BORN TO RUN
(SWYTECK NO. 8)
New York Times bestselling author James Grippando is back with another innovative and action-packed thriller featuring his ever-popular hero. Packed with the kind of suspense that fans have come to expect from the Jack Swyteck series, Born to Run adds a dash of dark humor, political satire, and downright hilarity that will keep readers turning the pages.
Jack Swyteck gets caught in a dangerous web of intrigue and murder at the top levels of the United States government in his most high-profile and disturbing case yet.
Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck guards his own family secrets closely, after his father's two terms as Florida's governor made some personal rifts public. Things between the two men are finally better, and whenever Harry Swyteck asks for Jack's help he gets it. Suddenly, Harry needs it more than ever before.
When Harry's friend, the vice president of the United States, goes hunting for alligators in the Everglades and winds up dead, the president positions Harry to be his new VP. Harry immediately asks Jack to be his lawyer. The prestige that comes from the job turns lethal, however, when Jack finds himself at the heart of a complicated cover-up that spans nearly fifty years and the globe. Before hostages can be released, an old secret must be revealed, one that could threaten the life of the president of the United States himself.
Critical Praise
“A veep with a bum ticker, a mishap on a hunting trip….In James Grippando’s Born to Run, it takes on Carl Hiaasen-esque proportions….Grippando spins a fun 200-proof yarn.”
- Washington Post
“A thrill a minute novel”
- USA Today
“Grippando ratchets up the action to a breakneck pace …snarky dialogue, pointed satire, and some touching father-son moments. Everything you expect in a Grippando novel and more.”
- Booklist
“Riverting….Grippando avoids clichés as he ramps up the tension, and Born to Run shows why his novels continue to be bestsellers.”
- Miami Herald
“Once you’re well and truly hooked, with suspense drawn tight, it’s all blasted wide open. All you can do is hang on. When it’s over, the only question is ‘When’s the next book out?’”
- Romantic Times
Behind the book...
“Mr. Swyteck Goes to Washington”
Do we ever really know our elected officials? It seems like we should in this day of information overload, but invariably, some secret comes out the woodwork (or some $5,000-a-night prostitute comes out of a hotel room) and—surprise!—that guy you voted for isn't at all the person you thought he was.
It had been a while since I'd written a Washington thriller. The Abduction, my third novel, was the story of the first presidential election in which neither candidate is a white male. An African-American man is in a neck-and-neck race for the White House against a white woman. The Abduction was published in 1998, and even critics who loved the book wrote that "readers will have to work hard to suspend disbelief and accept the premise that the country is anywhere near ready for a presidential election like this one." Well, what a difference 10 years makes.
The renewed interest in The Abduction generated by the Hillary v. Obama primary got me to think about writing another Washington thriller. I love the role that Miami plays in the Jack Swyteck series, but every writer needs to stretch himself, and I thought it would be good to see Jack and his father (the former governor of Florida) in another setting—particularly one in which Jack and his sidekick Theo are such interesting fish out of water. The end result was Born to Run, a high-stakes and at times hilarious thriller where dark secrets and dark humor put Jack and everyone around him in a run for their lives.
