QUEER JUSTICE

In Charns’ alternate-history novel, a sex worker accuses a U.S. Supreme Court justice of purchasing his services during the height of the 1960s “Lavender Scare.”

In 1966, imprisoned sex worker George Smith tells his attorney, Mitch “Puck” Pilsudski, that he “balled Abe Fortas,” the Supreme Court justice. That’s why he’s in jail now, he says, on false charges, because the government is trying to keep him quiet. Puck is skeptical but decides to look into the claim. It’s an era in which many people were fired from government service just because of their sexual orientation, and when Smith’s statement gets back to J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director decides to use it to get something he wants from the Court—by blackmailing Fortas. Specifically, Hoover wants the Court to rule favorably on a surveillance case relating to union leader Jimmy Hoffa. At the same time, Puck writes a letter to Justice Fortas to ask for assistance on Smith’s behalf; the FBI intercepts the note and perceives it as a threat. Additional intrigue is afoot as well—one of Puck’s clients is tied to the Hoffa case, and Fortas’ gay clerk gets fired—and the potential for everything to go public is high. This is a compact novel, but it manages to include many intriguing details about its characters and time period. The narrative blends real events with speculation, and because the novel features so much plot exposition, most of the characters feel underdeveloped; the author seems to rely on readers’ prior knowledge of the various historical figures. Puck is probably the most fully formed character, but even he feels a bit hard to pin down; it’s sometimes difficult to tell if he’s being earnest or manipulative. The book also leaves the question ambiguous about whether the central mystery contained elements of truth or was all a faked plot to take down a liberal justice. A time jump at the end puts an intriguing button on the story.

A sometimes-engaging spin on historical events that’s hampered by inadequate character development.