Friday, April 15, 2011

Afraid of the Dark - James Grippando

Afraid of the Dark by James Grippando is the ninth book in his Jack Swytek series. (and 18th book overall)

Swytek is a criminal defense attorney based in Miami. He is called in by an old friend to help with the defense of a young man who has been in Gitmo for 3 years. His true identity is uncovered - he is not a Somalian, but rather an American named Jamal - a young man wanted in the U.S. for the murder of his girlfriend and the blinding of the cop who tried to save her. But he says he was in a black site camp in the Czech Republic at the time and couldn't have done it. And the US government put him there.

That's the opening salvo - from there the plot grows exponentially, including terrorism both home and abroad, child porn and more. (Some readers may find the graphic violence a bit too much)

I like Swytek as a character and the series has always been a satisfying read. Afraid of the Dark was very, very busy in terms of plot - perhaps a bit too much. Grippando was ambitious with this one - I think Swytek being involved at the international level is a bit of a stretch. But the plot elements are very real and very current. This was a good, thrilling page turner - exactly what I've come to expect from James Grippando. Fans of David Baldacci would enjoy this author.

Read an excerpt of Afraid of the Dark.

3 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I listened to one of the Swytek books and enjoyed it even though parts of the plot were far fetched.

Dorte H said...

Though there are parts of this that interest me, I´d hardly enjoy a novel about terrorism. Not because of the violence; I just don´t think it is interesting to read about.

Wrighty said...

Sounds like a good story. My mom reads this series and enjoys it. :)