I’ve read several books by Finder and some were great (Company Man) while others are rather middling (Paranoia). His new one, Judgement is one of the good ones and I’ll keep looking for him on the shelves.

*******
Judgement
Joseph Finder
2019 / 399 pages
read by January LaVoy – 10h 19m
rating: A+ / legal thriller
*******

Juliana Brody, a 40-year old judge in the Massachusetts Superior Court, is presiding over a case of sexual harassment at a large tech company, an Uber competitor. A one-night stand at a conference ends with her being blackmailed to rule in favor of the company. Juliana is way too rule-abiding to just cave in. But that creates a lot of tension. She hires a detective and knows a very powerful retired judge.

Contemporary politics and international relations and finance are involved so there might not be any limits. Meanwhile she has personal problems involving her husband and teen-age son. So everything Brody has is at stake – and the ending is terrific.