Judge Stone – James Patterson

Didn’t sip it, took a deep swallow. Wished it were something stronger. When she started shaking, Ben put his hand on her arm. It steadied her. He said, “We’re going to trial, Bria. There’s no reasonable alternative. But we’re going to fight this. I believe in you, and I’m going to do everything in my power to see that you get justice.”

She couldn’t look at him, didn’t permit himself to meet his eye. She was afraid of what she’d see, what she might read in his face. But she was regaining her self-control when she said, “Justice? Don’t bullshit me, I won’t stand for that. There’s no way you can tell me that I’m going to be all right when this is over.”

He dropped his voice. “Come on, Bria, you’re a doctor. You know no profession can guarantee results. I can’t promise an acquittal any more than a doctor can guarantee a cure. But I’m going to be your advocate. Try with everything I’ve got.” It wasn’t enough. She could feel disaster looming over her. Bria wanted to hear straight talk. Nothing less. “Ben, I’m going to lose.

I know that. You have to know that, too. Why are you here?” Ben didn’t respond immediately. He paused, took a breath. “Because it’s wrong, Bria. Everything that’s happening, what they’re doing to you. It couldn’t be more wrong. The day the story broke, I read about the case. I just had to come.” He wadded up a paper napkin, tossed it on his plate. “Like I told you, I can’t roll out guarantees. Except for this: Gonna do the best I can to make it right.”

It was the best offer she’d receive. Bria knew that. “Okay. What now?” His voice was reassuring. “We’ll take it one step at a time. I’m going to talk to each of the State’s witnesses. Take a statement. Analyze what they say.” She thought about that. “Nova? You’re taking her statement?” “Got to. Her mother’s, too.” She opened her mouth, shut it. It hurt to think of inflicting distress on the girl, making her talk about the abortion.

She wished she could prevent it. But it was inevitable. Bria had to let her lawyer do his job. They talked about his pretrial prep, and her struggle with the pain of waiting. She asked him to advise her, how she could best survive until the trial. He advised Bria to try to stay calm, keep up her day-to-day activities.

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the authors. Copyright © 2026 by Viola Davis and James Patterson Cover design by Jason Smith Cover art by Trevillion, Getty, and Adobe Stock Cover copyright © 2026 Hachette Book Group, Inc. Produced in association with JVL Media Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

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This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: cbf542c4afbd8e32
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,748,376 bytes (2.621 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9780316579834, 9780316601696, 9780316579841
• Pages: 350
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 503.06 minutes
• Total Words: 100,613
• Total Characters: 557,352
• Average Words per Page: 287.47
• Average Characters per Page: 1592.43

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