DWD's Reviews

Originally Published in 2001. Is this great literature? No. Is it a great piece of 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. James Grippando 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. <br /> <img src="http://wms.assoc-amazon.com/20070822/US/img/noscript.gif?tag=dwsre...

A readable but uninspired thriller 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 ...

Maybe it was the ABRIDGED audiobook format... ...but I thought this one 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 mo...

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. James Grippando 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 ou...