Deadlock

October 7, 2002
In this legal thriller for the evangelical Christian market, former trial lawyer– turned–novelist Bell imagines what would happen if a prochoice, atheistic Supreme Court Justice suddenly became a born-again believer. A near brush with death and the sudden loss of her mother leaves 52-year-old liberal Justice Millicent "Millie" Hollander pondering eternity and considering faith. When she becomes chief justice, Millie discovers that the belief she has embraced excites a firestorm of confusion and anger from her former supporters. A case involving a separation of religion and state opens up a huge rift in the Court, and the media soon turns the whole affair into a three-ring circus. Alarmed about Millie's potentially conservative positions, the president and stereotypically hard-drinking, womanizing Sen. Sam Levering plot her impeachment and possibly her death. A weak subplot concerns a teen's abortion and subsequent lawsuit against the clinic where it was performed, which rather unconvincingly intersects with Millie's story toward the close of the novel. Portions of the plot aren't completely fresh—Angela Elwell Hunt's recent The Justice
ably tackled the same general topic for the same audience. But Bell's take on the idea of a Supreme Court justice making a religious about-face offers some unique spins, including a curveball plot development that will blindside most readers. Laudably, most characters are multidimensional, and even the senator's evil troubleshooter, Anne Deveraux, becomes worthy of pity. Evangelical prolife fiction aficionados should appreciate this addition to the CBA thriller genre.

November 1, 2002
Often the swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court, liberal (and atheist) Millicent Manning Hollander is on the verge of becoming the first female chief justice with the backing of a powerful but morally bankrupt senator and the President. But a near-fatal accident, along with her mother's unexpected death and a burgeoning relationship with minister Jack Holden, pushes her in a different direction; Millicent's religious conversion changes her life and her interpretation of the law. As the chances increase that the Court may rule on an abortion case involving 16-year-old Sarah Mae (will the Christian Right finaly defeat Roe v. Wade?), Millicent's political foes threaten to impeach her, and only her new-found faith can help her. Bell, a lawyer known for solid Christian legal thrillers (Final Witness), offers a thought-provoking fantasy about what might happen if a staunch liberal becomes a conservative Christian, although he does slips into didactic overload with his strong anti-abortion rhetoric when he discusses Sarah Mae's situation. Strongly recommended for more conservative collections.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.