Customer Reviews

Hate Crime: A Novel of Suspense

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This Ben Kincaid mystery further explores both the surface
interactions between Ben and his partner Christina as well
as the concept of a "hate" crime.
Here, a gay man is tortured and murdered, apparently by two
stupid, drunken college frat boys, and when Ben, the champion
of the unpopular defendant, is asked to defend one of them,
he surprisingly refuses. Everyone who knows him is mystified.
But then his partner Christina, over his objections, takes on the defense, and the case plods along with the defendant looking
worse all the time.
A parallel case, which doesn't seem to have any connection with
the gay murder, is also tackled, and Ben's pal, the Tulsa PD
detective who loves driving his vintage high-powered Pontiac,
is working that one. The Tulsa case involved a kidnapping with
ransom, where the victim was left unharmed, but the kidnappers
suddenly, and surprisingly since they were surrounded by both
local police and the FBI, disappear. Mike, the detective, pursues the case as long as possible, until his superiors assign
him to more current cases. But Mike doesn't forget, and he keeps trying to remember details of some aspect of the case that
is in the background of his mind and won't go away.
As Christina's case is nearing its end, with virtually no hope,
Ben is visited by the defendant's mother, and that whole visit
is quite mysterious, and Ben's office-mates wonder what is going on. Christina is determined to learn how and why that other woman seems to know Ben, when Ben denies such knowledge.
This Kincaid entry is rather more complex than most of these,
and the cases come to a nice conclusion; the only drawback to
many readers will be that the ending is a bit too pat and too
sudden. It has a feel that the author sort of took the easy
way out at the end by offering up a solution that isn't entirely
logical.
But it is interesting and very readable.

Some crimes are more repulsive than others are, as Major Mike Morelli of the Tulsa PD Homicide Division knows very well. He along with the FBI and a swat team are trying to rescue an eight-year-old boy who was kidnapped eight days ago. The police know where they are and plan to neutralize the kidnappers so they will not kill the boy. When they finally make a move, the child is unharmed but the kidnappers are missing.

In Chicago, two homophobic college men beat a gay bartender within an inch of his life but they leave him alive when they walked away. His body was found in the perpetrator's fraternity house very much dead. When one of the defendants and his lawyer is killed in open court, the remaining defendant's mother asks lawyer Ben Kincaid to defend him. He declines for personal reasons but his partner agrees to take the case not realizing everyone connected to the case is in danger because it is linked back to the kidnapping in Tulsa.

William Bernhardt is one of the best writers of legal thrillers in today's competitive sub-genre. His protagonist is a vulnerable champion of the underdog who believes everyone has the right to an attorney. The reason he refuses the case involving a relationship he had with the suspect's mother that ended badly and gives the reader a glimpse into his battered soul. When he becomes involved in the case, he does not let his personal feelings interfere with the job and readers will root for him to prevail even though they detest the person he represents.

Harriet Klausner

This novel is essentially a very long episode of 'Law & Order: SVU' that relies on plot twists that do not feel organic to the story or characters. The most annoying element to me is the various diary entries of the gay male murder victim, which seem gracelessly inserted to humanize the victim and encourage tolerance for gay people in general. These diary entries are unconvincing; they are in the voice of an afterschool special instead of a gay man in a large city.

I assume the author is straight, and that an antigay hate crime is used in this book of the series much as it is in an episode of a television crime procedural series: a fresh framework for a standard murder mystery. Regardless of his own sexuality, he has not written a believable gay character or even a believable gay milieu. Any remaining pro-gay goodwill is undermined by the plot twists, because of course the crime is not what it seems.

"Hate Crime" is the latest book in William Bernhardt's series featuring the likeable Ben Kincaid, a defense attorney with a penchant for taking on hopeless cases. Ben's former legal assistant, Christina McCall, is now his partner. Christina would like to take her relationship with Ben to the next level, but Ben has never been able to acknowledge his deep feelings for Christina.

One day, a mysterious woman comes into the law firm of Kincaid and McCall, asking for Ben's help. Her name is Ellen Christensen, and her son, Johnny, has been arrested for the vicious murder of a gay man named Tony Barovick. When Ben sees Ellen, he is visibly upset, and he is adamant that he will not take Johnny's case. After Christina realizes that she will not be able to persuade Ben to change his mind, she decides to defend Johnny herself.

"Hate Crime" is one of the busiest books that I have read in some time. Bernhardt starts off his novel with a kidnapping, and he then segues to Johnny Christensen's murder trial. Mike Morelli, Ben's former brother-in-law, is also featured in this book. Along with his attractive female partner and an alluring FBI agent, Mike is investigating a series of gruesome murders. Ultimately, all of these plot lines somehow tie together.

Bernhardt's heart is in the right place when he tackles the theme that gay people have the right to live in peace. The author demonstrates, through scenes of graphic violence, how hatred and prejudice can lead to brutal actions. However, as a thriller, "Hate Crimes" is flawed. There are too many twists and turns that come out of left field, and some of the startling revelations at the end are incredibly far-fetched.

On the plus side, we long-suffering readers finally learn what has been bugging Ben all these years. Bernhardt reveals some secrets from Ben's past that explain why he behaves so awkwardly around Christina. These few tidbits, however, are not enough to redeem "Hate Crime," which is too unfocused and heavy-handed to succeed as a legal thriller.

Mr Bernhardt writes legal thrillers like no other. When it comes to Ben, Christina, Jones and Loving, he doesn't disappoint. This was a well written story, that really disturbed me when it came to the details of the beating. Too sad to even imagine. The court room theatrics are the best and the twist and turns were very surprising.

An excellent, fast paced read. Very entertaining.

As always, I anxiously wait for what's next.

The book came to my house early and once again the author is the best. This novel of suspense is really great and everyone will enjoy reading it.

This book was an intense and emotional read for me. There were essentially three story lines occurring throughout the entire piece. All of them kept introducing new plots and twists that kept me guessing at every turn. There may have been a lot going on at once but I loved it, especially when they all came together and exploded into one big twist. Being openly gay for 10 years, I greatly related to a lot of this book. It was hard to continue through with the derogatory language and the brutal details of exactly what took place. It reminded me of Matthew Shepard and all of those who died at the hateful hands of others. I highly recommend this book to anyone who want's to be sucked into a world of suspense, mystery, and rushes of adrenaline as you flip through the pages.

This book by Bernhardt is exceptional. The characters we have come to know and enjoy and the usual interesting and compelling plot. We know it will turn out pretty well in the end, but do not know how or what twists and turns it will take before we get there.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'

*Hate Crime* was just ok. While there were many things going on, some of them really took your attention away from the main story. My biggest gripe about this installment was that there was too much focus and unnecessary drama between Ben Kincaid and a mysterious woman, Ellen Christensen.

Ellen comes into Ben's law firm in Tulsa, begging him to take her son's case, in Chicago. Her son, Johnny, has been accused of torturing and murdering a young gay man at his fraternity house. Ben, upon seeing Ellen, flat out refuses. Standing nearby is Christina McCall, who has recently been promoted at partner. Feeling for the mother's plea, Christina decides to take the case, without Ben's blessing.

While Johnny freely admits to torture, he claims he's innocent of the murder. Meanwhile, everyone else would like to get their hands on Johnny, especially a gay activist group. Christina soon realizes that she has a nightmare of a case once she discovers that Johnny's fraternity brothers are members of a Christian organization that is openly opposed to homosexuality and toss Johnny "to the dogs".

At the same time, Mike Morelli, Ben's former brother-in-law, is featured, working on a case with an FBI agent. They've just recently worked on a high-profile and mysterious kidnapping case.

Overall, it was a good book, worthy of reading just to kill time while riding the public transportation. I just felt that almost half the book was focused on why Ben wouldn't help Ellen out. In addition, the sexual overtures were overused between characters, such as with Ben and Christina and Mike and his partner and FBI agent.

Lawyer Ben Kincaid takes on another case he seemingly has no chance of winning, but he "back doors" this one because he initially refuses to have anything to do with the case, and he
refuses to give a reason to anyone, but after his partner Christina takes the case, and is faltering, he has to take over.
The case consists of two parts, seemingly unrelated, the first
the big murder case involving a "gay bashing" killing by a couple of ignorant, hapless frat boys, and the other a sophisticated kidnapping where the criminals got totally away.
But then some low-level people are killed, in gruesome fashion,
and Ben's buddy, a detective on the Tulsa PD, starts seeing some
common threads in the murders, and the chase is on.
How Bernhardt handles the two crimes, and the various factors,
is well-done, and he does a very nice job of tying up loose
ends.
Some readers will think those loose ends are too quickly tied
up, and the final solution sort of falls together too easily,
so there will be some dissatisfaction here, but, overall, this
is a nice story well done.