I was fortunate enough to receive via NetGalley a review copy of Coded Justice by Stacey Abrams (Doubleday, 15 July 2025), the third thriller from political leader and entrepreneur Stacey Abrams featuring lawyer Avery Keene. Keene is now working as a private investigator for a law firm that specializes in helping their clients identify their risk exposure, legal speak for finding their problems before the regulatory agencies do. Keene is tasked to investigate an accidental death in a highly touted health care artificial intelligence company that is poised to go public in a blaze of publicity and money.

Rafael Diaz has transformed his military experience and his concern for the subpar health care veterans receive into an innovative suite of technology tools to support both the veteran and the medical staff caring for them. A key feature is the ability to adjust for innate treatment biases involving race and gender, known issues in medical care. After deploying the system for trial use in a clinic in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the IPO paperwork is being finalized when a series of odd but dangerous errors in diagnoses and pharmaceuticals are identified along with a failure in the office HVAC system that results in the death of a key employee.

An interesting change from the legal settings of the earlier books, this one has an involved plot from both medical and technical perspectives. The unequal amounts of IT knowledge across readers required lengthy data dumps to ensure understanding of the issues at play. I found the story an absorbing mix of insider details on corporate start-ups, the VA health care system, and potential applications of artificial intelligence. It includes more than one swipe at the health records system in use by the military, electronic and otherwise, something I know about through my work.

I quickly realized “coded” in the title has more than one meaning. While it references software programming, it also means the differentiation of medical diagnosis and treatment based on race and gender. The patient is classified (coded) based on race and gender, and treatment decisions are based on that code. Then one of the engineers mentions code switching, changing behavior to match the social context of a situation. All three definitions apply here.

One error I noted which I hope will be corrected in the final release: Early in the book the AI system states someone has a hyperthyroid condition which is likely the cause of his recent weight gain. An overactive thyroid (hyper) causes weight loss, not weight gain. An underactive thyroid (hypo) causes weight gain.

A techno thriller rather than a legal thriller, Coded Justice makes a compelling case for the need to legislate and manage AI as well as the long-known need to improve medical care for veterans.

Starred review from Booklist.

Wow. Just wow.

Stacey Abrams’s "Coded Justice" should be required reading for anyone in government—or really anyone—who cares about where AI is taking us.
It wasn’t abstract; it was real, present, and dangerous. The novel made me think. Are people paying attention to what’s happening with AI? Who is in charge? Tech bros? Government? Are we going to have a human-based economy or not? Do we even want one?

This is the first Stacey Abrams novel I’ve read, and I was completely hooked. I wasn’t confused with the returning characters. At the center of the novel is Avery Keene—the brilliant Supreme Court clerk from Abrams’s earlier books—now trying to put the past behind her at a prestigious law firm in Washington, D.C. She’s working as an internal investigator retained by Camasca Enterprises, an about-to-go public tech company. Camasca has developed an integrated AI system they claim will revolutionize healthcare—especially for veterans. The prototype is malfunctioning in chilling ways. And when a beloved engineer ends up dead, things turn very dark, very fast.

This book blew me away. Abrams tackles some of the thorniest, most current topics out there: AI in medicine, medical bigotry, corporate ethics, hallucinating algorithms, phantom patients, faked alignment, even the anthropomorphizing of AI programs. But she does it in a way that’s so smart and insider-y—and yet totally readable. Coded Justice is not a dry tech treatise. It’s sharp, fast, human with strong storytelling, vivid writing, and an author who knows how to break down complex ideas without dumbing them down. Coded Justice is smart, riveting, and incredibly timely. Loved it.
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“Coded Justice,” by Stacey Abrams, Doubleday, 432 pages, July 15, 2025.

Avery Keene now has a prestigious position at Clymer Brezil, a high-end law firm in Washington, D.C., after a tumultuous run as a clerk on the Supreme Court. With her reputation preceding her, Avery is quickly tasked with becoming a corporate internal investigator.

Elisha Hibner is vice president of bioinformatics at Camasca, a mega-tech firm that's developing a new integrated AI system poised to revolutionize the medical industry, particularly by delivering improved health care to veterans.

Hibner heads the Tiger Team, a small group of specialists in their field. O.J. Siemans and Isabella Gomez are the others on the team. They are finding anomalies in their work. The three of them are working late one night when they are sickened and Hibner dies. Bethesda police rule it an accidental death because of a malfunction in a ventilation system.

Noah Fox, Avery’s friend and fellow attorney, calls Avery early one morning. They go to Camasca to meet with attorney Glenn Paul Freeman and Dr. Rafe Diaz. They want Avery to prove that no one at Camasca murdered Hibner. She can bring on her friends: Fox, Jared Wynn and Dr. Ling Yin.

Then two veterans, former Lt. Ben Vinson and former Master Sgt. Brian Thomas, both patients at InnoVAI, a division of Camasca, have similar medical crises. Dr. Kate Liam and Dr. Reginald Scandrett are both of the men’s physicians. Are the veterans’ issues related to Hibner’s death?

This is the third book in the series, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. The characters are great and the technology is fascinating. The plot becomes intense as Avery and her team race against a threat. Did Camasca create Data, the ethical android from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” or Hal, the murderous computer from “2021: A Space Odyssey?”

I rate it five out of five stars.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

The third in the Avery Keene series looks into the world of AI and the medical field as the group of friends are requested to determine how a person died at a technology company about to go public. The stakes were high in this and super topical at the moment. Abrams does a great job of demonstrating the helpfulness and the negative aspects of the technology. With great pacing as Avery pulled back the layers to the mystery, readers might be satisfied with the ending or it could lead to great discussion. Definitely a great read for 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Coded Justice is a wild ride - much different than other books I’ve read lately and I loved it! Avery Keene teams up again with her boyfriend and tech security specialist, Jordan, and her friends Ling, a doctor, and Noah, a fellow lawyer to get to the bottom of a mysterious death at a company on the brink of going public. Camasca Enterprises has designed a beyond cutting edge, integrated medical AI system, with a goal to particularly help veterans given their often complex medical history and under resourced medical teams. The system seems to be working beautifully until more deaths occur and Avery and team race to determine who the nefarious party is, and if it’s human or AI! I loved the relationships between the friends, and most of all, I loved the authors imagination about where and how AI can go awry. Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

This is the third mystery thriller featuring Avery Keen. I read the first one when Avery was a law clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court. Now Avery is working at a prestigious law firm in Washington D.C. as an internal investigator. Their client, a tech company, has developed AI software that is intended to remove medical bias and improve healthcare. Except the software glitches and a life is lost during testing. Avery has the help of her team; Ling, a doctor, Jared, her whip-smart tech boyfriend and Noah who works magic with a keyboard. Together they investigate. But with more deaths the situation needs to be resolved quickly.

I didn’t love this as much as the first book in the series. I like Avery but at times the writing gets too technical or goes off on philosophical tangents. But I still enjoyed the mystery and the pacing. Abrams delivers a complex thriller and includes twists that kept me guessing. And I would have liked to have a little more on the personal side of her relationship with Jared.

I love how Stacey Abrams finds things that could go wrong in the world and has that being the worst case scenario in a book. In this case, AI is the thing that goes wrong, despite a team of people who truly want the best - eliminating bias in medical care for veterans. This book starts off with the scientists being poisoned and Avery Keene is brought in to do an internal investigation. This book can be technically heavy, but it was unputdownable. Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for a chance to read this one early in exchange for an honest review.

A cautionary tale about AI. Don't worry if you haven't read the earlier books in this series about the ernest and dogged Avery Keene, an attorney who has dealt with conspiracy and danger at the highest levels (including the White House and the Supreme Court.) Now she's in private practice and she's been hired to do an internal investigation at a firm creating AI for use in the VA. Know that this leans in hard (too hard) on the tech and on explanations of how the AI will work (that didn't really help me) to, I think, the detriment of the plot early on. It rights itself once Avery brings in her team to work their way through the company records. The conspiracy here is less compelling than curious. I've liked Avery in the past and once again enjoy her attitude toward just about everything. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me. It will be easy to give up on this early on due to the tech talk but stick with it and it's a pretty good read.

I love a morally murky corporate thriller like I love leftover birthday cake at 2 am. But “Coded Justice” had me flipping between yes queen, expose the machine and I swear to God, if one more man monologues about anything network related, I’m walking into the Potomac.

Avery Keene is back, baby. Still brilliant, still exhausted, and now buried up to her stylish blazers in tech bros, veteran healthcare, and a mysterious death at a Silicon Valley-adjacent startup that is definitely giving "Black Mirror" if it were sponsored by Amazon. She’s working at a fancy DC law firm now, which means fewer Supreme Court shenanigans and more buttoned-up investigative consulting. But don't worry, she still gets dragged into chaos that ends in body bags.

The premise? Camasca Enterprises is ready to unleash an AI that promises to eliminate medical bias and revolutionize healthcare, particularly for veterans. Great idea. Except the software keeps glitching, there might be a murderer, and someone’s anonymously screaming “SOMETHING IS WRONG” from the shadows like they’re ghostwriting a manifesto for ChatGPT’s evil twin. Enter Avery, who, armed with a suspiciously competent squad (Ling the doctor, Jared the tech-whisperer boyfriend, and Noah the keyboard goblin), dives into the company like it’s a crime scene wrapped in HIPAA violations.

Now let’s talk tone whiplash. One minute we’re debating the ethics of machine learning over a tense boardroom meeting, the next someone might be sabotaging a server room with HVAC gas. And then suddenly Avery’s just... back at her apartment in soft lighting, pondering justice like she’s auditioning for a Ken Burns doc. I was fully expecting a twist where the AI achieves sentience, but instead we got extended moral discussions and… emotional backstory breadcrumbs. The drama tries, but it does get outpaced by the philosophy lecture it snuck in its purse.

Avery remains a compelling lead. She’s a human lie detector with a chip on her shoulder and a tragic past she will not discuss unless cornered by death or heartbreak. Her relationship with Jared? Warm and competent but mostly exists in the background, like a supportive golden retriever with cybersecurity skills. Honestly, I miss the messy emotional confrontations from book one. This version of Avery feels too polished, too filtered—like LinkedIn Avery showed up instead of the woman who once dismantled federal corruption while her personal life burned down in slow motion.

And here’s the tea: there are some really interesting side characters and layered red herrings. But the pacing can’t decide if it’s a legal procedural or a tech-noir fever dream. Some chapters feel like they’re being graded by an ethics professor, and others drop you into full “this is a murder, isn’t it?” territory. At one point I thought we were getting a twist. Instead, it was a debate about responsibility and collective accountability. Respect, but also: girl. Give me something to scream about.

Still, Abrams does not go for the lazy “AI is evil and wants to kill us all” trope. She threads a much more nuanced narrative: AI is a tool, humans are the chaos, and corporate ambition is the real monster. It's sharp and timely, but occasionally feels like you need a second brain just to keep up with the acronyms. If you love thrillers that flex their STEM muscles and sprinkle in murder like seasoning, this one’s for you.

I’m giving it a solid 3.5 stars. The bones are strong, the themes are relevant, but the execution gets a little lost in its own ambition. Still, I’d trust Avery Keene to dig up my secrets and prosecute my enemies with style.

Whodunity Award: For Making Me Suspect the Algorithm, the Founder, the Guy in Compliance, and Whatever Ghost Haunts the Server Room

Huge thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the ARC. You really said, “Here’s some cutting-edge AI, a suspicious death, and a side of corporate dread,” and I said, “Why yes, I would like that combo meal of chaos.”

The premise sounded interesting on this one but for me it didn't quite do it.

What worked for me was reading the about the things that Avery and crew were digging up during their investigation that had me side-eying the robots and some humans too so I wanted to see it through to find out what exactly happened to Elisha Hubner..

What didn't work for me was that there was a lot of science and medical jargon in the book that felt like information overload at points and didn't really add to the story. Due to this the book didn't really flow at all times and took a little bit away from the buildup. Once I got to the end and found out what really happened it felt a little lackluster with all the effort that went into getting to that point . then with the decisions that were made by Rafe Diaz on one hand I understood but on the other hand I was a little annoyed.

Overall I thought the book was just okay but it just felt like too much information at times that took my attention away from the ultimate storyline. Thank you to the publisher Double Day Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

📖 Book: Coded Justice by Stacey Abrams
⭐️ Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Perfect Pour
🍸 Cocktail Pairing: The Algorithm Sour – Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade

This one started slow, but once it locked in? I was fully uploaded into the drama.

Avery Keene is back and sharp as ever, digging through tech secrets, veteran care, and AI conspiracy like the legal baddie she is.
I love this series, and while the build-up took its time, the payoff delivered: a smart, twisty ride through corporate politics, moral dilemmas, and the shadowy side of innovation.

If you love your thrillers with brains, sass, and high stakes? This is your next pour.

🍹 The Algorithm Sour – Bold, Complex, and Built for the Plot Twist
2 oz bourbon
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz blackberry syrup (or muddled blackberries + simple syrup)
Splash of club soda
Garnish: lemon wheel + blackberry skewer
Instructions:
Shake bourbon, lemon juice, and blackberry syrup with ice. Strain into a rocks glass, top with club soda, and garnish.
It’s dark, rich, and deceptively refreshing, just like Avery’s cases.

⭐️ Rating: Perfect Pour – Smooth, flavorful, and just the right kick.

#BetweenSipsAndPages #CocktailsAndChapters #CodedJustice #StaceyAbramsBooks #PerfectPourReads #Bookstagram #BlackWomenInThrillers #AveryKeeneSeries #BooksWithBite #BookAndBourbon #AlgorithmSour #LegalThrillersAndLiquor

Avery Keene is a top notch investigator who’s gotten involved in some huge cases in the past. In her third novel, Avery is tasked with investigating a soon to be giant tech organization when one of their employees dies on the job. Wanting to make sure everything is clean, the company asks Avery to investigate, thus embroiling her and her friends into the world of artificial intelligence.

If you’ve read While Justice Sleeps or Rogue Justice, this book is for you to see what Avery’s next moves are! I’ve come to enjoy her dogged determination and focus on getting the job done correctly, but Coded Justice fell short for me. The good parts: the world of AI is fascinating and all the more relevant with each passing day, raising some good ethical questions about how it should be used. A high stakes moment at the end that has you holding your breath. Some forced insight into Avery’s life and what’s holding her back in her relationships. The struggle parts: mostly dialogue, little action. A bit too technical with tech terminology for me. I think the bones are there, and I like the characters enough to keep reading. At the same time, I need a little more doing than just interviewing people to keep me entertained.

3.5/5 stars!

Thank you Netgalley and Doubleday Books an ARC of this novel!

One of the scientists dies in a medical AI development facility and 2 others injured due to a ventilation system. Avery Keene is brought in to determine 1) was it an accident 2) is someone trying to sabotage the company before it goes public or 3) are the robots in control and eliminating threats to them?? Extremely well researched but easy to understand thriller that dives into the potential of AI in medicine and the ethics dilemmas. Avery Keene is a modern day Nancy Drew!

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC! #codedjustice

I received an ARC through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This story begins with Camasca's Tiger team working on a problem. This ream was comprised of O.J., Izzy and Elisha. The team was trying to figure out an issue relating to their AI system. They had been working with it for several hours when an event incurred. The impact of this event was the killing of Elisha and injuring O.J. and Izzy. As a result, Avery received a request to perform an investigation. After accepting this assignment, she brought on Noah, Ling and Jared to assist. Their mission was to determine whether Elisha's death was an accident or murder.

Read along and discover how exactly Avery and her team pursued finding the facts to make a determination. Learn about how Camasca's AI was deployed and what role it played in it. Find out as the story concludes why Elisha was killed and who was responsible.

This book will keep your interest right till the end. Don't miss out.

Stacy Abrams’ new Avery Keene novel is intense, complex, and a little scary. Combining concern for U.S. veterans’ medical care with the use of AI to manage diagnoses and treatment provides the backdrop for a provocative murder mystery.

Before going public, Camasca Enterprises retains Avery and her team to investigate the death of one of their scientists to determine if it might impact the upcoming IPO. The company has developed a system that integrates AI with medical processes, revolutionizing treatment at VA facilities. Unfortunately, some unidentified problems arise that may complicate the IPO, so the firm hires Avery to determine if there are serious problems.

Ms. Abrams crafts a fascinating story that features compelling characters, intriguing interactions, and a suspenseful narrative.

Thanks to #netgalley for the digital ARC of #CodedJustice. This is my first book by this author and while I enjoyed it, it got a bit too technical for me. Since this is the third book in the series, I think I will go back and read the first two. I enjoyed the writing and thought it was a good solid book.

I love this series and not just because I'm a fan of Stacey! There's no slowing down with Avery Keene; every story is fascinating and twisted, and I'm sucked in and can't put the book down. I honestly don't have much memory for the previous books, but that didn't matter as these books could be stand-alones. The story's focus on getting adequate and ethical care for veterans quickly had my interest as I work in a military community. Parts of the story are definitely connected to real-world problems and legislative issues. I can't say that I felt good about the ending but I think that's the intention as the story grapples with moral and ethical debates that we are currently having about AI and healthcare. I will always be excited to read anything Stacey writes and look forward to seeing what Avery tackles next!

Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

I am a fan of the Avery Keene series, and I jumped at the chance to read an early copy of the third book in the series. Although this one was not my favorite of hers, I still enjoyed the read and found the plot gripping. Book 3 is more technical in nature than the first two, and it takes a little more focus and effort to get through. The plot is timely with a focus on AI and the potential advantages and disadvantages of the technology, and it makes the reader think about their own feelings on the topic. There was one element of the plot at the end that went a bit too far for me, but overall I liked the way the story progressed and how things resolved. I will definitely be checking out the next book when it comes out!

Coded Justice is the third entry in Stacey Abrams' Avery Keane series. While I very much enjoyed the first two books in the series, this book doesn't quite reach their level.

In Coded Justice, Abrams ambitiously takes on artificial intelligence's application in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, along with a rich mix of other human foibles. Camasco is about to go public and attorney Avery Keane, her technie lover Jaryd, and her pals attorney Noah and physician Ling, each of whom, of course, is brilliant talented, and willing to work around the clock, are brought in to conduct a final internal audit just prior to the InitialPublicOffering, After several mysterious deaths, which Avery and her pals were not brought in to investigate but which of course they do, fingers point to one or more of the robots or to the head of a pharmaceutical compounding firm, or perhaps to a different human or robotic player. To follow all of the action, readers must have a vast array of knowledge, for Abrams uses too many technical words and acronyms too often and not always with full explanations. Although Coded Justice can be read as a stand-alone, those who attempt it may find the characters stiff, stereotypical, or not fully developed. The mystery itself, whose solution is revealed in the book's final pages, is interesting and twisted, with only the most acute readers figuring out who dunnit and why. Abrams shines when she describes the possible consequences of AI gone rogue, people whose motivation is greed above all, and ethical issues, including attorneys' and physicians' obligations of confidentiality.

Although Coded Justice is somewhat of a "mixed bag," diligent readers will find it worth the effort.

Stacey Abrams is back with other great book in the series. I loved how this book is part of a trilogy, but can definitely be read as a standalone as well. It was mysterious and captivating. I loved the law aspect to this book. I found myself really diving into the case right along side the characters. Stacey Abrams really does her research for her writing and uses correct terminology throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

#codedjustice #netgalley