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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780060005542
ISBN number: 0060005548
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 464
Printing Date: July 01, 2003
Publishing house: Harper
Release Date: June 24, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 59532
Studio: Harper
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Product Description:
For smart, tough Miami criminal lawyer Jack Swyteck, it was a golden opportunity to help out his beautiful ex-girlfriend Jessie Merrill, who sold her life insurance for a cash payment when she wrongly believed she was dying. Now, thanks to Jack's courtroom prowess, Jessie can keep the $1.5 million she received. But it turns out that Swyteck and the insurance company are both victims of a gorgeous scam artist. And when Jessie's lifeless corpse is discovered in his bathtub, the attorney is suddenly wanted for murder. Framed and desperate -- on the run from the police and a powerful criminal consortium willing to go to any lengths to retrieve the money -- Jack must exhume the dark secrets of a buried past to save his freedom, his career, and his life. But even his unique legal skills cannot keep him out of the murderous sights of a cold killer -- one who wants Jack Swyteck's blood . . . and is beyond suspicion.
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
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Rated by buyers 
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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 very 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 very 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.
Rated by buyers 
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This book started off pretty good. But it did began to get really slow in the middle. I fond myself skipping over all the flashback scenes from all the different characters.
Ultimately the book failed because the ending was horrible. Tried too hard to be complicated and it was silly and beyond belief. A lot of the characters and actions were beyond belief.
One example: No hospital would allow the parent to sign off on permission, especially when the spouse is right there. jack is a lawyer, and would know that!
The Latrina character just never truly fit into the story. There was nothing believable about her. Someone as careless as she was, was some informant? The whole revenge part was just too much, and really weakened the story.
The transformation of Cindy was also another unbelievable plot gimmick. It was just not believable.
Even the last accusations Jack makes at the end are just stupid!! Exactly when did it happen? between the time they arrived at the house and the time Jack got to the room?? Who broke the glass in the house??
Just makes no sense at all.
Are there any good writers left? Do all the suspense writers use the same BS gimmicks that insult people's intelligence.?
Rated by buyers -
This author always keeps me on the edge of my seat. His books are hard to put down and are read within a few days. I find myself reading the book when I should be doing something else.
Rated by buyers 
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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 very 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.
Rated by buyers -
After reading some of the reviews I was a little worried. Don't be worried. I really enjoyed Mr. Grippando's second installment of Jack's life. I'm not going to write a plot summary since Amazon and several reviewers do that quite well. I liked how fast paced this novel was and I did like the concept/ideas presented. I did agree with some of the other reviewers about how it wrapped up. Just felt it wrapped up way too quickly with some plot holes. I enjoy his books so maybe I'm a little bias. I do recommend this book in the series so you can understand the future books but The Pardon has been the best one so far that I've read.
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