cover image Blind Justice

Blind Justice

William Bernhardt. Ballantine Books, $6.99 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-345-37483-7

Lawyer Ben Kincaid has been fired from Tulsa's toniest law firm and is out on his own on the wrong side of town. His clients pay him with live chickens, and a divorce client's ex-husband threatens him with a gun that shoots a flag saying ``Boom.'' Into this lighthearted milieu falls Christina McCall, an old friend, ace legal assistant at Ben's former firm and prime suspect in the gruesome murder of Tony Lombardi, her ex-client and a suspected mob drug-runner. Everything is stacked against Ben and Christina in this courtroom mystery: the presiding judge is Ben's exceptionally unfriendly ex-boss, and the FBI agents in charge of the case are willing to use extra-legal means to obtain the evidence to convict Christina. Lawyer Bernhardt ( Primary Justice ) leavens this workmanlike drama with a variety of interesting characters--including Ben's pawnbroker neighbor who sends him dead gophers in the mail--but can't seem to get the mix of drama and humor quite right. We're convinced of Christina's innocence from the start, and that significantly reduces the tension. (Oct.)