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“When Darkness Falls ”

written by Harriet Klausner on 12/11/2006

When Darkness Falls

James Grippando

Harper Collins, January 2007, $24.95

ISBN 0060831138



Miami Police Sergeant Vincent Paulo has been a crisis negotiator for seven years, but this incident with Falcon on the Powell Bridge over Biscayne Bay is his first since he went blind. Vince has talked Falcon out of soaring in the past, but he was sighted then. Falcon insists on speaking with the mayor's daughter, police officer Alicia Mendoza, in fifteen minutes or else. As Vince, SWAT leader Juan Chavez and the Chief discuss what to do, Alicia arrives at the scene. Hearing her voice stuns Vince, who when he lost his sight informed her they must stop seeing each other.



When Paulo persuades Falcon to come down from the bridge, three SWAT cops grab him and arrest him. Freedom Institute boss Neil Goodrich refers the case to criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck, who meets with his new client to find out if Falcon is lucid. He insists he can pay his bond and his lawyer. Not long afterward, Falcon changes his modus operendi of threatening to leap off bridges when he wants to talk with city officials by holding several hostages, including Jack's friend, Theo Knight. Jack works with Vince trying to prevent the tragedy of innocent people killed, because of incidents going back over two decades ago to Argentina's Dirty War.



The key characters are terrific, and they make this thriller a winner, in spite of a seemingly improbable over the top but exhilarating plot. Vince provides insightful observations on how the sighted treat a blind person, and how classifying them into those who assume blind means pathetic and those who deem it means psychic. Jack and Falcon are a wonderful pairing, as their lawyer-client discussions are priceless. The rest of the cast adds to the understanding of these three men, or push forward this exciting storyline that grips its audience from the moment Falcon perches on the bridge, and never lets readers go until the final leap.

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