The victim is someone that Earl once loved, renowned jazz singer Lily Campbell. Ben discovers that Earl spent twenty years in prison for murdering another man over a battle for Lily's affections, supposedly dismembering that body in the same way. Earl says he only confessed to the murder to avoid the death penalty. Believing his client, Ben sets out to solve not only the most recent murder, but one committed over twenty years ago. Ben finds himself pitted against a vengeful killer who enjoys committing grisly murders and is eager to put the attorney on his hit list.

Extreme Justice is an action packed entry in Bernhardt's series of legal thrillers featuring Tulsa attorney, Ben Kincaid. And while an interesting and sometimes exciting read, it is not one of Bernhardt's best.

The problem with this novel is rather simple: it's not a legal thriller. In fact, there are no courtroom scenes in the entire book. Bernhardt was clearly going for a change of pace by turning his attorney hero into a bumbling private investigator. The results are a predictable murder mystery (I had it figured out halfway through the book) saved only by Bernhardt's wonderful, realistic characters, some scenes that had me laughing out loud and riveting action sequences that kept the novel moving at a speedy pace.

However, I questioned the rationale behind last few chapters and why the author chose to put his hero in the situation that he did. It didn't seem to make much sense other than to create phony suspense.

I would recommend Extreme Justice, if you're a fan of the previous Kincaid novels and you want an update on Ben and his wonderful supporting cast's latest exploits. Otherwise, I suggest you read Naked Justice, Cruel Justice or Blind Justice, which are better representations of Bernhardt's mastery of the legal thriller. I'm still a Bernhardt fan and look forward to his next work. I just hope it's a return to the intricate legal thrillers that have made him one of my must read authors.

--Anthony D. Langford