Capitol Murder: A Novel of Suspense

Oklahoma defense attorney Ben Kincaid is hired by US Senator Todd Glancy, a former lawschool acquaintance, to try to get the senator out from underneath a messy sex scandal. Glancy readily admits that he had been engaged in an affair with one of his aides, Vernonica Cooper, and before Ben can get all of the facts straight Veronica's body is found in the senator's private offices in the Capitol building. Glancy is now charged with murder and Ben, along with his partner Christine, learn that the senator has been involved with several young women and that his sexual leaning is a bit out of the ordinary. As Ben's private investigators delve into the victim's background they learn of a secretive Washington DC underground cult of vampire show more wannabes. The leader of this group, "The Sire" has taken his cult to new levels with ritual sacrifices and murder. Veronica straddled both worlds, the cult and politics, but which group had the biggest reason to kill her?

I have enjoyed many of the Ben Kincaid series over the years and this one was good, if a bit strange. The mystery was well done and I didn't figure it out until just before the reveal but the whole vampire cult and sexual shenanigans were too much. show less

I can never get fully into these Ben Kincaid novels. In general, they’re entertaining and a fun read but they have a big obstacle to overcome—the main protagonist is a weak character who isn’t particularly credible. The author painstakingly goes out of his way to paint him as this naïve, self-effacing, aw shucks kind of character. But all of those things are incongruous with being a successful lawyer, and he simply doesn’t come off as a real character. The senator that he was defending, on the other hand, did come off as real. He was a manipulative, power hungry, ego maniacal politician—all very believable qualities when comparing him to actual senators and politicians.

Although this was an entertaining read, the whole vampire show more aspect was over the top. I had no problem believing that these types of cults exist. As a vampire author, my own research has shown this to be true. But the Sire comes off as this omnipotent force of evil, and it wasn’t believable. I also felt the novel should have ended with the end of the trial. The entire part at the end, although not unexpected since Barnhardt is apt to do this sort of thing, was overkill and anticlimactic. His editor should have convinced him to bring out the hatchet and chop the whole thing out. In summary, this was a readable novel but not a great one.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street show less

excellent intrigue
politics