Rating: 
Summary: Non-stop environmental legal thriller starring Kincaid
Review: Tulsa trial lawyer, Ben Kincaid, is tired and in need of a vacation after a series of tough courtroom battles. He decides to rest in Magic Valley while doing a book signing of his first novel. Though no one shows up for the signing, Ben begins to relax. That state changes and all hell breaks loose when a lumberjack is murdered. The accused, George Zakin, pleads with Ben to defend him. Six years ago, Ben got George acquitted from a charge of homicide and expects the much wiser attorney to repeat the outcome. Ben begins to inquire into other possible suspects, including Bigfoot. The prosecutor is the merciless but sexy Granny Adams, who always obtains a conviction. As Ben digs deeper into the investigation, he finds himself in danger from both the tree-huggers and the tree-cutters. DARK JUSTICE, the ninth Ben Kincaid legal thriller, is an exciting tale that provides insight into the protagonist's past as well as placing him in a new venue. The story line is filled with action though the courtroom antics seem ordinary for a Kincaid novel. The complex logging environmental issue of the Pacific Northwest disappointingly retrogrades into a violent thriller without much insight into the controversy. Still, William Bernhardt demonstrates his immense talent by keeping the story line filled with non-stop action that will please fans of Kincaid. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Dark Justice
Review: Ben Kincaid, attorney of the lost cause, shines as the harbinger of justice in a small logging town called Magic Valley. With the help of his faithful assistant, Christina, Ben shows his fortitude and ingenuity while defending a Green Rager activist known as Zak. Loggers versus environmentalists sets an intriguing background to a murder trial with an unscrupulous and voluptuous prosecutor with the unlikely handle, Granny. Just when the cause is hopeless and the client is to fry, an unexpected surprise saves the day. Daniel Bernhardt writes like a dream. His words flow effortlessly and flawlessly. He is a great storyteller. A great read! I am buying the rest of his books now.
Rating: 
Summary: Ham-fisted exposition very unlike Bernhardt
Review: courtroom fiction's eagle scout and his team in another in the 'justice' sries.some readers might find these reoccurring main characters to be endearingly innocent, others might find them to be cloyingly adolescent. topical plot, good pacing and deft cross-examinations. above average.
Rating: 
Summary: good action page--turner, but problems
Review: I always have enjoyed the Ben Kincaid series. While the incidents in the story are supposedly based on real events, some of the actions and characters are a little hard to believe. The ending becomes very far-fetched and all loose ends are tied up neatly. You have to suspend disbelief at a point. Real life doesnt generally work that way. However, it is fiction and it is entertaining, and it does bring to some people's attention the complexity of environmental vs. economic problems. I suggest reading one of the author's first books before starting this one, so that you can get familiar with the recurring characters.
Rating:
Summary: Ham-fisted exposition very unlike Bernhardt
Review: I have read all of the Ben Kincaid novels preceding this one and thoroughly enjoyed them all. But I was disappointed (and a bit frustrated) by this one. While the reader might not agree with the client's point of view all the time, the way that Bernhardt handled this one was fairly clumsy. In page after page after page, the client and his friends give their viewpoint on the issue, both in general and specifically. Instead of helping the reader understand what is on their minds, this part of the book (and it's a long part) comes across as a pamphlet for the top ten reasons why the reader should join Greenpeace today. As I stated, I've enjoyed most of Bernhardt's writings immensely; but this one was a gross aberration.
Rating:
Summary: TO MUCH PREACHING AND TO UNBELIEVEABLE!!!
Review: I have read all the "Justice" book in order, this being number eight. I don't remember rateing any of them this low before. Ben, as usual takes a case to help a cause instead of for money. I think this is very good of him but page after page is used to push the "save the trees" people on you. I agree the trees should not be cut but I did not buy this type book to hear about it. Ben and Christina McCall are there usual smart selves. Ben is paired against "Granny" Adams when the case goes to trial. I think Loving is losing it as a tough guy. He is getting beat up to much. The part with thefireat the cabin is so unbelieveabe it is unreal, come on, this can't happen. Mike and Jones are more or less left out of this one. It seems like a lot of the sam thought was written in a previous book, the DA, the Judge, the fire, the helicopter, all sound like something I read in one of his others. Would suggest reading them in order and maybe skipping this one.
Rating:
Summary: The Audio - a Big Mistake
Review: I was so annoyed with the way the book was read that it was hard for me to relax to the story, which, incidentally, was on a subject that interests me very much. The man who reads it ends every sentence with a rising inflection, whether it is a question or not. It becomes a monotonous attention stealer, a cruel destruction of a perfectly good book. You wonder why he was hired to do the reading. Don't they audition their readers? Or listen to them while they're reading? If you like to be read to, get your twelve-year old to read it. He'll do a better job.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read Despite some Flaws
Review: If this had been the first Ben Kinkaid book I had read, I might have been more observant of the minor flaws cited by some of the other reviewers, but I had already read and thoroughly enjoyed all the previous books in the series. Ben Kinkaid and Christina McCall are very likeable persons; reading another of their adventures is like a reunion with old friends. I was reading for enjoyment, not to look for fault to find. Granted, the editor(s) should have caught and corrected such errors as the body count at the Murrah Office Building, but that is hardly pivotal to plot or character development. On page 436 of the paperback edition, the author states: "The environmental facts, statistics, and information presented in this book are true, all taken from unbiased sources. All the actions depicted in the conflict between loggers and environmentalists are based on true events . . . ." What better way to learn about these facts than coincidentally in the reading of an entertaing and engaging story?
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Crime Book
Review: This was the first William Bernhardt book I ever read. I read it right before William Bernhardt came to our library. He is an amazing, twisted man! But anyway, about the book. I thought this was an excellent book when I read it, but then as I started reading more of his books, I realized that it was not his best work at all. He is so similar to John Grisham, it's really quite amazing! In this book, a logging company fights conservationists until the very end, eventually leading to murder. In Dark Justice, Bernhardt reminds us of the age-old problem of the battle between conservationists and logging companies.
Rating:
Summary: Good start, slow finish
Review: Though this book had a good start, the trial to the end of the book was slooooow. I ended up skimming through most of the latter parts of the book and still managed to get the story line. The scene of the fire at the cabin was oh too unbelievable. The author and story lost credibility with me there. Also, the confession by the murderer was too speech like as a previous reviewer noted. Not natural. The relationship between Christina and the Sheriff was fine, but why did the author feel he had to belabor Kincaid's opinion on that relationship? For goodness sake, enough is enough. I didn't feel the book was too pro-environmentalist and preachy though. I felt the writer did a good job in that respect of illustrating both sides of the economical vs. conservation conflict. I did enjoy the story for the most part, mostly because it wasn't the same trite plot that is in most murder mysteries. The loggers vs. conservationists battle does continue to rage on and I was eager to hear more about this. The author did a good job in this respect of including facts into the story so you could learn as you read along, more about what goes on with respect to logging. Aw yes, a few details re: facts were off, but as a previous reviewer stated that didn't affect the story, and last I checked, editors are still human.
| 
