Customer Reviews

Capitol Betrayal: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read Bernhardt's last book and found it to be mediocre, but at least I was interested in reading to the end. So I thought I'd try this one. I like books set in D.C. Admittedly, I did read this to the end, too. But I skipped major portions, and I find it's not a good sign if you can skip major portions of mostly dialogue and still know what's going on. I don't want to ruin the book for others, but suffice it to say that there are two simultaneously things happening in the book. With what was happening outside the White House, it is preposterous that the plot "inside" the White House would be occurring. Give me a break.

Ben is there, and Christina plays a part in the denouement, but the rest of the characters we know and love are briefly introduced then quickly forgotten by the author. The plot is implausible, and not a good fit for Ben. It was akin to reading a Louis L'Amour western featuring Harry Potter.

this is my first novel by william bernhardt, and will be my last. nothing outwardly offensive here - sans the left wing jabs at President Bush - fiction writers who try to put their political views into a story very rarely do it well, or seamlessly, which is the case here. no real reason for the jabs, but they don't ruin the story. the story ruins itself. no real character development, a plot that is equally thin and unbelievable, and a predictable unbelievable ending. bernhardt expects the reader to believe high level tampering can go undetected and a president's crazy episodes wouldn't be addressed and/or leaked? and the whole seamus plotline, while entertaining, was unbelievable. how many tight spots can a character believably get out of in one book? all in all, though, I'd give it two stars because a)I got it from the library, and b)it was mildly entertaining, at times.

so if it catches your eye at the library it might be worth it. wouldn't buy it, though, or look for other titles by bernhardt.

I have read every book William has written. The early books were just great and he became among my favorite authors along with Baldacci, Silva and Flynn.

But it like so many others, including Patterson and Woods, looks like it's coming to and end.

This was a real page turner !! I turned the pages so fast I finished it in about 2 hours. There is nothing redeaming about this book. The story is rediculous. The only interesting character at all was Seamus, but this is a real stinker.

I got it from the library so I don't feel too bad, yes I wasted a few hours, but at least it didin't cost me anything.

Beleive me gang, you do not want to waste your time with this one.

And William, spend some time thinking about where you go from here. This is rock bottom junk and the only way is up.

Sorry to be so blunt, but that's the scoop !

The premise in Capitol Betrayal is just so silly that it is a poor story. It takes a very talented writer to try to pull this off, but even with all of Bernhardt's experience he can't make this story work. There are so many holes in this story I don't know what the author was smoking when he wrote this. I've enjoyed many of Bernhardt's other books but this one is a clunker with a rushed ending.

SPOILOERS! SPOIOLERS! SPOILERS! It is barely believable the Pres would have removal proceedings against him while we are under attack. It is even more unbelievable that somone could get in to the Oval Office and get into the Presidents desk and do a cigarette swicheroo. Be assured that security to that office is state of the art.

I should have listened to the reviews of this book. What a ludicrous ridiculous plot.
Seamus is Superman and his actions after being tortured are unbelievable. And Ben Kencaid is just as silly -you will guess the villian and the method very early on.
I will not spoil it but how silly this book is. Save your money.

When a suspected foreign dictator infiltrates the United States
ballistic missile computer system, Ben Kincaid is meeting with the president in the Oval Office. When a missile is launched, and facing an imminent
threat, Kincaid, along with the president and some of his advisors,
are forced underground to the PEOC, the Presidential Emergency
Operations Center, built to withstand a Nuclear attack. As Kincaid
struggles to keep the peace between the president and the vice
president in the underground bunker CIA agent Seamus McKay goes searching for the secret satelite control center that controls these missiles.
What Kincaid does with words and smarts, McKay does with action and strength.
For the most part, McKay reminds me of the Bruce Willis character in the Die Hard movies. The similar plot with McKay and the young computer genius will definitely get you thinking of the Live Free or Die Hard movie. William Bernhardt's thrillers have always had the knack of pulling me right in. I know what the characters are capable of but yet they surprise me. Though this novel seemed a bit implausible, I really had a great time reading it. I did notice a few editing errors too, which kind of surprised me. Overall still one of my favorite authors. I look forward to seeing more of this duo.

have always liked this author....book arrived on time and in good condition...William Bernhardt is a terrific writer....he deals with the fictional political life in Washington and makes the work very believable (

The word that kept coming to my mind as I listened to this book (the audio version published by Books on Tape) was "lame." It reads like the work of a twelve-year-old. Some reviewers are familiar with the work of William Bernhardt and judge this book as part of a series with recurring characters. In my case, this is the first book by that author that I have ever read, and I was not impressed. The plot and dialogue were very weak and non-credible. The reading by Stephen Hoye was slow and pedantic, and this did not help. Even when the action was supposed to keep you riveted, the reading style seemed to be aimed at putting you to sleep.

The characters have personalities about as deep as paper dolls. The improbabilities of the plot are so huge that it isn't enjoyable even as fiction--it's just ridiculous. The President is put on trial for his sanity during the middle of a crisis in which ballistic missiles are being used against the United States and a nuclear weapon has been stolen. Yet the characters in the "trial" that should last about five minutes drone on and on about inane matters for nearly two hours, utterly ignoring the catastrophic situation outside the presidential bunker. (SPOILERS starting now.) No one notices until almost the end of the book that the episodes of bizarre presidential behavior described sound like drug trips.

The nuclear weapon is placed in the Lincoln Memorial by the Secretary of Defense, of all people, and attached to a detonator that can only be disarmed if the right password is typed in. The bomb is disarmed with two seconds to spare (surprise, surprise). The password is guessed in as improbable a fashion as the password for the message cylinder in "The Da Vinci Code."

All in all, it seems that even though William Bernhardt is an experienced writer with a long record of success, he dropped the ball on this one.

This book was horrible. I thought one of the two story lines would get better but neither did. The trial of the President was ridiculous and the whole pursuit of the terrorists was even worse. Top it off with the idiotic actions of Kincaid's wife along with the over the top cliché ending left me with 390 pages of rubble. I would set this thing on fire but with the drought we have been having I'm afraid this would start a wildfire. If this review saves someone else from wasting a few hours of their life I it was worth it. I will never buy another William Bernhardt book.