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Ben Kincaid #8
Dark Justice
The eighth legal thriller in the acclaimed series featuring attorney Ben Kincaid--by the bestselling author of Extreme Justice. On vacation in the picturesque Pacific Northwest, burned out Kincaid is looking forward to rest and relaxation. But all he finds in the small town of Magic Valley is mayhem and murder.
Audio Cassette
First published January 9, 1999
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About the author
William Bernhardt
99 books514 followersWilliam Bernhardt is the author of over sixty books, including the bestselling Daniel Pike and Ben Kincaid legal thrillers, the historical novels Challengers of the Dust and Nemesis, three books of poetry, and the ten Red Sneaker books on fiction writing.
In addition, Bernhardt founded the Red Sneaker Writers Center to mentor aspiring writers. The Center hosts an annual writers conference (WriterCon), small-group seminars, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-weekly podcast. More than three dozen of Bernhardt’s students have subsequently published with major houses. He is also the owner of Balkan Press, which publishes poetry and fiction as well as the literary journal Conclave.
Bernhardt has received the Southern Writers Guild’s Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (University of Pennsylvania) and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (Oklahoma State), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." He has been nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award eighteen times in three different categories, and has won the award twice. Library Journal called him “the master of the courtroom drama.” The Vancouver Sun called him “the American equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse and John Mortimer.”
In addition to his novels and poetry, he has written plays, a musical (book and score), humor, children stories, biography, and puzzles. He has edited two anthologies (Legal Briefs and Natural Suspect) as fundraisers for The Nature Conservancy and the Children’s Legal Defense Fund. OSU named him “Oklahoma’s Renaissance Man.”
In his spare time, he has enjoyed surfing, digging for dinosaurs, trekking through the Himalayas, paragliding, scuba diving, caving, zip-lining over the canopy of the Costa Rican rain forest, and jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. In 2013, he became a Jeopardy! champion winning over $20,000.
When Bernhardt delivered the keynote address at the San Francisco Writers Conference, chairman Michael Larsen noted that in addition to penning novels, Bernhardt can “write a sonnet, play a sonata, plant a garden, try a lawsuit, teach a class, cook a gourmet meal, beat you at Scrabble, and work the New York Times crossword in under five minutes.”
In addition, Bernhardt founded the Red Sneaker Writers Center to mentor aspiring writers. The Center hosts an annual writers conference (WriterCon), small-group seminars, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-weekly podcast. More than three dozen of Bernhardt’s students have subsequently published with major houses. He is also the owner of Balkan Press, which publishes poetry and fiction as well as the literary journal Conclave.
Bernhardt has received the Southern Writers Guild’s Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (University of Pennsylvania) and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (Oklahoma State), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." He has been nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award eighteen times in three different categories, and has won the award twice. Library Journal called him “the master of the courtroom drama.” The Vancouver Sun called him “the American equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse and John Mortimer.”
In addition to his novels and poetry, he has written plays, a musical (book and score), humor, children stories, biography, and puzzles. He has edited two anthologies (Legal Briefs and Natural Suspect) as fundraisers for The Nature Conservancy and the Children’s Legal Defense Fund. OSU named him “Oklahoma’s Renaissance Man.”
In his spare time, he has enjoyed surfing, digging for dinosaurs, trekking through the Himalayas, paragliding, scuba diving, caving, zip-lining over the canopy of the Costa Rican rain forest, and jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. In 2013, he became a Jeopardy! champion winning over $20,000.
When Bernhardt delivered the keynote address at the San Francisco Writers Conference, chairman Michael Larsen noted that in addition to penning novels, Bernhardt can “write a sonnet, play a sonata, plant a garden, try a lawsuit, teach a class, cook a gourmet meal, beat you at Scrabble, and work the New York Times crossword in under five minutes.”
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
February 2, 2020
This book came so close to a really good review – until the last thirty pages or so. Although the writer occasionally overwrote portions, this book was still a page turner, with exciting action, new concepts, good court strategy and courtroom drama, a lot going on behind the scenes, and information that were fascinating to the reader, and likeable characters. I was all geared up to a really satisfying ending, but unfortunately the ending was disappointing and also left me feeling there were some inconsistencies. I could not really believe the tree cutters could handle a tree that was over 20 feet in circumference, and the cutting could not have taken place in the time span. Also, a scene told in first place by the villain who was planning to kill the main character was a plot thread that was dropped. The reader was waiting for that confrontation and it never happened. It would have been so easy for this to have been a five star book with the right attention from the editor, and I wish I could give it five stars, but I will have to settle for four stars as a near miss.
December 12, 2023
In a small town in Washington, the loggers and the environmentalists are engaged in a war, with machinery being damaged and camps being destroyed. Then a logger is killed and the leader of the environmental group is accused of murder.
Ben Kincaid just appends to be vacationing in the area, and has luck would have it, was familiar with the accused, having gotten him off from a murder conviction several years earlier.
Ben agrees to take the case once more, discovers a great deal of mayhem and within the sparring enemies.
Ben Kincaid just appends to be vacationing in the area, and has luck would have it, was familiar with the accused, having gotten him off from a murder conviction several years earlier.
Ben agrees to take the case once more, discovers a great deal of mayhem and within the sparring enemies.
December 1, 2023
I enjoyed this book. It was a complicated thriller. In my opinion, I believe the author tried to cram too much in this book.
December 15, 2016
Unnecessarily long!!!!
November 17, 2020
As an ex-cop and having been asked to present expert evidence in court on many occasions, I simply found this book unbelievable on too many fronts to be enjoyable.
June 14, 2023
This heartbreaking case takes place in the deep and ancient forests of the Pacific North West.
It pits a ecological activist group against the loggers of this area.
The accused is a former client of Ben Kincaid!.. and is now a leader of the Green Rage. The people of the town in which the murder takes place makes their livelihoods from logging. Ben seems to get into this type of situation, where he is the unwanted intruder lawyer, fairly often.
Unless you are a lot more clever that I, the real murderer will remain a mystery until the last couple of chapters.
I like the smooth writing style and the seemingly simple steps of the narrative. Ben get a little roughed up in the episode...a bit over the top! But the action was good, the trial scenes were believable and the characters were interesting; especially the small town cranky Judge, and the ambitious DA.
The book ends with the cutting down by the loggers of the most ancient tree in this forest, and individual that has been living in this forest for 800 years. That is the heartbreak..that we are hell bent on destroying all life, as we push every other species off our planet.
It pits a ecological activist group against the loggers of this area.
The accused is a former client of Ben Kincaid!.. and is now a leader of the Green Rage. The people of the town in which the murder takes place makes their livelihoods from logging. Ben seems to get into this type of situation, where he is the unwanted intruder lawyer, fairly often.
Unless you are a lot more clever that I, the real murderer will remain a mystery until the last couple of chapters.
I like the smooth writing style and the seemingly simple steps of the narrative. Ben get a little roughed up in the episode...a bit over the top! But the action was good, the trial scenes were believable and the characters were interesting; especially the small town cranky Judge, and the ambitious DA.
The book ends with the cutting down by the loggers of the most ancient tree in this forest, and individual that has been living in this forest for 800 years. That is the heartbreak..that we are hell bent on destroying all life, as we push every other species off our planet.
November 4, 2023
I'll read more of the series, but this book was a waste/loss for me. I vacillate between one and two stars, and I guess I'll leave it as is out of a sense of pre-Thanksgiving generosity.
Ben Kincaid needs a break. Accordingly, he packs up and heads for a bucolic town in Washington state where tension runs high between the environmentalists and the loggers. His flamboyant, irrepressible, red-haired assistant makes the trip with him, and she remains my favorite character in the book. Kincaid is so hapless and clueless he doesn’t know how much he matters to her.
The cops arrested a man in the town for murdering a logger, and he’s a guy Kincaid had freed in a previous court case years earlier. Naturally, the guy assumes Kincaid will be able to work his usual courtroom magic and free him again.
This just felt like some political screed thinly wrapped in the guise of a mystery. I finished it, but I didn’t come away with the usual sense of satisfaction that accompanies completion of a book in this series.
Ben Kincaid needs a break. Accordingly, he packs up and heads for a bucolic town in Washington state where tension runs high between the environmentalists and the loggers. His flamboyant, irrepressible, red-haired assistant makes the trip with him, and she remains my favorite character in the book. Kincaid is so hapless and clueless he doesn’t know how much he matters to her.
The cops arrested a man in the town for murdering a logger, and he’s a guy Kincaid had freed in a previous court case years earlier. Naturally, the guy assumes Kincaid will be able to work his usual courtroom magic and free him again.
This just felt like some political screed thinly wrapped in the guise of a mystery. I finished it, but I didn’t come away with the usual sense of satisfaction that accompanies completion of a book in this series.
February 5, 2022
Felt Conflicted
In reading this book, I felt conflicted because I understood the perspectives of both sides of the environment and logging issue. I don't condone violence but I cherish nature and the importance of maintaining our ecosystem. I also know that people who have been raised where one single industry has provided jobs over generations find it tough to change. It was a very good novel, but agonizing to read at times. As usual, the author was able to end the trial with a proper outcome, but also encourage much-needed conversation about how the factions need to go forward. So the book was part trial and sociology lesson. I really like the characters of Ben and Christine and plan to continue reading this series.
In reading this book, I felt conflicted because I understood the perspectives of both sides of the environment and logging issue. I don't condone violence but I cherish nature and the importance of maintaining our ecosystem. I also know that people who have been raised where one single industry has provided jobs over generations find it tough to change. It was a very good novel, but agonizing to read at times. As usual, the author was able to end the trial with a proper outcome, but also encourage much-needed conversation about how the factions need to go forward. So the book was part trial and sociology lesson. I really like the characters of Ben and Christine and plan to continue reading this series.
October 2, 2023
There is the potential for a very good story in this novel. I like it when crime novels also deal with current issues facing humanity, and in the main the author handles this challenge well.
However, for me, there are too many times when the plot really strains credulity - the hero being dragged at speed on the ground behind a vehicle to suffer only minor, short-term injuries, and the escape through the fire at the end, to mention just two. It would be all the better for judicious editing. Two and a half stars.
However, for me, there are too many times when the plot really strains credulity - the hero being dragged at speed on the ground behind a vehicle to suffer only minor, short-term injuries, and the escape through the fire at the end, to mention just two. It would be all the better for judicious editing. Two and a half stars.
March 1, 2021
This one was a little bit harder to get into can pass books in the series. I hope usually like them a little bit better than this one but this one was still pretty good. It took a little while to get my attention. There were some really interesting twist in the plat that were very helpful interesting interesting. Still waiting for that relationship between Ben and Christina to kick off but I suppose Dragging it out increases the suspense and readership… Smile can’t blame them thereb
July 23, 2021
Pretty good crime/legal thriller, with large dollops of murder and general nastiness, and a few great twists in the tale!
There was a bit too much of the odds being stacked against our hero, a few less would have sufficed to make the situation quite desperate enough...
But overall a nice easy read, and some interesting insights into the world of big company logging.
There was a bit too much of the odds being stacked against our hero, a few less would have sufficed to make the situation quite desperate enough...
But overall a nice easy read, and some interesting insights into the world of big company logging.
September 22, 2023
leave out the politics
Love the series but this one had WAY too much politics. Obvious bias of the author against logging. Pages of tree hugger arguments making loggers as only interested in money with no regard for nature— without any mention of the fact that the house the author lives in is made from trees.
Love the series but this one had WAY too much politics. Obvious bias of the author against logging. Pages of tree hugger arguments making loggers as only interested in money with no regard for nature— without any mention of the fact that the house the author lives in is made from trees.
August 7, 2019
Ben Kincaid defends an environmentalist on trial for murdering a logger. Even though the suspense in this book was good, I found it a very draggy read. The topic didn't really capture my attention. Didn't have all of the same characters as previous books because it didn't take place in Tulsa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2024
An interesting story with lots of twists and turns. I love his courtroom scenes the most. More violence than I like. I liked this one better than his previous book in this series. On to the next one!
May 8, 2021
I disliked every single person in this book.
August 4, 2021
Great storyline
Really enjoyed this book, great characters and storylines. Environmental groups and loggers butting heads. Probably alot of truth in this story on both sides.
Really enjoyed this book, great characters and storylines. Environmental groups and loggers butting heads. Probably alot of truth in this story on both sides.
October 15, 2024
A decent Ben Kincaid story. He's a good guy and very noble. I like Bernhardt's stories, he's down to earth and he has created a universe I wouldn't mind visiting!
August 1, 2025
Just too much preaching about loggers. Too much unbelievable happenings.
July 30, 2011
William Bernhardt continues his series starring Ben Kincaid as a lawyer willing to take on difficult cases in difficult circumstances. This time he is in the woods, literally, defending an eco-terrorist, with bomb-making experience, from shooting and then burning up, via a bomb, a pesky logger. Although Kincaid tries to see both sides of the issue, the violent treatment of the "tree huggers" tips the scales strongly in their favor. Although, in the end both sides are escalating their attacks on each other, there are those behind the scenes with no philosophical commitment to either side who inflame the situation. Despite a bit of confusion about the properties of Infra-red and Ultra-violet light and their roles in fluorescence (which can be forgiven because the one explaining them turns out to be a jerk), there is a lot of technical detail in this book and startling facts about our forests, that are well presented. I was reading an excellent book about the history of the US Forestry Service at the same time I read this book and it is frightening how consistent the problem has been for well over a hundred years. We need a healthy lumber industry and we need to preserve the dwindling remnants of our once vast forest reserves. No solution pleases everyone and the fairest solutions please no one. However, this novel clearly emphasizes that violence, in the end, hurts everyone and destroys the forests at the same time.
What is really impressive is that this book manages to be an exciting, fast-moving thriller, despite its effort to make an important point. My only request would be to turn down the stridency about one notch, and tune up the character development about the same amount. Remember, this advice is coming from someone who is concerned about global warming and the devastation of our natural resources, but who also likes to thoughtfully come to his own conclusions.
What is really impressive is that this book manages to be an exciting, fast-moving thriller, despite its effort to make an important point. My only request would be to turn down the stridency about one notch, and tune up the character development about the same amount. Remember, this advice is coming from someone who is concerned about global warming and the devastation of our natural resources, but who also likes to thoughtfully come to his own conclusions.
May 19, 2012
This story was a totally different topic than I first thought. Most lawyerly type books I have read have been about crooks masquerading as upstanding citizens who are eventually flushed out by the main character who goes through a variety of unsafe situations until finally it ends. This one, though it was about a lawyer, was more about a very real concern of the differences of opinion between "tree huggers" and loggers. They said that many of the situations that were cited were based on real fact. Ugh. Its unfortunate that we can't agree and come to some kinds of compromise regarding our natural resources and our needs as a society. It was actually very illuminating and sad to realize the fate of our forests is dwindling so quickly and that so few people even care. I do, but, unfortunately, am not directly involved and have not been aware for most of my life. And, I'm sorry to say, probably won't be involved in the near future, as I deal with other, much more pressing concerns and situations each and every day regarding my family right now. It is alarming and a very real problem for our world, just as losing the rain forests, and polluting the oceans, killing ocean life, and other animals for financial gain.
The lawsuit/murder trial was unbelievable, in that, I think that many people are "set up" and convicted when really innocent. I think there are so many criminals out there and they get away with so very much. Most of the time they will go free, at least in situations such as this author created.
Well, it made for an interesting time while I was doing my house work and driving as I listened to it on CD.
The lawsuit/murder trial was unbelievable, in that, I think that many people are "set up" and convicted when really innocent. I think there are so many criminals out there and they get away with so very much. Most of the time they will go free, at least in situations such as this author created.
Well, it made for an interesting time while I was doing my house work and driving as I listened to it on CD.
April 29, 2017
These are genuinely good books. I have trouble classifying them. They are equal parts detective story and courtroom/legal thriller. They do not have the hard core detective work of a typical detective novel nor do they have as much courtroom/legal escapades as a typical courtroom/legal drama either. While they can be generally classified as a mystery of a sort they are not who done its either.
They are kind me of their own genre I guess. Legal thriller/detective story. The are well written and well researched . They are quite simply good books.
This installment is a little different than others because there is quite a bit of truth about the logging industry and the environmental groups that often oppose them and the book spends a good deal of time explaining hose details so this novel is not quite as action packed as previous novels in the series but it is just as enjoyable as e other books in the series. So even though this is a slight departure from the previous books I doubt fans of the previous books would had any trouble enjoyed his book as much as the earlier books in the series.
They are kind me of their own genre I guess. Legal thriller/detective story. The are well written and well researched . They are quite simply good books.
This installment is a little different than others because there is quite a bit of truth about the logging industry and the environmental groups that often oppose them and the book spends a good deal of time explaining hose details so this novel is not quite as action packed as previous novels in the series but it is just as enjoyable as e other books in the series. So even though this is a slight departure from the previous books I doubt fans of the previous books would had any trouble enjoyed his book as much as the earlier books in the series.
December 12, 2011
Some years back my husband and I read quite a few of Mr. Bernhardt's books and enjoyed them. I'm not sure why we stopped reading. I think one of the things I liked about this book was that both sides (environmentalists and loggers) were at fault. Things were weighted a bit in favor of the environmentalists, but they were portrayed as also being at fault in the dispute at the heart of this story. There were plenty of twists and the denouement was surprising. There was some rather horrific violence that I could have done without - and actually, I think that's why we dropped Mr. Bernhardt awhile back.
September 8, 2014
I've read the previous 7 Ben Kincaid books and I generally enjoy the characters and stories. Dark Justice is the story of eco-activists vs loggers in the Pacific north-west and as usual the hero, Ben Kincaid, takes on an unpopular and apparently guilty defendant. The story progresses nicely but as in the last couple of outings I felt that the ending was a bit rushed, a la Dick Francis (300 pages of development then 5 pages of wrap up).
Everything was explained, but it seemed rather simplistic. I'll continue reading Bernhardt - I like his characters and his humour, but I hope he returns to his earlier style and provides satisfying conclusions.
Everything was explained, but it seemed rather simplistic. I'll continue reading Bernhardt - I like his characters and his humour, but I hope he returns to his earlier style and provides satisfying conclusions.
October 6, 2014
My wife checked out this book at the library during one of her random sweeps on my behalf. Sometimes that works out well. Sometimes it doesn't.
This book is a preachy environmentalist tract. The plot staggers and collapses under the weight of the message that Bernhardt assaults the reader with. The characters are little cardboard cutouts, jigging around the poorly designed stage in service to the Sierra Club.
I don't mind a story having environmentalist (or whatever -ism) themes woven through. The trick is to not engulf the plot and characters. This is a trick that Bernhardt clearly does not understand or care about.
I wish I could give this book a zero star or a black hole.
This book is a preachy environmentalist tract. The plot staggers and collapses under the weight of the message that Bernhardt assaults the reader with. The characters are little cardboard cutouts, jigging around the poorly designed stage in service to the Sierra Club.
I don't mind a story having environmentalist (or whatever -ism) themes woven through. The trick is to not engulf the plot and characters. This is a trick that Bernhardt clearly does not understand or care about.
I wish I could give this book a zero star or a black hole.
September 13, 2012
Few observations about this book
1. A very unethical prosecutor.
2. A very biased judge who wouldn't even listen to reason...re:denial of venue and who clearly sided with the prosecution.
3. Ben Kincaid who accepts without any question what the judge says even if he knows it is morally and ethically wrong....Wasn't Ben always a staunch believer in truth and justice?
4. Loving always getting bashed in the head....makes me wonder if the character will eventually be killed in succeeding books....the head can only take as much trauma....
1. A very unethical prosecutor.
2. A very biased judge who wouldn't even listen to reason...re:denial of venue and who clearly sided with the prosecution.
3. Ben Kincaid who accepts without any question what the judge says even if he knows it is morally and ethically wrong....Wasn't Ben always a staunch believer in truth and justice?
4. Loving always getting bashed in the head....makes me wonder if the character will eventually be killed in succeeding books....the head can only take as much trauma....
February 25, 2011
I read this mostly 10 minutes at a time as I rode my stationary bike. The title says 'A Novel of Suspense' which is misleading. There is some suspense, but there is a lot of plodding going on. A writer-lawyer agrees to represent a former client, who has now been accused of murder. There is a struggle going on between Green Rage, an ecological group trying to save old growth trees from logging interests. Things really heat up at the end. I didn't care for the last chapter.
August 4, 2012
Lawyer Ben Kincaid is on a book tour for his first book and is drawn into defendeding a former client on a murder charge. He get drawn into the conflict between the logging industry and eco-terrorists. While this is going on, members of the eco-terrorist group start getting killed and a serious drug problem exists in the community. The judge and an attractive, ruthless prosecutor are out to convict his client for the death of a logger. An engrossing read.
February 18, 2013
A good transition read for me. I actually learned a lot about eco-terrorism with respect to forests, and why it's so important to control the logging
industry and not let all the old forests to be cut down so quickly, particularly as I didn't know there were machines that did entire swaths of forest. I never really thought about it, and had an antiquated point of reference on that.
I enjoyed the book, and would read another of his series.
industry and not let all the old forests to be cut down so quickly, particularly as I didn't know there were machines that did entire swaths of forest. I never really thought about it, and had an antiquated point of reference on that.
I enjoyed the book, and would read another of his series.
March 17, 2008
Really nice and easy reading. The Ben Kincaid series is a great "legal" thriller series ... legal is in quotes because that is not the focus of the series, but the stories revolve around a lawyer and his cases. The theme of this book is clear cutting forests. Informative for both the "logger" and "eco-terrorist" side. I enjoy his whole Kincaid series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews