You might not think of James Comey as one of those authors who produces a new installment in a series and the moment it’s available, you drop everything to read his latest legal thriller. But that’s how he became one of my favorite writers. The fourth book in the Nora Carleton series lived up to my expectations — here is a very intelligent narrative featuring an extremely well-written female protagonist (and very tall, like her author) in a fascinating spy story/ court drama.

I’ve come to absolutely love Comey’s Nora Carleton books. “Central Park West” was about the mob; “Westport” (during Nora’s brief stint as a corporate lawyer) was a business whodunit; and “FDR Drive” was about terrorists. In “Red Verdict,” the topic is about espionage, specifically Russian baddies trying to subvert American defense contractor CEOs. The primary story is the discovery of an elite businessman who’s been compromised by the Russians, but it’s only after one of the Russian spy services accidentally kills the wrong man does the Justice Department catch on.

This book can be read as a standalone and the recurring characters are re-introduced without nagging questions about their pasts, but you’ll be missing some of the great backstories. Nora is again a Deputy US Attorney, working in Manhattan. There are some family connections: her daughter is living with her ex in Connecticut and her mom has married Nora’s chief investigator, Benny, so she’s a single woman living alone. There are multiple other characters, attorneys, FBI, CIA, judges and defense lawyers, but Comey never takes the spotlight off the importance of good teamwork. There still is complicated cooperation between federal and state law enforcement. We witness the diverging motivations (but ultimately with the same conviction goal) of the US Attorney’s office vs CIA vs FBI — and it is humorously mirrored by the Russian spy vs spy bureaucracies (FSB vs GRU vs SVR).

Comey’s special contribution to his novels has been cool insider knowledge — we get a tutorial about international wire types, observations about the cause of woodwork damage in the Attorney General’s office,and a doozy like how name tents get placed in the White House Situation Room. Comey is not political in his novels, but it must have been a catharsis to write about work insanities like this section:
“the deputy attorney general said—repeating what the principal associate deputy attorney general told him, which was what the assistant attorney general told him, which was what the principal deputy assistant attorney general told her, which was what the deputy assistant attorney general told him, which was what the section chief told her, which was what the deputy section chief told him, which was what Nora and Sean had explained.”

Again, Comey is an author whose past life definitely helps him develop realistic plot lines with satisfying conclusions. The story is action-packed, and the verdict is never quite certain (although the guilt is). The entire character team deserves another future thriller! I’m glad the author found the time for this fourth book and I look forward to a fifth. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Sean has hooded green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But a unique fact about ginkgo botany in Central Park becomes significant.

Thank you to Penzler Publishers/Mysterious Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

I really enjoy the Nora Carleton series, and Red Verdict might be one of my favorites yet. I especially loved having Nora back where she belongs — in the prosecutor’s office as Deputy U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The story kicks off with the murder of a high-level defense industry executive and quickly unfolds into a gripping spy-meets-legal thriller, blending counterintelligence, courtroom strategy, and international intrigue. The plot is smart, fast-moving, and full of fascinating twists that kept me turning pages.

James Comey continues to deepen Nora as a character, along with her family and coworkers, making the stakes feel personal as well as professional. His insider knowledge of the justice system — clearly enhanced by his daughters’ work in the legal field — really shines throughout the story and the series as a whole. That authenticity adds weight to both the investigative and courtroom moments, and the action doesn’t let up all the way to the verdict.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press, and Mr. Comey for the ARC of this book. I truly hope we continue to get more action-packed Nora Carleton stories — or even a spin-off focused on another standout character from the series.

Excellent book. Highly recommend. Suspenseful. Well written. Well formed characters and ingenious plot.