William Bernhardt Books In Order

Ben Kincaid Books In Publication Order

  1. Primary Justice (1991)
  2. Blind Justice (1992)
  3. Deadly Justice (1993)
  4. Perfect Justice (1994)
  5. Cruel Justice (1996)
  6. Naked Justice (1997)
  7. Extreme Justice (1998)
  8. Dark Justice (1999)
  9. Silent Justice (2000)
  10. Murder One (2001)
  11. Criminal Intent (2002)
  12. Death Row (2003)
  13. Hate Crime (2004)
  14. Capitol Murder (2006)
  15. Capitol Threat (2007)
  16. Capitol Conspiracy (2008)
  17. Capitol Offense (2009)
  18. Capitol Betrayal (2010)
  19. After Hours (2012)
  20. Yuletide Justice (2013)
  21. What We’re Here For (2014)
  22. Rough Justice (2014)
  23. Justice Returns (2017)

Daniel Pike Books In Publication Order

  1. The Last Chance Lawyer (2019)
  2. Court of Killers (2019)
  3. Trial by Blood (2019)
  4. Twisted Justice (2020)
  5. Judge and Jury (2020)
  6. Final Verdict (2021)

Shine Books In Publication Order

  1. Childhood’s End / Shine (2013)
  2. Roses in the Ashes (2013)
  3. Pandora’s Daughters (2013)
  4. Renegades (2014)
  5. Who’s Gonna Stop Me? (2014)
  6. Raze (By:Tamara Grantham) (2014)
  7. Lost Haven (By:Sabrina A. Fish) (2014)
  8. The Unfound (By:Burke Holbrook) (2014)
  9. Cassandra (By:Lara Wells) (2014)
  10. Never Say Reven (By:Tamara Grantham) (2014)
  11. Into the Fire (By:Tamara Grantham) (2014)
  12. Road to Nowhere (By:Tamara Grantham) (2014)
  13. Storms and Spirits (By:Sabrina A. Fish) (2014)
  14. The Gilded Cage (By:Sabrina A. Fish) (2015)
  15. Ricochet (By:Burke Holbrook) (2015)

Splitsville Legal Thriller Books In Publication Order

  1. Splitsville (2021)
  2. Exposed (2021)

Susan Pulaski Books In Publication Order

  1. Dark Eye (2004)
  2. Strip Search (2007)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. The Code of Buddyhood (1993)
  2. Double Jeopardy (1995)
  3. The Midnight Before Christmas (1998)
  4. Final Round (2001)
  5. Nemesis (2008)
  6. The Black Sentry (2014)
  7. The Game Master (2015)

Collections In Publication Order

  1. The White Bird (2013)
  2. The Ocean’s Edge (2017)

Red Sneaker Writers Books In Publication Order

  1. Story Structure (2003)
  2. The Fundamentals of Fiction (2008)
  3. Dynamic Dialogue (2014)
  4. Sizzling Style (2014)
  5. Powerful Premise (2015)
  6. Excellent Editing (2016)
  7. Perfecting Plot (2018)
  8. Creating Character (2018)
  9. What Writers Need to Know (2019)
  10. Thinking Theme (2020)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. Equal Justice (2006)

Picture Books In Publication Order

  1. Princess Alice and the Dreadful Dragon (2007)

Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. Legal Briefs (1998)
  2. Natural Suspect (2001)
  3. Voices of the Heartland (2005)
  4. Love is Murder (2012)

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William Bernhardt Books Overview

Primary Justice

Ben Kincaid wants to be a lawyer because he wants to do the right thing. But once he leaves the D.A.’s office for a hot shot spot in Tulsa’s most prestigious law firm, Ben discovers that doing the right thing and representing his client’s interests can be mutually exclusive. An explosive legal thriller that takes readers on a frantic ride of suspicion and intrigue, Primary Justice brings morality and temptation together in one dangerous motion. From the Paperback edition.

Blind Justice

Out of corporate life and on his own, lawyer Ben Kincaid sees the seamy side of the law every day. There’s no glamour and little reward when it comes to defending the lowlifes who beat down his door. But when a friend is set up for murder, Ben has no choice but to enter the world of hardball litigation and face a judge who despises him in a trial he is guaranteed to lose.

Blind Justice is a riveting, emotion packed thriller in which guilt and innocence remain obscure and justice is a matter of opinion.

Deadly Justice

Hired as in house counsel to the notorious Apollo Consortium, attorney Ben Kincaid wins his first case and unwittingly sets up a bitter rivalry that will culminate in murder.

Perfect Justice

From William Bernhardt, bestselling author of PRIMARY JUSTICE, BLIND JUSTICE, and DEADLY JUSTICE. While attorney Ben Kincaid is vacationing in the Ouachita Mountains, he becomes embroiled in the brutal murder by crossbow of a young Vietnamese immigrant. Though revolted by the killing, Ben agrees to represent the accused a remorseless youth and active member of the Anglo SaxonPatrol ASP. Soon Ben begins to believe in the young man’s innocence, yet before the trial, the client suddenly decides to pleade guilty. As members of the Vietnamese community fight fire with fire, Ben frantically searches for the truth. When he infiltrates an isolated ASP camp in thewoods, he discovers that what appears to be just another monstrous hate crime could be something else entirely. Perfect Justice is a whirlwind novel of suspense that addresses some of the most controversial issues of our time. William Bernhardt paints a riveting portrait of a town torn apart by xenophobia, racism and violence. With mounting suspense, his anatomy of an incendiary courtroom trial culminates in serpentine twists and sizzling revelations.’I fought the real courtroom battle for the Vietnamese fisherman against the Texas Klan and I was stunned how real to life William Bernhardt’s Perfect Justice is a gripping courtroom thriller you can’t put down.’Morris Dees, Author of HATE ON TRIAL and A SEASON OF JUSTICE

Cruel Justice

‘A thoroughly entertaining page turner.’ Phillip MargolinLeeman Hayes, a black teenager in Tulsa, is accused of brutally murdering a young woman. As attorney Ben Kincaid struggles to pull together a defense, a young boy is falling into the clutches of a child molester. Ten year old Abie Rutherford, lonely and desperate for approval, thinks the handsome, smiling stranger in the baseball cap might be that friend he has longed for. When Abie Rutherford vanishes without a trace one hot summer day, Ben Kincaid, like everyone else in Tulsa, fears the worst. Then a bone chilling discovery compels Ben to forge a link between the missing boy and the seemingly hopeless case of Leeman Hayes thereby igniting the fuse for the most explosive courtroom case of Ben’s career.’An enthralling murder mystery…
The ending is both surprising and explosive.’ The Sunday Oklahoman

Naked Justice

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.

Extreme Justice

Breathless pace. Vibrant, complex characters. Explosive courtroom showdowns. These are the hallmarks of William Bernhardt’s internationally acclaimed novels. Now, in Extreme Justice, Bernhardt brings his storytelling expertise to all new levels of heart pounding suspense and terror. Disillusioned with both the legal system and his private life, criminal attorney Ben Kincaid decides to abandon his law practice for a less stressful pastime: playing with a combo at Uncle Earl’s Jazz Emporium. Compared to litigation, the musician’s life is bliss until a corpse crashes through the ceiling on the night of the club’s swanky anniversary gala. The body is that of ‘Cajun Lily’ Campbell, legendary singer and one timegirlfriend of club owner Earl Bonner. The cops are convinced that Bonner killed her and Kincaid knows he didn’t. The trouble is, there’s some pretty damning evidence, including the fact that Bonner did time for killing a man. A man who died with a grisly smile carved on his face. Just like Lily. Kincaid swore he was through with law forever, and now he finds himself spiraling down into an underworld of gangs, drugs, Internet sex ‘clubs,’ and long standing vendettas. At the very bottom of the spiral is the killer and it looks like Ben Kincaid has been pegged as the next to die with a smile on his face. Once again William Bernhardt displays his mastery of the contemporary crime thriller. Extreme Justice is a gripping novel of die hard jealousy, sexual obsession, and cold blooded murder.

Dark Justice

Attorney Ben Kincaid’s vacation in the Pacific Northwest is interrupted by murder when ex client and current professional environmentalist seeks his aid in defending him against murder charges in the midst of a war between conservationists and loggers. AB. LJ.

Silent Justice

When a powerful corporation is charged with dumping toxic chemicals into a community’s drinking water and killing innocent children, Ben Kincaid knows the class action suit is a suicide mission. Facing off against the small Kincaid staff is Tulsa’s largest law firm. Challenging Ben in the courtroom is the firm’s fabled top gun not to mention a hot headed judge with a notorious soft spot for big business. But as Ben prepares for legal battle, a sad*istic killer strikes. With each gruesome murder, a terrifying connection is more deeply drawn between Ben’s quest for justice and another man’s relentless hunt for the spoils of his own private and very dirty war.

Murder One

The crime is remarkably heinous: veteran police detective Joe McNaughton is found savagely slain, mutilated, and hung from a public fountain in downtown Tulsa. The accused is a tabloid reporter’s dream: stunning, nineteen year old Keri Dalcanton, a stripper involved in a kinky affair with the married McNaughton. Crusading attorney Kincaid takes up her defense. But when a police raid on his office uncovers the bloodstained murder weapon, Ben himself is charged with conspiracy and murder. What follows is a breathlessly twisting battle of legal wits and lethal surprises in which no holds are barred, no secrets are left unexposed, and ultimately, nothing is what it seems…
.

Criminal Intent

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.

Death Row

William Bernhardt’s powerful series of legal thrillers featuring crusading attorney Ben Kincaid have won him a die hard following and widespread critical acclaim as a master of the courtroom drama Library Journal. Now, on the heels of his national bestseller Criminal Intent, William Bernhardt returns with his most electrifying novel to date. Oklahoma attorney Ben Kincaid put his reputation on the line when he represented Ray Goldman. The seemingly mild mannered industrial chemist was charged with a staggeringly brutal crime: the torture and massacre of an entire suburban Tulsa family. But in spite of the grisly, tabloid ready details of the sensational case, Ben s deft defense against a lack of hard evidence and improper police procedure made an acquittal all but certain. Until the prosecution s star witness the lone survivor of the slaughter took the stand…
and sealed Ray Goldman s fate. Seven years later, Goldman s date with the death chamber is at hand. But seconds before the lethal injection, an eleventh hour reprieve halts the execution and launches Ben on a race against time to overturn Ray Goldman s conviction. Erin Faulkner, the young woman who narrowly escaped the carnage that claimed her family, has abruptly recanted her testimony, after years of silence desperate to keep an innocent man from dying. Just as suddenly, this near miraculous turn of events turns tragic: Erin is discovered dead, an apparent suicide. And Ben Kincaid is the only witness to her stunning confession. Ben is certain Erin didn t commit suicide. She was a victim of murder silenced by the same killer who butchered her family. All Ben has to do is prove it. But his unseen enemy is determined to cover his tracks once and for all…
with blood. In Death Row, William Bernhardt ratchets up the suspense quotient to near heartstopping new levels and challenges even the most jaded thriller readers to keep up with the twists and turns. Crime will never pay. But crime fiction served up with the wit, grit, and sheer virtuosity of Bernhardt always pays off.

Hate Crime

Bestselling author William Bernhardt is an unsurpassed master at blending psychological suspense with gripping, surprise filled legal action. Now, Bernhardt and his crusading attorney Ben Kincaid return in a thrilling story of love, hate, and the power of a courtroom to separate deception from the truth.

In Tulsa, Ben Kincaid has built a national reputation as a stalwart defense attorney who will fight tirelessly for his clients. In Evanston, Illinois, Johnny Christensen has built a national reputation as a sad*istic bigot who beat and stabbed a gay man and left him to die. When Johnny’s mother comes to Ben and begs him to defend her son, he has one secret reason for saying no.

But while Ben turns down the case, his younger, beautiful partner, Christina McCall, does not. Traveling to Chicago and facing an explosion of controversy and deadly violence surrounding the trial, Christina steps into a case that is already nearly lost. Her client s only defense is his claim that he left his victim bludgeoned but alive. To prove that someone else committed the actual murder, Christina needs a little bit of evidence and a good motive to go with it.

When unforeseen circumstances force Ben Kincaid to enter the trial, the defense attorney sees only one way to prove Johnny s innocence. But Ben s plan means luring a killer out of the woodwork even though he may kill again…
.

A novel of gut wrenching twists and surprises, this thriller brilliantly explores the passions between lovers and the passions behind society s most heinous crimes. Once again, the remarkable William Bernhardt makes us challenge every assumption, second guess every judgment, and feel the terror of the truth.

From the Hardcover edition.

Capitol Murder

William Bernhardt’s bestselling novels featuring Oklahoma defense attorney Ben Kincaid capture the bare knuckles reality of high stakes criminal defense, as lofty ideals of justice clash with power, corruption, and wealth. In Capitol Murder, Bernhardt s hard charging hero takes on his most shocking, headline making case yet. Kincaid s legal success has earned him a dubious reward: a journey through the looking glass into the Beltway. Here, in the heart of the nation s capital, a powerful U.S. senator has been caught first in a sordid sex scandal, then in a case of murder. Senate aide Veronica Cooper was found in a secret Senate office beneath the Capitol building, on Senator Todd Glancy s favorite couch, blood pouring from the knife wound in her throat. The young woman s death comes on the heels of the release of a sordid videotape depicting her and Senator Glancy in compromising positions. With the senator s reputation in tatters, the evidence against him as a sexual predator and possibly a killer mounts. By the time a nationally televised murder trial begins, Kincaid and his team know they re facing the challenge of a lifetime. According to public opinion, and even in Kincaid s most private thoughts, Glancy is one more politician who cannot admit his own culpability. But while a dramatic trial unfolds in the courtroom loaded with pitfalls, traps, and an astounding betrayal another trial is taking place on the mean streets of D.C., as Kincaid s investigator pursues a young woman who was a friend of Veronica Cooper s, plunging Kincaid into a bizarre world of Goths, sadomaso*chists, and a community of self proclaimed vampires. Somewhere in this violent underworld lies the secret behind Veronica Cooper s demise…
and the crux of Senator Glancy s innocence or guilt. In a case that pits Kincaid and his freewheeling partner Christina McCall against the brutal machinery of Washington politics, the answers they seek are hidden in a murderous maze of lies and hidden motives. And in William Bernhardt s best novel yet, getting to the truth is an unparalleled experience in pure, satisfying suspense. From the Hardcover edition.

Capitol Threat

When Oklahoma attorney Ben Kincaid came to Washington, D.C., to defend a senator caught in a red hot sex scandal turned murder case, he never dreamed he d end up trading the courtroom for the senate chamber. And after his not so distinguished client stepped down, Ben found himself appointed to complete the sullied senator’s term. Now, having barely gotten his political sea legs, he must rise to yet another challenge: advising the president s next Supreme Court nominee during the sometimes thorn*y confirmation process. Luckily, Judge Thaddeus Roush s popularity on both sides of the aisle looks to make him a shoo in. Until he decides to out himself on national television igniting a Beltway uproar and setting the stage for a bare knuckle partisan brawl. Forced to scramble for spin control, Ben hastily calls a press conference for the now controversial candidate. But the photo op becomes a tabloid nightmare when, on live TV, a brutally murdered woman is discovered in the judge s backyard. For the political forces out to torpedo the nomination of a gay Supreme Court Justice, the shocking turn of events is pure gold. With the secret backing of the president and a made to order new candidate waiting in the wings, the cagey senate majority leader and his most ruthless allies mount a smear campaign that would put Joe McCarthy to shame. But Team Kincaid isn t about to let the best man for the job get derailed. While Ben uses his best courtroom strategies to wage a war of words, his crack private eye, Loving, hits the capital streets to fight a much more hands on battle with hustlers, hit men, and homicidal hoods as he digs for dirt in places even Deep Throat would avoid. It s soon clear that this game is anything but politics as usual. In Capitol Threat, William Bernhardt serves up a resounding one two punch of political intrigue and legal suspense peppered with a volley of his trademark plot twists, sly wit, and persistent thrills. From the Hardcover edition.

Capitol Conspiracy

Oklahoma defense attorney Ben Kincaid has found himself smack in the middle of more than a few controversies and deadly predicaments and the unexpected leap from his modest Tulsa law offices to Washington, D.C.’s Senate chamber hasn t taken the edge off Ben s knack for stepping into the line of fire. Now the idealistic junior senator is plunged into the thick of lethal intrigue when a shocking campaign of terror against key government officials rocks the nation s capital.

The nightmare begins with the abduction and murder of the director of Homeland Security; escalates with the killing of the Senate minority leader, who is felled in his office by an envelope laced with weaponized poison; and comes to a shattering climax at the site of the Oklahoma City Memorial, where a fusillade of sniper fire meant for the president claims unintended victims. In all, twelve people perish in the melee, while Ben himself narrowly escapes a car bomb blast that leaves his best friend, Tulsa cop Mike Morelli, comatose. But the smoke has barely cleared when the stunned nation is sent reeling yet again by the president s impassioned call to amend the U.S. Constitution with an antiterrorism law that would drastically curtail civil liberties.

It s a hot button issue guaranteed to bitterly divide the Beltway and the country. The chief executive has handpicked Ben to help harvest the support that will make the amendment a reality. Shaken by the carnage,

Ben embraces the president s radical cause, and alongside unlikely new political allies he takes the battle for the controversial bill to the Senate floor. But he can t ignore his growing suspicion that what s haunting Capitol Hill isn t the specter of foreign terrorism but something much closer to home. Now, with his ever resourceful chief of staff his wife, Christina and along with his support team backing his play, Ben sets squares off against what could be the most dangerous Goliath he s ever challenged.

Capitol Conspiracy is a bravura William Bernhardt performance bursting into action on the very first page, and crackling with breathless suspense, sharp wit, crafty twists, and timely thrills clear through to the last.

Capitol Offense

In his thrilling novels of suspense, William Bernhardt takes us into the fault lines of the criminal justice system, where one mistake, a twist of fate, or an explosive secret can mean the difference between justice and its cataclysmic undoing. In Capital Offense, attorney Ben Kincaid stands amid the chaos of a violent collision between vengeance and death and it’s up to him to discover where the truth lies. Professor Dennis Thomas arrives at the law office of Ben Kincaid with a bizarre request: Thomas wants to know if Kincaid can help him beat a murder charge of a killing yet to happen. The professor s intended victim: a Tulsa cop who had refused to authorize a search for Thomas s missing wife. For seven days, Joslyn Thomas had lain in the twisted wreckage of her car, dying a horrifically slow death in an isolated ravine. Now, insane with grief, Thomas wants to kill Detective Christopher Sentz. Kincaid warns him not to, but that very same day someone fires seven bullets into the police officer. Suddenly Kincaid s conversation with Thomas is privileged and Thomas is begging Kincaid to defend him. Thomas claims he didn t shoot Sentz even though he d wanted to. Something about the bookish, addled Dennis Thomas tugs on Kincaid s conscience, and against all advice, he decides to represent this troubled man in the center of a media and political firestorm. But the trial doesn t go Kincaid s way, and a verdict of capital murder is bearing down on Dennis Thomas. That s when Kincaid s personal private detective, Loving, starts prying loose pieces of a shocking secret. Working in the shadows of the law, using every trick that works, Loving risks his life to construct an entirely new narrative about Detective Sentz, Joslyn Thomas, and madness in another guise: the kind that every citizen should fear, and no one will recognize until it is too late.

Capitol Betrayal

William Bernhardt’s bestselling novels explore politics, power, ambition, crime, and the law. Now he scales new heights of suspense as, in one harrowing day, lawyer and former senator Ben Kincaid enters the eye of an international storm, a crisis with consequences beyond calculation. Kincaid is in a meeting with the president in the Oval Office when Washington suddenly explodes into chaos. Facing an imminent threat to the White House, Kincaid is whisked, along with the president and his advisors, to the underground PEOC Presidential Emergency Operations Center built to withstand a nuclear blast, but vulnerable to another kind of attack. Inside the bunker, defense specialists realize that a malevolent foreign dictator has hacked into the U.S. nuclear defense system and now has a finger on the trigger of America s most dangerous weapons. The dictator s message is clear: Heed his demands or suffer unfathomable destruction. Forced to make critical, split second decisions, the president seems to be falling apart under the pressure. The vice president wants to strip him of his powers a move that could have a disastrous impact on national defense. But even during this time of upheaval, in order for the president to be removed, there must be a trial. With the clock winding down, Kincaid has precious little time to defend the president. While Kincaid faces the trial of his life, legendary CIA agent Seamus McKay races through the clogged streets of Washington, searching for a hidden command center guarded by murderous fanatics that now controls U.S. ballistic missiles. Two sides of one unforgettable story, McKay and Kincaid home in on their targets. One uses a gun and any weapon he can get his hands on; the other employs his intuition and the law. And in William Bernhardt s spectacular thriller, as both move closer and closer to uncovering a world shattering plot, the ultimate act of betrayal is launched from the heart of America s capitol itself.

Dark Eye

Sometimes her eyes seduce. Sometimes they stare straight at the kind of sights most people turn away from. But in the blazing neon and searing sun of Las Vegas, she can t see the man who is watching her and thinking to himself: She is the one…
. From the mountain views beyond the Strip to the dingy dens of forbidden pleasure, Susan Pulaski loves Las Vegas. A woman who wears a gun at her side and her heart on a sleeve, Pulaski is the perfect fit for her city and her job: unraveling the minds of deviant personalities. Until a killer begins decorating Sin City with the horribly disfigured bodies of once beautiful young women…
. and Pulaski’s own demons go on a binge. Eight months after her cop husband s death, her life is spinning out of control just as her detective colleagues start searching for a serial killer who methodically stalks his female victims and plunges them into an orgy of terror. When a violent incident earns Pulaski a pink slip from the LVPD and a trip to detox, she s out of the hunt altogether, so she begins to desperately try to regain her job, her reputation, and custody of the niece she s been raising on her own. It seems hopeless until Pulaski meets the one person who can lead her into the mind of a madman no one else can understand. Darcy O Bannon is a twenty five year old autistic savant whose relationship with the world around him is so unusual that it forces Pulaski to view the crimes from a bizarre but ultimately insightful perspective. White knuckling her way to the center of the case, she becomes the key player in a desperate hunt for a killer who believes he has found divine inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. But even with the assistance of Darcy s astonishing skills, Pulaski is in even more danger than she knows. For the man she seeks is watching her, seduced by her frailties and strengths, her beauty and boldness. To finish his masterwork of horror, he needs her. In a blistering novel that brings together glitz and goth, human weakness and human genius, and a murderous psychopath who is all too chillingly real, master storyteller William Bernhardt has created an unparalleled literary Las Vegas thrill ride that will leave readers breathless until the final, stunning page. From the Hardcover edition.

Strip Search

She likes the sudden seconds of sheer terror. The neon dreams fit perfectly with the dreams that wake her up at night: about the man she loved and lost, about the constant temptations in her life, and about the odds that inevitably she ll be in the right place at the right time to look naked, human madness in the eye.

Welcome to the world of Susan Pulaski, an unconventional and unusually subversive Las Vegas police behaviorist who’s already been canned once and has never been needed more. In the Sin City, someone is ritually murdering handpicked victims, each with dirty secrets in their past. The killer s gimmick: Not only does he leave behind parts of the victims bodies, he also writes obscure mathematical formulas in their blood. Pulaski doesn t have a clue what the codes mean. But she knows someone who will.

Darcy O Bannon is a twenty six year old whose autistic savant skills are perfect for unraveling such mysteries as how many rivets are in the Eiffel Tower and how many Elvis impersonators there will be in the year 2020. As it turns out, innocent Darcy can also think along the arcane lines of Vegas s most savage serial killer, peering into a numerological mystery that stretches back hundreds of years.

With her own life one spark away from going off the rails, her department turned against her, and the lives of those she cares most about in jeopardy, Pulaski hunts for dangerous prey in the shadow of the Strip with herself as the perfect bait. And the closer she gets, the more terrifying and intriguing the case becomes, for the person she s tracking possesses truly ingenious powers and a heart full of hate.

The incomparable William Bernhardt brings to life America s most fascinating city and the people who police it, while he invites the reader to join one woman s fight to stay sane, stay alive, and keep a killer from making the most shocking score of all.

Double Jeopardy

Travis Byrne, a smart Dallas cop who decided in mid career to trade his badge for a law degree, has seen a lot of scum in his time but no one as low, mean, and vicious as Al Moroconi. Moroconi has been hauled in on the charge of orchestrating a monstrous crime against a young woman. The first defense attorney on the case disappears under highly suspicious circumstances. Now, appointed by a federal judge, Travis is obliged to speak for the defense. Much as he despises Moroconi, Travis is a professional: he’ll do everything he can to get Moroconi off, even in the face of a death threat from the Mob. But just as the trial is getting under way, Moroconi shoots his way out of court custody, steals a car, and vanishes into the Dallas underworld taking Travis’s reputation with him. No sooner does Moroconi disappear than Travis becomes ensnared in a web of corruption and betrayal, in which nothing is what it appears to be. The FBI is after Travis for a murder he didn’t commit. The Mob wants to kill him for a secret hit list he doesn’t have. Running for his life, Travis comes to the horrifying realization that the charge against Moroconi is just a cover for something much bigger and more foul…
.

The Midnight Before Christmas

Thirtysomething lawyer Megan McGee is facing a quiet Christmas with her bulldog when Bonnie Cantrell, a battered wife, comes looking for legal protection from her violent ex cop husband, Carl. In a recent bout of rage, Carl vowed to kill their seven year old son, Tommy, rather than be separated from the boy. It’s no idle threat, either as Bonnie assures Megan: ‘He’s tried before.’And when Tommy’s school unwittingly allows him to leave with his father, Carl gets his chance to try again. Now, with the town all but shut down for the holiday, Megan races against time and terror to keep Carl’s Christmas Eve jaunt from turning into a slay ride.

Final Round

In the glamorous world of professional golf, one match is synonymous with excellence, tradition, and prestige. The Masters is played on the sweeping fairways of Georgia’s exclusive Augusta National Golf Club, drawing its annual pilgrimage of Lear jetting international superstars, the spotlight of the media, and throngs of fans. But this year, the tournament has attracted something else. A killer is coming to play a deadly game of his own. For Connor Cross and John McCree, two pros who share a long friendship and a passion for golf, the April competition is a chance to catch up on old times, joke around, make some ill advised bets, and generally calm each other s nerves before the play turns serious. But while John has always been able to get a grip on his game by tee time, Connor has never quite figured out how to throw the switch and focus. Then a killer strikes and for the reigning bad boy of the PGA tour, everything changes in a hurry. The victim s wife begs Connor to try to find a murderer who threatens not only to kill again, but to destroy the Masters. And as Connor is drawn into the intrigue, a most remarkable phenomenon occurs. This maverick player shoots a sizzling round of golf. Suddenly, Connor is conquering a vicious slice, cleaning up his short game, and even listening to his caddie as he uncovers some jaw dropping personal secrets of his fellow pros. But as Connor in the company of an alluring female cop unravels a mystery of murder and uncovers the mystery of his inner game of golf, he also faces the greatest hazard of all. For with one round left to play, and the body count rising while his scores drop, Connor Cross is the next in line to die.A gripping thriller set against the elite world of pro golf the way it looks when the cameras aren t turned on Final Round is the ultimate novel for anyone who has ever suspected that while golf may be the greatest game ever invented, playing it well can be murder.

Nemesis

In his bestselling legal thrillers, William Bernhardt has explored the dark side of contemporary politics, power, and the law. Now Bernhardt turns back the clock to the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in the fall of 1935. Based on true events and new discoveries about Eliot Ness, Nemesis is a brilliantly told story featuring this legendary lawman’s fateful duel with a terrifyingly new kind of criminal: America s first serial killer. In Chicago, Eliot Ness had created the Untouchables, the fabled team of federal agents who were beyond corruption and who finally put Al Capone behind bars. Now the headline grabbing Ness has been moved to Cleveland, where a new mayor desperately needs some positive publicity. The heroic, squeaky clean Fed is the perfect man to become the city s director of public safety, but by the time Ness starts his new job, a killer has started a career of his own. And this man is as obsessed with blood and mayhem as Eliot Ness is obsessed with justice. One by one, bodies are found, each one decapitated and uniquely dissected with a doctor s skill and a madman s bent. The police are baffled, the population is terrorized, and newspaper headlines blare about the so called Torso Killer. Though it s not his turf, Ness is forced to cross bureaucratic boundaries and take over the case, working with a dogged, street smart detective and making enemies every step of the way. The more energy Ness pours into the investigation, the more it takes over his life, his marriage, even his untouchable reputation. Because in Cleveland, there is only one true untouchable: a killer who has the perfect hiding place and the perfect plan for destroying Eliot Ness. From the first primitive use of forensic psychology to a portrait of America battling the Great Depression and a man battling his own demons, Nemesis is a masterwork of mystery, murder, and vivid, dynamic historical suspense.

The Fundamentals of Fiction

Whether working on your first novel or tenth, William Bernhardt’s The Fundamentals of Fiction is an invaluable writing tool the reader will refer to again and again. For the past decade, William Bernhardt, New York Times best selling author Capitol Conspiracy, Murder One and one of the nation’s most in demand writing instructors, has guided select students through this comprehensive fiction workshop. Bernhardt inducts students into the Red Sneaker School of Writing, cutting through the obfuscation that sometimes cloaks the writing process. Bernhardt tells aspiring writers what they need to know, systematically addressing all the critical elements of storytelling: structure, character, plot, viewpoint, editing and revision. He reveals the secrets and techniques that can transform ordinary writing into extraordinary, high quality, publishable fiction.

Equal Justice

The law said America kept the black and white races separate but equal. From the time she was a young girl growing up in Chickasha, Oklahoma, however, Ada Sipuel learned that separate was never equal. Ada hoped to fight for equality for all people by becoming a lawyer, but the only law school in Oklahoma refused to admit her because of the color of her skin. Ada learned that civil disobedience could combat inequality. Her bravery set in motion a chain of events that broke down barriers of injustice in America.

Princess Alice and the Dreadful Dragon

William Bernhardt is the nationally known bestselling author of twenty four thrillers, including the critically acclaimed Ben Kincaid series most recently, Capitol Threat, Ballantine, March 2007 and several bestselling standalone novels such as Dark Eye

Legal Briefs

William Bernhardt, author of seven bestselling novels featuring attorney Ben Kincaid, asked ten of his fellow lawyer/authors to contribute their most fiendishly clever short pieces for this anthology, and told them their imaginations were their only guides. The result is Legal Briefs, a smorgasbord of stories boasting a wonderful variety of themes and styles. From John Grisham’s exploration of a doctor’s guilt in ‘The Birthday’ to Richard North Patterson’s story of a lawyer’s loyalty to his mentor in ‘The Client,’ to Grif Stockley’s tale of a divorce lawyer who learns the hard way that things are not always what they seem, these pieces showcase the extraordinary depth and breadth of talent among the new breed of legal thriller writers. Some of these stories feature twisting and inventive plots; some illuminate the moral dilemmas and psychological complexities faced by the modern day lawyer; some are good, old fashioned yarns. But for all their diversity of approaches and characters, these writers understand that the courtrooms and law firms from which they came offer the raw material for the most dramatic, suspenseful stories you can read. Legal Briefs will be a delight for fans of all these bestselling authors, and a splendid introduction to their talents for readers new to the genre. Author proceeds from the sale of this book are being donated to the Children’s Defense Fund. From the Hardcover edition.

Natural Suspect

What Carl Hiaasen and a host of South Florida’s finest authors did for Sunshine State crime capers in the New York Times bestseller Naked Came the Manatee, William Bernhardt now does for legal thrillers with the help of a ‘Dream Team’ of today s hottest suspense writers. Like a literary game of telephone, Natural Suspect begins with a chapter from Bernhardt. Then each writer contributes a chapter and pas*ses it along to the next. The result is a completely inventive, brilliantly plotted novel of suspense with more twists than a schizophrenic’s train of thought. Can you guess who wrote which chapter?Natural SuspectArthur Hightower made a name for himself and a vast fortune in the oil business. But when the volatile tycoon decides to disinherit his spoiled children and cheating wife, he makes the biggest mistake of his life and the last. After declaring his intentions, Hightower turns up on Thanksgiving Day…
clubbed to death and stuffed in a meat locker, clutching a frozen asset his wife s precious pearl necklace. Now Julia Hightower stands charged with the cold as ice crime of murdering for millions. While the sensational trial has New York in a frenzy, a curious cast of characters face off in and out of the courtroom. Devin McGee, a small time lawyer about to hit the big time defending Julia Hightower if her intimate encounter with the prosecutor doesn t catch up with her…
Trent Ballard, the quirky assistant D.A., who owns a huge pet rabbit and thinks his tryst with Devin will help him get a conviction…
Patrick Roswell, a wannabe reporter sitting on a scoop that could turn the trial upside down, unless a scalpel wielding clown decides to kill the story and Patrick…
Sissy Hightower, Julia’s sex crazed, air headed daughter in law, who has a suitcase full of secrets…
Robert S. Rutledge, a powerful Wall Street warrior with a lot riding on the Hightower verdict and a lot to learn about messing with the wrong people…
and Cordelia, the mystery woman that everyone seems to know. All are in for the trial of their lives but who among them is the true Natural Suspect?All author royalties will be donated to The Nature Conservancy. From the Hardcover edition.

Voices of the Heartland

More than just a diverse collection, this book represents the heart and soul of modern writing. For these authors, it is a dreama destination that often seemed at the end of a distant rainbow. For readers, it is a rare opportunity to sample a mosaic of engaging new voices, to be one of the first to appreciate the fresh talent of authors destined to make their marks in the literary world.

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