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    When Darkness Falls
    When Darkness Falls
    When Darkness Falls
    Audiobook10 hours

    When Darkness Falls

    Written by James Grippando

    Narrated by Jonathan Davis

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    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. For one thing, Falcon comes up with the $10,000 bail—in cash. Then the body of a brutally murdered woman is found in the trunk of the abandoned car in which he is living.

    Panicked and on the run, Falcon takes Jack's best friend, Theo, hostage. They end up barricaded in a motel room, and Theo isn't the only one at Falcon's mercy. Jack must work with the cops and their crackerjack negotiator to free Theo and the other captives before Falcon decides he has nothing to lose by killing them all.

    What Jack doesn't know is that Falcon has a much bigger agenda, and that there are people behind the scenes who will stop at nothing to keep their dangerous secrets. Thus unfolds a riveting, lightning-paced story, as only James Grippando can tell it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 2, 2007
    ISBN9780061257384
    Author

    James Grippando

    James Grippando is a New York Times bestselling author with more than thirty books to his credit, including those in his acclaimed series featuring Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck, and the winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. He is also a trial lawyer and teaches law and literature at the University of Miami School of Law. He lives and writes in South Florida.

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    Reviews for When Darkness Falls

    4.5/5

    32 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      An interesting story well told.
    • 4/5
      In When Darkness Falls, attorney Jack Swyteck takes on Falcon, a homeless man, as a client after Falcon holds up traffic for hours and demands to talk to the mayor's daughter. Falcon's desire to talk to the mayor's daughter never materializes as he is captured. After making bail, he flees after finding a dead woman in the back of the trunk he usually shacks up at. This starts a story that has one twist after another ultimately leading up to the civil war in Argentina many years earlier.When Darkness Falls is a gripping novel. The story starts off strong and continues to go on strong. As I mentioned there are many twists and turns as Swyteck investigates Falcon's history and his relationship to the mayor's daughter. James Grippando shows impressive skill in his writing technique, and clearly knows how to weave a good story. Each of the main characters adds something to the story, and all of it blends together including a satisfying ending. A book worth reading.Carl Alves - author of Blood Street
    • 4/5
      Miami lawyer Jack Swyteck defends a homeless man named Falcon who takes hostages at a hotel after being released from jail. Falcon has among his hostages, Theo Knight, a man who Swyteck once pulled off death row and who became his best friend. He also wants to talk to Alicia Mendoza, a police officer who's dating the blind hostage negotiatior and happens to be the mayor's daughter. What Jack doesn't know is that Falcon has a deeper agenda and is panicked enough to do anything to clear his name. I did enjoy this book. It was written very well but was a little convoluted plot wise. I give it B+!
    • 5/5
      Negotiator Sergeant Vincent Paulo is called to his 1st assignment since loosing his eyesight, a suicide jumper at a Miami bridge, Falcon. He's a homeless man living abandoned car, his only request to the negotiator is that he wants to talk with the mayor's daughter, Alicia Mendoza. After he's talked down and arrested, Miami criminal defense lawyer, Jack Swyteck is hired to represent him, at his arraignment, bail is set at 10 thousand dollars. Jack figures it could have been 100 dollars, there's no way that Falcon can come up with bail, surprisingly he informs Jack that he has a safety deposit box at the Greater Bahamian Bank and Trust Company in Nassau and sends Jack to get his bail. Upon opening Falcon's deposit box, there's over two hundred thousand dollars in cash there, how does a homeless man living in a broken down car have this kind of cash. Shortly after Jack pays Falcon's bail, a dead body is found in Falcon's cars trunk by Jack and best friend Theo Knight and all sort of questions arrise over these and other peculiar events. The pages keep turning, things are happening fast with a unbelievable ending to this most enjoyable novel, had a hard time putting it down.
    • 4/5
      A great mystery/suspense story with some great twists. Definately worth your time to read.
    • 3/5
      Attorney Jack Swyteck agrees to represent Falcon, a homeless man who stops traffic for hours when he stands on a bridge and threatens to jump--his only demand, to speak to the Mayor's daughter, police officer Alicia Mendoza. Falcon comes to an agreement with hostage negotiator Vincent Paulo, but is soon captured. Jack's less than grateful client manages to make bail and is on the run after a dead woman is found in the trunk of a car he calls home. Jack soon finds himself in the middle of a hostile situation where Falcon has taken his best friend, Theo, and a woman hostage. Jack, with the help of Paulo, Alicia, and several law enforcement agencies jockeying for jurisdictional command, must race to meet the demands of an unstable man to save his friend. What's revealed are dark secrets that stretch from Argentina, the Bahamas, to Miami's political elite.

      I like the premise of the story although at times I was a bit confused as to who was the main focus of the story, the detective or the lawyer. So I can only give it 3 stars. Well maybe 3.5.

    • 5/5
      Took a bit to get into the story but then got hooked
    • 4/5
      Great book :)
    • 5/5
      Amazing book takes off like a bullet highly recommended read
    • 4/5
      This book reads like an episode of Flashpoint if ever one of its episodes got turned into a blockbuster movie. Add a defense attorney under pressure, an experienced but blind negotiator (in no means a handicap), and a beautiful female cop and you've got something close to When Darkness Falls. With the thrilling action, the back stories and the gripping plot, James Grippando definitely ranks among the top in the thriller and suspense genre. As Jack Swyteck is asked to defend a homeless man who tried to jump off a bridge, something does not seem right when the man comes up with the $10,000 bail in cash. A woman's body is found in the car where the homeless man lives. While on the run, the man takes motel clients and Jack's best friend hostage. Readers are likely to eagerly await the reasoning and explanation behind the man's behaviour and motive, especially after his strange final request. Secrets unwind in this fast-paced story. It's a real page-turner. I've read When Darkness Falls in one sitting. Although I do find that the hostages were being held against their will for a very long time and that the story dragged in a few places, the dialog and the short chapters really keep the story moving. I was surprised to find humor in the oddest of places -- even when Jack's best friend, Theo, was being held at gunpoint. While reading, I also wondered if a romance would spark between two specific characters.
    • 3/5
      When a homeless man is threatening to jump off a bridge unless he can talk to the only daughter of Miami's Mayor, Vince Paulo, a blind hostage negotiator, is brought in to talk him down. Once Falcon, the homeless man, is down, Jack Swyteck is called in to defend Falcon with his legal proceedings stemming from the bridge incident. But the bridge incident turns out to be the least of Falcon's legal issues. The Mayor is dead set against his daughter going anywhere near Falcon, even though she is a trained police officer. What are all the secrets about and why does Falcon want so desperately to speak with a woman he's never even met before?WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is the first book I've read by Grippando. I did not realize it was the sixth in the Jack Swyteck series. I tend to like to start at the first book in a series, and WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is a prime example why. I think I missed a lot of what others might find appealing, having no background on any of these characters. From a newbies point of view there seemed to be three kind of mini-plots (Falcon, Vince and Alicia, Jack and Theo) that all converged on a hostage situation in a motel - none of them seemed to stand out as the "main" plot until later in the novel, and it didn't really have anything to do with Jack Swyteck. And that's perfectly fine! In a series about a lawyer, every case can't be personally connected to the lawyer. But as I was explaining, not having known this was a series about Jack beforehand, I didn't realize he was the series regular just from this book's plot. It was almost like there needed to be more focus in the book.I listened to this book on audio, read by Jonathan Davis. I've listened to other works recorded by Davis, and I always feel like he's overly dramatic, and I know that takes a bit away from the book for me.At the beginning of the novel I felt completely lost. There were two entirely different plots (one containing the three mini-plots mentioned above and then a second major plot) taking place and no connection between them whatsoever. The second plot seemed to come out of the blue with no warning and then vanished just as quickly. A couple discs later I was wondering what happened to it. Eventually it did come back, though. Then at about the midpoint of the book, everything was completely clear and the ending was very obvious. There was no mystery to it for me. Therefore, I wasn't that impressed with the plot. There were several elements I found cliche - which was why I was able to predict the plot. For the most part the characters were O.k. The character I really loved was Jack's friend, Theo Knight. Grippando has a gem in that character! He's funny, sarcastic, intelligent. He was also wrongly convicted and on Death Row before Jack exonerated him; that gave him a distinction; it added to his complexity as a character. The character of Theo Knight made the whole book worth listening to. I kind of expected Grippando to do more with Vince. He was an intriguing character given the fact that he was blind and a hostage negotiator. I really wanted to know his character more.Overall it was an enjoyable book to listen to on my rides to and from work.
    • 3/5
      I just finished When Darkness Falls. It's #6 in the Jack Swyteck series by James Grippando. It was only my second Grippando novel. I'm sitting here struggling with how to give a good precis because I want to focus my precis around Jack, but very little of the plot involved Jack.Spoilers below!Falcon is a homeless suicidal man who apparently has some kind of obsession with Alicia Mendoza (a cop who is the Mayor's daughter). Falcon has some kind of mental disorder which causes him to have flashbacks to his past. He rambles incomprehensibly about "the Disappeared" and "the doctor" and "the witch". No one can figure out what he's talking about...not that anyone tries all that hard.Falcon ends up taking hostages: Jack's best friend Theo, a couple of teenage girls and the local Weatherman. Through a series of flashbacks as well as some basic detective work by Alicia, and the arrival of an "old woman" from Argentina a story is revealed. (Major spoiler alert!) It turns out that Falcon was a guard at a detention centre for numbered prisoners during Argentina's Dirty War. He participated in the torture and killing of prisoners including the husband of a pregnant prisoner. The prisoner gave birth to a daughter in the presence of The Doctor (who was also complicit in the torture) and a midwife. The prisoner told the midwife her name before she died. The Doctor took the baby. The midwife found the grandparents of the baby and told them of her birth before being killed herself. Flashforward 20 years or so and the baby is now Alicia Mendoza and The Doctor is non other than her adoptive father, the Mayor of Miami. The Doctor had paid Falcon 200,000 USD for his silence but Falcon gave that money to Alicia's birth grandmother and set out to contact Alicia to apologize for his participation in the war and her birth parents death.The rest of the plot elements seemed unconnected to the main narrative of the Dirty War and prisoner 309 (I think it was 309). Alicia has a complicated history with the hostage negotiator Vince who was recently blinded in another hostage incident. That story was outlined but not fleshed out. I can only assume that it was central to a previous book. There is some early toying with "Falcon as stalker" which just seemed a bit far-fetched and not taken seriously by Grippando himself. Jack is undeveloped in this book but at least I WANTED to know more about him as a person and his relationships. I do fear, however, that he would be treated in the same sideways manner on the other books in his series. I wonder if Mr Grippando has a book about Jack rather than about some "thriller plot" in which Jack is a device? Theo was another potentially interesting character. I hope he was more thoroughly explored in previous books. There are some strange offhand comments such as "the best table is whatever table is free" in his bar and comments about the bar not doing so well. The first makes the bar sound wildly successful, but the second comment contradicts that. I wanted to know which was the case?The plot of the book moved along at a swift pace. I do, however, have a complaint: the hostage situation was the crisis of the book. After the crisis was resolved there was still a lot of cleanup (34 pages) to do. In particular I would have liked the revelation of Mayor Mendoza's identity and his death to occur as a sub-plot/before the resolution of the hostage crisis.Anyhow, to sum up...Jack is an interesting character. I want to know more about him and his history and his relationships with his father and with women and with Theo. I wanted to know more about Theo and how he came to be such a bad a$$ and the beginnings of his friendship with Jack. I enjoyed the main plot about the Dirty War. There were a number of "throwaway" subplots that seemed superfluous and I would have liked the ending restructured in sequence. I enjoyed the book enough to be tempted to go find earlier books in the series to find out more about the main characters.
    • 3/5
      An entry in the Jack Swytek series that has a promising premise that doesn't work out to its fullest extent. Swytek has taken on a client who is not all there in his head. During a chase, the client ends up taking Swytek's best friend Theo and a few others hostage. Great premise, not so great execution. One for fans of the Swytek series or Grippando only.
    • 5/5
      A high powered suspence thriller that is real page turner. It was hard to put down. I plan on reading more from this author. A really great read. Highly recommend it.