Twenty

A Jack Swyteck Novel

By: James Grippando

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Jack Swyteck and his family are caught in the crossfire after a deadly school shooting claims 20 casualties - Florida’s fifth mass shooting in as many years - in this provocative and timely thriller from Harper Lee Prize winner James Grippando that touches on some of the most contentious issues roiling America today.

It is the message every parent of a school-age child fears: "Active Shooter on Campus."

Jack Swyteck is at his office when he receives the emergency text from Riverside Day School. Both his daughter, Righley, and his wife, FBI agent Andie Henning, are in danger. Andie is in the school’s rec center when she hears the fire alarms, then loud popping noises and screams coming from the hallway. A trained law-enforcement officer, Andie knows she’s supposed to stay locked down inside the room. But Righley is in her kindergarten classroom, and Andie must get her to safety.

The tragedy prompts mass hysteria - and dangerous speculation. The police haven’t identified the shooter, but they find a handgun on the school grounds registered to a parent, a Muslim man named Amir Khoury. News of the gun and its owner leaks and quickly goes viral. Within minutes, Al Qaeda claims responsibility. Andie is shocked - Amir is married to her friend, Lilly, a WASP whose bloodline goes back to the American Revolution.

When Xavier, Amir and Lilly’s oldest child and an 18-year-old senior at Riverside, confesses to the crime, the local community’s anti-Muslim fervor explodes to levels unseen since 9/11. Terrified for her son’s life, Lilly asks Jack to step in. A seasoned defense attorney with a passion to see justice done, he’s taken on plenty of complicated cases. Xavier’s, however, is not one he’s inclined to take - until an old friend who lost his daughter in the shooting tells him that he must.

With the public calling for blood and prosecutors confident their case is air tight, Jack must unearth the Khourys’ family secrets in order to expose the shocking truth and save his client from certain death. But he may not be able to save everyone - including himself.

©2021 James Grippando (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Greatly enjoyed

The pace was well set. I was invested in the characters and I thought the end was good.

This grabs you

Deeply engaging, great characters and awesome narration. Highly recommended. Book some time for this one!!

Highly recommended

I love this series. Looking forward for more to come. This series is the best of all his books

Very engrossing!

Great storyline. Very pertinent for our times. I felt it was well presented without prejudice.

Great Read

Loved it! Couldn't put it down. Kept me engaged until the very end and even then I wanted more.

A thrill ride’

Twists and turns Grippando style with twin towers thrown in and Davis’ narration make this a winner. A must for multiple reads!

Fast paced legal thriller...

TWENTY is the 17th book in Grippando’s Jack Swyteck series. Although this book can be listened to as a standalone, I think it’s more enjoyable when listened to as part of the series. There are continuing relationships that develop from one book to the next. ................ In this book Jack drops off his wife Andie (an FBI agent) along with his daughter at school. His wife is not allowed to carry her gun onto school grounds and leaves it in the car. Later that morning there is a school shooting and Andie finds herself armed with only a fire extinguisher. When an 18 year old Muslim student is charged with the crime of murdering 13 and injuring 7, Jack Swyteck takes the case. With mounting evidence against his client Swyteck finds inconsistencies that could mean that he didn’t commit the crime. ............:.. This is a fast paced legal thriller that has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION. ................ Jonathan Davis does a wonderful job narrating. ................ If you found this review helpful please indicate so. ............... Thank You.

Like the series

A good legal thriller. Interesting premise. Thought it might go in a different direction. Like that it kept me guessing.

Long Journey of Revenge

This is a good story and mystery, different from usual court room drama from the author. I am not a automatic down load of this author. Hence the four stars re. Story. 5 stars means the novel is worth re listening and after you find out the mystery with this author, l personally have not re listened to a book again. Frankly I buy this author because it’s the only way I can get my Jonathan Davis narration fix!! Of course Mr. Davis knocks this story out of the ballpark with his command of voices in his characterizations. Do not miss Sandra Brown’s Mean Streak where l discovered Mr Davis. Not to be missed.
The author was very clever in this story and how he circled back with intimate vin-yet flashbacks that bring you along the story. No or very little court room drama in this mystery.
Were my comments of help?

So glad to discover James Grippando

I was completely immersed in the story from the beginning. Great story and narration - hard to stop to sleep or take care of other important things.