Born to Run: A Novel of Suspense (Jack Swyteck) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this newest installment of the Jack Swyteck mysteries, the vice president dies during an alligator hunt in the Everglades, and Jack's father, the former governor of Florida picked by the president to fill the vacant v-p slot, brings Jack to Washington as his legal counsel. But Washington politics prove deadly, and soon Jack is investigating a mystery that has its roots 40 years in the past. Jonathan Davis brings considerable skill to his reading; with clear articulation and a keen sense of timing, he conveys the book's suspenseful plotting and nicely balances numerous characters of diverse ethnicities and genders. It is a fine performance that will keep listeners on the edge of their seats. A HarperCollins hardcover. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist

Veteran thriller writer Grippando has been known to inject presidential politics into his thrillers before, most notably in The Abduction (1998), which featured a heated contest between a female Democratic nominee and an African American Republican. In this eighth Jack Swyteck novel, the politics turn deadly when the vice president, out hunting crocodiles in the Everglades, ends up dead. Jack’s father, Harry, is asked to take over as the president’s number-two man, but Jack suspects the late vice president might have been murdered and that his father might be next. When Jack receives an e-mail offering to sell information about President Keyes—information that could make Jack’s dad the next president—he starts to dig deeper, gathering information from everyone from the late vice-president’s widow to the sister of a slain tabloid reporter. And as if Jack didn’t have enough trouble, he also must deal with the fact that he’s turning 40. This, of course, is a subject of great humor for Jack’s best friend and all-around wiseacre, ex-con Theo Knight. But Jack’s more visible political profile spells trouble for his relationship with FBI agent Andie Henning, who fears her boyfriend’s newfound status will negatively affect her career. Grippando ratchets up the action to a breakneck pace in the last half of the novel, stopping to liberally sprinkle the proceedings with snarky dialogue, pointed satire, and some touching father-son moments. Everything you expect in a Grippando novel and more. --Joanne Wilkinson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper; First Printing edition (December 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061556114
• ISBN-13: 978-0061556111
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #349,553 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Topnotch quality you expect from this storyteller, December 1, 2008

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Gripando has created a page turner that will grip you from the opening line to the final chapter in this legal thriller.

Jack Swyteck, criminal defense attorney, is sucked into his most dangerous, convoluted case yet. A Greek is thrown off a roof in Cyprus, his wife is raped - and thirty years later it leads to the Vice President of the United States dying while hunting alligators in the Florida Everglades.

Overnight Jack's dad, retired Florida Governor Harry Swyteck, is thrust into the limelight as the leading candidate for the VP vacancy. Jack is tapped to be his dad's lead attorney to shepherd him through the confirmation process - only to be fired six hours later. And people keep on dying.

Gripando does a wonderful job of keeping the reader guessing about what's really going on - even as the reader is introduced to a series of legitimate red herrings that could provide reasonable explanations - but don't.

And along the way Jack's investigator, Theo Knight, the convicted murderer who had been on death row that Jack proved was innocent, does his best to cover Jack's back. And FBI agent, Andie Henning, Jack's girlfriend, is constantly faced with challenges about Jack and his involvement in all of this. And all Jack wants to do is go back to his office and handle a simple little criminal case. But if he can't solve this riddle, he'll die from trying. There are forces at work that guarantee it.

Well done, as usual--all and more that we expect from James Grippando. This is his sixteenth book and eighth in the popular series featuring Miami lawyer Jack Swyteck. The author writes legal thrillers learned while he was a trial lawyer. This is where he learned his storytelling gift.

Armchair Interviews says: Grippando is an ingenious storyteller.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tries to rise to the level of political thriller, but fails. Ultimately unsatisfying., December 15, 2008

By	Brian Baker (Santa Clarita, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've enjoyed most of the Swytek novels, the exceptions being "Last Call" and this one.

For me, what's made this series so appealing is Swytek's charm and sass played against the gritty backdrop of Miami's criminal justice system. "Last Call" focused primarily on his buddy Theo and Theo's uncle, characters far less interesting; this book takes Swytek out of his familiar milieu and drops him into a situation that revolves around national politics. It's not a good fit, unfortunately. In both cases, the elements that have made the series so appealing to me are sadly missing.

It's hard to be very specific without giving away key plot points and revealing spoilers, but I'll give it a shot.

Whenever a story revolves around national-level politicians - in this case the President - believability is dependant on portraying the system in a credible manner. Vince Flynn does this extremely well in his Mitch Rapp series.

Though the President wields incredible power, the system that's in place to manage his policies and provide him physical protection limits his ability to function autonomously as other people might. He lives in a glass house, every move open to scrutiny. That's not to mention all the other segments of government and the press that are in a position to oppose or aid him, all trying to advance their own agendas.

The accurate portrayal of this reality is the basis of successful political fiction. However, in this novel, various governmental functionaries, from the President on down, are able to act as if they're in a vacuum, with no oversight or scrutiny extant anywhere. No questions are ever asked of any of the players, by anybody who in real life would be in positions to do so.

The same holds particularly true for various police and Secret Service characters in this novel. What are their superiors doing while these guys are running around like loose cannons?

Since these actions lie at the very heart of the story, the believability factor was pretty much zero, and that really ruined the book for me. Grippando tried to insert Swytek into a story for which he's unsuited as a character. So we have a book that's not broad enough to be successful as a political thriller, yet is too broad for the Swytek character to believably participate in.

Two stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A COMPLEX, COMPELLING THRILLER, December 13, 2008

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"Run" is indeed the operative word in this intense page-turner by top flight thriller writer James Grippando. Although born in Cyprus a man is called the Greek, and he is running from enemies who would take pleasure in killing him, preferably slowly. The current president of the United States ran for his office, won it, and will do anything to keep it. How the two intersect is sizzling reading.

A former trial lawyer himself Grippando has imbued his stalwart series lead, Jack Swyteck, with all the on-target attributes that make Swyteck one of the most believable protagonists in print. Add some very human characteristics and you have a likable, affecting character with whom readers identify. Those who wait for another Jack Swyteck adventure will be both pleased and surprised with what they find in Born To Run.

Grippando opens with a grabber - the Greek has been married to Sofia for but 11 months when their apartment was broken into by Sicilian thugs. The Greek fled, running through alleys, and to a rooftop six stories up with nowhere else to turn. He was caught and thrown, "He didn't hear himself scream, or the Sicilians laughing, as his body collided with the cobblestone below."

Skip to the Florida Everglades some 46 years later where Vice-President Phil Grayson is hunting alligators. But, he tumbled from his boat, "...headfirst into the marsh." As he sank into the muck, the pain became too much. "His body became stiff and unresponsive. His only choice it seemed, was to respect nature, to become one with black water, to be the third and weakest leg in a bizarre and deadly triangle. One angry gator. Untold pythons."

Harry Swyteck, Jack's father and a two-time Florida governor, is asked to be the new Vice-President. Looking ahead to his confirmation hearings he asks Jack to be his lawyer. Not about to turn his Dad down, Jack accepts only to find that Washington, D.C. is not all like the Miami playing field with which he's so familiar. It's darker and deadlier than he could have ever imagined.

Grippando has pulled out all the stops in Born To Run, and in an election year at that. It's a complex, complete thriller that races to a humdinger of a conclusion.

- Gail Cooke