Product Description

A suspense novel that asks what if a liberal Supreme Court Justice, and the all-important swing vote, has a religious conversion that changes her whole life--and the way she views the law?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #125264 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this legal thriller for the evangelical Christian market, former trial lawyer- turned-novelist Bell imagines what would happen if a prochoice, atheistic Supreme Court Justice suddenly became a born-again believer. A near brush with death and the sudden loss of her mother leaves 52-year-old liberal Justice Millicent "Millie" Hollander pondering eternity and considering faith. When she becomes chief justice, Millie discovers that the belief she has embraced excites a firestorm of confusion and anger from her former supporters. A case involving a separation of religion and state opens up a huge rift in the Court, and the media soon turns the whole affair into a three-ring circus. Alarmed about Millie's potentially conservative positions, the president and stereotypically hard-drinking, womanizing Sen. Sam Levering plot her impeachment and possibly her death. A weak subplot concerns a teen's abortion and subsequent lawsuit against the clinic where it was performed, which rather unconvincingly intersects with Millie's story toward the close of the novel. Portions of the plot aren't completely fresh Angela Elwell Hunt's recent The Justice ably tackled the same general topic for the same audience. But Bell's take on the idea of a Supreme Court justice making a religious about-face offers some unique spins, including a curveball plot development that will blindside most readers. Laudably, most characters are multidimensional, and even the senator's evil troubleshooter, Anne Deveraux, becomes worthy of pity. Evangelical prolife fiction aficionados should appreciate this addition to the CBA thriller genre.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Often the swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court, liberal (and atheist) Millicent Manning Hollander is on the verge of becoming the first female chief justice with the backing of a powerful but morally bankrupt senator and the President. But a near-fatal accident, along with her mother's unexpected death and a burgeoning relationship with minister Jack Holden, pushes her in a different direction; Millicent's religious conversion changes her life and her interpretation of the law. As the chances increase that the Court may rule on an abortion case involving 16-year-old Sarah Mae (will the Christian Right finaly defeat Roe v. Wade?), Millicent's political foes threaten to impeach her, and only her new-found faith can help her. Bell, a lawyer known for solid Christian legal thrillers (Final Witness), offers a thought-provoking fantasy about what might happen if a staunch liberal becomes a conservative Christian, although he does slips into didactic overload with his strong anti-abortion rhetoric when he discusses Sarah Mae's situation. Strongly recommended for more conservative collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover
Deadlock is a novel about the impact of the Supreme Court today . . . and about imminent, real-life choices that will shape both its future and that of our nation.

She is a Supreme Court Justice. She is an atheist. And she is about to encounter the God of the truth and justice she has sworn to uphold.

For years, Millicent Hollander has been the consistent swing vote on abortion and other hot-button issues. Now she’s poised to make history as the first female Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. But something is about to happen that no one has counted on, least of all Hollander: a near-death experience that will thrust her on a journey toward God.

Skeptically, fighting every inch of the way, Hollander finds herself dragged toward belief in something she has never believed in—while others in Washington are watching her every step. Too much is at stake to let a Christian occupy the country’s highest judicial office. Even as Hollander grapples with the interplay between faith and the demands of her position, and as she finds answers through her growing friendship with Pastor Jack Holden, a hidden web of lies, manipulation, and underworld connections is being woven around her. It could control her. It could destroy her reputation. Unless God intervenes, it could take her out of the picture permanently.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable for legal thriller fans
The first book by James Scott Bell I read was "Blind Justice". It was a fast-paced book that was heavy on action, and it held my attention. "Deadlock" was the second one I read, and it was a very different novel. While "Blind Justice" could be considered a legal thriller, "Deadlock" would have to be more of a character study. There's honestly not a lot of action here, nor is there a lot of courtroom action (one subplot deals with an abortion case, but it has the majority of court time in the book), but there is a lot of character growth. The change in Millie is believable and paced well, and I have to say doing it any differently would have been a little too "fictionalized" for my taste. I only have two complaints, one major and one minor. The only true down spot I didn't like was the ending. There was an undercurrent of unrest in the Supreme Court with her change, and she makes a decision and gets help for it...then changes her mind a few chapters later. We are set up for an awesome showdown, and then it never happens. I realize that it was making a statement about her character and belief in the court, but it still seemed to cheat us just a little. The only other minor complaint is that one of the characters is described as looking like Denzel Washington, and that just never sits well with me. I think the fun of a novel is deciding your own players for the parts in your head, and when an author goes ahead and tells us who's playing this character, it sort of robs the fun of it. It's sort of like he's saying "I don't feel like describing this character, so here's who it is." I'm not saying that was Mr. Bell's intent, but it's a matter of personal preferences. Another novel I read did that for every single character ("This guy looks like a young Harrison Ford," and "She looked like Sharon Stone"), and I haven't liked it since. Again, that's just a minor complaint and I didn't even take that into consideration while rating this book. Other than that, there's not a lot to complain about. The revealed identity of one of the characters caught me completely by surprise, and I have to give a thumbs-up for that one. It fit perfectly into the story, and it made another character's decision late in the book make sense. I'll definitely be picking up more of Mr. Bell's books in the future, and I recommend this one.

A page turner deep into the night
This is a what if legal thriller that demands you pay attention!

This is the nightmare "what-if" scenario for the radical left. Suppose a liberal Supreme Court justice had a religous experience (or to put it blunter, she becomes a born-again, Bible-reading believer).

Go further and explore the impact her conversion has on her pro-abortion, establishment clause and "living constitution" vs. original intent beliefs.

Add one last goodie. While she is examining her positions, a liberal president (Al Gore, perhaps) nominates her as Chief Justice.

Now you've got the pot boiling.

The pro-abortion lobby has built an entire industry atop a fragile, and increasingly frail legal latticework. Should that ever truly be threatened, then are there any limits to politcal attacks or has the division between left and right gone too far?

I finished this one around 2:00 AM. You might want to start this on a Friday night so you can sleep in on Saturday.

Great Legal Thriller!
I discovered Jim Bell a few years ago when a friend suggested Blind Justice. Having enjoyed that one, I recently bought Deadlock. I found Deadlock to be very enjoyable as its highly possible storyline is quite engaging. There's an interesting twist, too. A good read!

Deadlock also ignited my real-life concerns about upcoming Supreme Court nominees.