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Ben Kincaid is not the typical attorney one encounters in a legal thriller. He is not especially self-assured, doesn't have an interesting social life --- doesn't have a social life at all, actually --- and has a penchant for representing clients with little or no financial wherewithal. His strongest asset is doing and fighting for what he believes is right. William Bernhardt, Kincaid's creator, has been slowly but progressively combining these elements over a series of novels and has developed in Kincaid a quietly compelling and endearing character.
DEATH ROW begins, as do most Kincaid novels, with a violent incident that is graphically described. The Faulkner family experiences a home invasion that leaves all of its members, except for one, victims of violent mutilation and murder. A suspect, Ray Goldman, is duly arrested, tried and, based on damning testimony from Erin Faulkner, the surviving victim, is convicted and sentenced to death --- despite the best efforts of his defense attorney, who is, of course, Kincaid.
Seven years later, moments before his execution is scheduled to take place, Goldman receives a last-minute, if temporary, reprieve thanks to Kincaid's dogged efforts. Kincaid still needs a miracle, however, if he is to have Goldman's conviction overturned. His prayers seem to be answered when Erin Faulkner appears at his office and admits that she perjured herself on the witness stand. Kincaid is certain that her testimony can clear Goldman. But when Erin is found dead as the result of an apparent suicide, Kincaid and his client are not only back to Square One, but also behind the eightball: the case has been assigned to Judge Derek, Kincaid's longtime nemesis.
Always a solid writer, Bernhardt gets better and better with each successive novel. He has been gradually nudging Kincaid and Christina McCall, his law partner, closer and closer together, and Kincaid actually does the unthinkable in DEATH ROW. No, not that --- we're talking about the socially hapless Ben Kincaid here --- but he at least gets started down the road. Bernhardt's willingness to continually develop his characters around an always solid and absorbing plot makes DEATH ROW worth reading and the Kincaid series a perennial favorite.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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