Afraid of the Dark

*Starred Review* Jack Swyteck, the Miami defense attorney who has starred in several of Grippando's novels, has a particularly tough case on his hands. Acting as a pro-bono lawyer for a young man accused of being a terrorist, Jack is shocked to learn that the man is also the prime suspect in fact, the only suspect in the murder of a girl and a subsequent house explosion that robbed a police officer, one of Jack's close friends, of his sight. But the murder of which Jack's client is accused is only the first of many, and Jack, perhaps the only person who thinks his client might actually be innocent in the girl's death, has to decide if he wants to risk his own life to save his client's. Of all the Swyteck novels, this one comes closest to matching the power and drama of Grippando's best stand-alone novels. Fans of the Swyteck series will definitely want to check this one out, and readers who have found the series lacking a certain oomph may be surprised at this novel's ability to tap into their deepest fears. Grippando has definitely reached a new level with this series entry. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Grippando has long had a devoted following, but he has hovered a notch or so beneath the thriller genre's biggest names. Will his latest, one of his best, be the one to catapult him upward? Could be.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist

In Grippando's rousing ninth Jack Swyteck legal thriller (after Born to Run), Jack successfully defends a supposed Somali prisoner in his mid-20s held at Guantanamo. But then the prisoner is identified as an American, Jamal Wakefield, and is transferred to Miami, Fla., where he's charged with the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend, McKenna Mays, three years earlier. In his defense, Jamal offers a wild story of kidnapping and covert interrogation. As witnesses who could confirm Jamal's alibi are eliminated, Jack and his dwindling circle of friends, and not always trustworthy allies, must race to uncover a sadistic killer and his bosses before the conspirators can silence everyone who might speak against them. Working with a cast that includes depraved sexual deviants, corrupt private military contractors, and wannabe jihadis, Grippando transforms what might have been a conventional genre novel in lesser hands into an exciting tale of revenge. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Grippando's 18th novel (after Money To Burn) brings together three series characters-criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck; FBI undercover agent Andie Henning, now Jack's fiancee; and Miami cop Vince Paulo. All are tied to the murder three years earlier of 16-year-old McKenna Mays, the daughter of Vince's best friend, Chuck, an Internet entrepreneur. Vince was blinded by an explosion meant to destroy evidence left behind by the killer. But McKenna's dying words implicated her ex-boyfriend Jamal, who is now being held as a Somali terrorist at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo. Jack gets involved when he decides to defend Jamal, despite being warned off the case by Andie, who knows more than she can say. So what do you do when your defendant has an alibi-his abduction to a black site in Prague-that can't be verified because of government secrecy? And if Jamal is innocent, as Jack believes, who was the killer? To find out, Jack, Vince, and Chuck must penetrate illegal websites and a world of evil in search of a terrorist who calls himself The Dark. VERDICT Superb plotting, high suspense, compelling timely issues, and finely honed characters make this crime novel/international thriller a great read. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/10.]-Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

When 16-year-old McKenna Mays was brutally murdered, everyone knew who did it. In particular, Sergeant Vince Paulo, Miami PD, knew. At the behest of McKenna's dad, he'd been engaged in a doomed attempt to watch over her, arriving at the Mays house with time only to ask for a name and was not surprised at the one she managed to supply. By all reports Jamal Wakefield, an ex-boyfriend, had not taken kindly to rejection. Then, moments after McKenna's death-bed accusation, the Mays house blew apart, an explosion that destroyed Vince Paulo's sight as well. And that, toothe deadly home-made bombwas credited to Jamal. So no mystery, no bothersome unanswered questions about motivation, but also no Jamal. He'd vanished. Flash forward three years. Series hero Jack finds himself at Gitmo, defending Prisoner Number 977, who turns out to be the very same Jamal, who, interestingly enough, turns out to have a seemingly rock-solid alibi covering the time he was supposed to be murdering McKenna and blinding Vince: incarceration by federal authorities. Suddenly, McKenna's homicide becomes a case of a different temperature, inasmuch as Jamal has so unexpectedly climbed out from under, and inasmuch as McKenna's actual killer is presumably still at large. Now there are questions, bothersome indeed. How, for instance, to explain McKenna's fateful I.D.? Precisely what had landed Jamal in Gitmo, and why does he refuse to talk about it, even to his own lawyers? All that is for Jack to sort out, a task not beyond him of course, provided he can stay alive long enough.By the skin of its teeth, Grippando's 18th (Money to Burn, 2010, etc.) survives one of those evil-incarnate villains whose lack of nuance is an invitation to disbelief.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Jack Swyteck, the Miami defense attorney who has starred in several of Grippando's novels, has a particularly tough case on his hands. Acting as a pro-bono lawyer for a young man accused of being a terrorist, Jack is shocked to learn that the man is also the prime suspect—in fact, the only suspect—in the murder of a girl and a subsequent house explosion that robbed a police officer, one of Jack's close friends, of his sight. But the murder of which Jack's client is accused is only the first of many, and Jack, perhaps the only person who thinks his client might actually be innocent in the girl's death, has to decide if he wants to risk his own life to save his client's. Of all the Swyteck novels, this one comes closest to matching the power and drama of Grippando's best stand-alone novels. Fans of the Swyteck series will definitely want to check this one out, and readers who have found the series lacking a certain oomph may be surprised at this novel's ability to tap into their deepest fears. Grippando has definitely reached a new level with this series entry. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Grippando has long had a devoted following, but he has hovered a notch or so beneath the thriller genre's biggest names. Will his latest, one of his best, be the one to catapult him upward? Could be. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.

Sgt. Vince Paulo is blinded in a blast but not before the young woman bleeding to death in his arms imparts the name of her murderer, ex-boyfriend Jamal. Now Jamal is threatened with the death penalty for terrorist activity, and criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck is hustling to prove that at the time, he had been kidnapped and held in a mysterious detention center—the real issue here. Grippando makes the extended New York Times best sellers list and is a good addition to thriller collections; with a 60,000-copy first printing.

Grippando's 18th novel (after Money To Burn) brings together three series characters—criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck; FBI undercover agent Andie Henning, now Jack's fiancée; and Miami cop Vince Paulo. All are tied to the murder three years earlier of 16-year-old McKenna Mays, the daughter of Vince's best friend, Chuck, an Internet entrepreneur. Vince was blinded by an explosion meant to destroy evidence left behind by the killer. But McKenna's dying words implicated her ex-boyfriend Jamal, who is now being held as a Somali terrorist at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo. Jack gets involved when he decides to defend Jamal, despite being warned off the case by Andie, who knows more than she can say. So what do you do when your defendant has an alibi—his abduction to a black site in Prague—that can't be verified because of government secrecy? And if Jamal is innocent, as Jack believes, who was the killer? To find out, Jack, Vince, and Chuck must penetrate illegal websites and a world of evil in search of a terrorist who calls himself The Dark. VERDICT Superb plotting, high suspense, compelling timely issues, and finely honed characters make this crime novel/international thriller a great read. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/10.]—Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

In Grippando's rousing ninth Jack Swyteck legal thriller (after Born to Run), Jack successfully defends a supposed Somali prisoner in his mid-20s held at Guantánamo. But then the prisoner is identified as an American, Jamal Wakefield, and is transferred to Miami, Fla., where he's charged with the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend, McKenna Mays, three years earlier. In his defense, Jamal offers a wild story of kidnapping and covert interrogation. As witnesses who could confirm Jamal's alibi are eliminated, Jack and his dwindling circle of friends, and not always trustworthy allies, must race to uncover a sadistic killer and his bosses before the conspirators can silence everyone who might speak against them. Working with a cast that includes depraved sexual deviants, corrupt private military contractors, and wannabe jihadis, Grippando transforms what might have been a conventional genre novel in lesser hands into an exciting tale of revenge. (Apr.)