Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck isn't looking for a new client, at least not one who is homeless and in jail for threatening to jump off a bridge. But from the moment Jack is called to defend the man, who calls himself Falcon, something is amiss. For one thing, Falcon comes up with the $10,000 bail in cash. Then the body of a brutally murdered woman is found in the trunk of the abandoned car in which he is living.
Panicked and on the run, Falcon takes Jack's best friend, Theo, as hostage. They end up barricaded in a motel room, and Theo isn't the only one at Falcon's mercy. Jack has to work with the cops and their crackerjack hostage negotiator to free Theo and the other hostages before Falcon decides he has nothing to lose by killing them all.
But what Jack doesn't know is that Falcon has a much bigger agenda, and that people behind the scenes will stop at nothing to keep their dangerous secrets. Thus unfolds a lightning-paced story, as only James Grippando can tell it.
The youngest lawyer ever to grab the helm of Seattle's most prominent law firm, Gus Wheatley has found success as well as money, power, and prestige. He thinks nothing can interfere with his meteoric rise to the top. Until his wife, Beth, vanishes.Beth's disappearance coincides with a series of brutal murders the FBI dubs the "bookend killings." They think Beth is the killer's latest victim . . . or his willing accomplice. But Gus knows his wife would never ally herself with a cold blooded killer. The further he searches, however, the more he discovers that Beth isn't the woman he thought he knew.Beth may be alive. She may or may not be innocent. She may have come up against evil far more reaching than a serial killer. And for Gus and his family, that evil is much too close to home.
The youngest lawyer ever to grab the helm of Seattle\'s most prominent law firm, Gus Wheatley has found success-as well at money, power, and prestige. He thinks nothing can interfere with his meteoric rise to the top. Until his wife, Beth, vanishes.Beth\'s disappearance coincides with a series of brutal murders the FBI dubs the \"bookend killings.\" They think Beth isthe killer\'s latest victim... or his willing accomplice. But Gus knows his wife would never ally herself with a cold-blooded killer. The further he searches, however, the more he discovers that Beth isn\'t the woman he thought he knew.Beth may be alive. She may or may not be innocent. She may have come up against evil far more reaching than a serial killer. And for Gus and his family, that evil is much too close to home.
Jack Swyteck and his family are caught in the crossfire after a deadly school shooting claims twenty casualties—Florida’s fifth mass shooting in as many years—in this provocative and timely thriller from Harper Lee Prize–winner James Grippando that touches on some of the most contentious issues roiling America today.
It is the message every parent of a school-age child fears: “Active Shooter on Campus.”
Jack Swyteck is at his office when he receives the emergency text from Riverside Day School. Both his daughter, Righley, and his wife, FBI agent Andie Henning, are in danger. Andie is in the school’s rec center when she hears the fire alarms, then loud popping noises and screams coming from the hallway. A trained law-enforcement officer, Andie knows she’s supposed to stay locked down inside the room. But Righley is in her kindergarten classroom and Andie must get her to safety.
The tragedy prompts mass hysteria—and dangerous speculation. The police haven’t identified the shooter, but they find a handgun on the school grounds registered to a parent, a Muslim man named Amir Khoury. News of the gun and its owner leaks and quickly goes viral. Within minutes Al Qaeda claims responsibility. Andie is shocked—Amir is married to her friend, Lilly, a WASP whose bloodline goes back to the American Revolution.
When Xavier, Amir and Lilly’s oldest child and an eighteen-year-old senior at Riverside confesses to the crime, the local community’s anti-Muslim fervor explodes to levels unseen since 9/11. Terrified for her son’s life, Lilly asks Jack to step in. A seasoned defense attorney with a passion to see justice done, he’s taken on plenty of complicated cases. Xavier’s, however, is not one he’s inclined to take—until an old friend who lost his daughter in the shooting tells him that he must.
With the public calling for blood and prosecutors confident their case is air tight, Jack must unearth the Khourys’ family secrets in order to expose the shocking truth and save his client from certain death. But he may not be able to save everyone—including himself.
Featuring North America's foremost thriller authors, Thriller is the first collection of pure thriller stories ever published. Offering up heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises are thirty-two of the most critically acclaimed and award-winning names in the business. From the signature characters that made such authors as David Morrell and John Lescroart famous to four of the hottest new voices in the genre, this blockbuster will tantalize and terrify. LOCK THE DOORS, DRAW THE SHADES, PULL UP THE COVERS AND BE PREPARED FOR THRILLER TO KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT.
Jack Swyteck, a brilliant Miami defense attorney has spent years rebelling against his father, Harry, now Florida\'s governor. Their estrangement seems complete when Harry allows one of Jack\'s clients -- a man Jack believes is innocent -- to die in the electric chair.But when a psychopath bent on serving his own twisted version of justice places both Jack and Harry in extreme jeopardy, the two have nowhere to turn but to each other. Together they must find a way to overcome their cunning tormentor\'s manipulation . . . even as the stakes are being raised to far more perilous heights.
Fans of John Grisham's legal thrillers will love the suspenseful action and intriguing courtroom drama of James Grippando's best-sellers. In The Pardon, Grippando delivers a scorching tale of vengeance that stains the sultry streets of southern Florida. Miami defense attorney Jack Swytek has long rebelled against his father, Harry, now Florida's governor. The two disagree on nearly everything, especially the death penalty. And when Harry allows one of Jack's clients-a man Jack believes is innocent-to die in the electric chair, their estrangement seems complete. But when they are faced with a psychopath's twisted game of vengeance, father and son have nowhere to turn but to each other. Like Under Cover of Darkness and Found Money, The Pardon showcases Grippando at his sizzling best. Narrator Ron McLarty voices all the dramatic tension, both in and out of the courtroom.
FBI Special Agent Victoria Santos is tracking a string of gruesome murders from New York to San Francisco, Miami to Oregon. Meanwhile, Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Tribune reporter Mike Posten receives a call from a mysterious stranger who claims his mind works so much like the killer's that he can actually predict the next attack: time, place, victim. When the predictions prove true, Mike and Victoria must join forces to find out if this eerie caller is the real psychopath. Putting themselves in the line of fire, they are about to come face-to-face with the reason why their man kills without a conscience and why it may be impossible to stop him.
Miami attorney Jack Swyteck lands in the heart of the contentious immigration debate when he takes on the heart-wrenching case of an undocumented immigrant who fled to America to protect her daughter and save herself, in this timely and pulse-pounding thriller that explores the stories behind the headlines from New York Times bestselling author James Grippando, winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.
Julia Rodriguez and her teenage daughter Beatriz escaped bloodthirsty gangs, random violence and, Julia's abusive husband back in El Salvador. Arriving in Miami, mother and daughter struggled to carve their own piece of the American dream. While life in the States is hard, it is safer, until Julia's rejects her boss's unwanted sexual advances. Suddenly—thanks to an 'anonymous' tip to U. S. immigration authorities—she is arrested, locked in detention with criminals, and slated for deportation. Jack's only viable legal move to save her is asylum—a long shot that’s become nearly impossible in today’s charged political climate.
When Julia and Beatriz made the perilous trek north to freedom, they thought they’d left the danger behind them. But now, even Miami isn’t safe. A ruthless enemy may have tracked them to south Florida and is biding time, patiently waiting to strike.
In a case where the stakes have never been higher, Jack Sywteck may not be able to save his client—even if he wins.
As the Electoral College battle for the White House lands in a Florida courtroom, Miami attorney Jack Swyteck has never felt farther from the truth, fighting for a faithless elector, caught between a corrupt president and his manipulative opponent—with each revelation more explosive than the next.
The country is reeling. For the sixth time in American history, the winner of the popular vote will not occupy the Oval Office. President Malcolm MacLeod, the Machiavellian incumbent, was spared from impeachment only because his political foes were certain they would oust him at the ballot box. Now, he appears to have secured a second term, thanks to a narrow victory in the Electoral College.
His opponent, Florida Senator Evan Stahl, saw his campaign rocked by allegations of an extramarital affair—with another man. Despite the salacious headline-making scandal and the surrounding media frenzy, most Americans chose Stahl to lead the politically polarized nation. But Stahl is refusing to concede. Backed by millions of supporters, he looks to individual members of the Electoral College to cross party lines.
Gun lobbyist Charlotte Holmes is one of Floridas twenty-nine electors who is bound by law and by oath to cast her vote for MacLeod, who won Florida by the thinnest of margins. When Charlotte announces that she intends to vote her conscience and throw the Electoral College to Stahl, the president and his Florida machine haul her into court on felony charges—which, for some, isn't nearly punishment enough.
Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is going to use every legal maneuver he can to keep his new client free—and alive. MacLeod's hand-picked prosecutor is determined to prove Charlotte is unfit to cast a vote. Dredging through her past, he's looking for skeletons to humiliate and discredit her, while others with far deadlier intentions have begun acting on their threats.
As the pressure mounts, Charlotte and Jack must decide how far they'll go to stand their ground in the stand-your-ground state.
Allison Leahy is the US Attorney General, the mot renowned lawyer in America. She and her wealthy husband are the twenty-first-century version of the couple who has it all: a happy marriage and two successful careers. To top it off, Allison is the highly touted Democratic nominee for the presidency.
Her opponent is Lincoln Howe, a retired four-star general and bona fide African-American hero. Like Allison, howe is living the American dream, and for months the candidates hav run neck and neck. Both sides need jut one extra push to swing the election - and on Halloween morning, they get it: A twelve year old girl is kidnapped on her way to school. The girl is Kristen Howe, Lincoln Howe\'s granddaughter. The nation and the candidate explode in outrage. As Attorney General, Allison launches a massive nationwide manhunt. But her motives are under fire, as each side claims the other is exploiting the tragedy and manipulating the investigation for political advantage.
In truth, Allison\'s drive to bring Kristin home safe is far more personal than political. Years before Allison\'s adopted baby daughter was stolen from her home never to be found. Now it seeks likely that her own child\'s fate is somehow tied to the current crisis. Allison now must step off the political ladder if she is to help save the life of an innocent young girl and unravel the secrets of her own painful past.
U.S. Attorney General Allison Leahy is the Democrats' best chance for holding on to the Oval Office. But she's running neck and neck with her opponent, Republican Lincoln Howe, a retired four-star general and bona fide African-American hero. Then, days before the election, disaster strikes. Twelve-year-old Kristen Howe, the general's granddaughter, is kidnapped. As the nation's leading law enforcement officer, Allison launches a nationwide manhunt even as her opponent publicly questions her motives. For Allison, though, finding Kristen isn't about politics. It's a personal crusade that taps into terrifying secrets buried deep within the past secrets that can shatter all of Allison's hopes, twisting them into a nightmare of lies and the ultimate betrayal.
