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Title: Last to Die by James Grippando ISBN: 0-06-000555-6 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.42 (24 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A good legal thriller
Comment: Before picking up LAST TO DIE, I had never heard of James Grippando, and I was pleasantly surprised by this smoothly written legal thriller. Jack Swyteck, a Miami defense lawyer, is approached by his best friend Theo to represent his brother Tatum, a one-time contract killer who believes he is going to be implicated in the murder of Sally Fenning. Sally's tragic past has strange implications in what unfolds next: she has left 46 million dollars to six potential beneficiaries, but only the last alive will receive the money. Who is the mysterious sixth beneficiary? Why did Sally leave her money to these six, all of whom appear to be enemies? What connects them? What did Sally hope to achieve? And most pressing of all, who is murdering them one by one?
Jack is a likeable protagonist. He is earnest, intelligent, professional, with a soft spot for kids. He is one of the few legal heroes of the genre who looks at his career as a job and not the driving force of his life. What spurs him onward is his own curiosity. I did object to Jack's treatment of one character (and I can't specify without ruining the plot), a reaction that seemed excessively harsh and unforgiving given the circumstances and Jack's emotional attachment to the character.
Grippando's writing is unobtrusive - not noteworthy but smooth enough to propel the story forward. For a thriller, the suspense does not reach adrenalin-pumping levels, although Grippando kept me interested throughout by his judicious meting out of details. I did lose some interest as Grippando took me to Africa, a portion of the book that reads more like a travelogue than a thriller. However, my main complaint with this novel is the weak ending. It lacks the oomph of a first-rate thriller, although the rest comes close.
This book's undemanding yet exciting premise is perfect for beach or airplane reading, and for anyone desiring pure entertainment. Those who love legal thrillers should definitely add Grippando to their reading lists. I'm looking forward to Grippando's next book.
Rating: 5
Summary: First To Applaud
Comment: In James Grippando's Last To Die, Miami defense attorney Jack Swyteck is an ethical, competent, and good-looking lawyer who finds himself smack dab in the middle of one of the best murder-mystery plots to come along in years.
Sally Fenning, a twice-married ex-Hooters waitress, has been murdered. Her rich second husband forked up an eighteen million dollar divorce settlement beforehand, which has grown to a nifty forty-six million at the time of her death. And she has left an interesting will. There are six beneficiaries, all presumably her enemies, but they don't split the money. Only the last surviving beneficiary collects the full amount. Thus ensues a fast and furry contest between those vying for the big prize, including Sally's first husband and his lawyer, a prosecutor, a reporter, a small-time thug, and a shadowy figure known only as Alan Sirap.
Strangely, Jack Swyteck is retained for probate and other legal advice by the thug, Tatum Knight. Tatum is the brother of Theo, a wrongly accused black man Jack had rescued from death row years earlier. Seems that Tatum, an ex-hitman who now only beats up people for money, was hired by Sally to kill ... Sally. She turns up dead. He's named in the will. He proclaims innocence--but needs Jack's help to prove it.
A few more plot twists spice things up even more. Sally had narrowly survived a knife attack years earlier. Her five-year-old daughter was not so lucky. A mysterious stalker is the prime suspect, but he's never caught or identified. Sally's second husband dies of AIDS. Oddly, Sally has a beautiful sister living in Africa to whom she fails to leave a penny. Did Sally know her stalker? Why on earth would she set up her own death? Why are the beneficiaries her enemies? Is Tatum good at heart like his brother Theo? For Theo, is blood thicker than water? Which of the two babes in the story will Jack end up with? And who the heck is Alan Sirap?
Last To Die has one of the best story setups I've ever read. The Grisham-like writing--with a bit more wit--immediately draws you in and flows right along. It has no fluff or boring, weak spots. The 384 pages zip by like a 200-page thriller. I don't know that the payoff in the end is as strong as the build-up promises, but it's still an excellent and well-written story. Highly recommended. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of BIG ICE
Rating: 5
Summary: EDGE OF THE SEAT!!!
Comment: This is one of his best. If what happend in this novel ever happend to me I don't know what I would do. Well hopefully make it out alive ;D Keeps you on the edge and his books always have twists and turns so you never know what is going to happen. Buckle of for this ride and it's one of those ones you just don't want to stop reading.
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Title: Split Second by David Baldacci ISBN: 0446530891 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Pardon by James M. Grippando ISBN: 006109286X Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 November, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Fatal Flaw by William Lashner ISBN: 0060508167 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Informant by James M. Grippando ISBN: 0061012203 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Beyond Suspicion by James Grippando ISBN: 0060005548 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 24 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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