CAPITOL THREAT
William Bernhardt
Ballantine Books
Political/Courtroom Thriller
ISBN-10: 0345470176
ISBN-13: 9780345470171

Readers familiar with William Bernhardt's courtroom series featuring attorney Ben Kincaid; his offbeat partner cum fiancée, Christina McCall; his intrepid investigator, Loving; and his computer maven administrative assistant, Jones, will be riveted by their latest escapades in the complex plot of CAPITOL THREAT.

As a result of solving a tricky case some months prior, the governor of Oklahoma has appointed Ben to fulfill the rest of Senator Glancy's term. Ben is his usual socially inhibited self, fighting his sense of inadequacy, and the rest of his retinue also are not completely comfortable in their new venue, Washington, D.C. Nevertheless, they persevere and in the end prevail. The first important event they attend is held in the Rose Garden, where the President is to announce his nominee to the Supreme Court, Thaddeus (Tad) T. Roush, a well-respected and mostly liked jurist on the Court of Appeals.

The book begins 10 years in the past. The narrator is a thief and a murderer. Irony and fate will find her the "main attraction" at the celebration party held at the home of Roush. Who is she? How did she get there? Why did she suddenly reappear at this time? These questions form a thread that run through the fabric of the novel; albeit the main frame of the story is the uproar started by and about Roush himself.

The next section is titled "Three Weeks Before" and introduces another influential character: Judge Rupert Haskins, a well-respected Republican who expected to be the President's nominee to the Supreme Court. We meet him and his overly devoted wife at a dinner reception where a fire breaks out. The doors are jammed, and all routes of escape are closed off. But Haskins charges to the rescue; he shouts orders and his forcefulness breaks through the panic so that everyone starts moving and gets out --- or almost everyone. An infant can be heard crying in the midst of flames, smoke and heat. Of course the judge saves the tyke and becomes a national hero --- a feather in his cap that is sure to be the ticket that will put a lock on his chances of flying through the juggernauts on his way into a seat on the Supreme Court.

Fast forward to the event at the Rose Garden and the President's Supreme Court nomination announcement. Surprise! Surprise! Thaddeus T. Roush is his pick. The President's speech, Haskins's outrage, the appearance of the "narrator" and what follows is what propels CAPITOL THREAT into the realms of suspense, political drama and timeliness.

The Supreme Court remains a very honored yet elusive body, but William Bernhardt tweaks the curtain that shields the nomination process to discuss how and why a particular person is chosen. He takes us through the goings-on of committee, then hearings in Congress and the awesome task of voting (or not voting) for the nominee on the hot seat getting the third degree. And in Roush's case things are even hotter.

In the meantime Haskins is spinning a web of vitriol and revenge against the world. He wants that seat so badly he can taste it and will do anything to get it. Anything! He has a group of senators who are backing him; they plan to trash Judge Roush and do as much damage to anyone who gets in their way. This ramps up the suspense as the machinations of sore losers usually do.

The architecture of this novel is constructed with every detail fitting together like a lock and key. Bernhardt's keen eye for characterizations makes his players more than cardboard cutouts and more available to readers. The writer's sharp ear for dialogue produces conversations that are acoustically pitch perfect and believable. And he is gifted with a great sense of humor that makes its way into the story with exquisite timing.

The Kincaid novels all have a social issue at their heart. Bernhardt never preaches or proselytizes, but through Ben and his colleagues he certainly gets his point across. Each of his 15 novels is so different and fresh that one can read them in any order, which is a boon for readers new to these works. You can bet that you won't be disappointed.

   --- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

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