Judgment at Twenty Mile Bend

Jack Shook is a young felony prosecutor in Palm Beach County in the late 1970s who thinks he understands what justice is all about. He confidently, if not arrogantly, charges through life mowing down drug dealers, thieves, thugs, and other assorted malefactors and miscreants, thinking that he is the answer to the problem people in our society. Young Jack has an idyllic life, finding time to enjoy all the great benefits that young professionals experience, including an active social and recreational life.

Along the way, it appears that he is perfectly suited to his position, when in reality, he is deeply conflicted by his deep-seated opposition to the death penalty and his dislike of guns. This conflict exists even though it's his job to pursue the death penalty, and he is surrounded by friends and associates in the law enforcement community, which include a law-and-order judge and a popular chief of police.

After much success in the courtroom, Shook is assigned the prosecution of a grisly murder case that he cannot lose (appearing to be an obviously guilty verdict) only to be faced with the biggest surprise he has ever seen in a courtroom. Shook is confronted with people that will stop at nothing to get what they want, including his complete destruction. Through a series of events and reversals, Shook discovers that one often has little control over how justice is finally meted out — and to whom and by whom.

Will young Jack survive this great crisis in his life? Will he literally survive certain death? Read on and find the answer to these and other more vexing questions we all face in life.