Blood Money audiobook

PROTAGONIST: James Swyteck, defense attorneySETTING: FloridaSERIES: #10 of 10RATING: 3.75Back in 2008, a case that captured the headlines in the US news media for weeks was reported. Casey Anthony, party girl, was accused of first degree murder after not reporting the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter. The story was sordid, involving an allegation of sexual abuse against Casey’s father and the discovery of Caylee’s body near the family home. Ultimately, Anthony was declared not guilty and had to go into hiding to escape from threats to her life. The plot of BLOOD MONEY, the tenth book in the series featuring criminal defense attorney, Jack Swyteck, is heavily influenced by the Anthony case. Sydney Bennett, referred to in the media as “Shot Mom”, is a nightclub waitress who is accused of drowning her 2-year-old daughter, Emma, in the family pool. It’s clear that Sydney prefers partying over being a responsible adult. Assigned to defend Sydney, Jack has to deal with a hostile public and an overheated media. The worst offender is Faith Corso, a TV journalist for the Breaking News Network who fans the flames. Despite the trial by media, Sydney is declared innocent; and the offers for her story come pouring in—seven-figure movie and book deals, or “blood money”. She fully intends to make the most that she can out of the situation.Jack has plans to spirit Sydney out of the prison when she is released; but before he can do so, a Sydney lookalike is spotted outside the jail and attacked, leaving her in a coma. The news insinuates that Jack planted this woman to protect Sydney. Jack is hired by the victim’s parents to see if this was more than a random act of violence. The girl, Celeste Laramore, may spend years in medical care, if she does live. And the family does not have insurance. Sydney Bennett could be Casey Anthony’s twin sister; in addition to being thoroughly unlikeable, she is almost universally despised by the public because of her lack of concern for her daughter and for trying to profit from her death. To protect herself against the threats being made against her, Sydney goes into hiding. Jack immediately starts receiving threats against his loved ones if he does not produce her for an anonymous caller, a character who I found to be disappointingly over the top, a wealthy serial killer and nut case. Jack’s most immediate concern is for his fiancée, Andie Henning, who is a government undercover agent. Their relationship undergoes quite a bit of turmoil, as being involved with Jack in this situation may expose Andie and cause her to lose all that she has worked for building a hidden identity.Grippando perfectly captures the inflammatory rhetoric of the media and its almost total lack of interest in actually presenting the truth. I was really involved in the story until the point when what actually happened to Emma was revealed, which felt very contrived. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book. It was quite fast paced, and the blatantly untrue accusations made against Jack by the media and their lawyers were very emotionally involving.

Blood Money – James GrippandoTake the horror of the Casey Anthony trial and acquittal, mix in a good dose of the O.J. Simpson trial then toss in some outrageous social media and a huge dose of sensationalistic TV and you have the basis for this astonishing book.Mr. Grippando has written 20 books to date and this is the first one I have ever read. It will not be my last one. The author has written this book as part of a series, but I guarantee you that you will not have had to read any of the other ones to follow this story. It has been written as if it were a stand-alone and it gives you just enough back story for many of the characters so that you will immediately feel like you have grown up with them.A brief summary of this book -- Jack Swyteck has defended one of the most seemingly despicable women that this country has seen in a while and he expects that her release from prison is not going to go well. However, nobody could have predicted just what exactly did happen that morning. Celeste Laramore who has a striking resemblance to Sydney Bennett (also known as Shot Mom) shows up at the jailhouse on the morning of Sydney’s release. The crowd has be driven to a frenzy by a certain TV reporter (who bears a startling resemblance to one of my least favorite TV personality/Attorney) from the BNN network – Breaking News Network. While this crowd is essentially, rioting, someone is trying to strangle the Sydney look-alike. To make a long story short, because of illegal technical maneuvering/tampering by BNN, crucial medical information does not get to the ambulance in time and Celeste slips into a coma. Not only all of that is going on, but also at the same time there is a murderer loose that is threatening all of the people that Jack loves…a real brilliant nut-job is doing his best to get to Sydney. Initially you think it is to exact some sort of retribution for her acquittal, but you would be wrong.Can Jack find a way to prosecute an entire TV station? Did Sydney really kill and hide the body of her own daughter? Was there extenuating circumstances to this murder? Is ANYTHING as it seems? This novel is filled with wonderfully tight writing. There is nothing extraneous in this novel. Nothing that will make you roll your eyes in frustration, because we all know that truth is stranger than fiction. The characters are interesting, dislikable, sympathetic, hateful, loveable and interesting. I could go on but I will not bore you with the characters attributes. The plot was so believable, that at times I had a difficult time separating fact from fiction.This is a fast-paced book and one that I could not out down until I finished it.Many thanks go out to the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book. I had a fantastic time with it and rest assured I will be buying this authors back-list.

As the title suggests, money is at the root of this plot in this, the latest in the Jack Swyteck series. It begins with a case in which Sydney Louise Bennett, the mother of a two-year-old child, is found innocent of murder. Jack, who stood in for his mentor at an earlier hearing in the woman’s matter, is the attorney of record, and the judge does not let him withdraw from the case.The trial itself leads to a media circus, which fans a bloodthirsty crowd that surrounds the court chanting all kinds of slogans. Everyone believes Sydney to be guilty, fueled by the invectives of a cable channel, Breaking News Network. and its anchor. Jack is vilified, especially when the jury returns a Not Guilty verdict. Any further details of the ensuing plot would constitute a spoiler.The author’s background as an associate with a leading law firm provides the basis for creating interesting courtroom scenes and raising unusual legal questions. The story that develops is on the one hand somewhat complicated, while the characterizations, on the other, are a bit oversimplified. Nevertheless, “Blood Money” upholds the level of the ten Swyteck series novels, and it is recommended.

James Grippando has authored 20 novels, 10 of them featuring lawyer Jack Swytek. I had read one and liked it so when I saw this I decided to give it a try. Very glad I did. This is a fast-paced hard-hitting legal/mystery thriller featuring Swytek and his financee, FBI agent Andi Henning. Actually she plays only a minor but crucial role in this novel.Against all odds the jury returns a verdict of "Not Guilty" in the sensational murder trial of sexy goodtime girl Sydney Bennett who is accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter. The media has been obsessed with this trial. The verdict comes as a complete shock. The crowd gathered outside the jail at the time of Bennett's release is frothing for blood. An innocent young woman Celeste who bears a striking resemblance to Bennett is attacked and ends up in a coma. Bennett takes off with a young man purporting to be an agent who can get her a fabulous book and movie deal. He abducts her, she escapes and the rest of the novel has Swytek racing to protect her and to sue BNN, a television network with an eerie resemblance to Fox News, on behalf of Celeste at her parents' request. To reveal anymore would spoil the story. And a fascinating story it is. I'm looking forward to reading the previous novels in the Swytek series.

This is only the second in the Jack Swyteck series I have read, but I do like the character and will probably read another. This particular story is patterned after the Florida case in the news years back, where a mother is on trial for killing her baby girl. There is a news character much like Nancy Grace....so some stuff seems predictable, but there are enough twists and sub-plots to make for an interesting read.

Natural comparisons to Casey Anthony abound in this story, both in the basis of the case and in the sensationalist takes of news networks on the trial. But a deeper, even somehow darker mystery unfolds in this action packed tale. While there are some loose threads I either missed getting wrapped up or were left on the floor entirely, this is still a mile a minute novel that fans of Grippando’s previous works will enjoy to no end.

This is one more great reason to read the entire Swyteck series. Grippando is right up there at the top of the pantheon of great thriller authors and I eagerly look forward to reading the next one. Any fan of Grisham, Baldacci, Sanford, et al definitely needs to read Grippando. It's always time well-spent.

Jack Swyteck is the coolest attorney going. Grippando is a very underrated author. I have read just about everything he has ever written. Swyteck and his FBI girlfriend solve a mystery that has many twists and turns

This was a real page turner. Sometimes I think Jack Swyteck gets in so deep he will never climb out. Great writer. Can’t wait to pick up another.

New plot

Every Swyteck book gets better.

I really like this author ~ it was a page turner!