A King's Ransom by James Grippando

Originally Published in 2001.

Is A King's Ransom great literature?

No.

Is it a great piece of thriller escapism?

Absolutely! Yes!

Grippando is on my short list of authors to keep an eye out for. Almost always he delivers some legal thrills, a bit of injustice that drags the reader in and some twists and turns to make the ride interesting.

In this book, a young up-and-coming lawyer's father is kidnapped in Colombia. As Nick Rey tries to free his father (Matthew Rey) his professional life, his personal life and his family's secrets all get shaken up.

In a nice play on words, "rey" is Spanish for "king" - the book is about getting the ransom for Matthew Rey's release.

I give this one 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: A King's Ransom by James Grippando.

Reviewed on December 29, 2007.

Need You Now by James Grippando

A readable but uninspired thriller

Published in 2012 by Harper.

Did you ever read a book that was more interesting for the places that the characters went than it was for the characters themselves? Well, this book is one of those.

Not that this is a bad book - it starts with an interesting underlying plot involving a Bernie Madoff type of ponzi scheme and a hint that the government had worked to keep the scheme going long after it should have been discovered. Bring in contract killers, terrorist connections, a dying former mobster in the witness protection program, cell phones infected with GPS tracking viruses, a love story gone bad (but maybe on the rebound?), secret identities, a mathematical genius and a cub scout leader and you would think that you would have the makings of a fine thriller.

Instead, the book just cruises on autopilot. The characters feel a bit shallow. The story bounds from one twist and turn to another but they just felt a bit forced.

Once again, not a bad book - just not a great one.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5.

Note: I received a preview copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Need You Now.

Reviewed on December 17, 2011.

The Abduction (abridged audiobook) by James Grippando

Maybe it was the ABRIDGED audiobook format...

...but I thought The Abduction was a total dog of a book.

Published in 1999.
Read by Allison Janey
Duration: 2 hours, 46 minutes
Abridged

Normally, I am a big fan of Grippando's books - they are interesting, full of lots of intrigue, unexpected twists and politics. I've reviewed several of them and have given them high marks. So, when I found one written about presidential politics and read by Allison Janney from West Wing I thought that this was bound to be a great book on tape.

Allison Janney

However, the politics in this one was just silly. Before the action gets going in the book, Grippando has the two candidates, literally less than a week before the election, just sitting around their houses. Think about the last presidential election. Was Obama sitting around his house with 3 days to go? Was McCain? No - they were in the midst of a marathon of speeches and events that had been going on for at least a month. I remember when Bob Dole ran against Clinton - he literally made appearances for 48 hours straight - right through the night before election day and through election day until the polls were closed even though he was one of the oldest men to ever run for president.

Other issues:

-there's no secret service protecting these people or their relatives.

-people don't recognize the candidates when they are in public. Come on - Kerry, Bush, Gore, Clinton, Dole, McCain, Obama - they are forever ingrained in the minds of any TV-watching American, especially the day before the election.

-I was even more confused by the bad guy with the Italian last name and the Russian accent. Either Allison Janney is the worst actress ever with accents or they left out a vital piece of information in the abridgement.

***********Caution - Spoiler**********************

I was also bothered by the shallowness of the Attorney General / Democratic Presidential Candidate. Literally hours after she discovers the awful truth about her husband's involvement in her baby daughter's kidnapping - hours after her whole world has been turned upside down, she's busy making goo-goo eyes with the head of the FBI. Lame.

**************End of spoiler*********************

Grippando usually mentions Florida gubernatorial politics in his other thrillers. He is familiar with politics, but like many candidates who aspire to the national stage, I don't think he was ready for the presidential level when he wrote this book.

I give this one 2 stars out of 5.

This abridged audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Abduction by James Grippando.

Reviewed on April 28, 2006.

Beyond Suspicion (Jack Swyteck #2) by James Grippando

Published in 2002.

Beyond Suspicion is a quick-moving book and is a sequel to Grippando's first published novel 'The Pardon'. I read 'The Pardon' many years ago, but reading the first book is not a necessary requirement - Grippando sets the stage very well in this book so it can be a 'stand alone' novel.

I shot through this book very quickly - the plot drags you in pretty well and Grippando's writing style keeps the book moving along at a quick pace. The main character is fairly average and his world is suddenly turned upside down by one case and its connections to the underworld. Murder, mayhem and one family crisis after another keep it interesting. Grippando fills this novel with a multitude on interesting characters, any one of which would be strong enough to be the main character in a book.

A good solid read - a great summertime novel.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Beyond Suspicion.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on July 25, 2005.