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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Amity Public Library | MYS - BERNHARDT | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | BERNHARDT, W. Ben Kincaid #11 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | BERNHARDT, William | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
When a priest with radical ideas and a parish council with traditional values lock horns over the beliefs they hold most sacred, there's bound to be controversy--and consequences. But murder crosses the line between committing a sin and committing a crime, turning a battle over faith into a battle for justice. And smack in the middle of the explosive case is Tulsa attorney Ben Kincaid. Kincaid rescued Father Daniel Beale once before. When the priest's renegade views and violent temper nearly cost him his position as rector of St. Benedict's Church, Ben intervened and saved the day. Now Beale is the prime suspect in the brutal murder of a female parishioner--though lack of evidence has left the case unsolved. But as Father Beale struggles to escape the shadow of suspicion, another woman is savagely slaughtered. And this time, Ben himself discovers Beale literally red-handed . . . with the blood of the victim. As Father Beale declares his innocence, Ben and his team feverishly work to build a defense that will deliver the man of God from a date with the death chamber. But each new revelation that emerges in the packed courtroom only serves to tilt the scales increasingly in the prosecution's favor. And Father Beale's own shocking testimony ignites a firestorm of controversy that could doom his last best hope for acquittal. In his heart and in his gut, Ben knows Father Beale is innocent. But proving it means taking a leap of faith that will plunge Ben into the whirlpool of dark secrets and dangerous intentions that surround St. Benedict's. And ultimately, it will force the idealistic attorney to confront the chilling face of evil in the most unexpected of places. Criminal Intent proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the author of Murder One has earned his critical reputation as the master of the courtroom drama whose novels of legal suspense consistently offer a one-of-a-kind reading experience. From the Hardcover edition.
Author Notes
William Bernhardt is the author of many books, including Primary Justice, Double Jeopardy, Silent Justice, Murder One, Criminal Intent, and Death Row. He has twice won the Oklahoma Book Award for Best Fiction, and in 2000 he was presented the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award "in recognition of an outstanding body of work in which we understand ourselves and American society at large."
A former trial attorney, Bernhardt has received several awards for his public service.
He lives in Tulsa with his children, Harry, Alice, and Ralph. (Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
Tulsa attorney Ben Kincaid (Murder One, 2001, etc.) is still charging hard against a criminal-justice system that keeps getting it wrong. The unhappy defendant in Ben's 11th case is Father Daniel Beale, an Episcopalian priest with an unfortunate talent for disenchanting his flock. Those who view him darkly include virtually all the parishioners in the inner circle of St. Benedict's. So when vestrywomen Helen Conrad, Kate McGuire, and Susan Marino get knocked off faster than you can say "Vengeance is mine," the cops have no problem looking past priestly robes-especially since Father Beale is well-known for his hair-trigger temper, and since dozens of potential witnesses heard him shout at and threaten the victims, seriatim, moments before each met her fate. But Father Beale and Ben go way back together, to a time when Ben was a boy needing a friend and found one he never forgot. Father Beale can be wrong-headed, Ben knows, tactless in the extreme, unsettlingly liberal concerning church doctrine, and downright disdainful of his own best interests, but a murderer ? Never-even if his are the only fingerprints on what the prosecution claims is a murder weapon. Clearly some conniving perp hates Father Beale enough to frame him. Who in heaven's name can that be? "You won't believe it," somebody tells Ben in response to his sleuthing. Well, he does, but you might not. Good courtroom scenes can't dispel a familiar feeling: been there, read that.
Booklist Review
Here's a series that found an audience early and has just kept rolling along, repeating its successful formula again and again. The eleventh Ben Kincaid novel (the first, Primary Justice, appeared in 1991) is pretty much like its predecessors: a solid, by-the-numbers legal drama, suspenseful enough but saddled with frequently awkward dialogue and off-the-rack characters. There's nothing particularly wrong with the Kincaid mysteries, but there's nothing particular right about them, either. They deliver the basic legal-thriller package, but without any of the style or intensity that readers have come to expect from, say, Philip Margolin or John Lescroart. This time around, Ben is defending an Episcopalian priest on a charge of homicide; the prosecution's theory is that this man of the cloth murdered an associate because she was among a group of parishioners who wanted him replaced because he permitted gay and lesbian groups to hold meetings at the church. There are witnesses, suspects, false leads, and various legal-thriller shenanigans, but it all has the feel of been-there-done-that. Still, Bernhardt clearly has found his readers, and they are a loyal bunch. Readers'-advisory librarians might like to try an experiment: for those who request this distinctly middling Ben Kincaid novel, recommend in addition Jane Haddam's thematically similar but far superior 2001 thriller, True Believers, which concerns a Catholic priest accused of murder and a parish that ministers to the gay community. --David Pitt
Library Journal Review
In the latest Ben Kincaid mystery, one parish priest may be going to heaven soon; he's facing the death penalty for murder. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.