Capitol Conspiracy
By William Bernhardt
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Audiobook Available from WV Reads!
4 Stars! - A surprisingly timely political thriller despite its age that asks the characters and the reader some hard questions. Despite a fair amount of violence and political intrigue, the story also has a lot of personal drama and touches of humor. Then we get some mystery and murder thrown in about 1/3 of the way and it was quite the ride.
This will be an interesting novel no matter what political leanings the reader has. I was fascinated at this fictional study of how people view government and individual right during the times of crisis. And how emotional decisions should not override logic. Senator Ben Kincaid and his wife Christina are likable characters, maybe Chrissy a little more than Ben. She gets better scenes I think. While this series started as a set of courtroom thrillers back when Ben was a struggling attorney, they transitioned into politics. I admit, I was hoping for a little more traditional lawyering and I found Ben's viewpoint a bit difficult to believe at times, given his actual chosen profession. I'm sure long time fans of the series may feel the same.
This one is not for the squeamish. There's terror attacks, torture, and scenes of violence against women. Quite a bit of sex too. Some of both gets to be a bit much. It's not a Sunday drive type of audiobook. Stephen Hoye made an excellent narrator and I would not hesitate to grab another audiobook read by him. I've not read a lot of the Ben Kincaid series which is most of Bernhardt's repertoire. But his writing style flows so well for me that I'm considering taking in more of his work as well. He uses dialouge and a fair amount of description to keep things moving at a great pace. This book was clearly created with the idea to present two sides of a greater legal argument. I think no matter which side a reader finds themselves taking, it's a compelling case on both ends.
(NS)
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