A King's Ransom - Hardcover

Grippando, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060192410 ISBN 13: 9780060192419

Publisher: Harper, 2001

Synopsis

The author of five bestselling novels, including Under Cover of Darkness and The Pardon, James Grippando writes compulsively readable thrillers that could be drawn from today's headlines, only better. Now his trademark gifts are wonderfully demonstrated in a taut new tale of intrigue that will keep you guessing to the final, breathtaking scene.

Just two years out of law school, Nick Rey is on the career fast track at a hot Miami law firm when he is suddenly plunged headfirst into a dangerous bid to save his father. Matthew Rey has been kidnapped while on business in Columbia's exotic port city of Cartagena. The ransom demand of three million dollars is far more than the Rey family can ever hope to raise.

Fortunately, Matthew had purchased an insurance policy to protect against just such a threat. Unfortunately, the kidnappers seem to know all about the policy, and the insurance company, suspecting fraud, is refusing to pay out. With nowhere to turn, Nick links up with Alex, a beautiful, street-smart woman who may be the only person capable of negotiating with Matthew's abductors. But Nick soon discovers that the gravest dangers to him and his family are not the kidnappers and their guns, but the men in suits: lawyers, to be exact, at a powerful firm with something to hide, and they will stop at nothing to keep Nick from unleashing the truth.

About this title

About the Author

James Grippando is a New York Times bestselling author of suspense. He was a trial lawyer for twelve years before the publication of his first novel, The Pardon, in 1994. He is now counsel at the law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and an adjunct professor of law and modern literature at the University of Miami School of Law. His novels are enjoyed world-wide in twenty-eight languages, and his novel Gone Again won the 2017 Harper Lee Prize in Legal Fiction. He lives in South Florida.

From the Back Cover

The author of five bestselling novels, including Under Cover of Darkness and The Pardon, James Grippando writes compulsively readable thrillers that could be drawn from today's headlines, only better.  Now his trademark gifts are wonderfully demonstrated in a taut new tale of intrigue that will keep you guessing to the final, breathtaking scene.

Just two years out of law school, Nick Rey is on the career fast track at a hot Miami law firm when he is suddenly plunged headfirst into a dangerous bid to save his father.  Matthew Rey has been kidnapped while on business in Columbia's exotic port city of Cartagena.  The ransom demand of three million dollars is far more than the Rey family can ever hope to raise.

Fortunately, Matthew had purchased an insurance policy to protect against just such a threat.  Unfortunately, the kidnappers seem to know all about the policy, and the insurance company, suspecting fraud, is refusing to pay out.

With nowhere to turn, Nick links up with Alex, a beautiful, street-smart woman who may be the only person capable of negotiating with Matthew's abductors.  But Nick soon discovers that the gravest dangers to him and his family are not the kidnappers and their guns, but the men in suits: lawyers, to be exact, at a powerful firm with something to hide, and they will stop at nothing to keep Nick from unleashing the truth.

Reviews

Attorney-turned-novelist Grippando's (Under Cover of Darkness; Found Money) sixth effort kicks off when Matthew Rey, a Florida fisherman with a partnership in a Nicaraguan seafood operation, is kidnapped while on business in Colombia by a group of Marxist guerrillas led by a sadistic soldier named Joaqu¡n. Matthew is dragged off to the mountains and his son, Nick, a young Florida lawyer, receives a ransom demand and tries to get his father back through official channels. Bad move: it turns out Matthew and his partner, Guillermo Cruz, are under suspicion of running drugs. Nick also learns that Matthew had kidnap-and-ransom insurance for the precise amount demanded by Joaqu¡n. To make matters worse, the insurance provider is a client of Nick's law firm, and refuses to pay the claim, accusing Nick and Matthew of conspiracy and fraud. Nick is legally outmaneuvered by his boss scheming senior partner Duncan Fitz and booted out of the firm. Broke, desperate and under suspicion of several felonies, he receives help from beautiful kidnapping negotiator Alex Cabrera and his ex-fianc‚e, Jenna, who's also a lawyer. Naturally, he finds himself torn between his lost love and his growing affection for the mysterious Alex. Meanwhile, Matthew is a helpless witness to scenes of gang rape, torture and murder perpetrated by Joaqu¡n and his thugs. Outflanked and running out of time, Nick delves into his father's business dealings and slowly uncovers a massive conspiracy. Grippando's experience as a trial lawyer shows in his depiction of Nick's frantic legal moves to clear his family's name; his extensive research into the kidnapping industry currently thriving in Latin America adds a harrowing dose of realism to a taut, well-constructed page-turner that seems destined for the big screen. Agents, Richard and Artie Pine. National advertising; six-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Like his previous offerings, Grippando's sixth novel, which involves a man's attempts to free his kidnapped father, is a well-thought-out thriller. Nick Rey, the Miami lawyer who narrates the novel, is a generally engaging character, resourceful and lifelike. His father, a professional fisherman kidnapped for his insurance policy (or so it seems), is a strong man who captures our interest from the moment we lay eyes on him. And the plot, which sends Nick Rey deep into something that strongly resembles a conspiracy, is convoluted without being overly labyrinthine. The author's fans and readers who appreciate an intelligent thriller will be well pleased. All that said, however, it must also be noted that the book is less captivating, less turn-the-pages-as-fast-as-you-can as Grippando's five previous novels, all commercial successes. It lacks their hard-edged feel, their speeding-train pacing. The first-person narration is sluggish, sometimes awkward, as though the author had committed Nick Rey to paper before the character had found his own voice. We like him, but we also feel that he wasn't quite ready to make his appearance. Compared to the author's earlier work, this new novel is not quite a complete success. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Once again, former trial lawyer Grippando crafts a thriller around a hot-button topic. When lawyer Nick Rey's father is kidnapped during a business trip to Colombia, it's up to Nick to save him. The chain of events designed to make the task as difficult as possible queues up behind him Nick must battle his own law firm, the insurance company, the outrageously unhelpful FBI, and a group of merciless guerillas who refuse to budge from their ransom demands. His only allies are his ex-fianc?e, Jenna, who's still struggling with her feelings for Nick, and Alex, a kidnap insurance broker still dealing with issues from her Colombian childhood. The fast pace and occasionally surprising twists help to compensate for the characters' utter lack of complexity, and Nick is an easy hero to root for. Although this effort falls short of his last novel (Under Cover of Darkness), Grippando skillfully weaves together a chain of unlikely events, creating a page-turner that will assuredly be popular in public libraries. Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Fairfield, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060192410
• ISBN 13: 9780060192419
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432