Capitol Betrayal » (Large Prin)

William Bernhardt is the author of many novels, including Primary Justice, Murder One, Criminal Intent, Death Row, Hate Crime, Dark Eye, Capitol Murder, and Capitol Threat. He has twice won the Oklahoma Book Award for Best Fiction, and in 2000 he was presented the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award “in recognition of an outstanding body of work in which we understand ourselves and American society at large.” A former trial attorney, Bernhardt has received several awards for his public service.

William Bernhardt’s bestselling novels explore politics, power, ambition, crime, and the law. Now he scales new heights of suspense as, in one harrowing day, lawyer and former senator Ben Kincaid enters the eye of an international storm, a crisis with consequences beyond calculation.

Kincaid is in a meeting with the president in the Oval Office when Washington suddenly explodes into chaos. Facing an imminent threat to the White House, Kincaid is whisked, along with the president and his advisors, to the underground PEOC—Presidential Emergency Operations Center—built to withstand a nuclear blast, but vulnerable to another kind of attack.

Inside the bunker, defense specialists realize that a malevolent foreign dictator has hacked into the U.S. nuclear defense system and now has a finger on the trigger of America’s most dangerous weapons. The dictator’s message is clear: Heed his demands or suffer unfathomable destruction.

Forced to make critical, split-second decisions, the president seems to be falling apart under the pressure. The vice president wants to strip him of his powers—a move that could have a disastrous impact on national defense. But even during this time of upheaval, in order for the president to be removed, there must be a trial. With the clock winding down, Kincaid has precious little time to defend the president.
 
While Kincaid faces the trial of his life, legendary CIA agent Seamus McKay races through the clogged streets of Washington, searching for a hidden command center—guarded by murderous fanatics—that now controls U.S. ballistic missiles.

Two sides of one unforgettable story, McKay and Kincaid home in on their targets. One uses a gun—and any weapon he can get his hands on; the other employs his intuition and the law. And in William Bernhardt’s spectacular thriller, as both move closer and closer to uncovering a world-shattering plot, the ultimate act of betrayal is launched from the heart of America’s capitol itself.
 

Publishers Weekly

Ben Kincaid has lost his bid to be elected to the U.S. Senate in Bernhardt's less than credible 18th thriller to feature the honorable Oklahoma lawyer (after Capitol Offense). Ben's wife, Christina McCall, also a practicing attorney, has moved the family law firm to Washington, D.C., and is in charge of operations, while Ben works on legal issues for the newly elected U.S. president, Roland Kyler. Ben is at the White House with the president, the vice president, and other cabinet members when they learn that the nation is under missile attack. Ben and the others rush to an underground shelter deep beneath the White House, where the vice president makes a bid to replace Kyler, who's been acting bizarrely. This results in a trial of sorts, with Ben defending the president. A side plot starring Seamus McKay, a CIA agent in the James Bond mold, takes place topside while the trial grinds on below. At times the action borders on the silly, though series fans are unlikely to mind. (Mar.)