Capitol Betrayal

January 18, 2010
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.

There's no help for narrator Stephen Hoye in this 20th Ben Kincaid thriller. He's stuck delivering a ludicrous plot. Kincaid, a former senator, is now a special advisor to the president. During a meeting with his chief, Washington comes under a missile attack, and Kincaid, the president, and some of his top aides are secluded in a bunker below ground. There the president begins to exhibit bizarre symptoms, and his vice president wants to replace him. There's a sort of trial below ground, with Kincaid acting as the president's defense counsel. Meanwhile, super agent Seamus McKay is battling the evildoers above ground. Sound silly? There's even more nonsense. On the other hand, Hoye, to his credit, gives a fast-paced performance, which almost makes you forget all the absurdity. His female characters are wholly believable, and he's duly obnoxious as the gruff know-it-all admiral. If anyone was betrayed with this story--it was Hoye. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine