From Publishers Weekly
In Bernhardt's somewhat predictable 14th thriller to feature ace Oklahoma trial lawyer Ben Kincaid (after 2004's
Hate Crime), Ben goes to Washington, D.C., to defend his home state's senior senator on a murder charge. Sen. Todd K. Glancy, a former law school colleague who later became "a successful and fabulously wealthy oil magnate" (a fact Ben's mother never lets her son forget), has been caught on video in flagrante with a much younger intern. Soon after the video is shown endlessly on television, the young woman is found dead in a tunnel leading from the Capitol to the Senate offices, and Glancy is charged with her ritual murder. Worst of all, Ben begins to distrust his own client, though dropping the case would be a political and financial disaster. The author has obviously had fun with his research, letting Ben and his team wander around the seats of power, making observations that range from the ironic to the openly gung-ho touristy. If Bernhardt occasionally makes Margaret Truman's books look shrewd and sardonic by comparison, his zeal should please his loyal readers.
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From Booklist
The author shakes up this long-running series by taking his lead character, attorney Ben Kincaid, out of his familiar Oklahoma surroundings and sending him to Washington, D.C., where an old law-school chum, now a U.S. senator, is, well, waist deep in a sex scandal. When the scandal turns murderous, Ben realizes he needs a crash course in Washington law--not to mention backroom politics--if he hopes to keep his old friend out of prison. Assuming, of course, that the senator really is as innocent as he claims. Despite its serious subject, this Kincaid novel is funnier than many of its predecessors. The new surroundings are a plus, too, focusing the reader on the unfamiliar setting instead of the rather-too-familiar legal-thriller formula. All in all, series fans will be satisfied.
David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
