Most Dangerous Place (Jack Swyteck Series #13)

by James Grippando Narrated by Jonathan Davis

Overview

Defending a woman accused of murdering the man who sexually assaulted her, Miami lawyer Jack Swyteck must uncover where the truth lies between innocence, vengeance, and justice in this spellbinding tale of suspense-based on shocking true-life events-from the New York Times bestselling author of Gone Again.

According to the FBI, the most dangerous place for a woman between the ages of twenty and thirty is in a relationship with a man. Those statistics become all too personal when Jack Swyteck takes on a new client tied to his past.

It begins at the airport, where Jack is waiting to meet his old high school buddy, Keith Ingraham, a high-powered banker based in Hong Kong, coming to Miami for his young daughter's surgery. But their long-awaited reunion is abruptly derailed when the police arrest Keith's wife, Isabelle, in the terminal, accusing her of conspiring to kill the man who raped her in college. Jack quickly agrees to represent Isa, but soon discovers that to see justice done, he must separate truth from lies-an undertaking that proves more complicated than the seasoned attorney expects.

Inspired by an actual case involving a victim of sexual assault sent to prison for the death of her attacker, James Grippando's twisty thriller brilliantly explores the fine line between victim and perpetrator, innocence and guilt, and cold-blooded revenge and rightful retribution.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

11/28/2016
In bestseller Grippando’s competent 13th Jack Swyteck novel (after 2016’s Gone Again), the Florida lawyer comes to the aid of Isabelle “Isa” Bornelli, an old friend’s wife, who’s arrested on arrival at the Miami airport from Hong Kong for the murder of a man who raped her while she was a college student a dozen years earlier. Isa’s apparent inability to provide a straightforward account of what happened back then raises the tension as Swyteck and co-counsel Manny Espinoza plot her defense. Isa, a well-drawn, complex character, has a tortured family history, which becomes clear when her estranged father interjects himself into the case, serving as something of a soapbox for exploring the complicated, often chauvinistic assumptions made about sex crimes. The legal procedures ring true, but when Swyteck operates outside the courtroom, the action takes a melodramatic turn and eventually leads to a violent resolution that’s both convoluted and predictable. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

Grippando weaves a complicated but compelling plot. Much of it nwinds in the courtroom ... Readers will find themselves liking this lawyer.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Grippando gets underway with a bang and never lets up, springing a series of carefully calibrated surprises in and out of the courtroom guaranteed to catch even the canniest readers unaware. ” — Kirkus Reviews

“Grippando’s newest novel will please his longtime readers and appeal to new fans who enjoy unraveling mysteries.” — Florida Book Review

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Grippando weaves a complicated but compelling plot. Much of it nwinds in the courtroom ... Readers will find themselves liking this lawyer.

Florida Book Review

Grippando’s newest novel will please his longtime readers and appeal to new fans who enjoy unraveling mysteries.

Kirkus Reviews

2016-12-06
Miami lawyer Jack Swyteck's 25th case is one of his best. The most dangerous place a woman can be, Isabelle Bornelli was told long ago, is in a relationship with a man. Since then the former Venezuelan beauty-pageant contestant has entered a doctoral program in psychology, married high-powered wealth manager Keith Ingraham, and gone off to make her home with him in Hong Kong, far from the University of Miami, where fellow student Gabriel Sosa raped her 12 years earlier. Her illusions of safety end when she gets off a plane in Miami, where she's come to take her 5-year-old, Melany, for surgery to correct the hearing loss brought on by meningitis, and is promptly taken into custody for Sosa's murder. Since Keith is a close friend of Jack, who's on hand to witness the arrest, she's got herself some highly capable representation (Black Horizon, 2014, etc.). But all the other men in her life spell trouble. Her college boyfriend David Kaval prepares to tell the court she egged him and a friend on to kill Sosa shortly after the assault in exchange for a deal that will release him from the prison term his more recent convictions for conspiracy and armed robbery have earned him. Her estranged father, former Venezuelan consul officer Felipe Bornelli, plans to direct her defense along his own lines, even if that means sabotaging Jack. Manuel Espinosa, the slick attorney who gets her released on bail after Jack fails to deliver, insinuates himself into her defense in disquietingly manipulative ways. Even her husband becomes a potential danger when hard-driving prosecutor Sylvia Hunt charges him as an accessory and the couple's two cases are separated, paving the way for a plea bargain for each of them in return for testimony against the other. Grippando gets underway with a bang and never lets up, springing a series of carefully calibrated surprises in and out of the courtroom guaranteed to catch even the canniest readers unaware.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173608673
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/21/2017
Series:	Jack Swyteck Series , #13
Edition description:	Unabridged

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