Date & Time: Thursday, March 13, 2025 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET
This program is free, online only and will be recorded. Anyone who registers will receive a link to the video recording.
A reading and talk of Judge Ponsor’s third novel featuring the fictional federal Judge David S. Norcross.
Drawing on Judge Ponsor’s forty years on the federal bench, the books in his popular Norcross series possess what Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder calls “the heft of authenticity,” with vividly realistic renderings of criminal justice in the trenches.
Ponsor’s first novel, The Hanging Judge, depicted the high-pressure moral and psychological environment of a capital trial. Described by author Anita Shreve as “a crackling court procedural with authentic characters and beautiful prose,” it went on to be a New York Times bestseller.
The second novel in the series, The One-Eyed Judge, centered on the prosecution of an elderly Amherst College English professor for receipt of child pornography. Historian and National Book Award-winner Joseph J. Ellis praised the book, saying that the author “brings his rare combination of experience on the bench and flair for storytelling to a timely topic.” Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly called it “a gripping novel with a propulsive thrust. The characters live and breathe, the plot tugs you along willy-nilly, and the writing is crisp and compelling . . .”
Judge Ponsor’s third novel, Point of Order focuses on the RICO trial of prominent Boston businessman, accused of conspiring to murder a city police officer fifty years earlier. It explores the timely issue of judge-shopping through a plot featuring a rogue clerk who has found a way to steer judicial assignments in high-profile cases.
New York Magazine’s “Vulture” critic observed that with the judge’s perspective “. . . you get all these new angles. They’re so delicious. They kind of teach you how federal court procedure works. The crimes are realistic and believable . . . and he’s such a good writer.”
Among other things, Point of Order addresses the timely question of whether the law is an objective expression of principle or the product of an individual jurist’s biography and personal values. Professor Noah Feldman of Harvard Law School describes the book as “that rarest of birds: an original legal thriller. Taking off from the profound idea that justice has something to do with who does the judging, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat even as it expands your mind.”
In addition to reading from his novel, Judge Ponsor will discuss the complexities of writing legal fiction while sitting as a judge and the challenges of creating a compelling story that respects the realities of the courtroom. He will also offer advice and take questions about his path to getting a legal thriller written and published.