It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Block knows how to depict the kind of high drama in a courtroom. After all, he has served as a New York US District judge since 1994. During his time on the bench, Judge Block has seen high profile cases and a cast of real life characters–bullies, charlatans, financial thugs, and wannabe mobsters–pass before him. Coupling this with his always keen eye taking in the other big cases around him, Block has dynamically crafted what he terms ‘reality fiction.’ The story is first order quality thriller writing.
Again, for a debut novel, Race to Judgment is impressive. Block is able to give readers a well-balanced story. Although there are many long scenes set in a courtroom, there’s never a moment where they feel long-winded or esoteric. At every moment, Block writes a story that keeps itself in perpetual motion taking the reader along through face-paced prose to an exciting conclusion. I would hope that Block seriously considers bringing Ken Williams back in a future novel, the character is just too talented of an advocate and too sincere to exist just in one story. Readers deserve more of him.
This story weaves the exoneration of a man 16 years in jail framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the defense of a wrongly accused young black man years later by the same corrupt criminal justice system, and the legal as well as cultural defense of a Hasidic woman’s sexual abuse. Few things are more New York City, more Brooklyn than the story Block gives us. Add to this mix Block including the music to eight songs he credits to his character Williams, who relaxes as a jazz pianist and country songwriter, and we are given one of the richest novels one could find.
Ken Williams, based on real life African-American lawyer Ken Thompson, isn’t a man struggling against demons or motivated by some need to atone for a passed guilt like so many other protagonists in the the genre. Rather, Williams is a man who realizes his own talent and skill, how he must stand for those who can’t stand up for themselves. This protagonist is one of those rare heroes uninterested in personal gain. Instead, he is motivated by a deep driving need to do what is right, not just legally but morally. This puts him in opposition to a criminal justice system too often blind to its own prejudices and too forgiving of its own failures due to bias. There is something vital and urgent to Ken Williams, especially given our current cultural moment as the criminal justice system is being pressed to reform itself by movements like Black Lives Matter. He is a champion we need not just in fiction but in real life.