When Darkness Falls

November 13, 2006
A tense hostage crisis in Miami propels the action in bestseller Grippando's solid sixth thriller to feature criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck (after Got the Look
). Jack represents an armed homeless man known as Falcon, who takes among his hostages in a seedy motel Jack's best friend, Theo Knight, an innocent man the lawyer once pulled off death row at the last minute. Vincent Paulo, the recently blinded negotiator, has been dating the one person Falcon insists on talking with, police officer Alicia Mendoza, who also happens to be the mayor's daughter. With strands reaching back to Argentina's dirty war, the plot relies heavily on coincidence, but engaging characters, notably the blind Vincent ("People either pity me to death and think that I can't possibly manage a minute of my life without a sighted person holding my hand, or they think I've been magically transformed into some kind of blind mystic with extrasensory powers"), will help readers overlook the implausibilities.

In the latest installment of this author's Jack Swyteck series, Jonathan Davis gives an uplifting performance to an implausible plot. A homeless man, who has access to several hundred thousand dollars, kidnaps Swyteck's best friend, Theo, who is tough and streetwise and is, thus, an unlikely victim. Factor in a female police officer who is the mayor's daughter who, in turn, is in love with a blind hostage negotiator--and you have a smorgasbord of improbability. Davis to his credit, gives this melodrama a spirited reading in clear, authoritative tones. He's at his best when describing the kidnapping, the most exciting scene in the story. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

December 1, 2006
When Miami attorney Jack Swyteck agrees to defend Falcon, a homeless man living in an abandoned car, he soon finds out that his client is far more complex than he could have ever imagined. Throughout, Falcon's mysterious past unravels, from his obsession with the mayor's daughter to the $200,000 cache he's hidden in an offshore bank account. Swyteck's role quickly turns from lawyer to hostage negotiator as Falcon acts out his delusions in unexpected ways, taking some of Miami's more prominent citizens on a harrowing ride with the ghosts of his past. Grippando's ("Lying with Strangers") sixth installment in the Swyteck series once again features Theo, the sidekick whom Swyteck saved from death row. The duo must prevent Falcon from acting out his desperate, paranoid agenda and destroying more lives. If Falcon's secrets ever get out, the whole political foundation of Miami will be shattered. Combining the heart-pounding pace of a David Baldacci novel and the sharp wit of William Lashner fare, Grippando builds on his résumé of best-selling legal thrillers with another winner. Recommended for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/15/06.]Ken Bolton, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.