From Publishers Weekly
An arresting opening sequence gets this latest crime thriller by bestselling Bernhardt (Criminal Intent, etc.) off to a running start, with Oklahoma lawyer Ben Kincaid back for another high velocity courtroom adventure. Seven years before the central events of the novel, a gruesome family massacre puts food flavorist Ray Goldman on death row, despite Kincaid's vigorous defense, on the strength of the incriminating testimony of the 15-year-old sole survivor, Erin Faulkner. Seven years later, Goldman has been given a 30-day reprieve from lethal injection, but time is running out. Simultaneously, a regretful Erin reappears in Kincaid's office, confessing that she was coerced by assertive DA Jack Bullock into making a positive ID in court. This development is just what the defense needs to free Goldman from his sentence, but before she can testify, Erin is found dead, an apparent suicide victim. Foul play is immediately suspected, and Kincaid and his detective buddy Mike Morelli spring into action, the latter hoping to redeem himself after an initial botched investigation. Kincaid and co-counselor Christina McCall desperately buy more time in court from spiteful Judge Derek and are spurred on when Erin's friend Sheila Knight winds up dead in what looks like another suicide. Some readers will be disappointed by Kincaid's minor role in the solution of the crime, but he returns to center stage in the courtroom finale. Bernhardt slips too often into flabby writing ("She had been a bit pudgy as a teenager, but judging by appearances, that baby fat was long gone") and plodding dialogue ("Did you see Erin on the day she... passed?"), but lively plotting should keep fans satisfied.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The veteran novelist follows up his fair-to-middling (mostly middling) Criminal Intent [BKL Jl 02] with this somewhat better Ben Kincaid thriller. Kincaid is a defense attorney whose clients tend to be underdogs who look guilty. His client this time certainly fits the mold: he's in jail, on death row, convicted of slaughtering almost an entire family, leaving alive only the 15-year-old girl whose testimony wound up putting him behind bars. Now, seven years later, the girl claims she perjured herself, but before her recantation can put the apparently innocent man back on the street, she's murdered. Ben must find her killer so he can spring his client from prison. If this premise sounds a mite shopworn, that's because it is. There's no denying that Bernhardt can write a tasty yarn, but his Kincaid novels have never been, well . . . haute cuisine. These are meat-and-potatoes mysteries: familiar characters, standard dialogue, and a sequence of fairly common twists and turns. Bernhardt sticks almost religiously to formula, but his formula is an agreeable one, offering easily digestible fare, and like so much comfort food, it has found a large and appreciative audience. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“A first-rate storyteller.”
—Tulsa World
“[WILLIAM BERNHARDT IS A] MASTER OF THE LEGAL THRILLER.”
—Abilene Reporter-News
“BERNHARDT JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER.”
—The Daily Oklahoman
“Bernhardt is a master of the suspense novel and this promises to uphold his winning streak.”
—Wisconsin State Journal
“An electrifying novel sure to stagger the imaginations of all readers. . . . Bernhardt’s characters are believable, interesting, and always intriguing. His dialogue is top notch—loaded with tension, sharp wit, and telltale foreshadowing that provides readers with a thrill a minute. Bernhardt’s balance of suspense and humor adds a delicious flavor to his story. . . . Death Row is a home run not only for its author, but also for its readers.”
—Tulsa World
“If you’re a fan of legal mysteries, you’ll enjoy any by William Bernhardt.”
—Daily American
“An arresting opening sequence gets this latest crime thriller by bestselling Bernhardt off to a running start, with Oklahoma lawyer Ben Kincaid back for another high velocity courtroom adventure.”
—Publishers Weekly
Review
?A first-rate storyteller.??Tulsa World?[WILLIAM BERNHARDT IS A] MASTER OF THE LEGAL THRILLER.??Abilene Reporter-News?BERNHARDT JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER.??The Daily Oklahoman ?Bernhardt is a master of the suspense novel and this promises to uphold his winning streak.??Wisconsin State Journal?An electrifying novel sure to stagger the imaginations of all readers. . . . Bernhardt?s characters are believable, interesting, and always intriguing. His dialogue is top notch?loaded with tension, sharp wit, and telltale foreshadowing that provides readers with a thrill a minute. Bernhardt?s balance of suspense and humor adds a delicious flavor to his story. . . . Death Row is a home run not only for its author, but also for its readers.??Tulsa World?If you?re a fan of legal mysteries, you?ll enjoy any by William Bernhardt.??Daily American?An arresting opening sequence gets this latest crime thriller by bestselling Bernhardt off to a running start, with Oklahoma lawyer Ben Kincaid back for another high velocity courtroom adventure.??Publishers Weekly
Death Row FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Oklahoma attorney Ben Kincaid put his reputation on the line when he represented Ray Goldman. The seemingly mild-mannered industrial chemist was charged with a staggeringly brutal crime: the torture and massacre of an entire suburban Tulsa family. But in spite of the grisly, tabloid-ready details of the sensational case, Ben's deft defense against a lack of hard evidence and improper police procedure made an acquittal all but certain. Until the prosecution's star witness - the lone survivor of the slaughter - took the stand and sealed Ray Goldman's fate." "Seven years later, Goldman's date with the death chamber is at hand. But seconds before the lethal injection, an eleventh-hour reprieve halts the execution - and launches Ben on a race against time to overturn Ray Goldman's conviction. Erin Faulkner, the young woman who narrowly escaped the carnage that claimed her family, has abruptly recanted her testimony after years of silence, desperate to keep an innocent man from dying. Just as suddenly, this near-miraculous turn of events turns tragic: Erin is discovered dead, an apparent suicide. And Ben Kincaid is the only witness to her stunning confession." Ben is certain Erin didn't commit suicide. She was a victim of murder - silenced by the same killer who butchered her family. All Ben has to do is prove it. But his unseen enemy is determined to cover his tracks once and for all... with blood.
SYNOPSIS
William Bernhardt's powerful series of legal thrillers featuring crusading attorney Ben Kincaid have won him a die-hard following and widespread critical acclaim as a ﾽmaster of the courtroom dramaﾽ (Library Journal).
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
An arresting opening sequence gets this latest crime thriller by bestselling Bernhardt (Criminal Intent, etc.) off to a running start, with Oklahoma lawyer Ben Kincaid back for another high velocity courtroom adventure. Seven years before the central events of the novel, a gruesome family massacre puts food flavorist Ray Goldman on death row, despite Kincaid's vigorous defense, on the strength of the incriminating testimony of the 15-year-old sole survivor, Erin Faulkner. Seven years later, Goldman has been given a 30-day reprieve from lethal injection, but time is running out. Simultaneously, a regretful Erin reappears in Kincaid's office, confessing that she was coerced by assertive DA Jack Bullock into making a positive ID in court. This development is just what the defense needs to free Goldman from his sentence, but before she can testify, Erin is found dead, an apparent suicide victim. Foul play is immediately suspected, and Kincaid and his detective buddy Mike Morelli spring into action, the latter hoping to redeem himself after an initial botched investigation. Kincaid and co-counselor Christina McCall desperately buy more time in court from spiteful Judge Derek and are spurred on when Erin's friend Sheila Knight winds up dead in what looks like another suicide. Some readers will be disappointed by Kincaid's minor role in the solution of the crime, but he returns to center stage in the courtroom finale. Bernhardt slips too often into flabby writing ("She had been a bit pudgy as a teenager, but judging by appearances, that baby fat was long gone") and plodding dialogue ("Did you see Erin on the day she... passed?"), but lively plotting should keep fans satisfied. (July 1) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Oklahoma attorney Bernhardt (Criminal Intent) has written 17 other books, most of them legal thrillers featuring lawyer Ben Kincaid. In this latest entry, Kincaid is trying to find evidence to clear Ray Goldman, a death-row prisoner convicted of murdering a family seven years earlier. The novel opens with a brief flashback of the crime from the perspective of the only surviving witness, a member of the slaughtered family. The story then moves to the present, as Goldman receives a last-minute temporary stay seconds before his execution. When the lone witness recants her testimony to Kincaid, he hopes to use the information to clear his client. However, soon afterward the witness is found dead, an apparent suicide. With the rescheduled execution approaching, Kincaid must try to discover the truth behind these deaths before it is too late. Although the premise is not new, this is a gripping, action-packed novel, peopled with interesting characters. Series fans will enjoy, and readers unfamiliar with Bernhardt's regular characters will not be left in the dark. Recommended for most public libraries as a great summer read to suggest to their patrons. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/03.]-Joel W. Tscherne, Cleveland P.L. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Seven years after he failed to get a client acquitted of a horrendous multiple murder, Tulsa lawyer Ben Kincaid has one last chance to keep him from being executed. As usual in Ben's dozen quixotic legal jousts (Criminal Intent, 2002, etc.), it doesn't look like much of a chance. Food-industry chemist Ray Goldman was convicted on the strength of eyewitness testimony from the most unimpeachable source imaginable: Erin Faulkner, the one surviving member of the home invader who took the lives-and, in a particularly gruesome twist, the eyes-of her father, her mother, and her six brothers and sisters. Now, with Ray only a week from his date with the needle and all his appeals exhausted except for one last pro forma motion for habeas corpus, Erin turns up in Ben's office saying that her testimony was mistaken: the bulldog ADA had pressed her to make her uncertain identification positive. The golden opportunity Erin's admission presents to Ben swiftly turns to lead, however, when she's found dead the next morning, an apparent suicide. Ben's old friend Mike Morelli, the homicide detective currently in the doghouse with the chief because of his role in turning a fast-food hostage situation into a bloodbath, disagrees sharply with his new partner, no-nonsense Sgt. Kate Baxter, about whether Erin really did kill herself-or, later, whether her best friend Sheila Knight, who was about to spill some long-suppressed secret to Ben's investigator, did as well. What can't be disputed is that despite Ben's repeated pleas to hostile Judge Derek for just a little more time, he plays so little role in cracking the case that you have to wonder what Judge Derek means when he tells him, "Nice job, Mr. Kincaid."Despite a constant habit of crosscutting that suggests he doesn't trust the drama his scenes create on their own, Bernhardt, unlike his struggling hero, does his very best work in wrapping up this clever mystery.
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