X-Book

The Silver State

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

A gripping and thought-provoking legal thriller that redefines the genre—by critically acclaimed writer and criminal defense attorney, Gabriel Urza, author of All That Followed.

What if justice isn’t something the legal system is truly capable of?

The Silver State follows Santi, a law school graduate whose idealism is soon worn away by the cases and clients he’s assigned. When a young mother, Anna Weston, is brutally murdered and her body is found near Reno’s infamous silver mines, Santi and his mentor in the public defender’s office, C.J., are tasked with defending Michael Atwood, a man convicted on scant physical evidence and later sentenced to death.

Eight years later, a shocking letter from Atwood—now on death row—forces Santi to reexamine his role in the case. At the time, public obsession with Anna’s disappearance and intense pressure on the police to make an arrest led to a rushed trial. As they investigated the case Santi and C.J. became increasingly convinced they were defending an innocent man. Now, a horrific discovery leads Santi to reconsider everything he once believed, and all that it has cost him—love, family, and friendship.

The Silver State brings to vivid life the deals that get cut in the name of justice, the murkiness between victim and perpetrator, and the cost of a life in the law. Turning the legal thriller on its head, Urza tells an electrifying, emotionally charged tale of systemic failure and moral ambiguity that asks us: What if justice is a myth? For readers of Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent and Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy.

“A propulsive, hallucinatory, urgent novel. This book will haunt you."
—Sierra Crane Murdoch, author of Yellow Bird

Critics Review

"Astonishing. Urza's tour of the American jurisprudence apparatus is intense and stunning. What makes it terrifying, and utterly riveting, is the cast of humans he sends into the teeth of that apparatus—people conjured with such deft perception, such deeply felt empathy, that one is physically relieved to come up from these pages and realize it is not one's own life, one's own soul, being decided. The Silver State does this wondrous and exceptional thing: it takes you into custody and will not let you go until its final and devastating revelations—and not even then. A breathtaking novel by a first-rate writer."—Tim Johnston, bestselling author of Descent, The Current, and Distant Sons
With The Silver State, Gabriel Urza marries a poetic legal thriller with midlife crisis noir. Written in a terrifically stylish hardboiled Great Basin lyric, the novel is an elegy for the guilty and innocent alike, particularly those destroyed by the carceral state. A scathing, mournful and long-overdue autopsy of justice in the American imagination—Claire Vaye Watkins, author of I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness
"This intricate, hilarious, heartbreaking novel takes us deep into the American criminal justice system, as seen by a young public defender whose clients are often condemned—by poverty, racism, addiction, and indifference—long before they enter a courtroom. THE SILVER STATE is as riveting as a thriller, yet it is also the story of a society’s ethical erosion. Asking us to think hard about what passes for “justice for all” in the 21st century, it speaks powerfully and directly to our political moment."—Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks
"Gabriel Urza has written a propulsive, hallucinatory, urgent novel—an interrogation of morality and violence, of the allure and fickleness of narrative, of the porousness between guilt and innocence within a system that casts even the most idealistic among us as unwitting—and often witting—co-conspirators. An already-complicated institution as his subject, Urza complicates it further in surprising, unsettling, and ultimately necessary ways. This book will haunt you."—Sierra Crane Murdoch, author of the Pulitzer Prize–finalist Yellow Bird
"Gabriel Urza’s riveting legal thriller pits an idealistic young public defender and his cynical whip-smart female mentor against the all-too-common criminal justice racket. Set against the backdrop of Nevada’s stunningly gorgeous and deviously unforgiving landscape, The Silver State mines the emotional depth of two committed lawyers snared in a minefield of corruption, bias, and cruelty. Reminiscent of John Grisham and Scott Turow, Urza brings his skills as a novelist and lawyer, along with the poetic voice of a native son, to a chilling and thought-provoking tale."—Sally Denton, author of The Money and the Power and The Bluegrass Conspiracy
"A humane and empathetic examination: this novel serves as a thoughtful character study, and an indictment of our flawed, thorny criminal justice system. Gabriel Urza writes with elegance and compassion, as he dissects the toll our system takes on this country's most reviled criminals, its most vulnerable subjects, and the noble people struggling to help within the confines of a graceless institution." —Danya Kukafka, author of Notes on an Execution
Author Gabriel Urza
Narrator Timothy Andrés Pabon
Duration 9 hours and 18 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781668650424
Format Audiobook
Publisher Hachette Audio
Genre Crime and mystery fiction, Political / legal thriller, Thriller / suspense fiction
Availability US

More from the same

Author

Narrator

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.