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NEPM brings you interviews with New England authors to add to your summer reading list.

Summer Fiction: 'The One-Eyed Judge' By Judge Michael Ponsor

Judge Michael Ponsor, holding his first novel, "The Hanging Judge," which was published in 2013.
File photo
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The Republican
Judge Michael Ponsor, holding his first novel, "The Hanging Judge," which was published in 2013.

When Springfield federal Judge Michael Ponsor semi-retired after three decades on the bench, he started to enjoy two privileges of part time work: He could choose the type of cases he wanted, and he had a lot more time for his other professional passion, fiction writing.

A few years ago, his first legal thriller — "The Hanging Judge" — reached the New York Times bestseller list. His second — "The One-Eyed Judge" — features the same main character, Judge David Norcross, who Ponsor insists is only loosely based on himself.

"Judge Norcross is far less experienced than I am," Ponsor said in our recent interview. "In some ways, he's a nicer, sort of more ingenuous person."

In the latest installment of our summer fiction series, Ponsor told us he wanted to do more than just tell a gripping story.

Karen Brown is a radio and print journalist who focuses on health care, mental health, children’s issues, and other topics about the human condition. She has been a full-time radio reporter for NEPM since 1998.