The Pardon: A Novel

From Publishers Weekly Matters like realism and credibility take a back seat to high concept in this brisk but far-fetched first novel by a Florida attorney who poses a nifty question: What if a governor who favors the death penalty faced the prospect of allowing his own son to be executed for murder? In 1992, Florida governor Harold Swyteck allowed convicted killer Raul Fernandez to die in the electric chair despite the pleadings of his lawyer son, Jack, who claimed to have confidential proof that Fernandez was innocent. Now, in 1994, the man who supposedly gave Jack that proof-the man who claims to have committed the murder that was pinned on Fernandez-is blackmailing the governor by threatening to reveal that he let an innocent man die. Meanwhile, Jack has gotten an admitted killer, Eddie Goss, free on a technicality; when Goss is killed and all the evidence points to Jack as the murderer, the governor faces his dilemma: Will he sign his son's death warrant if he's convicted-or will he try to save him? Grippando's fast pacing obscures much plot manipulation and heavy-handed characterization. The novel's premise is compelling, but the structural holes sink this narrative. 75,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; audio rights to HarperAudio; Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild alternates; author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal This first novel is yet another entry into the crowded legal thriller genre. Jack Swyteck, defense attorney, has for many years rebelled against his father, Harry, currently the governor of their state. The story begins with the denial by Harry of a request for a stay of execution for one of Jack's clients, which sets into play a series of events. First, Jack is arrested for murder, and then Harry is blackmailed and faced with political ruin. These events lead to a reconciliation between father and son, who must now pull together and face a vengeful psychopath. The action, while slow to get started, ultimately leads to a series of increasingly violent episodes. Recommended for libraries with large collections of mysteries or thrillers. [Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Mystery Guild alternates.]-Erna Chamberlain, SUNY at Binghamto. --Erna Chamberlain, SUNY at Binghamton Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Jack Swyteck, son of Florida's law and order governor, Harry Swyteck, makes his living defending the very people his father has sworn to fry in the state's electric chair. The long-strained relationship between father and son seems irrevocably torn when the governor turns down his son's bid for an eleventh-hour commutation of a death sentence. But the death sentence Jack fails to stop unleashes a cunning psychopath bent on destroying father and son. Between the chilling opening scene of the hours before an inmate's execution and the climactic meeting between Jack and his nemesis, author Grippando, a Miami attorney, rachets the tension up every few pages. The Pardon is a promising, cleverly plotted, and taut first novel. Thomas Gaughan From Kirkus Reviews Like John Grisham and Paul Levine, Grippando wastes precious little time or thrills on the courtroom in his ballyhooed first novel, a high-concept legal thriller. Two years ago, law-and-order Florida Governor Harry Swyteck rejected estranged son Jack's last-minute plea for a pardon for his client Raul Fernandez, even though Jack swore he'd been visited by a mysterious masked man who presented irrefutable proof that Fernandez was innocent of the sex killing he was charged with. Now a diabolically clever killer--the same masked man?--has planned a meticulous series of crimes with one end in view: to get Jack unjustly convicted of murder so that his father will have to sign his death warrant. Both father and son suspect that Eddy Goss, the despised ``Chrysanthemum Killer'' Jack got off on a technicality, is the man who's been setting them up, blackmailing the governor about his refusal to pardon Fernandez and threatening Jack, his girlfriend Cindy Paige, and her old roommate Gina Teresi. But when Goss turns up dead, both men realize that the killer, who lured them into separate trips to Goss's seedy apartment just in time to puncture their alibis, is playing a deeper game. In less time than you can say frameup, Jack is indicted for Goss's murder. Should he call Gina to testify that he was writhing in her bed for most of that night? Every time it seems that matters can't get any worse for Jack, the killer has another trick up his sleeve, and Harry's efforts to clear his son only get them both into graver peril. Crude but sensationally effective, a Perils of Pauline cliffhanger for two male leads in which the stupidity of the innocent gives a playful kick to the penny-dreadful horrors. It won't kill more than a few hours, but oh, what hours they'll be. (First printing of 75,000; Literary Guild/Mystery Guild alternate selections; $100,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. "A gripping mlange of courtroom drama and psychotic manipulation . . . . A bona fide blockbuster." -- Boston Herald "A gritty mystery that . . . rings true to the emotional realities of contemporary life. Readers will turn the pages of The Pardon faster than a bailiff can swear in a witness." -- 'People magazine "Move over John Grisham! The legal thriller of the year!" -- 'Paul Levine, "The Pardon arrives with the pistol-shot crack of a gavel cutting through a courtroom." -- Tampa Tribune From the Publisher In this stunning debut novel, which combines the breakneck pace of John Grisham's The Firm with the murderous suspense of James Patterson's Along Came a Spider , an estranged father and son must find common ground to survive the machinations of a psychopath bent on serving his own twisted vision of justice. James M. Grippando is a trial lawyer who lives in south Florida. His is the author of The Pardon . The HarperPaperbacks interview with James Grippando, author of The Informant. Q: Your latest book, The Informant , deals with a serial killer whose barbaric method of murder is sure to leave your reader speechless. Or should I say tongue-tied? How did you come up with the serial killer's signature of murder?A: I don1t believe in using violence for shock value. That is to say, I didn1t think of the signature and then build a character around it. I created a character and then developed a signature that suited his complex motivations. John Douglas, the FBI agent who pioneered criminal profiling, often says that to understand the serial killer, you have to look closely at his work. I took that advice to heart in choosing the killer's signature in The Informant. Q: The descriptions you gave of the FBI and their part in catching the serial killer read with the authenticity of an insider, as says former FBI agent John Douglas. The events that led up to catching the serial killer involved profiler and tactical knowledge. What kind of research did you do for this?A: I started by reading the leading books on profiling and serial killers. I read everything I could get my hands on. I reviewed FBI training materials slides, videotapes, case studies. Once I felt educated, I talked with professionals who actually do this kind of work. One of the more helpful sources was a psychiatrist who examines criminal defendants to determine whether they're competent to stand trial. The most help, however, came from law enforcement personnel, particularly an FBI agent with whom I kept a running dialogue throughout the drafting of the novel. Q: Nobody likes a snitch. The serial killer takes his dislike of squealers to the extreme. How do you feel about snitches?A: "Snitch" has such a negative connotation, but it all depends on the person's motivation. Whistleblowers who expose corruption in government or dangers in work areas, for example, are often labeled "Snitches" even though their only motivation is to clear their conscience or to correct an injustice. Others spill their guts only if there is something in it for them be it money, a perverse satisfaction in seeing others get in trouble or the chance to go on television talk shows and bask in their fifteen minutes of fame. Those are the ones nobody likes, and I don't like them either. Q: At the root of this novel is a very moving love story between Mike Posten and his wife Karen. It is incredible how you were able to link two seemingly incongruous things like a serial killer1s impetus for murder and a failing marriage. At the heart of both problems seems to lie the question of trust, and the risk of betrayal. How did you see the role of trust unfold and perform in this novel?A: The basic question is, who can we trust, why and what are the consequences? Karen sums it all up when she tells Mike, "Only two kinds of people can talk without inhibitions. Strangers or lovers. Everyone in between is just negotiating." Q: Out of all the characters in your novel, who do you identify with the most, and why?A: Strangely, I1d have to say Karen Posten, the wife of the male lead, Michael Posten. She agonizes about falling into that no-man's land between strangers and lovers, where there is no such thing as total honesty. Q: The Informant has many plot twists and turns. The organization and structure seem quite demanding. How do you develop your ideas for your books? Do you find outlines helpful?A: In the most general sense, I develop ideas by observing events and playing the "what if" game. The trigger for The Informant was the whole notion of "checkbook journalism." Some journalists will pay sources, others think it1s sleazy. I asked myself, "What if a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter could help catch a serial killer only by breaking his own rules and paying an anonymous informant?" All of my writing starts this way, usually with one sentence. Once I have the hook, I expand the idea to a paragraph, then to a page, then to a three page synopsis. Then I put it down for a while. If I still like it when I come back in a week or so, I develop an outline. Outlining for me is absolutely essential. I like a complex plot, but as a reader I hate to be confused. I spent three months on the outline for The Informant before I ever started writing. Q: Besides your writing career, you have also practiced trial law. In what ways do your law background and experiences help your writing?A: Being a good trial lawyer means being a good storyteller. I don1t mean that in a negative way. You don1t make things up as a lawyer, but to persuade a jury you have to present the facts in a way that is both compelling and believable. You have to develop a theme, decide which arguments to make and then figure out the best way to make them all within the time constraints established by the judge and by the attention span of the jurors. More than anything, having stood in a courtroom before a judge and jury has made me more sensitive to readers. I don1t bore them with digressions. I don1t use two pages when two sentences are enough. And I don1t bill them by the hour. Q: The hardcover of your new book, The Abduction , is coming out in April of 1998. Can you tease us with a little description of the storyline? The Abduction is the first thriller about a presidential election in which neither candidate is a white male. It pits a charismatic white woman running against the nation1s most respected black man. A week before the November 2000 election, a child related to one of the candidates is abducted in what only appears to be politically motivated kidnapping. The real motivations run deeper, more personal. Intrigued? Q: Do you have any advice to give for potential authors who are trying to get published?A: Perseverance. My first published novel was The Pardon in 1994. I say "published" novel because my actual first novel is an unpublished script sitting on a shelf in my closet. It took me four years to write it, but it didn1t sell. I felt like quitting, but my agent encouraged me to write another. Over the next seven months, I wrote The Pardon . It sold to HarperCollins in two weeks and is now available all over the world in nearly a dozen different languages. Just think if I had given up. Read more