Supreme Justice by Max Allan Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After a conservative administration has put in place a conservative Supreme Court, the US has overturned Roe v. Wade, implemented expanded police powers, and civil liberties are in decline. Then one night, a conservative associate justice and his clerk are having dinner when apparently a restaurant robbery goes bad and the justice is killed. Or so it seems.

Joe Reeder, a former secret service agent is called in by his best friend who is leading the investigation. Reeder took the bullet that saved the conservative president’s life, a president whose policies he detested. Now, as he looks at the death of a justice who overturned Roe v. Wade, he discovers that this was no ordinary robbery but an assassination. Another follows and it becomes clear that this is a conspiracy that originates from somewhere within the government, intent on changing the court’s composition now that a liberal president is in office.

This is a classic “trust no one” plot where Reeder and his partner, Patti Rogers (who is not certain she can trust Reeder at points) must attempt to uncover and bring down the conspiracy before further deaths transpire without tipping off someone close to them that is part of the conspiracy.

The book’s a page-turner, a diverting read with an exciting end that keeps you on the edge of your seat. A perfect vacation book, which this was for me. It’s not great writing necessarily and some elements such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade (essential to the plot) may stretch plausibility. But if you like legal thrillers and don’t overly care about such matters, this is a diverting read.

View all my reviews