Beyond Suspicion (Hardcover)

by James Grippando (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
When Jack Swytech's former girlfriend asks him to defend her in a case brought by investors who advance payment on insurance policies when their beneficiaries have been diagnosed with a terminal condition, it looks like an easy win; Jessie Merrill wasn't dying after all, but since Viatical Settlements accepted her doctor's somewhat equivocal diagnosis, they don't stand a chance of getting their money back. Still celebrating his victory, Jack learns that Jessie has lied to him; like the shady, possibly Mob-connected company that advanced Jessie the money, he's been scammed. Then Jessie is murdered in a bizarre scenario that not only sets Jack up as the prime suspect but also threatens his marriage to the woman who is still traumatized by a vicious attack perpetrated by another of his erstwhile clients. Enlisting the aid of his best friend, an ex-con who will do anything to protect the man who saved him from death row, Jack attempts to clear his name by finding the real murderer, who turns out to have a secret worth killing for. The serpentine plot manages to hold the reader's attention despite characters who seem drawn from central casting and a meandering pace that doesn't exactly compel one to keep turning pages to unravel the mystery. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Grippando might not be the most lapidary of legal thriller writers, but he certainly has the imagination and research skills to plot up a storm. Readers of his seventh book (after A King's Ransom) will find themselves riveted as Miami criminal lawyer Jack Swyteck the hero of Grippando's first thriller, The Pardon returns to discover himself and his family under attack from several corners. Jessie Merrill, a particularly hot old flame of Jack's who's now dying of ALS, has hired him in an unusual civil case involving a "viatical settlement," in which she sells an insurance policy in return for an immediate cash payment. But the doctors were wrong: Jessie isn't dying, and the shadowy consortium of Russian mobsters who bought her policy are now suing to get their money back. Jack and Jessie win the case; Jack realizes that he and the Russians have been scammed; and when a principal character turns up dead in the Swyteck bathtub, Jack's unstable wife soon joined by a vengeful prosecutor thinks Jack did the dirty deed. There's also a tough and dangerous young Cuban woman with reasons of her own for wanting the Russians brought down, a likable roughneck whom Jack once rescued from death row, and enough mean-spirited federal agents and prosecutors to settle a career's worth of scores for a lawyer-turned-writer like Grippando, who was a partner in Janet Reno's firm before he took up the quill.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (August 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066213444
• ISBN-13: 978-0066213446
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #602,311 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OK - you already have an idea what the plot's about - , July 25, 2005

By	DWD "intrepid reviewer" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read!, December 17, 2002

By	Aaron Olson (Eagan, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So good, it should be illegal!, August 20, 2002

By A Customer

"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.