"Strong legal thriller"

Some crimes are more repulsive than others are, as Major Mike Morelli of the Tulsa PD Homicide Division knows very well. He along with the FBI and a swat team are trying to rescue an eight-year-old boy who was kidnapped eight days ago. The police know where they are and plan to neutralize the kidnappers so they will not kill the boy. When they finally make a move, the child is unharmed but the kidnappers are missing.

In Chicago, two homophobic college men beat a gay bartender within an inch of his life but they leave him alive when they walked away. His body was found in the perpetrator's fraternity house very much dead. When one of the defendants and his lawyer is killed in open court, the remaining defendant's mother asks lawyer Ben Kincaid to defend him. He declines for personal reasons but his partner agrees to take the case not realizing everyone connected to the case is in danger because it is linked back to the kidnapping in Tulsa.

William Bernhardt is one of the best writers of legal thrillers in today's competitive sub-genre. His protagonist is a vulnerable champion of the underdog who believes everyone has the right to an attorney. The reason he refuses the case involving a relationship he had with the suspect's mother that ended badly and gives the reader a glimpse into his battered soul. When he becomes involved in the case, he does not let his personal feelings interfere with the job and readers will root for him to prevail even though they detest the person he represents.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 15, 2004

Summary

Bestselling author William Bernhardt is an unsurpassed master at blending psychological suspense with gripping, surprise-filled legal action. Now, Bernhardt and his crusading attorney Ben Kincaid return in a thrilling story of love, hate, and the power of a courtroom to separate deception from the truth.In Tulsa, Ben Kincaid has built a national reputation as a stalwart defense attorney who will fight tirelessly for his clients. In Evanston, Illinois, Johnny Christensen has built a national reputation as a sadistic bigot who beat and stabbed a gay man and left him to die. When Johnny?s mother comes to Ben and begs him to defend her son, he has one secret reason for saying no.But while Ben turns down the case, his younger, beautiful partner, Christina McCall, does not. Traveling to Chicago and facing an explosion of controversy and deadly violence surrounding the trial, Christina steps into a case that is already nearly lost. Her client?s only defense is his claim that he left his victim bludgeoned but alive. To prove that someone else committed the actual murder, Christina needs a little bit of evidence?and a good motive to go with it.When unforeseen circumstances force Ben Kincaid to enter the trial, the defense attorney sees only one way to prove Johnny?s innocence. But Ben?s plan means luring a killer out of the woodwork?even though he may kill again. . . .A novel of gut-wrenching twists and surprises, this thriller brilliantly explores the passions between lovers?and the passions behind society?s most heinous crimes. Once again, the remarkable William Bernhardt makes us challenge every assumption, second-guess every judgment, and feel the terror of the truth.