INTENT TO KILL
James Grippando
Harper
Thriller
ISBN: 9780061628689
INTENT TO KILL is a bit of a departure for James Grippando. Taking a breather from his successful Jack Swyteck novels, this is a welcome and fast-paced addition to his already impressive list of stand-alone works. The book also offers an interesting change of settings from his Florida locale to the Providence, Rhode Island area, giving Grippando an opportunity to stretch his talents, as well as to display his geographical and topographical knowledge of a different location.
The primary focus of INTENT TO KILL is Ryan James, a promising player for the Pawtucket Red Sox, the minor league farm team for the Boston Red Sox. James has it all --- Chelsea, his adoring wife; Ainsley, his beautiful young daughter; and Babes, his brother-in-law and Number One Fan. But disaster strikes on the night that is supposed to be his shot at the Major Leagues when his wife is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Reeling from this devastating loss, James abandons the game and finds himself working as a morning “shock jock“ on an all-sports talk radio station.
Three years later, someone starts leaving James notes, telling him that Chelsea’s death was not an accident, but was in fact deliberate. The mysterious informant also indicates that he or she knows the identity of the murderer. James is shocked, as is Emma Carlisle, a trial attorney in the Criminal Division of the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General. Carlisle, assigned to investigate Chelsea’s death, had basically run into a dead end in the case. When she receives an anonymous message similar to Ryan’s, it breathes new life into her investigation. But when a follow-up anonymous message points her in the direction of an old family friend --- and her former boss --- who is now running for the United States Senate, she slowly comes to realize that there is far more to Chelsea’s death than either she or James had suspected.
There is an additional complication. Babes, who is autistic, may know more about Chelsea’s fate than anyone can reasonably imagine. The messages that are being communicated to James and Carlisle have the additional effect of putting Babes in terrible danger. On the run, emotionally fragile and with only a set of uncanny abilities to help him navigate through a potential minefield, it is Babes who may hold the key that reveals the true cause of his sister’s demise and the person responsible. Racing against time and a mysterious and extremely competent hit man, Ryan and Carlisle find themselves working together to bring a much needed closer to a mystery gone unsolved for too long.
While fans of Grippando’s Swyteck thrillers may be disappointed by that character’s absence, they should be won over by the elements of the mystery that ultimately make his latest work a winner in every sense of the word. His focus on the who-and-why-dunnits of the murder shows that he is at his best when he sticks to the basics of the genre, and the strong graveyard climax is both suspenseful and exciting. And while there does not seem to be any reason for Grippando to bring back the principals of INTENT TO KILL for another go-round, the ending should leave readers satisfied.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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