun read. Supreme Court Justice Wynn is set to be the swing vote on a very high-profile case involving the merger of two bio-genetics companies when he suddenly slips into a coma. His clerk Avery Keene finds out she has been named his legal guardian and must unravel the mysteries of this case while trying to do what's best for the Justice and the country. Oh, and trying to keep herself alive.

Murder, kidnapping, intrigue, bio-weaponry, you name it and this book has got it. And I could not put it down.

A literary roller coaster with social insight
With all the talk about landmark Supreme Court decisions in jeopardy, retirements, nominations and their consequences, Stacey Abrams’ new legal thriller While Justice Sleeps is not so much ripped from the headlines as it is the stuff of our most vivid nightmares. When cantankerous Supreme Court justice Howard Wynn slips into a coma, it propels the court into limbo, causing a constitutional crisis with his law clerk at the center of a political storm.

Abrams knows this terrain—legal, social, and political—inside and out. With that expertise, the issues at the center of the story are drawn with precision and insight, but her characters are the book’s greatest strength ... The story is anchored by two indelible outsiders who have little in common save the institution for which both work and their prickly personas. Stacey Abrams’s thriller is an intricate one with a diverse supporting cast of allies and adversaries and a Russian nesting doll of legal maneuvering, politics and technological intrigue. Much of it is riveting. There are also subplots and clever details strewn like Easter eggs throughout. Somewhere in the middle, the plot starts to feel overstuffed, and the myriad of moving parts slow forward momentum. But...there’s something deliciously rewarding about a thriller that realistically and unflinchingly reckons with how a young Black woman like Avery Keene gets treated when she answers the call to serve.

Full review published on theGrio.com. See link below

This was a really fun read. Suspenseful and loads of fun. The writing quality is great and Of course name recognition will make this a popular pick.

I just finished reading this book and I was blown away. What a great story! The amount of research that had to go into the writing of, "While Justice Sleeps", is amazing; so many topics that Ms. Abrams had to be well versed in! To say that this was a page turner would be an understatement. I totally recommend this book.

Aside from being a politician and a voting rights activist, Stacey Abrams has also written romantic suspense novels. While Justice Sleeps delves into the inner workings of the Supreme Court, examining how power and greed can corrupt the law. Howard Wynn is a Supreme Court Justice who is known for being rude and sometimes curt to people. He has an impeccable reputation as a person who is honorable. Before he was placed in a coma, Wynn left his wife and adult son out of his will. He named law clerk Avery as his legal guardian.

As the FBI investigates what motivated Justice Wynn to murder, Avery is doing her best to protect him from those who want to harm him. From the start, Abrams keeps the plot moving, focusing on the various power plays that go on in the background. She skewers both sides of the aisle, as well as the self-centered politicians she believes in. Thank you, Doubleday Books, for the gifted copy via net galley.

WHILE JUSTICE SLEEPS by Stacey Abrams is a work of fiction; who knew that the former candidate for Governor of Georgia has written several romance novels and now has chosen to publish a mystery story? Abrams, a voters' rights advocate, is definitely a Renaissance person with many talents and I am happily recommending this new work. Wondering how a Supreme Court clerk, Avery Keene, was going to respect the wishes of an Associate Justice while also protecting herself and her family kept me up at night. The emphasis on clandestine bio-technology warfare is frightening and convincingly shared; it certainly made me wonder how much our government knows and what secrets are under development. WHILE JUSTICE SLEEPS is a LibraryReads selection for May 2021 and received a starred review from Booklist. Fans of politics, courtroom drama, and action-packed thrillers will certainly enjoy unraveling this mystery.

I’ll be shocked if this book is not a movie within the next five years. Let’s put aside the question of when, exactly, Stacy Abrams sleeps and get to the headline: this book is the spiritual successor to the film version of The Pelican Brief. Our heroine, Avery Keene, is a seemingly mild-mannered mixed race 26-year-old Supreme Court clerk who had to grow up quickly due to her mother’s drug addiction. When her boss, Justice Wynn, ends up in a coma, she has to rush to figure out the clues he left for her about a mysterious company and a landmark case on the Court’s docket.

This book is a good political thriller generally, with enough action after the first few chapters to keep the layperson entertained. But this book is also a love letter to legal scholars and the District of Columbia. I just finished up six years of living in DC, and with the exception of two typo issues that may end up fixed in the final version, the descriptions of the city are picture-perfect accurate. For legal scholars, I knew precisely who Justice Wynn was from the first chapter, which is from his perspective. So much of this book relies on logic and connecting the dots in the way lawyers and judges do. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Fans of deep political thrillers will eat this up. Gene modification, Supreme Court intrigue and a race against the clock. A great summer read for 2021! So much recommended for anyone who really loves to sink their teeth into an action book.

Avery Keene is the law clerk for one of the Supreme Court justices, and when he falls into a coma, she finds herself named his legal guardian. She is thrown into international intrigue and a string of hidden documents that only she can solve.

The audiobook includes an intro by Abrams, where she talks about the publishing journey that began in 1995, where publishers felt some of the characters were too unrealistic - a president out for his own financial gain, justices of questionable character, etc.

If you don't know who Stacey Abrams is, you should. She's a major political player. She also writes romance novels under a pen name, Selena Montgomery.

I am a huge fan of Stacey Abrams, her work both politically and in the literary realm! This book was a solid read, unfortunately I just think I'm not enough of a thriller reader to be in love with this book. But I would absolutely recommend this to readers who love thrillers and I will definitely be buying copies for some of those people in my life!

I was really interested in the politics of this book and the plot twists were definitely exciting, but I found myself wishing I were more on the edge of my seat most of the time. I also was looking for more connection between the characters--not just between Jared and Avery, but also Avery and her mom or Avery and the friend group that helps her out. The character connections that worked the most for me were Avery and Agent Lee, and Justice Wynn and literally everyone in the flashbacks we get of him and the short scene in the beginning. What a great character--if he wakes up for book 2, I'm in!

Finally, I'm just so impressed that Stacey Abrams can write such a successful book and also save democracy. We all owe her a huge thank you!

I love this book and love that it is by a modern-day hero, Stacey Abrams! I have read her other works and especially enjoyed her romance novels written under a pseudonym. This book is just as interesting and fun to read. I couldn't stop reading and thoroughly enjoyed the entire reading experience.

I don't read many political thrillers but I couldn't pass up the first one by Stacey Abrams. Although the plot was excellent, the writing got bogged down with too much detail which made what should have been a fast-paced book a bit too slow. There were lots of characters that needed to be kept straight. There were also several instances when the main character really made some giant leaps to figure out clues. This is still a worthy book and I hope Abrams writes another political thriller in the future that is a bit more grounded in the plot line.

I really enjoyed While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams. She clearly has a unique and compelling perspective, rooted in her political and government expertise. Her writing is exceptional, but at times a little dense. The book was a little bit slow in the beginning, but I enjoyed the mystery. It was interesting and very contemporary. Thank you for access to this ARC!