James Grippando Got the Look

Got the Look

James Grippando

HarperCollins, Jan 2006, $24.95, 400 pp.

ISBN: 006056458X

FBI Special Agent Andie Henning has been chasing after and failing to stop the elusive serial kidnapper, who scorns the law enforcement opponents with cryptic notes and riddles while walking away with millions. The latest encounter is in Ginnie Springs, Florida where wealthy Drew Thornton paid $1million to get his wife back; he does but she is dead.

Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is stunned and irate now that he knows that Mia, the woman he has been sleeping with, is married to rich business mogul Ernesto Salazar. However, before he can work his way through his outrage and other simmering emotions, the serial kidnapper abducts Mia. The criminal informs Ernesto to "Pay me what she's worth" to you. This time, the spousal response is she is worth nothing. Shocked by Salazar's outright refusal to pay though Andie believes that is the right course of action, motive aside, Jack begins a desperate search to rescue a woman who means a lot to him in spite of her deceit.

What makes the latest Swyteck thriller a triumph that stands out amidst the rash of serial criminal novels is the reactions of Ernesto, Jack, and Andie to the snatching of Mia. The story line is action-packed and filled with twists as Jack learns first hand when clues take him down wrong paths and cul-de-sacs. Though the serial felon "entrepreneur" seems out of leftfield and his taunting clues appear as if a wrong number was dialed, this is no run of the mill "Son of Sam" like imitator. Readers will appreciate Jack's latest suspense thriller as he battles with an ingenious villain and the Feds.

Harriet Klausner