James Grippando is well-known for his series character Jack Swyteck, but he’s also been branching out and doing some standalone stories, including LYING WITH STRANGERS. Now, in INTENT TO KILL, Grippando focuses on ex-baseball player Ryan James, whose beloved wife was killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver three years ago. James took it hard, and the loss ended up destroying his ball career, so he became a sports talk radio host.
But then a message comes to James that someone witnessed the crash and knows the identity of the driver. The pain re-opens, but now James can focus his energies on trying to track down the tipster and the culprit. Grippando handles the character dynamics in his usual professional way, with James reacting realistically to the situation, and spot-on dialogue choices.
There are a couple of jarring notes. It’s hard for me to believe that someone can be three years out of baseball, then turn around and be a starting player within eight months. And the character Babes, a sufferer of Asperger syndrome who has a penchant for creating anagrams from names, is way too reminiscent of Paul Levine’s character Bobby in the SOLOMON VS. LORD series, even though Grippando based him on a real person he knew.
Still, it’s Grippando. The unlikely plots become plausible the way he tells them, and the pace of the book is at his usual breakneck speed. However, the story lacks the humor and the coherence of the Swyteck series, so it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. —Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BEYOND SUSPICION by James Grippando
• BORN TO RUN by James Grippando
• GOT THE LOOK by James Grippando
• HEAR NO EVIL by James Grippando
• LAST CALL by James Grippando
• LAST TO DIE by James Grippando
• LYING WITH STRANGERS by James Grippando
• THE PARDON by James Grippando
• WHEN DARKNESS FALLS by James Grippando
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