When Darkness Falls | 
| Author: James Grippando
Publisher: HarperLuxe
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $6.49
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Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 332627
Format: Large Print
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.6
ISBN: 0060831154
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780060831158
ASIN: 0060831154
Publication Date: January 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: ~ Brand New ~ Direct from Distributor ~ Remainder Mark ~ Light Shelf Wear.
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Product Description
Jack Swyteck isn't looking for a new client, at least not one who is homeless. But from the moment he's called to defend the man, who goes by the name Falcon, something is amiss. For one thing, Falcon comes up with the $10,000 bail—in cash. Then the body of a brutally murdered woman is found in the trunk of the abandoned car that he is living in. On the run, Falcon takes Jack's best friend, Theo, hostage. But what Jack doesn't know is that Falcon has a much bigger agenda—and that people behind the scenes will stop at nothing to keep their dangerous secrets. Thus unfolds a riveting, lightning-paced story, as only James Grippando can tell it.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Grippando offers up plenty of twists and turns in this gripping novel. January 23, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
When Darkness Falls is my first James Grippando book. The first book I read by an author, especially one who has written several, is very important. The first book is possibly the only chance the author will get to hook me into reading more of their novels. This novel didn't overwhelm me with a great plot or gripping characters, but it was interesting enough to cause me to read more of Grippando's novels.
The plot is quite simple actually, and that is the biggest flaw of the novel. Falcon, a homeless man, is called down from a bridge while contemplating suicide. Once on the ground, he retains the services of lawyer Jack Swyteck. Falcon had one demand, to talk to the mayor's daughter, the beautiful Alicia Mendoza. When Falcon is denied the opportunity to talk to her, he strikes again, this time carjacking Jack and his best friend Theo. In attempt to be pulled over by the police, Jack loses control of the car and slams into the front of a motel room. In the resulting chaos, Jack escapes, and Falcon is left in the hotel room with three hostages, including Theo. And that's it. The entire book consists of the hostage stand off. Of course, the plot deviates into who Falcon is, why he has $200,000 in a bank in the Bahamas, and why he just has to talk to the Mayor's daughter, who happens to be a police officer.
While the plot is simple, there is still a lot going on, especially between Vincent Paulo, the hostage negotiator, and Alicia. Paulo is blind and there relationship showed a lot of warmth and growth. Grippando manages to keep the story moving along, jumping from story line to story line and introducing several new twists regarding the history of the man calling himself Falcon.
This book is an easy read and I recommend it to fans of Patterson, Grisham and Coben.
 When darkness falls January 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I found the book to very interesting. I was unable to put it down after reading the first chapter. This the second book of James Grippando that I have read but I will be reading more in the future.
 A solid contribution to the genre, hard to put down September 4, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was my first exposure to Grippando, and hooked I am. This novel, in the sub-genre of police/hostage thrillers, grabs your attention and never lets go. I particularly enjoy contemporary thrillers with a solid historical hook, and this one does not disappoint -- it gives us a whiff of something long fallen below our collective radar, the "dirty war" in Argentina a few decades ago. The main characters are well-depicted and the plot moves briskly along with a satisfying denouement. A great read.
A Special Book May 23, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I began this book with trepidation as I do not, usually, like books with a stock character. The writer does an exceptional job in developing his characters and making an extremely engaging story. My attention was grabbed as I read the first chapter where a homeless man, calling himself Falcon, is thratening to jump off of a bridge. It appeared to be a rapid start to a rather harmless, yet rapid, read. The book is anything butsimple and the witer has the unique ability to show that things are not always what they seem to be. The characters are complex and the story is truly riveting with much not appearing to be what one thinks it to be. This is a superbly satisfying book from a very special writer.
Jump on for a rollercoaster ride of a read May 4, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I came late to James Grippando's novels. My first was Got The Look and since then, I've been devouring his earlier works.
Jack Swyteck is a Miami, Florida attorney who is hired to defend a homeless man who calls himself Falcon. Falcon lives in his car, doesn't seem to have a job, yet he has enough cash on hand to bail himself out of jail. And there seems to be more where that came from.
Straddled on top of the William Powell Bridge, Falcon is threatening to jump unless he can talk to his obsession, Alicia Mendoza, the Miami mayor's daughter. Crisis negotiator, Sergeant Vincent Paulo, who is blind, attempts to talk Falcon down. Thus begins the strange and intriguing journey of When Darkness Falls.
A short time after Falcon is released from jail (the police don't like jumpers) a woman's body is found in the trunk of Falcon's car. Falcon takes Jack Swyteck's best friend, Theo, and others, hostage in a motel room. He wants his money (he thinks Jack has it) and to speak to Mendoza. Falcon's behavior is erratic (to say the least) but there are good reasons for everything he does.
Jack and the negotiator, Paulo, must work together to free the hostages and learn Falcon's agenda. If they aren't successful, a lot of people are going to die.
I enjoy Jack Swyteck and the rollercoaster rides Grippando takes his readers on with each novel. He writes page-turners that grab the reader at the first page and keep us up late at night.
The rich mixture of the Anglo and Latin cultures is an extra that one finds in Grippando's novels. The addition of Argentina's dirty war and the thousands of 'disappeared' in When Darkness Falls adds a dark and sinister element to the plot.
Armchair Interviews says: You'll love When Darkness Falls and then you'll be shopping for all of Grippando's other novels.
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