By Anthony M. DeStefano
Two debut novels provide intimate insights into the criminal justice system.
In “Race to Judgment” (SelectBooks), United States District Judge Frederic Block draws on his 23 years on the federal bench in Brooklyn to synthesize several criminal cases in what he calls “reality fiction.”
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His book is peppered with real characters, some, like the Rev. Al Sharpton, identified by name, and others thinly disguised, like his protagonist, a stand-in for Ken Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, who died prematurely last year; and a plaintiff in a wrongful conviction suit, Jabbar Collins (Judge Block rejected New York City’s motion to dismiss Mr. Collins’s civil claim).
In an earlier book titled “Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge,” Judge Block offered a rare glimpse at the everyday vagaries that occur behind the legal curtain.
In “Race to Judgment,” literary license (accompanied by his original music and lyrics) grants even more wiggle room to expose the sausage factory side of criminal justice.