Cruel Justice

"Cruel Justice is one of the best books in William Bernhardt's excellent Ben Kincaid series. It is a thoroughly entertaining page-turner. The perfect fast read."--Phillip MargolinOklahoma lawyer Ben Kincaid, the hero of William Bernhardt's bestselling legal thrillers, returns--and this time his crusade for justice places him on a collision course with a malevolent mastermind.Ten years ago, Leeman Hayes, a black teenager, was accused of brutally beating a young woman with a golf club at a posh country club in Tulsa. Kinks in the legal system have kept Leeman locked up without a verdict for a decade. Now the case is finally going back to court, and Ben Kincaid has stumbled into the job of defense attorney. But what possible chance does he stand against Tulsa's crack prosecutor, Jack Bullock? Nothing short of a miracle is going to save Leeman Hayes from the death sentence.As Kincaid struggles to pull together a defense, another young boy is falling into the clutches of a child molester. Ten-year-old Abie Rutherford is the perfect victim--comely and acquiescent, miserably lonely and desperate for approval. Abie 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.With Cruel Justice, William Bernhardt delivers an absolute spellbinder, a novel that confirms his status within the top ranks of courtroom novelists. Make no mistake about it: this is Bernhardt's best yet.