William Bernhardt

Even the most unique and interesting characters will not engage readers if their journey - the plot - fails....

In this book, New York Times best-selling author William Bernhardt explains the elements that make stories work, using examples spanning from Gilgamesh to The Hunger Games....

Getting his client off death row could save his career...or make him the next victim. Daniel Pike would rather fight for justice than follow the rules....

How do you create a fictional world that audiences will want to visit? How do you paint a picture that springs to life? William Bernhardt explains how to use description and setting to enhance your story without slowing the pace....

Attorney Daniel Pike knows the dire consequences of crossing the government. So when rising political star Camila Perez faces charges in a gruesome quadruple homicide, his instincts sense a frame by powerful rivals....

A billion-dollar inheritance. A relative’s suspicious reappearance. Can Dan dig up the secrets of the past before he’s buried six feet under? Find out....

All fiction is character-driven, according to William Bernhardt, despite what you might have heard elsewhere....

Attorney Ben Kincaid is back with the most controversial case of his career. Ben’s former friend, Oscar Kirby, an Iraq war vet subjected by the CIA to "enhanced interrogation techniques", is the primary suspect when his "interrogator" is murdered....

In this audiobook, William Bernhardt tackles essential topics that, while smaller in scope, are nonetheless necessary to a contemporary author's survival. How do you create a memorable series character? Should you write in the first person? Listen to find out more....

If he loses this case, the consequence is death.... Ever since his father’s wrongful incarceration, defense lawyer Daniel Pike has defended the innocent at any cost. But he’s stunned when his archrival DA is found shot dead and brutally crucified....

When a priest with radical ideas and a parish council with traditional values lock horns over the beliefs they hold most sacred, there’s bound to be controversy—and consequences. But murder crosses the line between committing a sin and committing a crime, turning a battle over faith into a...

Defense lawyer Daniel Pike believes he’s closer than ever to proving his late father was no murderer. But with key witnesses snuffed out and his archnemesis pulling all the strings to ensure no one talks, his frustration is about to boil over....

When a scandalous divorce trial interferes with a ruthless killer, can one tough lawyer find the truth before she becomes the next victim? Kenzi Rivera is classy, compassionate, and ready to buck the status quo....

When Oklahoma attorney Ben Kincaid came to Washington, D.C., to defend a senator caught in a red-hot sex scandal turned murder case, he never dreamed he’d end up trading the courtroom for the Senate chamber. And after his not-so-distinguished client stepped down, Ben found himself appointed to...

William Bernhardt explains the essential elements of breakout books, stories that reel in readers and attract serious attention....

In this short story, Ben Kincaid solves a Christmas mystery with his legal assistant, Christina McCall....

Dynamic dialogue can turn an otherwise ordinary novel into a delightful read, but dull, uninspired dialogue will cause readers to lose interest and try something else....

Welcome to the world of Susan Pulaski, an unconventional and unusually subversive Las Vegas police behaviorist who’s already been canned once and has never been needed more. In Sin City, someone is ritually murdering handpicked victims, each with dirty secrets in their pasts. The killer’s...

William Bernhardt’s bestselling novels featuring Oklahoma defense attorney Ben Kincaid capture the bare-knuckles reality of high-stakes criminal defense, as lofty ideals of justice clash with power, corruption, and wealth. In Capitol Murder, Bernhardt’s hard-charging hero takes on his most...

He has one chance to find the facts he’s searched for his entire life. All he has to do is prove his number one enemy is not a killer...Daniel Pike has devoted his legal career to ensuring that no wrongly convicted person dies in prison like his father did....