Meet the Author: James Grippando

Wellington Branch
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
7:00 p.m.

James Grippando, bestselling author of the Jack Swyteck Series and other stand-alone novels, will be appearing at the Wellington Library on Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m. Preregister.

James Grippando is the author of 16 novels, most of which are legal thrillers. The latest is "Intent to Kill" published in April 2009. A reviewer for "Booklist" magazine rates it among his best: "This is an excellent thriller... It's a return to the character-driven storytelling that made his earlier novels, including 'Found Money' (1999), 'The Abduction' (1998), and 'The Informant' (1996), so successful."

Before turning to writing full-time, Grippando earned a law degree at the University of Florida and spent 12 years as a trial lawyer with a leading Miami law firm. That experience was the inspiration for his 1994 debut novel, "The Pardon," in which he introduced Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck. "Beyond Suspicion" (2002) was the eventual sequel to that first novel, and it established the Jack Swyteck series, of which the latest is "Born to Run" (2008), the eighth in the series.

He also wrote the novel "Leapholes" (2006), his first book targeted for the young adult audience and the first young adult novel to be published by the American Bar Association. A reviewer for "The Florida Bar News" noted that, "packed with the pacing and suspense of a legal thriller, 'Leapholes' is so historically accurate and conveys [such] an understanding of basic legal concepts that it gained the backing of the ABA."

Grippando told "Contemporary Authors Online": "I love to write. That's why I do it. I spent four years writing a novel that was never published, and I have never once looked back on it as a waste of time. I enjoyed the process, and that's the one piece of advice I give all aspiring writers--keep it fun."

His novels are enjoyed worldwide in twenty-six languages.

About Intent to Kill:

Ryan James once had it all. With a beautiful wife and a two-year-old daughter, he was just one minor-league baseball game away from realizing his lifelong dream of playing in the majors when the unthinkable happened: his wife, Chelsea, was killed in a hit-and-run accident while driving to Ryan's last game of the season.

Years later, Ryan is a popular "shock jock" at Boston's top-rated sports radio show, doing his best to raise his daughter alone. But his love for Chelsea endures, his insomnia persists, and the fact that the police never found the drunk who ran her off the road makes closure impossible. Then, on the third anniversary of Chelsea's death, chilling words from an anonymous tipster turn the accident into a homicide: "I know who did it."

As the police scramble, Ryan makes a stunning discovery. The tip—a strangely coded message—may have come from Chelsea's own brother, a young man affectionately known as "Babes," who has an autism-related disorder. But why would Babes have withheld this information for three years? And what finally made him come forward anonymously?

The demand for answers sends Babes on the run. Through a series of shocking on-air conversations with Babes, Ryan and Emma Carlisle, the dedicated prosecutor on the case, unravel a cover-up that reaches back to the night of Chelsea's death and that may implicate one of New England's most powerful families. It's a search that will forever change the lives of Ryan, Babes, and Emma—if they live to tell about it.

Critical Praise

"An excellent thriller … Wow, this guy is really good."

--Booklist

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Posted: 05/15/09