Out of corporate life and on his own, lawyer Ben Kincaid sees the seamy side of the law every day. There's no glamour and little reward when it comes to defending the lowlifes who beat down his door. But when a friend is set up for murder, Ben has no choice but to enter the world of hardball litigation and face a judge who despises him in a trial he is guaranteed to lose.  BLIND JUSTICE is a riveting, emotion-packed thriller in which guilt and innocence remain obscure and justice is a matter of opinion

William Bernhardt's bestselling novels explore politics, power, ambition, crime, and the law. Now he scales new heights of suspense as, in one harrowing day, lawyer and former senator Ben Kincaid enters the eye of an international storm, a crisis with consequences beyond calculation. Kincaid is in a meeting with the president in the Oval Office when Washington suddenly explodes into chaos. Facing an imminent threat to the White House, Kincaid is whisked, along with the president and his advisors, to the underground PEOC – Presidential Emergency Operations Center – built to withstand a nuclear blast, but vulnerable to another kind of attack. Inside the bunker, defense specialists realize that a malevolent foreign dictator has hacked into the U.S. nuclear defense system and now has a finger on the trigger of America's most dangerous weapons. The dictator's message is clear: Heed his demands or suffer unfathomable destruction. Forced to make critical, split-second decisions, the president seems to be falling apart under the pressure. The vice president wants to strip him of his powers – a move that could have a disastrous impact on national defense. But even during this time of upheaval, in order for the president to be removed, there must be a trial. With the clock winding down, Kincaid has precious little time to defend the president. While Kincaid faces the trial of his life, legendary CIA agent Seamus McKay races through the clogged streets of Washington, searching for a hidden command center – guarded by murderous fanatics – that now controls U.S. ballistic missiles. Two sides of one unforgettable story, McKay and Kincaid home in on their targets. One uses a gun – and any weapon he can get his hands on; the other employs his intuition and the law. And in William Bernhardt's spectacular thriller, as both move closer and closer to uncovering a world-shattering plot, the ultimate act of betrayal is launched from the heart of America's capitol itself

William Bernhardt's bestselling novels featuring Oklahoma defense attorney Ben Kincaid capture the bare-knuckles reality of high-stakes criminal defense, as lofty ideals of justice clash with power, corruption, and wealth. In Capitol Murder, Bernhardt's hard-charging hero takes on his most shocking, headline-making case yet. Kincaid's legal success has earned him a dubious reward: a journey through the looking glass into the Beltway. Here, in the heart of the nation's capital, a powerful U.S. senator has been caught first in a sordid sex scandal, then in a case of murder. Senate aide Veronica Cooper was found in a secret Senate office beneath the Capitol building, on Senator Todd Glancy's favorite couch, blood pouring from the knife wound in her throat. The young woman's death comes on the heels of the release of a sordid videotape depicting her and Senator Glancy in compromising positions. With the senator's reputation in tatters, the evidence against him-as a sexual predator and possibly a killer-mounts. By the time a nationally televised murder trial begins, Kincaid and his team know they're facing the challenge of a lifetime. According to public opinion, and even in Kincaid's most private thoughts, Glancy is one more politician who cannot admit his own culpability. But while a dramatic trial unfolds in the courtroom-loaded with pitfalls, traps, and an astounding betrayal-another trial is taking place on the mean streets of D.C., as Kincaid's investigator pursues a young woman who was a friend of Veronica Cooper's, plunging Kincaid into a bizarre world of Goths, sadomasochists, and a community of self-proclaimed vampires. Somewhere in this violent underworld lies the secret behind Veronica Cooper's demise… and the crux of Senator Glancy's innocence or guilt. In a case that pits Kincaid and his freewheeling partner Christina McCall against the brutal machinery of Washington politics, the answers they seek are hidden in a murderous maze of lies and hidden motives. And in William Bernhardt's best novel yet, getting to the truth is an unparalleled experience in pure, satisfying suspense

In his thrilling novels of suspense, William Bernhardt takes us into the fault lines of the criminal justice system, where one mistake, a twist of fate, or an explosive secret can mean the difference between justice and its cataclysmic undoing. In Capital Offense, attorney Ben Kincaid stands amid the chaos of a violent collision between vengeance and death-and it’s up to him to discover where the truth lies. Professor Dennis Thomas arrives at the law office of Ben Kincaid with a bizarre request: Thomas wants to know if Kincaid can help him beat a murder charge-of a killing yet to happen. The professor’s intended victim: a Tulsa cop who had refused to authorize a search for Thomas’s missing wife. For seven days, Joslyn Thomas had lain in the twisted wreckage of her car, dying a horrifically slow death in an isolated ravine. Now, insane with grief, Thomas wants to kill Detective Christopher Sentz. Kincaid warns him not to, but that very same day someone fires seven bullets into the police officer. Suddenly Kincaid’s conversation with Thomas is privileged and Thomas is begging Kincaid to defend him. Thomas claims he didn’t shoot Sentz-even though he’d wanted to. Something about the bookish, addled Dennis Thomas tugs on Kincaid’s conscience, and against all advice, he decides to represent this troubled man in the center of a media and political firestorm. But the trial doesn’t go Kincaid’s way, and a verdict of capital murder is bearing down on Dennis Thomas. That’s when Kincaid’s personal private detective, Loving, starts prying loose pieces of a shocking secret. Working in the shadows of the law, using every trick that works, Loving risks his life to construct an entirely new narrative about Detective Sentz, Joslyn Thomas, and madness in another guise: the kind that every citizen should fear, and no one will recognize-until it is too late

Ben Kincaid is now a U.S. senator, but he barely has time to settle into his office before he has another murder to solve. Thaddeus Roush, Supreme Court nominee, has just revealed he is gay, and when the body of a woman is discovered during Roush's press conference--and Roush's partner is implicated in her death--Ben comes to the man's defense. Bernhardt has his formula down pat by now (the first Kincaid novel,Primary Justice, appeared in 1992), and those familiar with the series won't encounter many surprises. This one will feel either tired or comfortable, depending on whether readers think of Kincaid as an old friend

A ten-year-old case puts Ben Kincaid on a collision course with a serial murderer Ben Kincaid's air-conditioner is on the fritz, his staff is on half-pay, and his sister has just disappeared, leaving him holding her baby. He needs fast money, and a quick-and-dirty personal injury suit could do the job. But what looks like a sure-fire case turns out to be something far more complicated. His prospective client hopes to rescue his son—a twenty-eight-year-old with the mind of a child. Ten years earlier, Leeman was accused of murdering a woman with a golf club, and he has been locked in a mental institution ever since. Now he is finally about to come to trial, and Kincaid sees no way to save him. But when a young Tulsa boy goes missing, Kincaid senses a connection between the two cases. Finding the abductor and could mean saving lives—Leeman's, the kidnapped child's, and those of the countless victims to come

Susan Pulaski loves Las Vegas, she is the perfect fit for the city and for her job: unraveling the minds of deviant personalities- until a killer begins decorating Sin City with the horribly disfigured bodies of once beautiful young wom en. White- knuckling her way to the center of the case, Pulaski becomes the key player in a desperate hunt for a killer who believes he has found divine inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. But even with the assistance of Darcy O'Bannon, a twenty-five-year-old autistic savant astonishing skills, Pulaski is in more danger than she knows. Bernhardt is the author of "Primary Justice" and "Murder One"

Finding his place back in the corporate world, Ben Kincaid tries to make his fortune without losing his soul Since he fled the dehumanizing tedium of corporate law, Ben Kincaid has scratched out a living on the rough side of Tulsa, working cases strictly related to the three Ds: divorce, deeds, and dog bites. So when the state's largest corporation, the Apollo Consortium, offers him six figures to join them as in-house counsel, he can't turn down the pay raise. But if the Apollo partners think they've hired a legal stooge, they're wrong. Kincaid is a bloodhound, determined to sniff out the truth no matter the cost. As Kincaid tries to fit in at his new offices, a serial killer stalks Tulsa, luring young women into his car before chopping them into bits. But these horrors pale in comparison to the infighting at Apollo. And when he comes out on the wrong side of a turf war, Kincaid finds himself defending a hapless loser against a murder charge. The client's name: Ben Kincaid

" 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

"A THRILLER WITH NONSTOP ACTION." --The Armchair Detective When mobster Al Moroconi is charged with orchestrating a heinous crime against a young woman, the first defense attorney on the case mysteriously disappears. Now, Travis Byrne--a smart Dallas cop who recently traded his badge for a law degree--is appointed by a federal judge to speak for the defense. But just as the trial is getting under way, Moroconi shoots his way out of court custody, steals a car, and vanishes into the Dallas underworld--taking Travis's reputation with him. Suddenly the FBI is after Travis for a murder he didn't commit. The mob wants to kill him for a secret hit list he doesn't have. Running for his life, Travis comes to a horrifying realization: the charge against Moroconi is just a cover for something much bigger and more foul

Retired from law, Ben Kincaid is forced to return to the bar when a case—and a corpse—fall in his lap After years of struggling, Ben Kincaid shuts down his small legal office and decides to make a living doing something that—compared to practicing law in Tulsa—is easy money: playing jazz piano. He buys a minivan to haul his gear, and gets steady gigs playing in a combo at Uncle Earl’s Jazz Emporium. His new career is just starting to take off when a body falls from the Emporium ceiling, knocking the wind out of Kincaid and sending him right back to his old profession. The dead woman is Cajun Lily Campbell, agrand dameof the Tulsa music scene and onetime girlfriend of Uncle Earl himself. And Kincaid must be careful as he readies the old jazzman’s defense, because there is a killer on the north side of town who would like nothing more than to hear the piano player’s last tune. William Bernhardt (b. 1960), a former attorney, is a bestselling thriller author. Born in Oklahoma, he began writing as a child, submitting a poem about the Oklahoma Land Run toHighlights—and receiving his first rejection letter—when he was eleven years old. Twenty years later, he had his first success, with the publication ofPrimary Justice(1991), the first novel in the long-running Ben Kincaid series. The success ofPrimary Justicemarked Bernhardt as a promising young talent, and he followed the book with seventeen more mysteries starring the idealistic defense attorney, includingMurder One(2001) andHate Crime(2004). Bernhardt’s other novels includeDouble Jeopardy(1995) andThe Midnight Before Christmas(1998), a holiday-themed thriller. In 1999, Bernhardt founded Bernhardt Books (formerly HAWK Publishing Group) as a way to help boost the careers of struggling young writers. In addition to writing and publishing, Bernhardt teaches writing workshops around the country. He currently lives with his family in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

As the prestigious world of professional golf prepares for the Masters Golf Tournament at Georgia 's elite Augusta National Golf Club, a cunning killer waits in the shadows to unleash his own lethal game

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

When Ben Kincaid gets an accused cop-killer off the hook, the police declare a vendetta It is one of the most gruesome murders Oklahoma has ever seen. A horribly mutilated man is found chained to a statue in the middle of downtown Tulsa, secured so tightly that it takes the police hours to get him down. As the city's workforce stares, the police realize something terrible: The victim is one of their own. They arrest the dead cop's girlfriend, a nineteen-year-old stripper whose camera-ready appearance quickly turns the trial into a media circus. And when idealistic young defense attorney Ben Kincaid gets the dancer off on a technicality, the city erupts. Unable to try their suspect a second time, the Tulsa police build a case against Kincaid, arresting him after they stumble across the murder weapon in his office. Every instrument in the state's justice system is turned against him, but Kincaid isn't worried. He's faced worse odds before

When the mayor is arrested for murder, Ben Kincaid is the only man who can save him With his winning smile, acting experience, and history as one of the best quarterbacks Oklahoma University has ever seen, Wally Barrett had no trouble becoming Tulsa's first black mayor. But this perfect politician has a dark side, too. One afternoon at an ice cream parlor, a dozen people watch as he nearly hits his wife during an argument about their children. That same night, a neighbor calls the police after hearing screams from inside the mayor's house. The patrolman discovers the first lady and her children murdered, and the mayor nowhere to be found. Barrett is captured after a high-speed chase, insensible and covered in blood. The only person willing to defend him is Ben Kincaid, a struggling defense lawyer with a history of winning impossible cases. But when the national media descends on Tulsa, Kincaid will have to do something he's never done before, and oversee an increasingly

In his bestselling legal thrillers, William Bernhardt has explored the dark side of contemporary politics, power, and the law. Now Bernhardt turns back the clock to the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in the fall of 1935. Based on true events and new discoveries about Eliot Ness, Nemesis is a brilliantly told story featuring this legendary lawman's fateful duel with a terrifyingly new kind of criminal: America 's first serial killer. In Chicago, Eliot Ness had created 'the Untouchables,' the fabled team of federal agents who were beyond corruption and who finally put Al Capone behind bars. Now the headline-grabbing Ness has been moved to Cleveland, where a new mayor desperately needs some positive publicity. The heroic, squeaky-clean Fed is the perfect man to become the city's director of public safety, but by the time Ness starts his new job, a killer has started a career of his own. And this man is as obsessed with blood and mayhem as Eliot Ness is obsessed with justice. One by one, bodies are found, each one decapitated and uniquely dissected with a doctor's skill and a madman's bent. The police are baffled, the population is terrorized, and newspaper headlines blare about the so-called 'Torso Killer.' Though it's not his turf, Ness is forced to cross bureaucratic boundaries and take over the case, working with a dogged, street-smart detective and making enemies every step of the way. The more energy Ness pours into the investigation, the more it takes over his life, his marriage, even his untouchable reputation. Because in Cleveland, there is only one true untouchable: a killer who has the perfect hiding place and the perfect plan for destroying Eliot Ness. From the first primitive use of forensic psychology to a portrait of America battling the Great Depression and a man battling his own demons, Nemesis is a masterwork of mystery, murder, and vivid, dynamic historical suspense

While on vacation near Silver Springs, Arkansas, Tulsa lawyer Ben Kincaid ( Deadly Justice , Ballantine. 1993.) hastily agrees to defend a young white supremacist accused of murdering a local Vietnamese immigrant. Although time is of the essence, town hostilities and prejudices make Ben's life difficult--even with the aid of his own "A team" (male secretary, private gumshoe, and on-leave detective). Flawed plot, shallow characters, and lack of finesse, however, do not make a winning combination

Ben Kincaid wants to be a lawyer because he wants to do the right thing. But once he leaves the D.A.'s office for a hot-shot spot in Tulsa's most prestigious law firm, Ben discovers that doing the right thing and representing his client's interests can be mutually exclusive.  An explosive legal thriller that takes readers on a frantic ride of suspicion and intrigue, PRIMARY JUSTICE brings morality and temptation together in one dangerous motion

The children of Tulsa are dying, and only Ben Kincaid can bring them justice  Leukemia is a terrible disease but also, thankfully, a rare one. So why have eleven children from a suburb outside of Tulsa have perished from this horrible illness in the last few years? The children’s parents blame Blaylock Industrial, a massive corporation whose factory lies just outside of their bucolic small town, but they have no proof beyond gut instinct—and the terrible certainty that comes with the grief of losing a child. To prove such a spectacular claim could cost millions, and no law firm is willing to take on such an expense. That is, until the parents meet Ben Kincaid.  An idealistic young attorney with a shoestring practice on the rough side of Tulsa, Kincaid is nearly broke when he brings the case against Blaylock and its army of lawyers. But though the odds are stacked against him, Kincaid will risk everything to win a settlement and make sure that no more children die