Viola Davis, James Patterson on why new book centers on a small-town abortion trial

Viola Davis and James Patterson may seem like unlikely coworkers, but they learned a lot from each other writing their new novel, \

Like many booklovers, James Patterson read and loved Viola Davis’ 2022 memoir “Finding Me.” But rather than wait to see if she'd write a new book, he decided to pursue one himself. 

He was successful. “Judge Stone,” the creative brainchild of bestselling Patterson and EGOT-winner Davis, is out now. The novel is an Alabama courtroom thriller about a ripped-from-the-headlines trial involving a 13-year-old rape victim and the doctor who gave her an illegal abortion. The case splits the town, and at the center of the uproar is our protagonist, Judge Mary Stone.

The pair of authors share a love of reading. Davis is a comfort rereader, currently diving back into “The Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler. Patterson recently loved “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans. 

But they come from different creative fields, which ultimately made for an even stronger book, they agree. Patterson learned a lot about crafting dialogue from Davis, and Davis leaned on Patterson’s plot instincts. And, of course, they had edits for each other.

“I appreciate James accepting some of the very, very, very small notes from me,” Davis says, laughing. “I’m like, James, we can’t just have shrimp cocktail sauce on the table. We’ve got to have Crystal Hot Sauce on the table. Somewhere there’s got to be hot sauce.”