Hear No Evil [Mass Market Paperback]

Grippando delivers another far above average thriller in the Jack Swyteck mystery series. Hear No Evil is entertaining and a fun diversion made special with the narration of Campbell Scott. Scott is one of those actors whose voice is familiar and comforting, yet he's not so famous that the listener is distracted by an image of him in their head. His authoritative voice has the right balance of masculinity to perfectly portray Swyteck. He likewise does a perfunctory job with Cuban accents - making them believable without being over the top, cliché, or Mexican. Hear No Evil weaves Cuban-American politics into a fun, action packed thriller.

I've been "on the road again", and this time I took along Hear No Evil by James Grippando, as read by Campbell Scott.

Mr. Grippando has constructed a witty, tense and wonderfully written story that hooks you and slowly reels you in, while Mr. Scotts reading keeps you hanging on his every intonation. You become so immersed in the tale that you hardly realize how many miles have flown by until you find yourself sitting in the driveway at your destination hesitant to leave your car until the tale ends.

The story begins with the murder of an officer stationed at Guantanamo Naval Base, leads us through a labyrinth of mysterious twists and turns, abounds in red herrings, gives us an inside look at Cuba's political climate and culminates with a murder trial that keeps you guessing until the very last line.

Miami defense attorney, Jack Swyteck, is more a Tom Hanks "guy next door" than slick attorney, while his client appears to be a composite of Meg Ryan and Lizzie Borden. This keeps Jack (and us) wondering who is she really and which part of her story is fact and which part is cleverly concocted fiction.

Whether you read this book or listen to it as I did, you will be completely enthralled. Thanks to this experience, I have become a fan and can hardly wait for my next Jack Swyteck adventure.

HEAR NO EVIL is the fourth of James Grippando's novels to feature Jack Swyteck, a Miami criminal defense attorney. Grippando, as he did in THE PARDON, BEYOND SUSPICION and LAST TO DIE, seamlessly melds Swyteck's professional and personal life into a puzzling mystery with significant consequences for all concerned.

HEAR NO EVIL begins with a woman entering Swyteck's life, seeking representation and bringing him shattering news. Lindsey Hart is about to be arrested for the murder of her husband, Oscar Pintado, a marine officer stationed at Guantanamo Naval Base. She wants Swyteck to represent her; he demurs, due to his lack of familiarity with military law. Hart then drops another bombshell: she and Pintado are the adoptive parents of Swyteck's son, Brian --- a son he has never known, a ten-year-old hearing-impaired youth who was asleep in his bed while Pintado was being murdered in the next room. Swyteck is stunned by the revelation and feels obligated to undertake Hart's representation in the matter.

Swyteck travels to Guantanamo where he finds that the military is attempting to stymie his investigation of the murder and his defense of Hart. However, Swyteck obtains some surprise assistance from an extremely unlikely source: a Cuban military officer who is willing to help Swyteck for reasons that are not immediately evident. Swyteck, while reticent to accept help from such a source, needs all the help he can get.

His biggest obstacle in defending this case is not the United States military, or even the victim's father, a prominent anti-Castro Miami businessman; rather, it is his own client. Hart, it seems, cannot move her lips without lying to Swyteck, even when it would be in her best interest to tell the truth. Swyteck must find his way through several layers of deception emanating from several sources to defend a client who he suspects may well be guilty but who, for the sake of his son, he has to defend to the best of his ability. At the same time, he must deal with revelations about his own past that will shake him to the core of his being.

Grippando's style over the course of his previous eight novels has become as compelling as anyone working in the genre. He is dramatic without resorting to theatrics; most of the violence in HEAR NO EVIL takes place off of the printed page, yet Grippando infuses his narration with an electrifying tension and excitement from beginning to end. Theo Knight, Swyteck's enigmatic and charismatic friend and private investigator, provides some comic relief, as well as giving Swyteck effective if unorthodox assistance in trial matters. HEAR NO EVIL also introduces Sofia Suarez, a Miami attorney who assists Swyteck in Hart's defense. Grippando does a superb job of creating some understated chemistry between Swyteck and Suarez, and I would not be surprised to see Suarez appear in a future Swyteck novel in a more prominent, and different, role.

Given that Grippando is currently at work on another Swyteck novel, we should soon know if that will be the case.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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