Background
James Grippando was born on January 27, 1958, in Waukegan, Illinois, United States. He was raised in rural Illinois.
Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
James received a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida.
James Grippando as a young boy.
James Grippando with Judge Clark after the publication of his first novel, The Pardon.
James Grippando
(Jack Swyteck, a brilliant Miami defense attorney has spen...)
Jack Swyteck, a brilliant Miami defense attorney has spent years rebelling against his father, Harry, now Florida's governor. Their estrangement seems complete when Harry allows one of Jack's clients - a man Jack believes is innocent - to die in the electric chair. But when a psychopath bent on serving his own twisted version of justice places both Jack and Harry in extreme jeopardy, the two have nowhere to turn but to each other. Together they must find a way to overcome their cunning tormentor's manipulation ... even as the stakes are being raised to far more perilous heights.
https://www.amazon.com/Pardon-First-Jack-Swyteck-Novel-ebook/dp/B000FC139U/?tag=2022091-20
1994
(By the author of the bestselling The Pardon, this fast-pa...)
By the author of the bestselling The Pardon, this fast-paced novel teams a resourceful FBI agent and an embattled journalist in a hunt for two men - a serial killer and his elusive informant. When an informer chooses Miami Tribune crime reporter Michael Posten as his conduit, giving him information about murders that haven't yet taken place, investigators speculate on whether the killer and informer are the same person.
https://www.amazon.com/Informant-James-Grippando/dp/0062024493/?tag=2022091-20
1996
(U.S. Attorney General Allison Leahy is the nation's top l...)
U.S. Attorney General Allison Leahy is the nation's top law enforcement officer and the Democrats' best chance for holding on to the Oval Office. But she has powerful competition in Republican Lincoln Howe, a retired four-star general and bona finde Africa-American hero. They are running neck and neck, and seemingly nothing can break the deadlock. Then, just days before the election, disaster strikes. Twelve-year-old Kristen Howe, the general's granddaughter, is kidnapped. As attorney general, Allison launched a nationwide manhunt, but her motives come under fire from her opponent. For Allison, though, finding Kristen isn't about politics. Here is a personal crusade that taps into terrifying secrets buried deep within the past - secrets that can shatter all Allison's hopes, twisting them into a nightmare of lies and the ultimate betrayal.
https://www.amazon.com/Abduction-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B0015KGWZ6/?tag=2022091-20
1998
(Single mother Amy Parkens feels trapped by a boring job, ...)
Single mother Amy Parkens feels trapped by a boring job, low pay, and no time for her young daughter. But that's before $200,000 in cold, hard cash arrives in an unmarked box. Desperately needing the money, Amy fears a setup or a connection to her mother's suicide 20 years earlier. So she sets out to find the source. A decent, responsible small-town doctor, Ryan Duffy didn't expect to inherit a fortune from his electrician father, who had millions stashed away in the attic. Did it come from extortion, robbery, or some other terrible crime? Painful as it is, Ryan is drawn to his father's dark past, determined to find the truth. Desperate for answers, Amy and Ryan soon cross paths on a dangerous quest that takes them through a labyrinth of deception and blackmail - leading them to a man of unfathomable power who holds the key to their fortunes... and their lives.
https://www.amazon.com/Found-Money-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B0015KGWYM/?tag=2022091-20
1999
(The youngest lawyer ever to grab the helm of Seattle's mo...)
The youngest lawyer ever to grab the helm of Seattle's most prominent law firm, Gus Wheatley has found success - as well at money, power, and prestige. He thinks nothing can interfere with his meteoric rise to the top. Until his wife, Beth, vanishes. Beth's disappearance coincides with a series of brutal murders the FBI dubs the "bookend killings." They think Beth is the killer's latest victim... or his willing accomplice. But Gus knows his wife would never ally herself with a cold-blooded killer. The further he searches, however, the more he discovers that Beth isn't the woman he thought he knew. Beth may be alive. She may or may not be innocent. She may have come up against evil far more reaching than a serial killer. And for Gus and his family, that evil is much too close to home.
https://www.amazon.com/Under-Cover-Darkness-James-Grippando/dp/0062024523/?tag=2022091-20
2000
(The author of five bestselling novels, including Under Co...)
The author of five bestselling novels, including Under Cover of Darkness and The Pardon, James Grippando writes compulsively readable thrillers that could be drawn from today's headlines, only better. Now his trademark gifts are wonderfully demonstrated in a taut new tale of intrigue that will keep you guessing to the final, breathtaking scene. Just two years out of law school, Nick Rey is on the career fast track at a hot Miami law firm when he is suddenly plunged headfirst into a dangerous bid to save his father. Matthew Rey has been kidnapped while on business in Columbia's exotic port city of Cartagena. The ransom demand of three million dollars is far more than the Rey family can ever hope to raise. Fortunately, Matthew had purchased an insurance policy to protect against just such a threat. Unfortunately, the kidnappers seem to know all about the policy, and the insurance company, suspecting fraud, is refusing to pay out.
https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Ransom-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B000FC12FK/?tag=2022091-20
2001
(Criminal lawyer Jack Swyteck doesn't handle many civil ca...)
Criminal lawyer Jack Swyteck doesn't handle many civil cases. But this one is different. His client, Jessie Merrill, is a gorgeous ex-girlfriend who's being sued. At the trial, Jack pulls off a brilliant victory and Jessie gets a hefty settlement. But then Jack finds out it was all a scam. Two days later, Jessie's body turns up floating in Jack's bathtub. As the evidence mounts against him, Jack finds himself on a collision course with dark secrets from the past and a possible killer is beyond suspicion.
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Suspicion-Jack-Swyteck-Book-ebook/dp/B000FC10SE/?tag=2022091-20
2002
(In an exciting new series that critics have called "John ...)
In an exciting new series that critics have called "John Grisham meets Robert Ludlum," Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck faces his biggest challenge yet. Tatum Knight is a former contract killer. Ruthless. Conniving. And he's Jack's newest client. Tatum is the older brother of Jack's best friend, Theo. Theo himself spent time on death row until Jack found the evidence to prove him innocent. Jack isn't so sure about Tatum. A gorgeous young woman has been shot dead in her Mercedes on a Miami street. Tatum denies that he had anything to do with it, but he admits to Jack that he did meet with her in Theo's bar, where she tried to hire him.
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Die-Jack-Swyteck-Book-ebook/dp/B000FC12JQ/?tag=2022091-20
2003
(Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is involved in the most explo...)
Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is involved in the most explosive criminal trial of his career - a case that starts with a murder on a military base and concludes with a shocking surprise that will change Jack's life forever. A beautiful woman comes to see Jack and begs him to represent her. She says she's about to be arrested for the murder of her husband, an officer stationed at Guantanamo Bay.
https://www.amazon.com/Hear-Evil-Jack-Swyteck-Novel/dp/0060564571/?tag=2022091-20
2004
(Jack Swyteck’s new girlfriend, Mia, is keeping secrets fr...)
Jack Swyteck’s new girlfriend, Mia, is keeping secrets from the love-struck Miami attorney, not the least of which is a wealthy and powerful husband. Then Mia is kidnapped by a manipulative abductor who makes a chilling ransom request, “Pay me what she’s worth.”
https://www.amazon.com/Got-Look-Jack-Swyteck-Novel/dp/006056458X/?tag=2022091-20
2006
(Ryan Coolidge hates middle school and is in the worst kin...)
Ryan Coolidge hates middle school and is in the worst kind of trouble-trouble with the law. The one person who can help Ryan is a mysterious old lawyer named Hezekiah. Hezekiah may have magical powers, or he may have the most elaborate computerized law library ever conceived. Either way, together, Ryan and Hezekiah do their legal research by zooming through leapholes, physically entering the law books, and coming face-to-face with actual people from some of our nation's most famous cases-like Rosa Parks and Dred Scott-who will help Ryan defend himself in court. It is time travel with a legal twist, where law books and important legal precedents come to life.
https://www.amazon.com/Leapholes-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B00LWFKT2Q/?tag=2022091-20
2006
(In the latest novel from the bestselling author whom crit...)
In the latest novel from the bestselling author whom critics have called "the thriller writer to watch," lawyer Jack Swyteck tackles a case in which the life of his best friend hangs in the balance - and in which nothing is as it seems. Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck isn't looking for a new client, at least not one who is homeless and in jail for threatening to jump off a bridge. But from the moment Jack is called to defend the man, who goes by the name Falcon, something is amiss.
https://www.amazon.com/When-Darkness-Falls-Swyteck-Novel/dp/0062087940/?tag=2022091-20
2007
(A first-year resident at a major Boston children's hospit...)
A first-year resident at a major Boston children's hospital, Peyton Shields finally has the career she's always dreamed of - even though her marriage to Kevin, an up-and-coming young lawyer, is suffering from her hard work and impossibly long hours. But a late-night drive home in a heavy snowstorm changes everything when she is forced off the road. No one, not even Kevin, believes Peyton's claims that the "accident" was deliberate. Suddenly, her wonderful life has turned dark and uncertain, and the terror has only just begun. Her husband is growing inexplicably distant and bitter, accusing her of paranoia, betrayal, and infidelity. And a series of bizarre and frightening events is moving Peyton steadily closer to a faceless, resourceful enemy who is watching her every move.
https://www.amazon.com/Lying-Strangers-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B000QTE9ZM/?tag=2022091-20
2007
(A kid from Miami's meanest streets, Theo Knight lost his ...)
A kid from Miami's meanest streets, Theo Knight lost his mother to a violent crime. He was on Death Row for a murder he didn't commit when lawyer Jack Swyteck proved him innocent. Now they are best friends. Theo is a semi-respectable and successful bar owner, but the past, with its risks and its terrors, has come knocking on his back door. An escaped convict from the old neighborhood wants sanctuary, and in return, he is offering information: the identity of the killer who left Theo's mom lying dead in the street on a hot South Florida evening. Theo wants justice, but the answers are not simple. He and Jack must now piece together a twenty-year-old conspiracy of greed and corruption that's pointing toward the city's most elite and powerful. And digging through a history that Theo has struggled his whole life to forget could awaken some very desperate, very deadly sleeping dogs.
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Call-Jack-Swyteck-Book-ebook/dp/B000W915L2/?tag=2022091-20
2008
(Jack Swyteck is back in action in Born to Run - the eight...)
Jack Swyteck is back in action in Born to Run - the eighth outing for the danger-prone Miami lawyer in author James Grippando’s New York Times bestselling series. In this timely and spellbinding thriller, Swyteck is embroiled in shady Washington D.C. politics when his own father is selected by the President to replace the Vice President, killed in a hunting accident.
https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Jack-Swyteck-Book-ebook/dp/B001FA0TL4/?tag=2022091-20
2008
(Intent to Kill electrifies from the first inning on - as ...)
Intent to Kill electrifies from the first inning on - as a fallen baseball star-turned-sports radio “shock jock” tries to expose a conspiracy and outwit a killer.
https://www.amazon.com/Intent-Kill-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B001NLL5U4/?tag=2022091-20
2009
(In this timely stand-alone thriller ripped from the headl...)
In this timely stand-alone thriller ripped from the headlines, bestselling author James Grippando explores a world in which the destruction of financial institutions and the people who run them can occur in a matter of hours - even minutes.
https://www.amazon.com/Money-Burn-Suspense-James-Grippando/dp/0061556300/?tag=2022091-20
2010
(A young girl’s murder sets off a grisly cascade of crime,...)
A young girl’s murder sets off a grisly cascade of crime, death, and intrigue - and sends criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck after a sinister group of terrorists on the verge of unleashing chaos across the globe. From New York Times bestseller James Grippando, the ninth Jack Swyteck novel, Afraid of the Dark - perfect for fans of Steve Martini, Phillip Margolin, and Jo Nesbo - is a rollercoaster thrill ride into the very heart of evil.
https://www.amazon.com/Afraid-Dark-Jack-Swyteck-Novel/dp/0061840297/?tag=2022091-20
2011
(New York Times bestseller James Grippando returns with a ...)
New York Times bestseller James Grippando returns with a gripping new stand-alone novel: a story ripped from the headlines, in which a young financial adviser and his girlfriend uncover a conspiracy that reaches from Wall Street to Washington, from the trading floors of the Stock Exchange to the deepest halls of government.
https://www.amazon.com/Need-You-Now-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B005HFI9IS/?tag=2022091-20
2012
(New York Times bestselling author James Grippando deliver...)
New York Times bestselling author James Grippando delivers a powerful, nonstop thrill ride ripped from the headlines. Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck is back in his most frightening case yet, and this time the price of victory is measured in blood. It is the most sensational murder trial since O. J. Simpson's. The nation is obsessed with Sydney Bennett, a sexy nightclub waitress and good-time girl accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter for cramping her party life.
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Money-Jack-Swyteck-Book-ebook/dp/B008CH1XFO/?tag=2022091-20
2013
(In Black Horizon, a riveting and timely thriller drawn fr...)
In Black Horizon, a riveting and timely thriller drawn from tomorrow's headlines, New York Times bestselling author James Grippando brings back popular Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck in an international case involving a devastating oil spill that pits him against his most villainous adversaries yet.
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Horizon-Jack-Swyteck-Book-ebook/dp/B00DB30JGS/?tag=2022091-20
2014
(The New York Times bestselling author of Cane and Abe and...)
The New York Times bestselling author of Cane and Abe and Black Horizon blends Goodfellas and Elmore Leonard in this wild, suspenseful caper inspired by actual events, in which a band of amateur thieves pulls off one of the biggest airport heists in history with deadly consequences. Every week, a hundred million dollars in cash arrives at Miami International Airport, shipped by German banks to the Federal Reserve. A select group of trusted workers moves the bags through Customs and loads them into armored trucks. Ruban Betancourt has always played by the rules. But the bank taking his house and his restaurant business going bust has driven him over the edge. He and his wife deserve more than life has handed them, and he’s come up with a ballsy scheme to get it. With the help of an airport insider, he, his coke-head brother-in-law, Jeffrey, and two ex-cons surprise the guards loading the armored trucks and speed off with $7.4 million in the bed of a pickup truck. Investigating the heist, FBI agent Andie Henning, newly transferred to Miami from Seattle, knows the best way to catch the thieves is to follow the money.
https://www.amazon.com/Cash-Landing-Novel-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B00NEP7TX4/?tag=2022091-20
2015
(A spellbinding novel of suspense from New York Times best...)
A spellbinding novel of suspense from New York Times bestselling author James Grippando, in which Miami’s top prosecutor becomes a prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance, which may have a chilling connection to the woman he can’t forget. Unbelievable was the word for her. Samantha Vine was unbelievably beautiful. It was unbelievable that she’d married me. Even more unbelievable that she was gone ... Samantha died too soon. Abe Beckham’s new wife has helped him through the loss, but some say it was a step back to marry Angelina, a love from Abe’s past.
https://www.amazon.com/Cane-Abe-James-Grippando-ebook/dp/B00HLIVY4K/?tag=2022091-20
2015
(Winner of the 2017 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction Thi...)
Winner of the 2017 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction This electrifying and fast-paced tale of suspense from the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Cash Landing, Cane & Abe, and Black Horizon, tells the story of Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck takes on his first death-row client since The Pardon in a case as twisty as it is shocking. Sashi Burgette vanished three years ago on her way to school. The night after the teenager’s disappearance, ex-con Dylan Kyle was stopped for drunk driving. An article of Sashi’s clothing was found in his truck, and a police videotape of his drunken explanation under interrogation sealed his fate at trial.
https://www.amazon.com/Gone-Again-Jack-Swyteck-Novel-ebook/dp/B00Z746UN0/?tag=2022091-20
2016
(New York Times bestselling author James Grippando venture...)
New York Times bestselling author James Grippando ventures into the world of astrophysics, high-stakes trading and the algorithms that up the game with The Penny Jumper, a thrilling novella about a young scientist lured to Wall Street by the promise of a pay-day that will offset her student loans and jump start her life.
https://www.amazon.com/Penny-Jumper-Novella-James-Grippando/dp/0982996551/?tag=2022091-20
2016
(Defending a woman accused of murdering the man who sexual...)
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.
https://www.amazon.com/Most-Dangerous-Place-Swyteck-Novel/dp/0062440551/?tag=2022091-20
2017
(From the 2017 winner of the Harper Lee Prize for legal fi...)
From the 2017 winner of the Harper Lee Prize for legal fiction comes a powerful and timely story of race, politics, injustice, and murder as shocking and incendiary as today’s headlines. When the body of Jamal Cousin, president of the pre-eminent black fraternity at the Florida's flagship university, is discovered hogtied in the Stygian water swamps of the Suwanee River Valley, the death sets off a firestorm that threatens to rage out of control when a fellow student, Mark Towson, the president of a prominent white fraternity, is accused of the crime.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Live-Oak-Swyteck-Novel-ebook/dp/B071HD86BQ/?tag=2022091-20
2018
(Miami attorney Jack Swyteck lands in the heart of the con...)
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.
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Glass-Box-Swyteck-Novel/dp/0062657836/?tag=2022091-20
2019
James Grippando was born on January 27, 1958, in Waukegan, Illinois, United States. He was raised in rural Illinois.
James received a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida.
In his first job out of law school, Grippando served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas A. Clark, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. There and in private practice Grippando worked on a number of appeals in death penalty cases, an experience that later served him in writing his first published novel, The Pardon. From September 1984 to September 1996, Grippando was a trial lawyer in Miami.
In the late 1980s, he shifted to creative writing, but his first attempt at fiction was never published. Grippando's first published novel, The Pardon, was released in hardcover in September 1994, where he first introduced the character Jack Swyteck, a Miami criminal defense lawyer. Grippando wrote one more novel while still practicing law: The Informant (October 1996.) He then left the law to write full-time.
Since 2002 he has served as "Counsel" at Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP, a national law firm headed by trial lawyer David Boies. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law, where he teaches "The Law & Lawyers in Modern Literature."
(Miami attorney Jack Swyteck lands in the heart of the con...)
2019(Winner of the 2017 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction Thi...)
2016(New York Times bestseller James Grippando returns with a ...)
2012(New York Times bestselling author James Grippando venture...)
2016(In Black Horizon, a riveting and timely thriller drawn fr...)
2014(Defending a woman accused of murdering the man who sexual...)
2017(The New York Times bestselling author of Cane and Abe and...)
2015(A first-year resident at a major Boston children's hospit...)
2007(In this timely stand-alone thriller ripped from the headl...)
2010(A spellbinding novel of suspense from New York Times best...)
2015(In the latest novel from the bestselling author whom crit...)
2007(Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is involved in the most explo...)
2004(A young girl’s murder sets off a grisly cascade of crime,...)
2011(The author of five bestselling novels, including Under Co...)
2001(By the author of the bestselling The Pardon, this fast-pa...)
1996(From the 2017 winner of the Harper Lee Prize for legal fi...)
2018(In an exciting new series that critics have called "John ...)
2003(Jack Swyteck is back in action in Born to Run - the eight...)
2008(Intent to Kill electrifies from the first inning on - as ...)
2009(The youngest lawyer ever to grab the helm of Seattle's mo...)
2000(Jack Swyteck’s new girlfriend, Mia, is keeping secrets fr...)
2006(Jack Swyteck, a brilliant Miami defense attorney has spen...)
1994(New York Times bestselling author James Grippando deliver...)
2013(Single mother Amy Parkens feels trapped by a boring job, ...)
1999(Ryan Coolidge hates middle school and is in the worst kin...)
2006(A kid from Miami's meanest streets, Theo Knight lost his ...)
2008(Criminal lawyer Jack Swyteck doesn't handle many civil ca...)
2002(U.S. Attorney General Allison Leahy is the nation's top l...)
1998Quotations: “I love to write. That’s why I do it. I spent four years writing a novel that was never published, and I have never once looked back on it as a waste of time. I enjoyed the process, and that’s the one piece of advice I give all aspiring writers - keep it fun.”
Quotes from others about the person
"Grippando is equally skillful at ratcheting up the tension and plucking at your heartstrings."- Kirkus Reviews
James has a wife, Tiffany, whom he has characterized as a shy and private person.