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.
-
Creators
-
Series
-
Publisher
-
Awards
-
Release date
January 31, 2006 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780345490834
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780345490834
- File size: 877 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
Publisher's Weekly
September 19, 2005
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. Agent, Daniel Strone at Trident Media Group. -
Booklist
October 15, 2005
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)
-
Formats
- Kindle Book
- OverDrive Read
- EPUB ebook
subjects
Languages
- English
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.