GONE AGAIN
Winner of the 2017 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction
I'm honored that "GONE AGAIN" is the 2017 HARPER LEE PRIZE winner for excellence in legal fiction. Commissioned by Ms. Lee in 2011 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of "To Kill A Mockingbird," the prize is awarded each year to the novel that best illustrates the lawyer's abilityh to effect social change. Sponsors are Ms. Lee's alma mater, the University of Alabama School of Law, and the ABA Journal.
(Swyteck No. 12)
Sashi Burgette vanished three years ago on her way to school. The night after the teenager’s disappearance, ex-con Dylan Reeves was stopped for drunk driving. An article of Sashi’s clothing was found in his truck, and a police videotape of his drunken explanation under interrogation sealed his fate at trial. Now, just days from Kyle’s execution, Sashi’s mother visits Jack Swyteck, doing pro bono work at the Freedom Institute, and delivers shocking news: “Sashi called me.”
The police dismiss the call as a cruel hoax. The State Attorney refuses to consider the new evidence, insisting the case is closed. The governor has already signed the death warrant. An innocent man may be executed and time is running out—unless his lawyers can locate Sashi.
A man of principle who believes in justice, Jack jumps into the investigation. But the deeper he digs the more he discovers that nothing is what it appears to be. Not the victim. Not her alleged killer. And definitely not Sashi’s parents, whose grief ruptured their marriage, each openly blaming the other for what happened to their daughter.
As their gut-wrenching and hopelessly conflicting version of events unfolds in a Miami courtroom, it becomes clear there is something even more difficult to find than a long-missing girl . . .
The truth.
"Gripping ... one of Grippando's best .... GONE AGAIN reminds you how good his writing talent is [and] restores him to the top class of writers of legal thrillers."
- Huffington Post
"In a career highlighted by a number of superb novels, "Gone Again" ranks at the top of Grippando's work."
– Miami Herald
"James Grippando’s skill with suspenseful plots that tightly hold their believable secrets, revealing themselves bit by bit, ratchets up another level in the gripping Gone Again."
- Dallas Morning News
