This image is the cover for the book Cruel Justice, The Ben Kincaid Novels

Cruel Justice, The Ben Kincaid Novels

A routine personal injury case leads a lawyer into a decade-old murder mystery: “[A] superb legal thriller . . . Wonderfully diverting reading” (Booklist).
 Ben Kincaid’s air-conditioner is on the fritz, his staff is on half-pay, and his sister has just disappeared, leaving him holding her baby. He needs fast money, and a quick-and-dirty personal injury suit could do the job. But what looks like a sure-fire case turns out to be something far more complicated. His prospective client hopes to rescue his son—a twenty-eight-year-old with the mind of a child. Ten years earlier, Leeman was accused of murdering a woman with a golf club, and he has been locked in a mental institution ever since. Now he is finally about to come to trial, and Kincaid sees no way to save him. But when a young Tulsa boy goes missing, Kincaid senses a connection between the two cases. Finding the abductor and could mean saving lives—Leeman’s, the kidnapped child’s, and those of the countless victims to come.

William Bernhardt

William Bernhardt (b. 1960), a former attorney, is a bestselling thriller author. Born in Oklahoma, he began writing as a child, submitting a poem about the Oklahoma Land Run to Highlights—and receiving his first rejection letter—when he was eleven years old. Twenty years later, he had his first success, with the publication of Primary Justice (1991), the first novel in the long-running Ben Kincaid series. The success of Primary Justice marked Bernhardt as a promising young talent, and he followed the book with seventeen more mysteries starring the idealistic defense attorney, including Murder One (2001) and Hate Crime (2004). Bernhardt’s other novels include Double Jeopardy (1995) and The Midnight Before Christmas (1998), a holiday-themed thriller. In 1999, Bernhardt founded Bernhardt Books (formerly HAWK Publishing Group) as a way to help boost the careers of struggling young writers. In addition to writing and publishing, Bernhardt teaches writing workshops around the country. He currently lives with his family in Oklahoma.