- Hardcover: 389 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books (Jan 9 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345407385
- ISBN-13: 978-0345407382
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 16.5 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 771 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,655,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The eighth in a series of popular courtroom cliffhangers, Bernhardt's newest Ben Kincaid novel (after Extreme Justice) finds the savvy defense attorney in a tiny logging town in the Pacific Northwest. The sinister forces at work behind Magic Valley's Bunyan-esque simplicity emerge when a tree-cutter explodes in anger and kills a local lumberjack?and Ben's old client, George Zakin, is suspected of the foul play. Called on to defend this man again (six years earlier Zakin had been accused and acquitted of an ecoterrorism homicide), Ben reluctantly takes the case. Ben's investigation of the other suspects?a scar-faced drug lord, the mysterious Bigfoot creature often sighted in the thick, dark woods, the leader of a covert logging consortium called "The Cabal" and many a vicious redneck snarling repetitiously about "tree-huggers"?brings Ben into dangerous contact with the Magic Valley's underbelly. The sexiness of Ben's opponent, "stunning young prosecutor" "Granny" Adams, raises the courtroom stakes. But somehow?perhaps because the cranky old hanging judge would rather be fishing?these scenes fail to deliver the drama they promise. Bernhardt juices the suspense with chapter-ending teasers ("The secret would have to die. With her."), but the gratuitous violence and oversimplification of the logging controversy keep the potboiler on medium-high at best.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Thrillingly interwoven plots are Bernhardt's forte, a talent he once again demonstrates full-blown in his latest superb legal thriller featuring attorney Ben Kincaid. Six years ago, Ben defended an animal-rights activist charged with murder. Zoom to the present. Ben, in Washington State on a book-signing tour, is arrested for breaking and entering as he attempts to liberate a cat whose owner has sentenced it to unnecessary euthanasia. Ben inadvertently gets involved in a group called Green Rage, a conservationist organization wrestling with the local logging industry in a life-or-death struggle. One of the members of the group has been charged with a horrible murder--and who is the alleged perp? None other than the man Ben defended six years ago. To defend him again, Ben has to go up against prosecutor Granville "Granny" Adams, who, despite her moniker, is attractive and tough as nails. She is bound and determined to win this case. In the meantime, subplots swirl and crash around Ben's feet, but these only serve to enrich the entertainment value of this wonderfully riveting read. Brad Hooper
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First Sentence
Tess O'Connell pushed the thick foliage out of her path, but her hand snagged on a sharp thorn. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Tess O'Connell pushed the thick foliage out of her path, but her hand snagged on a sharp thorn. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ham-fisted exposition very unlike Bernhardt,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dark Justice (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good start, slow finish,
By
This review is from: Dark Justice (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Justice,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dark Justice (Mass Market Paperback)
I wouldn't give this book even one star. It was preachy, formulaic and totally predictable, even down to the murderer uttering what was supposed to be a confession brought on by stress yet he sounded as if he had been coached by a professional speech writer. And Ben Kincaid's "Aw shucks" character was just a little too much.
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