Customer Reviews

Capitol Murder: A Novel (Ben Kincaid)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The previous books in the Kincaid series were clever for the most part. Not this one. William Bernhardt discovered his thesauraus for this entry in the series and his soap box. Clearly William Bernhardt felt his political views needed to come through - and they do. Repeatedly. Made the book boring.

I've never gotten so far in a book and then just decided to stop reading it. That happened when I realized that: (a) I really didn't care about whether the Senator was convicted or not; (b) I'd found out who the real murderer was 3 CD's before that, and (c) I couldn't stand another political rant about how evil Republicans are and how holy Democrats are. Bernhardt slanders Nixon (easy to do, I know), and Reagan, while showering pity on poor Bill Clinton for his legal troubles, all the while telling everyone how evil the insurance and oil industries are. I could read MoveOn.org if I wanted that.
Give me Tony Hillerman any day.

I am a huge Ben Kincaid fan. I was looking forward to this one big time.

What a disappointment. The storyline of a Government official who gets accused of killing an intern - because he was having an affair with her.

The book starts off very well. A murder - and a videotape of the government official and the victim in torrid sex positions (think Monica and Bill). SO far so good.

Except that is when the storyline becomes soooooo borring and soooo slow. We get pages and endless pages of dialogue between the official and Ben, then between Ben and the guy's wife and between Ben and just about everybody else who could possibly be involved in the case.

This is the first time I read a Ben Kincaid book and try to figoure out how many pages I have left to read.

This story dragged and dragged. The usual humour wasn't there, in fact, I felt as though Bernhardt went a little over the top with the "eccentricities of Ben" in this book. Sure, Ben is always a little behind in most things, but in this book, Bernhardt wrote Ben almost over the top - he made him out to be clueless AND a bit of a joke. I did not like that at all. Part of the fun of this series is that Ben is eccentric but interesting. He was neither in this book.

Also, the camaraderie I have come to love between the characters was non-existent here.

Oh, about the murderer. I had it figured out by page 58.

Not a great moment in the Kincaid series.

In his fourteenth Ben Kincaid novel, "Capitol Murder," William Bernhardt moves from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Washington, D. C. Ben's old chum, Democratic senator Todd Glancy, has been having an affair with his beautiful young aide, Veronica Cooper. Glancy and his staff are understandably alarmed when a sordid and explicit videotape is released to the media showing the senator and Cooper in an extremely compromising position. Glancy summons Ben to handle any legal fallout that may ensue. Unfortunately, the senator's problems are just beginning. Soon, Cooper is found brutally murdered in Glancy's senate hideaway, and the police immediately suspect that the politician decided to silence his lover permanently.

Bernhardt has made his reputation by combining lively courtroom theatrics with suspense, romance, and campy humor. This time around, he has chosen an unsubtle metaphor to describe the goings-on in our nation's capital--vampirism. It seems that a bloodsucking cult is operating in Washington and Veronica Cooper, along with other young and beautiful female victims, was under the spell of an insane, Svengali-like leader. Kincaid's investigator, the hulking but good-hearted Loving, makes the rounds of vampire hangouts and meets some extremely sick puppies who are into sex, sado-masochism, drugs, and very eerie and painful rituals. If Loving can prove that Veronica was involved with these weirdoes, there may be enough reasonable doubt to get Glancy off the hook.

"Capitol Murder" is brisk and, occasionally, laugh-out loud funny; however, too often it is cutesy, heavy-handed, and preachy. The stomach-turning torture scenes and the light-hearted banter make for an incongruous combination. As if this unusual blend of dark and light themes weren't enough, Bernhardt also inserts heavy-handed political commentary about ambitious, greedy, and promiscuous elected officials who operate without a conscience or moral code. The courtroom scenes are lively and the mystery is fairly compelling, but the far-out ending is completely implausible.

Still, the lead characters are as likeable as ever. Ben is a sweet nebbish and a man of integrity who is also a brilliant courtroom strategist. Christina is Ben's partner and a knowledgeable and poised defense attorney in her own right. Fans of this series have long been rooting for these two lovebirds to finally pass beyond the snuggling stage. Will Ben's commitment issues forever prevent him from declaring his intentions to his lady love? Although "Capitol Murder" is far from perfect, those readers who, like me, have stayed with Ben and Christina since day one will want to read the latest installment.

I enjoy almost any type of genre, and was very surprised to see the dedication to Joss Whedon at the beginning. I guess that should have clued me in that there would be an occult twist to this novel. Still, it was enjoyable, if not believable. And I suppose I should modify the "believable" part as the author mentions his research into the occult aspects of the book.

All in all, it was the politics of what happens at the denouement that was the most unbelievable. I would still recommend this book, but keep your skepticism in check.

This was a very bad book, coming from a respected author. I've liked the Kincaid books, but this one was sleazy. I really hated it. It could have been a good plot if it was not so exaggerated. Congress may be a sex cesspool, but I hope it is not this bad. Skip this book and hope someone tells Mr. Bernhardt the truth about his new trend of books. It is scary to know he is teaching classes on writing, since he uses so many cliches and we really don't need more bad authors.

Lawyer Ben Kincaid is hired to defend the senior (Democrat) Senator (Todd Glancy) from Oklahoma, who is accused of murdering an intern. In a connected secondary plot, Kincaid's detective Loving is searching for a missing girl (a friend of the murdered girl) who has become involved in a vampire cult. That's the setup.

Loving's excursion in the goth/s&m/occult/vampire underworld is fascinating, even if a bit over the top. Loving's droll humor is very entertaining.

Kincaid is not believable as he is portrayed. The straight-arrow level-headed brilliant litigator portrayed does not jibe Kincaid being a close friend of scuzball Senator Glancy, who constantly spouts offensive remarks (and does far worse behind closed doors). The politically-ignorant moderate Kincaid portrayed does not jibe with his biased political opinions and comments. No-one remembers the details of minor alleged political impropriaties years later, except a fanatic. Bernhardt is clearly a fanatic, and has made his alter-ego, Kincaid, a political fanatic.

This is perhaps the best of the Ben Kincaid series to date, but the incessant one-sided political rants are extremely annoying, and have nothing to do with the story. Deduct 2 stars for the annoyance.

By all means spend your hard-earned cash to buy this book - if you care nothing for authenticity or if you are a left of liberal hate-all-things-Republican GOP-phobe!
Others have adequately described the irrational right-wing baiting of this supposed entertainment. I'll just mention the lack of authenticity ... it is appalling, even for so-called light entertainment reading. Two examples will suffice. First, early in the murder trial an expert witness refers to the testimony of a previous witness. How could he know about the earlier witness testimony? How much of an expert on courtroom procedures do you need to be to know that subsequent witnesses are not allowed in a courtroom before the time for their teastimony? Second, in a night club scene a prescription drug is described as having been mixed with Spanish Fly, or "some other date rape drug." How experienced in drug lore do you need to be in order to know that Spanish Fly is not a date rape drug? I could go on, but that's enough to show the ineptness of this writing. To say nothing of a plot too improbable to garner a chuckle. To say nothing of wooden dialogue. To say nothing of cardboard characters. To say nothing of ...

This is the first book I have tried to read by this author and it will be the last. Fortunately I picked it up at the library so it didn't cost me a cent. Here we have another Republican/Right Wing hater. The book is full of "Republicans--BAD--Democrats--GOOD" diatribe. All I can tell this guy is get some new material and give George Bush and the rest of us rest a break from your hatred for him and us. And please at least get your facts straight whenever you continue to attack us evil, mean-spirited Republicans.

I enjoy all of William Bernhardt's Ben Kincaid books and this was no exception. Ben always seems to have an unwinnable case but manages to pull it off, and the cast of characters adds a lot to the stories.

However, I'm getting tired of hearing and reading the political agendas of celebrities and some authors as I read fiction as escapism. And the bashing that goes on in this book is so one-sided and bias that it detracts from the plot. Now that Ben is a senator, will we have more of the same in "Capitol Threat?"

If it wasn't for the distraction and party bashing, I probably would have given this book four stars.