Publication Date July 15, 2025
In 2021, I read and reviewed Stacy Abrams’ novel While Justice Sleeps, and was introduced to Avery Keene, “…a brilliant young law clerk working for Justice Howard Wynn, a curmudgeon who is in failing health. Avery is doing her best to hold her life together, working long hours in a demanding job, while dealing with a messy family situation featuring her drug addict mother.” Then in 2023, I read Abrams’ second Avery Keene novel, Rogue Justice, but the shocking corruption in Washington, D.C. in general and the U.S. Supreme Court in particular has made me so concerned about the state of our democracy that I had trouble finishing it. Although I was enjoying Avery’s story, and I found the book to be (as expected) well written and filled with insider knowledge, I just kept having nightmares.
So I was intrigued by the premise of Coded Justice, Abrams’ third in the Avery Keene series. In this latest installment, Avery is trying to start a new career as an investigator at a prestigious high-end law firm in Washington, D.C. It seems that Camasca Enterprises, a tech firm focused on medical issues working on incorporating AI as a tool to deliver health care to veterans, needs help. Their prototype is plagued by strange anomalies (I know, sort of redundant) and the mysterious death of an engineer has brought things to a head. Enter Avery! She and her colleagues need to figure out why things are screwing up.
In my recent review of Bruce Holsinger’s novel Culpability, which also revolved around AI, I noted that “I really enjoyed learning about AI and considering some of the arguments for and against its use.” The same is true (perhaps even more so) in Coded Justice, with the added bonus of Abrams’ insider knowledge about D.C., legal issues and ethics, and the issues around race and gender in medical care.
The word “coded” in the title has multiple meanings. While related to software programming, it also explores the differentiation of medical diagnosis and treatment based on race and gender. Treatment decisions are made based on how patients are “coded” or classified based on their race and gender. Also, one of the engineers at Camasca uses the phrase “code switching,” meaning how people change their behavior to match the social context of a situation. Personally, I found this fascinating (perhaps more so than AI, TBH).
As expected, this third entry in the series is filled with well-developed characters embroiled in legal and political issues, and the mystery-thriller aspect is very well done. My only issue is that the dialogue sometimes seemed clunky or at least stilted, and IMHO the characters might have been more relatable if they talked more like real people. Shallow, but my opinion, and doesn’t detract from the quality of the story or the impact on the reader diving into the world of AI as an everyday issue. While this can definitely be read and enjoyed as a standalone, the backstory about Avery is likely to be helpful to understand her actions, so I would recommend reading earlier books in the series. Again, this entry in the series gets four stars from me, along with thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review.