I love James Grippando and his Jack Swytek series of novels. If you haven’t read any of these, you’re really missing out. The latest installment, Blood Money, is clearly inspired by the Casey Anthony trial. There are too many similarities to miss. This is clearly a fiction tale and it’s cool how he used this trial to build a thrilling story around some of the facts. I love how Mr. Grippando even made a word play on the horrific Nancy Grace by naming his media shark Faith Corso. That cracked me up. First of all, because the character was clearly based on that odious woman and the last name of Corso made me think of coarse which she is. (Remember, all this is my opinion only-if you like this woman, that’s your prerogative. I don’t).

This book is a fast read and very exciting. I don’t want to give any spoilers so I won’t say much about the plot but this one is packed with lots of angles and turns. I was a little disappointed in a couple of things that never seemed to get resolved and I would’ve liked to know the answers to those questions. It was nothing that took away from the final solution to the whodunit but there were threads left hanging that didn’t please me. There was also the matter of something that niggled at me about Swyteck’s client, Sydney. She acted in a way that didn’t make sense to me. After learning what kind of person she was, I had a hard time reconciling her willingness to do a certain thing with what we learn about her on the journey, but all in all, this was a fun read with enough twists and turns to satisfy the toughest critic.

The story has Mr. Grippando’s usual wit with his main protagonist, Jack and his best friend, Theo. These two characters are larger than life and I adore how they play off each other and the way the zingers keep coming even when they are inthe midst of trouble. I recommend this one. Highly.