Having the opportunity to begin a new journey with author William Bernhardt is always a pleasure. My first journey with him involved a shy, young attorney named Ben Kincaid. I followed him from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Washington, D.C. and back again. That journey has taken me through nineteen novels and three novellas, so far. My second Journey was with a troubled Las Vegas police behaviorist, named Susan Pulaski and her unlikely assistant Darcy O’Bannon. Susan’s journey has hardly begun, but is as different from Ben’s as possible. My third journey with Mr. Bernhardt was of intermediate length between the one with Susan and the one with Ben. A supremely confident and well compensated St. Petersburg lawyer named Daniel Pike has spent six novels discovering that not only is he a Last Chance Lawyer, but able to benefit from the skills of each of the other members on his legal team. I look forward to continuing all those journeys, but Mr. Bernhardt has propelled me on a new journey with another female protagonist in his newest thriller, Splitsville.
Kenzi Rivera is the top moneymaker in the Seattle law firm of Rivera and Perez. The firm focuses on representing those with troubled family situations, and she loves her work. Her father is the managing partner but seems insufficiently impressed by her tremendous value to the firm. When she takes on a case that her father and others find distasteful, she stands her ground and threatens not only her relationship to her own family but also her lucrative career. As it progresses, the case takes her far from her comfort zone and exposes increasingly damaging evidence against her client. What began as a simple child custody fight becomes much darker and threatens not only her client’s life, but her own.
In Spiltsville, William Bernhardt explores a completely different form of legal thriller through the eyes of a uniquely flawed and thoroughly tenacious woman. More than aware of the disadvantages facing women in the courtroom and elsewhere, she refuses to represent any male clients. She makes it her mission to overcome those disadvantages for her clients and herself. One particular case challenges her own sense of professional proficiency and forces her to rely on the skills of others. Thankfully, for her, those others are all uniquely talented women, including her own daughter.
In this era of mature, white males, such as myself and Mr. Bernhardt, having to confront a privileged status we may have ignored all our lives, Kenzi’s story and that of her clients and colleagues forces us to see the world we live in through different eyes. Progress toward is not attainment of equity. I began the novel a little ticked off at Kenzi and her priorities, including her focus on how she looks and her social media persona. By the end, I was rooting for her and team of soul sisters to persevere.
It is clear to me that Bernhardt began this series to increase his own understanding of one of the most challenging issues of our time. Through his stories, Bernhardt challenges his readers to do the same. In the process he entertains with action, emotion, humor, irony, and an occasional excursion into the more bizarre practices of modern life. There is a symmetry to this novel that is especially satisfying. I challenge anyone to read the first chapter—no the first paragraph—no the first sentence of this book and try to set it down.