Book Review: Coded Justice by Stacey Abrams

Published in 2025. Mystery/Thriller. Avery Keane no longer works at the Supreme Court and has a new job in a prestigious law firm in Washington, D.C. A friend of hers, Noah Fox, asks her to take on a new assignment as an internal investigator at Camasca, a private company preparing for an Initial Public Offering. The owner, Rafe Diaz, is a former military officer providing cutting edge medical services to the VA. His program, INNOVAI, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help the doctors and nurses diagnose problems and implement new techniques to heal the Vets. The problems encountered include the death of one of the computer administrators and the mysterious symptoms of a handful of vets. Rafe Diaz wants Avery to investigate and resolve the issues before the IPO. Avery and her team are bound by an NDA and attorney client privilege, so whatever they discover will remain a secret. Forever.

Interesting book, but a scary scenario. I don’t understand how AI works but like all computer programs, it’s only as good as the programmer. When it isn’t, is it the program or is it the programmer? I don’t know, but that’s part of the dilemma we will be facing as a society as AI becomes an integral part of our life.