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WHEN DARKNESS FALLS answers the question, "When is a courtroom thriller not a courtroom thriller?" James Grippando, best known for his books featuring Miami criminal attorney Jack Swyteck, has utilized his greatest strength --- strong, memorable characterization --- to craft a novel involving a defense lawyer who, interestingly enough, never steps inside the courtroom. This does not mean that Swyteck morphs into a tough guy of the Spenser or Mike Hammer mold. Though present throughout the proceedings, he is hardly the focus of the action. The result is an original work with elements just familiar enough to be comforting to longtime fans of the series.
The novel begins with Swyteck being retained to defend an extremely unusual client. The defendant, known only as "Falcon," is under arrest for threatening to jump off a Miami bridge. Falcon has no visible means of support yet is able to pay his $10,000 bail in cash. There's more where that came from, secreted away in an offshore bank. This naturally raises the question of why Falcon lives as he does, sleeping in an abandoned car and dumpster diving.
More important, however, is the reason why Falcon is obsessed with Alicia Mendoza, the beautiful daughter of the mayor of Miami. Theo, one of Swyteck's first clients and perhaps his best friend, is along to help as always. But Theo finds himself in the midst of a hostage situation when Falcon, in the grip of a schizophrenic episode, believes that Swyteck has stolen his money and attempts to retrieve it.
When the dust settles and the smoke clears, Falcon is holding Theo and an interesting cast of additional players at gunpoint in a seedy motel room surrounded by police. Falcon's demands are at once enigmatic and difficult: he wants Swyteck to return his money --- which Swyteck does not have --- and he'd like to speak to Mendoza. Ironically, the one man standing between Falcon and a SWAT team is Vincent Paulo, a hostage negotiator with a unique, if tragic, history, as well as some emotional involvement with Mendoza. Falcon's behavior is erratic and unpredictable, yet there are reasons behind all that he does --- ones that are slowly but surely revealed to some, but that are already known to others.
Grippando's characterizations are first rate here. Even as Swyteck is gently pushed into the background, there is a revolving and evolving cast of characters that readily fills the void. This is a tale of deceit and treachery that is revealed not by courtroom or police work, but rather by the inevitable shifting of the sands of time and conscience. While the hostage crisis winds to a violent and inevitable conclusion, it begins a chain reaction that has its origins far from Miami but will reach high into the halls of the government.
Grippando has a penchant for taking chances with his storytelling, and it once again pays off in WHEN DARKNESS FALLS. Unforgettable characters and the immediacy of his storyline combine to make the book a winner.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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