Mpr News With Kerri Miller

The Fitzgerald Theater was filled to the rafters Wednesday night for the season launch of Talking Volumes. Activist and novelist Stacey Abrams joined Kerri Miller on stage and began the evening with a moment of silence to mark the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, who had been shot and killed only hours earlier. Abrams, herself a national political figure, said dark moments such as these need to be met with determined unity — to stand for and with one another. She got those values from her parents, she said, who always emphasized the need to be in church, in school and in service to others. She also reflected on how failure has worked in her life as a catalyst for growth and how books have led her to develop a deep moral consciousness. It’s no surprise to readers who love her novels — including “Coded Justice,” the latest thriller in the Avery Keene series, which finds Avery relying on her friends to investigate the morally murky world of AI-powered medicine. Abram’s books are filled with memorable cha