Death Row (Bernhardt, William) [Kindle Edition]

William Bernhardt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

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

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 507 KB
• Print Length: 416 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0345441745
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (June 3, 2003)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FBFNS8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,648 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I love my job. Even on the worst day when I can't seem to put together a coherent sentence, I am grateful for having been given this magnificent opportunity to participate in the literary exchange of ideas. My mother says I was telling people I wanted to be a writer when I was seven. I know that seems incredible, but she's my mom, so we have to believe her. I never missed an opportunity to visit the library, which was blissfully near my home, and the librarians there took a great interest in this nerdy, shy, bespectacled kid who kept reappearing almost every day. They encouraged me to read widely and to read the best of everything, and that is exactly what I did and have continued to do all my life.

I sent off my first submission when I was eleven, to Highlights Magazine. This was a poem of which I was particularly proud concerning the Oklahoma Land Run. They turned me down. Yes, that was my first rejection letter. Over the next twenty years, I collected over 400 more of them. No, I'm not exaggerating. I still have them. Every last one. There was a reason, I realize now, why all those compositions were being rejected. They weren't very good. But they improved over time. I didn't know it, but during the entire torturous process of submission and rejection, I was learning how to write.

I finally had my first novel published (by Ballantine, a division of Random House) when I was thirty-one. To some, this may seem an early age to publish, but if you clock it from my first rejection, it took twenty years. That was a great year--my first son, Harry, was born in August, and my first book, Primary Justice, was born in December. The book surprised everyone and the follow-up did even better and before I even realized it I had accomplished my goal--I was a real honest-to-gosh writer. I've been writing ever since. I've written more than twenty novels, edited two anthologies, done two books for children, and published numerous stories, essays, puzzles, and poems. I have three children now, and this job allows me to be present when they come home from school and available when they need me during the day, which is a blessing I could not have anticipated back when I was a seven-year old gazing dreamily at author photos on dust jackets, wishing I could see myself there.

My goals for the future are to continue to learn, to grow, to find new ways of doing my work and doing it better. I think the current interest in thrillers provides a marvelous opportunity to spin bigger and more exciting stories. I've learned that I enjoy teaching, which has led to the William Bernhardt Writing Programs and The Fundamentals of Fiction DVDs, as well as many speaking and teaching engagements throughout the year. My interest in mentoring aspiring writers led me to start the Small-Group Seminars and Master Classes, which allow me to teach my favorite subject all across the nation. And in my personal life, my goal is I to be the best parent possible to Harry, Alice, and Ralph, and the best possible partner to my wife, Marcia. I'm very excited about the future--my personal life with these extraordinary people, and my professional life, creating new stories for you wonderful people who still understand the importance of storytelling and the written word.
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William Bernhardt is the author of more than twenty novels, including Primary Justice, Murder One, Criminal Intent, Death Row, Capitol Murder, Capitol Threat, Capitol Conspiracy, and Nemesis. He is one of fewer than a dozen recipients of the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." He is also one of the country's most popular writing instructors, teaching at various conferences throughout the year. A former trial attorney, Bernhardt has received several awards for his public service. He lives in Tulsa with his wife, Marcia, and their children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ben Kincaid does it again!, July 27, 2003

By 

Chuck Hildbold (Vandergrift, Pa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death Row (Hardcover)

Reading William Bernhardt is always a treat. Seeing the mix of characters in the office and Ben Kincaid's sometime low self-esteem make for a believable and engaging lawyer and his firm. (Didn't actually know they existed!) There is the usual tension between Ben and Christina. There is the goofiness of Loving that adds humor in just the right spots and, of course, there are the last minute heriocs that always come with a twist. This is a good book and I am already looking forward to seeing Ben in action again. Mr. Bernhardt: You don't write quickly enough!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LEGAL PULSE POUNDER, July 27, 2003

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Row (Hardcover)

As a former trial lawyer William Bernhardt bases his legal thrillers on hard earned data and experience, realities which make his tales all the more exciting. Suspense, masterful plotting, and an au courante subject are elements readers have come to expect from this popular author, and all are found in abundance in his latest novel.

Death Row, another in the Ben Kincaid series, tackles criminal appeals and the death penalty. Tulsa is shocked and saddened when a family is ruthlessly murdered in their comfortable suburban home. There is only one survivor to tell the story and identify the attacker - teen-aged Erin Faulkner.

As is his wont, attorney Kincaid champions an unpopular cause in his defense of Ray Goldman, a chemist who is accused of the heinous crime. Screaming media headlines and blood curdling details seem to seal the chemist's fate. But, the always perspicacious Kincaid mounts his defense on the dearth of damning evidence and police goof-ups during the investigation. It seems that Goldman will go free until young Erin testifies and points her finger at him.

True to his white knuckle writing reputation Bernhardt propels readers to moments before Goldman's walk to the death chamber when a sudden reprieve is announced. It seems that Erin has recanted her testimony to Kincaid, and wants desperately to save an innocent man.

Shockingly, Erin cannot even save herself as she is soon found dead; it is believed by her own hand. The cause of her death may be accepted by most, but certainly not by Kincaid. He speculates that the same merciless killer who murdered her family also took Erin's life. But, how can he prove it, how can he find the mysterious killer, and can he do it without losing his own life?

Jet propelled action and a topic from today's newspapers combine in this estimable legal pulse pounder.

- Gail Cooke

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Defense Attorney Writes Against The Death Penalty, July 13, 2009

By 

Michael L. Slavin "HardBopper" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Death Row (Mass Market Paperback)

Ray Goldman, was a chemist who worked on food flavoring. One of his collegues was brutally murdered along with his family. There was one survivor. A fifteen year old daughter. Police suspected and subsequently arrested Goldman for the crime. He was convicted on testimony of the daughter who stated that though she could not visually identify Goldman she was sure that it had been his voice. Seven years later with Goldman's appeals exhausted she recanted her testimony to Goldman's attorney Ben Kincaid. The next day the real murderer killed her making it look like a suicide. Her best friend shortly thereafter met the same fate. Kincaid pulled out all stops trying to solve the case. This book had several rather odd hobbies associated with characters. A female shrink who collected butterfly specimens and a would be boyfriend of the deceased daughters friend who collected and sold spider venom. There were side romantic involvements between two police detectives as well as between Kincaid and his associate Christina McCall. Another to be redeemed character was a young sex offender who ultimately did not want to be the monster he had become. The tone of this book reminded me of James Sheehan's The Mayor Of Lexington Avenue. The author writes well and the plot moves along fairly well though to my taste it tended to start bogging down in a few places.