Customer Reviews

Beyond Suspicion

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4 star:		(12)
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so you may be wondering if this book is worth your time.

'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.

BEYOND SUSPICION is not your ordinary legal thriller. The fast paced action and interesting characters kept me reading at a feverish pace.

With a lull in my reading last month I was looking for a new author to read. I read the inside flap of the latest James Grippando book, BEYOND SUSPICION, and I was hooked. The second book in the Jack Swyteck series (THE PARDON being the first), BEYOND SUSPICION starts out with Jack defending his ex-girlfriend, Jessie Merrill, in a case worth 1.5 million dollars. He wins the case and soon after Jessie ends up dead, in Jack's own bathroom. Suddenly Jack Swyteck is the prime suspect in her death. Jack teams up with Theo Knight to attempt to uncover the details around the death of Jessie Merrill and the action kicks in.

More than just a legal thriller this book has some great story lines. Jack's wife Cindy Swyteck is having nightmares from her troubled past. She is my favorite character in the whole book. I felt the author did a wonderful job creating the tension around Cindy. She is dealing with the fact that Jack is the suspect in the death of his own ex-girlfriend, her troubled back-story with Esteban, and her past coming to her in dreams. All of which are sewn together seamlessly.

There are some other good characters that play integral parts as well. Yuri, a ruthless thug, and Katrina an insider who has her own demons to deal with, are two of my favorites.

If you're looking for a new book to read I suggest you pick up BEYOND SUSPICION. It brings a diabolical mystery, wonderful side stories, face paced action, and a twist at the end that will leave you wanting more! I recommend it along with THE PARDON.

"Beyond Suspicion" is a great, great legal thriller. This is the first time in about a year that I stayed up all night reading a book that I quite literally couldn't put down. As far as I'm concerned, James Grippando's recent novels have been far superior to John Grisham's and "Beyond Suspicion" is his best one yet.

Jack Swyteck is a Miami criminal lawyer... the son of the former Governor of Florida... and is married to Cindy... who still has nightmares... after having been raped by one of Jack's former clients. The "trigger-effect" of this entire fast-paced enjoyable thriller, is when Jack's former girl friend Jessie Merrill comes back into his life as a client. Jessie... sensual... as well as conniving... was first diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) which meant sure death... and then the diagnosis was changed by Dr. Marsh to lead poisoning. When under the diagnosis of ALS... Jesse got involved with a Viatical company... which specializes in contractual arrangements in which a business buys life insurance policies from terminally ill patients for a percentage of the face value. Jessie collected one-million-five-hundred-thousand-dollars in advance against her three-million-dollar life insurance policy. When Jessie miraculously is re-diagnosed with a non-fatal illness... she is sued by the Viatical company... hence Jack's defense. Seven years earlier Jessie had dumped Jack, but when she came calling, Jack's wife Cindy felt sorry for the "dying" Jessie... and gave Jack the okay to defend her... putting jealousies aside.

When Jack wins the lawsuit all hell breaks loose... it turns out the "money" behind the Viatical company comes from some very bad men. Jessie winds up dead in Jack's bathtub... Jack's indicted for murder... and we have a pulse-pounding thriller that includes the Russian Mafia... blood being drained from dead bodies... AIDS infected blood being sold... undercover informants... scary "crunching" sounds in the leaves... and more. The author deftly keeps the reader on the edge of their seat throughout... and Theo Knight six-foot-five-inch-two-hundred-fifty-pound former death row inmate that Jack saved from execution in his first book "THE PARDON" has a great supporting role as friend... wise-cracking-sidekick... and muscle. This is the third James Grippando book I've read ("The Pardon and "Last Call") and it is by far the most complete and action packed from start to finish.

This is my second Grippando novel (I previously read Under Cover of Darkness) and I am starting to become a fan of this author. This book takes a big turn from the other book and has a great deal more action and suspense. Jack Swieteck defends a former girlfriend who ends up dead in his own bathtub. To complicate matters she apparently was murdered because of a medical scam against a group of investors who had bet their funds that she would die of Lou Gehrig's Disease. At first Jack is the primary suspect but then the blame seems to shift to his friend Theo (a former death row inmate).

The book has the usual "unstoppable" assassin (Yuri) running around that likes to determine how his victim will die by whether or not they left their porchlight on. He gets involved in some really graphically described scenes of pure torture that could make the most insensitized individual cringe.

Meanwhile there is an avenger named Katrina (she is really Cuban but Katrina is her adopted Czech name) who you are never really sure what side of the playing field she is on.

The book is full of plot twists and turns and never gets boring.

Miami lawyer Jack Swytek has just won a large verdict for an ex girlfriend, Jessie Merrill. Jesse was diagnosed with a deadly disease with only a two year survival. A company agreed to pay her one and a half million dollars in a settlement to sell them her three million dollar life insurance policy. When it is discovered that she was mistakenly diagnosed and is actually quite healthy, the company wants their money back. She refuses and Jack wins the lawsuit. However, things go quickly downhill when Jessie tells Jack someone is trying to kill her. Jack is soon made very aware of the danger he is in and must get to the bottom of the deaths if he is to survive.
James Grippando is a well known writer of suspenseful thrillers. This is the first book I have read by him. Impressive is his command of characterization and plot progression. It is a well paced and fun read. However, the conclusion, though surprising, is a bit of a letdown with a very long exposition necessitated by the fact that it comes out of left field. I reserve judgment on this author overall until reading another book by him. He is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

This is the second book of his I have read and will now read all of them. This is my ideal story, lots of law, intellect and throw in two shakers of Russian Mafia and it couldn't get better. Plenty of flummoxed situations throughout and if you were an accomplished detective you wouldn't guess the ending. all the cuddo's to this sagacious author, he is the greatest.

Tough Miami lawyer Jack Swyteck is used to trouble, but nothing could prepare him for what he is about to face.

Jack's ex-girlfriend Jessie has come to him for help, she is being sued for $1.5 million. Jessie was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and given up to five years to live. Jessie came up with the idea of cashing in her life insurance policy. An investment company will front the money and when Jessie finally passes the company will collect on the whole policy, but there is one problem...Jessie was mis-diagnosed and now the company wants their money back. Jack takes on Jessie's case, ultimately winning in court, only to find out he was part of a scam.

After winning the case Jack meets with Jessie to find out the dirty details of her scam. Several days later Jessie turns up dead in Jack's bathtub-a victim of suicide-or was it? The police believe this to be a homicide, and Jack's the prime suspect, especially since Jessie implicated him as a key player in the insurance scam.

Claiming his innocence, Jack must battle for his reputation, as well as his life, as the investment company has sent their goons to get their money back. Now Jack must fight to save his name, his marriage, and find who is behind the powerful company pretending to be a legitimate investment group.

`Beyond Suspicion' starts off fast, begins running out of gas half-way through, and then picks up speed again in the last hundred pages. The once interesting story becomes a bit complicated with the introduction the Russian mob, as well as the nightmares of Jack's wife reliving a horrific incident inflicted upon her many years prior. What started as a fun novel gets weighed down with intricate plot twists and shadowy characters, but the book does pull itself together with an exciting and surprising climax, but for some readers it may be too late.

James Grippando is one of my favorite authors of fast-paced, exciting thrillers, and while his new novel does maintain a level of excitement, the introduction of various sub-plots slows it down a bit, resulting in a thriller not on par with his previous novels.

Nick Gonnella

I stumbled across this author by accident and have enjoyed all the books I have read by him so far. I believe "Beyond Suspicion" is probably my favorite. I have only read 4 of his 8 books but they are all good and very well-written. I do think James Grippando outdid himself with this book. I think the whole concept behind the book of buying a life insurance policy, and then a company comes along and will give you half the value in cash because they plan to collect on the entire policy when you die is very unique. You will have to read for yourself how everything unfolds. This book has the markings to be made into a movie but I guess we will have to wait and see if that happens. I think this is a very good book and if you like a book with suspense and twists all the way through, you will not be disappointed.

Jack Swyteck became a fav fictional character of mind back in The Pardon, and his return continues to prove why. This is a very good thriller that grabbed me from page one until the end. Twist and turns always hold my interest if done right and here it definitely was. All the characters were interesting and made you want to know who and why. Jack, I love reading about anytime and hope there's more to come from him in the future. I never did like Jessie, simply because of her cold treatment of Jack. And the killer(s), scary. A well written novel all around that I recommend to all thriller fans.