Death Row

Rating:
Summary: First rate
Review: Author Bernhardt usually writes an interesting story, but
this effort is among his best, and he has risen to a higher
level of suspense and drama.

The story essentially involves the hero's attempts to block
an execution he feels isn't supported by the evidence, and
his hopes soar when the main prosecution witness visits him
to recant her testimony, and he prepared the paperwork to get
the case before a federal judge.

But as quickly as his hopes soared, they are dashed as the

recanting witness turns up dead. Before she can repeat her
story to anyone else.

Ben's whole office gets involved, and his partner Christina plays a more important role than usual, and they begin delving
into the whole background of the case. The murder that is at
the base of the planned execution was especially horrible, and
everyone involved, as well as much of the public, remembers it all too well, and those memories cause Ben and his staff much
trouble as they try to save a man's life.

The defendant's job as a food chemist allows us to see a new
side to our food and restaurant industry, and Bernhardt has done
a nice job of presenting such useful information in the context
of his legal thriller.

Very, very interesting story, and this is a book any reader of
thrillers will want to grab and read.

Rating:
Summary: Best Kincaid novel yet!!!
Review: Bernhardt is at the top of his form in Death Row, a suspenseful and, yet at the same time, delightfully entertaining read. The whole gang is back, of course, with Christina now as his partner/lawyer - a nice touch, but when will Ben and Christina ever have a date?

It's about time that Mike Morrelli, Ben's cop buddy, gets a bigger role in this book. He's a great character and should be more fully developed.

Bernhardt hit a home run with this mixture of one part serial killer, two parts condemned innocent man, and three parts fun with the characters. I immensely enjoyed this book more than any other since Steward Woods' last book.

Rating:
Summary: Good guys finish first
Review: Oklahoma attorney, Ben Kincaid, is back. This time he is trying to win a reprieve for a death row prisoner whose case he lost seven years earlier. Time is not on Ben's side.

Industrial chemist, Ray Goldman was convicted of a the brutal slaying of a fellow coworker's entire family, except a fifteen year old daughter who was left to die chained to the basement floor. The daughter survived the ordeal and was the star witness in the prosecution case. Seven years has passed, now Erin Faulkner wants to recant her testimony. Before she is able to do so to anyone but Ben, she is murdered.

Ben Kincaid is a do-gooder at heart. He likes to help the downtrodden and the helpless. He is always one step away form bankruptcy. He is really an anti-lawyer kind of lawyer and a very likable character. The first chapter of this book was very graphic and extremely hard to read. The plot itself was suspenseful and a lot of twists to it. There was a good secondary story between homicide detective partners, Mike Morelli and Kate Baxter. Overall, a good book that sometimes got a little too preachy about the fast food industry. Fast food lovers beware-this might not be the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great!
Review: One of my favorite writers, I think the plot is a little too weak this time out, although the writing is up to Bernhardt's usual standards, and the pace keeps the plot from bogging down too often. Still amazed Ben hasn't hooked up with his gal friday yet, seems way overdue, oh well, maybe next time out.

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: See synopsis above.

Ben Kincaid returns as Bernhardt's likeable protagonist. An outstanding attorney that somehow gets by, even though he doesn't ever seem to make money.
Kincaid and his sidekicks--you gotta like Loving and his crazy conspiracy theories--whoop it up again in a very enjoyable legal/suspense thriller. I think this is one of Bernhardt's best. A gripping storyline written in a style that will draw you in.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Ben Kincaid tries to stop an execution.
Review: The hero of William Bernhardt's Ben Kincaid novels is a socially inept but legally astute Oklahoma criminal defense attorney. Traditionally, a Ben Kincaid novel features a great deal of cutesy banter and coy behavior on the part of Ben and his wacky office staff. There is still some of that in "Death Row," but this book proves to be much more harrowing and serious than the usual Bernhardt fare.

The first chapter of "Death Row" is frightening and disturbing. The reader is immediately plunged into an apparent home invasion in which a family is brutally tortured and murdered, with one survivor desperately trying to break free before she too is killed. We then fast forward seven years later to the trial of Ray Goldman, who is convicted and sentenced to die for the killing of the aforementioned family. Ben Kincaid is handling Goldman's case. With the help of his good friend and law partner, Christina McCall, Ben desperately tries to postpone the execution so that he can find evidence that will exonerate his client.

There is an entertaining subplot featuring Major Mike Morelli, Ben's former brother-in-law. Morelli is a homicide detective who is forced to pair up with a new partner, a woman who is as irritating as she is beautiful. Morelli and his partner get embroiled in Ben's case when several women connected with the investigation are found dead, both apparent suicides. Did these women really kill themselves or were they murdered?

The plot thickens as Ben, Mike and their colleagues dig deeper and deeper to get at the truth of what really happened seven years ago. "Death Row" is an absorbing and hard-hitting thriller with many surprising twists and turns. The book is fast-paced and the humor is appropriately restrained considering the subject matter of the novel. I do have one or two quibbles, however. There are several coincidences in the book that make little sense. In addition, as in his previous books, Bernhardt persists in having Ben and Christina relate emotionally to one another like lovesick teenagers. It would be nice to see these two behave like mature adults. Still "Death Row" is one of the best Ben Kincaid novels that Bernhardt has written in years and I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: No wonder this poor guy spent 7 years on death row
Review: This is a book that legal-murder-crime-mystery writers salivate over. A book that grabs the reader by the throat from the first dozen pages, and continues to shake them. Can't put it down. Got to see if Ray Goldman, the brilliant chemist who has a hobby, yes, of being a gourmet cook on the side, is really guilty. Guilty of murder most foul, the slaughter of an innocent family.

Then we float into the arena of . . . golly, this doesn't make too much sense. People don't talk that way; You can't hide evidence from defense lawyers . . . ever; People don't rise to great heights who are sexist, painfully shy, impotent to act in their personal lives, buffoons.

Ray is convicted on the testimony of the sole survivor of the Faulkner family massacre, 15 year old Erin Faulkner. Seems she identified the voice of the masked assailant/psychopath, and it's Goldman. This catches the shy but brilliant attorney Ben Kincaid unawares because the evidence has never been turned over to the defense. Now granted, we readers aren't brilliant jurists but this is reversible error. This is mistrial city. This is prosecutorial misconduct. Makes no difference. Ray is sentenced to be executed.

Ray faces legal injection but doesn't want Ben interviewing his ex-girlfriend . . . .whom no one has ever interviewed. This seems odd. At least tell us that one of the troika, the cops, the DA or the Defense interviewed her. But no, like the lineup evidence, no one asked.

Mike Morelli, close friend of Ben's and in his own right a brilliant detective, attends the crime scene of Erin Faulkner's death hours after she tells Ben that she didn't really "know" it was Ray Goldman behind the ski mask, and Morelli concludes it was definitely . . . a suicide.

Morelli's relationship with Lisa Baxter, his beautiful partner, and for that matter Kincaid's relationship with Christina, his partner, is straight out of school . . . .Middle School. They are childish, foolish, tedious, and make you want to turn the page.

Ultimately great plot, a couple of nicely crafted surprises, poor dialogue. Larry Scantlebury. Three stars.

Rating:
Summary: A Folksy Thriller
Review: This is my first venture into the world of William Bernhardt. It proved to be a rewarding one. The story is centers around a murder committed 7 years in the past. As a result, the man convicted for the slaying of most of a family is awaiting execution. As times draws near for the execution, the prosecution's star witness, the lone surviving family member, recants her testimony that put the alleged killer on death row. The rest of the story moves quickly, delving into the sins and secrets of the past. I found it a solid mystery that kept my attention the whole way.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down!
Review: This is without a doubt, Mr Bernhardt at his best. I just love his writing. Especially when it involves Ben, Christina, Loving, Jones and Mike. He just excels. The story was well written, compelling and intriguing. It kept me guessing with every turn of the page. Ben and Co have been long time favorites of mine and this time around is no exception. They're the best in the courtroom and the squad room. This is an engaging suspensful novel that I highly recommend. Fans of Mr Bernhardt will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Mildly Disappointed
Review: What began as a suspenseful thriller, ended as a mild disappointment. Ben Kincaid, the Oklahoma defense attorney who is the primary protagonist in William Bernhardt's main body of work, is representing Ray Goldman, a man on death row who gets his final reprieve seconds before he is to receive the fatal injection. The witness whose testimony sealed Goldman's conviction has told Kincaid she lied when she identified Goldman as the killer of her family. After she is found dead from an apparant suicide, Kincaid is left trying to find the evidence required to overturn the conviction and save Goldman's life.

Having never read one of Bernhardt's books but seeing favorable reviews describing his work as "legal thrillers with suspenseful courtroom drama", I was surprised and disappointed with the dearth of actual legal proceedings.

The bulk of the story seemed to revolve around the many different interpersonal relationships of the characters and the other storylines while Ben and his staff looked for evidence. They included: Ben's longtime friend, police officer Mike Morelli and his new partner, sarcastic Kate Baxter; sex offender Gabriel Aravena, whose prescription of Depo Provera had essentially chemically castrated him, has had it discontinued; and the fast food industry's self-made billionaire, who created artificial flavoring to enhance the taste of the the animal parts used in his expensive upscale burgers, emerges as a possible suspect.

It is the attention author Bernhardt paid to the subplots that has created my ambivalence toward the story. While interesting in themselves, they didn't seem to be smoothly interwoven as integral plot ingredients. Therefore, DEATH ROW gets a lukewarm recommendation, but strong enough for me to give William Bernhardt one more try.