Book 16

The Big Lie [Large Print]

by James Grippando

Published 25 February 2020

As the Electoral College battle for the White House lands in a Florida courtroom, Miami attorney Jack Swyteck has never felt farther from the truth, fighting for a "faithless elector," caught between a corrupt president and his manipulative opponent-with each revelation more explosive than the next.

The country is reeling. For the sixth time in American history, the winner of the popular vote will not occupy the Oval Office. President Malcolm MacLeod, the Machiavellian incumbent, was spared from impeachment only because his political foes were certain they would oust him at the ballot box. Now, he appears to have secured a second term, thanks to a narrow victory in the Electoral College.

His opponent, Florida Senator Evan Stahl, saw his campaign rocked by allegations of an extramarital affair-with another man. Despite the salacious headline-making scandal and the surrounding media frenzy, most Americans chose Stahl to lead the politically polarized nation. But Stahl is refusing to concede. Backed by millions of supporters, he looks to individual members of the Electoral College to cross party lines.

Gun lobbyist Charlotte Holmes is one of Floridas twenty-nine electors who is bound by law and by oath to cast her vote for MacLeod, who won Florida by the thinnest of margins. When Charlotte announces that she intends to vote her conscience and throw the Electoral College to Stahl, the president and his Florida machine haul her into court on felony charges-which, for some, isn't nearly punishment enough.

Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is going to use every legal maneuver he can to keep his new client free-and alive. MacLeod's hand-picked prosecutor is determined to prove Charlotte is unfit to cast a vote. Dredging through her past, he's looking for skeletons to humiliate and discredit her, while others with far deadlier intentions have begun acting on their threats.

As the pressure mounts, Charlotte and Jack must decide how far they'll go to stand their ground in the stand-your-ground state.


Book 16


Miami attorney Jack Swyteck lands in the heart of the contentious immigration debate when he takes on the heart-wrenching case of an undocumented immigrant who fled to America to protect her daughter and save herself, in this timely and pulse-pounding thriller that explores the stories behind the headlines from New York Times bestselling author James Grippando, winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.

Julia Rodriguez and her teenage daughter Beatriz escaped bloodthirsty gangs, random violence and, Julia's abusive husband back in El Salvador. Arriving in Miami, mother and daughter struggled to carve their own piece of the American dream. While life in the States is hard, it is safer, until Julia's rejects her boss's unwanted sexual advances. Suddenly-thanks to an "anonymous" tip to U. S. immigration authorities-she is arrested, locked in detention with criminals, and slated for deportation. Jack's only viable legal move to save her is asylum-a long shot that's become nearly impossible in today's charged political climate.

When Julia and Beatriz made the perilous trek north to freedom, they thought they'd left the danger behind them. But now, even Miami isn't safe. A ruthless enemy may have tracked them to south Florida and is biding time, patiently waiting to strike.

In a case where the stakes have never been higher, Jack Sywteck may not be able to save his client-even if he wins.


Book 17

Twenty

by James Grippando

Published 5 January 2021

Jack Swyteck and his family are caught in the crossfire after a deadly school shooting claims twenty casualties-Florida's fifth mass shooting in as many years-in this provocative and timely thriller from Harper Lee Prize-winner James Grippando that touches on some of the most contentious issues roiling America today.

It is the message every parent of a school-age child fears: "Active Shooter on Campus."

Jack Swyteck is at his office when he receives the emergency text from Riverside Day School. Both his daughter, Righley, and his wife, FBI agent Andie Henning, are in danger. Andie is in the school's rec center when she hears the fire alarms, then loud popping noises and screams coming from the hallway. A trained law-enforcement officer, Andie knows she's supposed to stay locked down inside the room. But Righley is in her kindergarten classroom and Andie must get her to safety.

The tragedy prompts mass hysteria-and dangerous speculation. The police haven't identified the shooter, but they find a handgun on the school grounds registered to a parent, a Muslim man named Amir Khoury. News of the gun and its owner leaks and quickly goes viral. Within minutes Al Qaeda claims responsibility. Andie is shocked-Amir is married to her friend, Lilly, a WASP whose bloodline goes back to the American Revolution.

When Xavier, Amir and Lilly's oldest child and an eighteen-year-old senior at Riverside confesses to the crime, the local community's anti-Muslim fervor explodes to levels unseen since 9/11. Terrified for her son's life, Lilly asks Jack to step in. A seasoned defense attorney with a passion to see justice done, he's taken on plenty of complicated cases. Xavier's, however, is not one he's inclined to take-until an old friend who lost his daughter in the shooting tells him that he must.

With the public calling for blood and prosecutors confident their case is air tight, Jack must unearth the Khourys' family secrets in order to expose the shocking truth and save his client from certain death. But he may not be able to save everyone-including himself.



Book 17

Twenty [Large Print]

by James Grippando

Published 12 January 2021

Jack Swyteck and his family are caught in the crossfire after a deadly school shooting claims twenty casualties-Florida's fifth mass shooting in as many years-in this provocative and timely thriller from Harper Lee Prize-winner James Grippando that touches on some of the most contentious issues roiling America today.

It is the message every parent of a school-age child fears: "Active Shooter on Campus."

Jack Swyteck is at his office when he receives the emergency text from Riverside Day School. Both his daughter, Righley, and his wife, FBI agent Andie Henning, are in danger. Andie is in the school's rec center when she hears the fire alarms, then loud popping noises and screams coming from the hallway. A trained law-enforcement officer, Andie knows she's supposed to stay locked down inside the room. But Righley is in her kindergarten classroom and Andie must get her to safety.

The tragedy prompts mass hysteria-and dangerous speculation. The police haven't identified the shooter, but they find a handgun on the school grounds registered to a parent, a Muslim man named Amir Khoury. News of the gun and its owner leaks and quickly goes viral. Within minutes Al Qaeda claims responsibility. Andie is shocked-Amir is married to her friend, Lilly, a WASP whose bloodline goes back to the American Revolution.

When Xavier, Amir and Lilly's oldest child and an eighteen-year-old senior at Riverside confesses to the crime, the local community's anti-Muslim fervor explodes to levels unseen since 9/11. Terrified for her son's life, Lilly asks Jack to step in. A seasoned defense attorney with a passion to see justice done, he's taken on plenty of complicated cases. Xavier's, however, is not one he's inclined to take-until an old friend who lost his daughter in the shooting tells him that he must.

With the public calling for blood and prosecutors confident their case is air tight, Jack must unearth the Khourys' family secrets in order to expose the shocking truth and save his client from certain death. But he may not be able to save everyone-including himself.




Intent to Kill

by James Grippando

Published 28 April 2009

A Miami criminal defense lawyer takes on his first death-row client.


Goodbye Girl

by James Grippando

Published 9 January 2024

Grave Danger

by James Grippando

Published 14 January 2025