Customer Reviews

Intent to Kill

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Grippando tells the tale of an up-in-coming minor league baseball player, Ryan, who is assured that he will move into the major leagues, but quits playing and falls apart when his wife is killed by a hit and run driver. On the third anniversary of her death, he finds a letter at her grave saying, "It was no accident." The assistant prosecutor who has been investigating the case also receives a letter, "I know who did it." Ryan, the prosecutor, and others now wonder whether Ryan's wife was murdered and, if so, why and who did it? Also what caused the letter writer to wait three years before sending the letters? Additionally, is the letter writer the murderer? And, how can the police investigate the matter three years after Ryan's wife's death.

Grippando fills his book with interesting characters and has an unexpected, exciting, and satisfying ending. He writes well but some readers might think that he gives too many unnecessary details. The details are clever, but they arguably slow down the drama and somewhat stifle the suspense. However, even those readers who have this feeling will enjoy the book.

Ryan James, a star in the minor leagues heading to the majors, loses his wife to a drunken driver. He walks away from baseball to raise their daughter. They never find out who the drunk driver was. Three years later, the prosecutor starts receiving anonymous tips about the accident.

James Grippando has a clever way of leading the reader to an obvious guilty person and then adding a twist that's blow the reader's theory out of the water. And though I love how he does this, it's not what I love best about his books. It's the realism of the characters, the setting, and the plot combined. INTENT TO KILL felt real.

INTENT TO KILL, another great thriller from James Grippando. I was introduced to this bright young writer recently through a free Kindle copy of WHEN DARKNESS FAlls, part of his successful Jack Swytek series. Grippando is a former South Florida lawyer who has written about about 12 books. I like his fast paced writing style. His books also have plenty of interesting background detail.They are well researched. This one has plenty of details about Providence, Rhode Island, Boston and Fenway Park. You also learn a lot about Asperger's Syndrome,a form of autism suffered by one of his main characters and suspects.

Ryan James once had it all. He was a minor baseball star poised for the major leagues with a beautiful wife and baby. But all his dreams ended the night of the hit-and-run death of his beloved wife, Chelsea.

Years later, Ryan is a popular sports "shock jock" at a Boston radio station, raising his six-year-old daughter on his own. His life seems to be finally settling down when he is contacted by prosecuting attorney Emma Carlisle about an anonymous note sent to her on this third anniversary of Chelseas death. The note claims that the mysterious hit-and-run driver, who was never found, intended to kill Chelsea. Ryan cant help but wonder if Babes, Chelseas brother who has Aspergers Syndrome, knows more than he lets on.

After Emma is contacted again, Babes suddenly goes missing. Now the police are hunting down Babes, unaware that a well-paid gun is determined to find him first. And Ryan and Emma are racing against the clock to not only find Babes before he can hurt himself, but to uncover the real killer, whos made it clear that nothing, not even life, is worth more than his reputation. A very satisfying resd. I give this one 4 stars.

James A. Anderson, Author of DEADLINE, a newspaper thriller.