I enjoyed this critical link in William Bernhardt's Ben Kincaid series. I had read the first ten in the series and the last three, but missed this one which explains why Ben evolves from an excellent if poorly compensated criminal defense attorney to a more political being. The pace of the story is pounding and unrelenting and takes the reader on two very different journeys that successfully merge at the end. There are a number of twists and turns for the reader to follow, but even the most attentive will likely find at least one turn more than they expected. The contrast between the intellectual contention in a federal courthouse and the violent, sexual world of a dark inner circle of not so mythical blood-letting is stark. But the balance keeps the reader from getting too bogged down in either world allowing respites at just the right moments. Bernhardt deftly walks the thin line between too much darkness and enough to jar the reader and succeeds, but it's close thing. Thank God for Christina to keep everything real and to keep the reader honestly concerned about the outcome. Ben Kincaid shows a great deal of courage in this one and allows himself a few expressions of true emotion. There is a bit of political theater, but this is certainly understandable and forgivable given the setting of the piece and the key players involved. This book opened a new stage for the Kincaid series which was effectively exploited in the final books in the series.
i made the mistake of reading more by Bernhardt before writing this review. Oooops.once again, Loving seems to get beat up but comes out with the important information.xSenate aide Veronica Cooper was found in a secret Senate office beneath the Capitol building, on Senator Todd Glancy’s favorite couch, blood pouring from the knife wound in her throat. The young woman’s death comes on the heels of the release of a sordid videotape depicting her and Senator Glancy in compromising positions. With the senator’s reputation in tatters, the evidence against him–as a sexual predator and possibly a killer–mounts. By the time a nationally televised murder trial begins, Kincaid and hi
