William Bernhardt, the attorney-turned-writer who burst on the literary scene with Primary Justice, is back with the most suspenseful, most entertaining, most surprising novel of his career.
Wallace Barrett was a college football hero who went on to become mayor of Tulsa--the city's first black mayor, in fact. But when Barrett's wife and two young daughters are found gruesomely murdered, no one doubts for an instant that he's guilty. The mayor, after all, was seen splattered with blood and fleeing his house immediately after the crime. The entire country watched on television as Barrett sped away from the police and smashed his car into a brick wall.
With evidence like this, it's going to take one hell of a lawyer to get Wallace Barrett off. That's why Barrett hires Ben Kincaid. Kincaid may not be the slickest attorney in Tulsa, but as he has proven time and again, he's got a knack for pulling off the impossible.
Impossible never looked so tough. Kincaid anticipated that the trial was going to be an uphill fight all the way--but he wasn't bargaining on outright disaster. The media seem obsessed with the case, as crack prosecutor Jack Bullock, Kincaid's former partner and now his sworn enemy, brings in a parade of expert witnesses--a DNA analyst, a blood expert, a medical examiner--all of whom establish beyond a doubt that Barrett was present at the crime scene. Then Bullock clinches the case by springing a surprise witness with particularly damning testimony. Ben Kincaid knows it's going to take a miracle to save this trial. A miracle that can happen only if he puts Wallace Barrett on the stand. . . .
As the trial progresses, new revelations explode like firecrackers, sending shock waves through the city's legal and political establishment. And even as the trial draws to a close, Ben uncovers shocking secrets that precipitously tilt the scales of justice. Smart, stylish and engrossing from first page to last, Naked Justice is a virtuoso performance by an absolute master of his art.
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Wallace Barrett is a former star college quarterback with an acting background who is now the first black mayor of Tulsa, Okla. In the prologue of Bernhardt's sixth Ben Kincaid novel (after Cruel Justice), the Barrett family visits the local Baskin-Robbins; a few hours later, everyone except Wallace is dead, and Wallace is the obvious suspect. Caroline appears to have been the classic abused wife, while the couple's two young daughters seem to have been caught up in a violent marital feud. As Wallace's attorney, Ben is forced to grapple with some very familiar snags in the case: there is a nationally televised highway chase, a contaminated crime scene, a bloody shoe print and a jury selection fraught with questions of racial bias. Bernhardt tries to make the story his own with a final plot twist based on an unknown piece of information about a vasectomy and a pregnancy. He also tries to invest the novel with some freshness by way of two subplots. One deals with Ben's single parenting of his young nephew during his sister's apparent disappearance; the other concerns a myasterious stalker who plagues Ben via letter bombs, a car chase and e-mail (there's little surprise, however, when the stalker's identity is revealed). At the end of the novel, Ben appears to abandon the law, but this intriguing turn toward character and away from the headlines comes far too late to redeem this legal thriller from its too obvious echoes of an all too familiar trial. Author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA. As this mystery opens, Tulsa's black mayor, Wallace Barrett, is arguing with his wife at a local ice-cream shop. Several hours later, the woman and Barrett's daughters are found brutally murdered, and the mayor is speeding down the turnpike. A questionably sealed crime scene, DNA testing, and a televised trial follow, but as the story develops, readers are also handed entwined plot lines that parcel out information in a manner that will hold their interest and keep them guessing. This action-packed novel with a surprising twist raises thought-provoking moral issues of race and justice.?Bobbi Thomas Skaggs, Robinson Secondary, Fairfax County, VA Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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. ------- 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.
Maybe because I waited until 1999 to read this book and maybe because I have read the entire "Justice" series in order (recently, I might add), I don't share some of the other reviewers' problems with this book. Sure, there are parallels with O.J., but truth be told I found this book to be not only interesting but exciting. (I also hazard a guess that anyone reading this book would love to hear an explaination from OJ, such as was provided in this book by it's defendant.)
I not only enjoyed the main plot, but the sub-plots of this book as well. The "Justice" books keep me reading and wanting more. Mr. Bernhardt's main characters are people that if they were real, I would love to know in real life. I also love to hate the prosecutor, Jack Bullock (making his second appearance). Kincaid and Bullock have a history and we learn even more about Kincaid's background in this book than ever before.
I would recommend this book highly, although based on the other reviews, maybe you should read the others in this series first - beginning with "Primary Justice" and following them in sequential order.
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Excellent Book! By far the best he's written. Keeps you guessing until the very end and not many books can do that. This book comes highly recommended!
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This isn't so much a review of Naked Justice by itself as a review of the whole Ben Kincaid (Justice) series. I won't pretend that Bernhardt's books are Pulitzer candidates, but their zany cast of characters will enchant you! They will grab you, especially if you read the series in order. The self-effacing Ben Kincaid is Everyman turned defense attorney, and the other members of his entourage, especially the beguiling Christina, will similarly strike a chord with readers in a way that the super-lawyers of other current legal fiction cannot. These books are just plain fun. While you will become interested in the plots and legal maneuverings, their main attraction is the characters themselves. You will discover that you really care about these people, because they will reflect so much of yourself and of "normal" people, complete with foibles...Stan Davi
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