Before picking up LAST TO DIE, I had never heard of James Grippando, and I was pleasantly surprised by this smoothly written legal thriller. Jack Swyteck, a Miami defense lawyer, is approached by his best friend Theo to represent his brother Tatum, a one-time contract killer who believes he is going to be implicated in the murder of Sally Fenning. Sally's tragic past has strange implications in what unfolds next: she has left 46 million dollars to six potential beneficiaries, but only the last alive will receive the money. Who is the mysterious sixth beneficiary? Why did Sally leave her money to these six, all of whom appear to be enemies? What connects them? What did Sally hope to achieve? And most pressing of all, who is murdering them one by one?

Jack is a likeable protagonist. He is earnest, intelligent, professional, with a soft spot for kids. He is one of the few legal heroes of the genre who looks at his career as a job and not the driving force of his life. What spurs him onward is his own curiosity. I did object to Jack's treatment of one character (and I can't specify without ruining the plot), a reaction that seemed excessively harsh and unforgiving given the circumstances and Jack's emotional attachment to the character.

Grippando's writing is unobtrusive - not noteworthy but smooth enough to propel the story forward. For a thriller, the suspense does not reach adrenalin-pumping levels, although Grippando kept me interested throughout by his judicious meting out of details. I did lose some interest as Grippando took me to Africa, a portion of the book that reads more like a travelogue than a thriller. However, my main complaint with this novel is the weak ending. It lacks the oomph of a first-rate thriller, although the rest comes close.

This book's undemanding yet exciting premise is perfect for beach or airplane reading, and for anyone desiring pure entertainment. Those who love legal thrillers should definitely add Grippando to their reading lists. I'm looking forward to Grippando's next book.

"Be careful what you wish for."

The above quote could well be the theme statement for James Grippando's newest thriller, LAST TO DIE. Miami criminal attorney Jack Swyteck is asked to represent his best friend's older brother, Tatum Knight, a former hit man. Swyteck was successful in getting Theo Knight released from death row, serving time for a murder he did not commit.

A beautiful woman named Sally Fenning, who is worth millions of dollars, has tried to hire Tatum to kill her. He refuses her offer, but she soon turns up dead. Tatum is called to the dead woman's attorney's office for a meeting but wants to have his own attorney present. Swyteck accompanies him to a reading of Sally's will. The reading of this document is a life-altering event for those involved.

One of six persons named in the will is going to inherit $46 million. The catch is that the recipient will be the last one of them still living. The unlikely beneficiaries include a former husband, divorce lawyer, female crime reporter, assistant district attorney, Tatum, and a mysterious no-show at the reading named Alan Sirap. Throughout, Grippando develops the cast with believable motives and personalities. Each has a history with the deceased woman that indicates more reason for her hatred than the benefit of her generosity.

Swyteck's involvement takes him from Miami to Africa, where he meets Sally's sister Rene, a medical doctor as beautiful as her dead sibling. His near-romantic entanglements become complicated when he dates a law assistant and mother of his "little brother" Nate. The friendship is threatened when Kelsey divulges information from Swyteck's investigation to determine the guilt or innocence of his client in Sally's death.

One by one, the possible beneficiaries are murdered. Violence, bloodshed and death haunt the remaining ones enough to form alliances to protect themselves and their claims to the inheritance. When clues hint that Tatum is not whitewashed from blame, Swyteck is determined to find the remaining Alan Sirap.

LAST TO DIE is a clever rendering of motives, crimes both past and present, and a shocking resolution to the question of who will receive the millions. Courtroom drama is alive with wit and humor in the scenes when bumbling Gerry Colletti seeks a restraining order against Tatum. Grippando depicts Theo with humor as well and involves his audience with his characters as they wheel and deal their paths to conclusion. Swyteck is as real as the odd assortment he cohabits with on the page.

LAST TO DIE will have a place with most memorable thrillers. I highly recommend it for one who enjoys a great mystery.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

Miami defense lawyer Jack Swyteck has faced challenging clients before, but none like former contract killer Tatum Knight.

Tatum seems to be in a real situation, he was approached by millionaire Sally Fenning with a job proposition...kill her for a very high price. Tatum refused, but Sally ended up dead anyway, and to make matters worse Sally left all her money to six of her enemies, Tatum being one of the beneficiaries, with one condition...the money is to go to the last person alive.

The lawyers gear up for a tough legal battle, but before you know it the beneficiaries start dropping like flies, and all fingers point to Tatum. Jack teams up with his buddy Theo, who also happens to be Tatum's brother, to track down Tatum to see if he's behind all the killing.

'Last To Die' is another winner from best-selling author John Grippando. From the first page we are drawn into the plot with a murder, and for 350 more pages we are kept on the edge of our seat with plot twists, non-stop action, and shocking surprises all leading to a great climax. James Grippando delivers the goods with this thriller; his smooth writing style, and original storylines, once again, have combined to make an extremely entertaining read. Don't miss this!

Nick Gonnella

A quick read but one I enjoyed none the less. The intertwining of stories, past and present, between sisters daughters and so on makes for a book full of good ingredients. I especially loved how Constancia, one of the sisters who starts a line of beauty products, still mixes her own remedies for her skin and doesn't use the products she produces. Such a great representation of capitalism. :) I'm still seeking more in depth novels about cuban culture - if anyone has recommendations, let me know.

The Aguero Sisters is my first book by Cristina Garcia, but I can say with confidence it won't be my last. This novel was a truly mesmerizing feat; each page a veritable feast for the senses with beautiful, rich imagery and lush details of the Cuban landscape. This book sat on my bookshelf for over two years -- and now I'm wondering what took me so long.

Mystery and mythical religion is the backdrop for Cristina Garcia's haunting and descriptive tale of The Aguero Sisters. The story opens with drama and mystery surrounding the death of Constancia and Reina's mother, Blanca. What follows are chapters told in each sister's voice -- Constancia, a successful cosmetics entrepreneur, who lives in Miami with her husband Heberto -- and Reina, an electrician, whose skills are in high demand all over Cuba. Each sister gives details of their lives, their feelings about their mother's unexpected death, and the background of their estrangement from each other. Also in the mix are chapters from Constancia and Reina's children as well as the family history told by the sisters' deceased father, Ignacio. And as the months pass by, each sister gets closer and closer to each other and learning the truth about their mother.

The Aguero Sisters is a beautiful and haunting tale about growing up in Cuba in the midst of political upheaval, their struggles in trying to escape, and their need for reconciliation of the past. I was captivated by the writing style and eloquent language as well as the mysterious storyline and descriptions of a country I will never get to see. Highly recommended read.

More than a year ago, my father pulled a book from his shelf and read the first chapter aloud to me. The book was "The Aguero Sisters" and the chapter was completely captivating in its richness of language, its evocative prose, and in the tremendous curiosity it instilled in me about what why certain events occurred and what would happen next. I went on to read the book and absolutely loved it.

"The Aguero Sisters" is several stories interwoven into one. It is a love story, and a mystery of sorts. It is a story of generation and cultural differences and of the strange emotional contradictions felt between siblings. Most importantly, it is a story with rhythm, energy, and touches of dark humor.

There are so many different reasons why people should read this book and none of them are political. Of course it deals with Cuban politics, but it does so in an irreverent and humorous fashion. The most political characters in this book appear to be caricatures while the least political ones are the most compelling.

I have read books with similar themes such as "The Woman Warrior", and "The Joy Luck Club". While I learned a lot from these works and appreciated their content, it seemed that their strengths rested more on issues pertaining to ethnicity, gender, immigration, and generation differences than on any literary merit. "The Aguero Sisters" touches upon similar issues, but it also stands alone as a superb novel. I hope that in the future this book will be compared to some of the finest novels of the Twentieth Century, instead of merely being categorized as "ethnic literature".

Phew! I just finished Tropic of Night and found it absolutely unique and-- pardon the pun-- spellbinding. I should have started this book on a Friday, because while I was reading I didn't want to do anything else-- like go to work, eat meals, or sleep.

I can't imagine why anyone would call this book overhyped. It's imaginative, well-written, and terrifying. I can't wait to read the next book Mr. Gruber writes, and I hope that he is planning a series of books about Jane Doe!

I read a lot of what would generically be called literary fiction and a lot of what would generically be called thrillers. As such, I'm always excited to hear about a novel being touted as a "literary thriller," a book that works on both levels. Alas, these books are almost usually disappointments, mediocre works by authors who don't have the chops to write either great novels or great thrillers. So I picked up Tropic of Night with both excitement and skepticism. And, boy, am I happy I did. You'd be hard pressed to find the depth of character, the richness of theme and the sheer, exhilirating intelligence that Tropic exhibits in the best of today's literary fiction; you'd be just as hard pressed to find Tropic's intense momementum, nailbiting suspense and narrative juice in the best of today's thrillers. It's just an out-and-out masterpiece. Read it -- it's simply amazing.

I read this book when it first came out, so it's been a few weeks and I'm still thinking about ideas and notions from the novel. And the characters feel real and I wonder how they're doing.

The rave reviews helped me open the book in the first place .. since I tend to avoid books with knives on the cover (even very exotic and evocative knives) -- but I was lucky enough NOT to read any of the "reviews" that are really a synopsis of the plotline (why do people do that?) I wasn't going to post a review here since others had done such a fine job, but I've been recommending this book to my friends, and someone mentioned the negative reviews over here. So I just dropped in to say _don't believe them_ this is an amazing book .. literally 'thought-provoking' ..

MacGregor's novel starts off well but loses steam as it goes along. There are too many characters, and most of them are insufficiently developed. The book also suffers from patches of cliche writing (one character's "heart literally (?) leaped into his throat," a rich neighborhood "smelled of old money," a person has vanished "like the wind," etc.), technical errors in the description of police procedure, and lapses of continuity. (At one point we are told that a character "couldn't make it" to dinner, but two pages later it seems that he did make it, after all.) I know these sound like little things, and they are, but after a while they start to add up. On the positive side, the author has ambitiously woven together a variety of story elements -- near-death experiences, ESP, Alzheimer's, crime, bereavement -- in an intriguing way. The idea is good, but in my opinion the execution falls short. It still makes for a diverting read, though.

This is one of those perfect rainy day books that you can read in a day. It centers around someone that just "loses it" in a case of road rage. After knowingly kills somebody and calms down he must decide what to do. Does he turn himself in and repent or does he cover his tracks? Of course he picks the latter course which means he must then become a vicious criminal to cover all bases.

This book goes to show that no matter what the situation you should not let your rage get the better of you. Otherwise you can go from law-abiding citizan to vicious animal.

There are some parts that I did have problems with such as some of the criminal talents that the main character was able to come up with out of nowhere. Also, there is one of those parts, reminicent of the movies where a guy will put a snake in a house to kill all the house occupants. Most animals of that type do not go hunting for humans and only strike when threatened or cornered. However, directors try to take poetic license and change the animal's nature to suit the film.

WHEW! What a FABulous read. I started this book around 5 P.M. today; finished it around 10 P.M. (it's 262 pages). I had to find out how it ended. Just had to. In many ways--the characters probably could have been more fully developed; T.J. also did some segues that made me have to reread a couple sections; but for the most part, this was a story that grabbed me by the seat of my pants and WOULD NOT, COULD NOT let me go. Two of the main characters have suffered Near Death Experiences; this allows them to experience what another character calls The Seventh Sense (in addition to our five senses, she defined the sixth sense as intuition). The main character, Charlie Calloway's husband & unborn baby are killed in a hit & run accident that caused Charlie's NDE. Charlie is an FBI agent, so along with her background and the help of a buddy, she is determined to find the driver who so horribly altered her life. Not only did I want to see how this story ended (and it's a hell of an ending ;-), but I grew more horrified as the story went on--seeing the "bad guy" literally disintegrate in front of my eyes. Other than the NDE "seventh sense" (which may or may not be believable to you), everything else in the story rings true--which makes it that much more horrifying. If you want a story that'll put you on the edge of your seat--check out T.J. MacGregor's, The Seventh Sense.

This was my first time reading a Heather Graham book and I really enjoyed this one! This book is a great mystery that keeps you guessing until the very last pages, but also a wonderful, steamy romance book! I liked the idea of two high school sweathearts reuniting after years apart. I think it reminds us all of our first love or the huge crush you had on someone in high school and you always wondered "what if". All in all, this was a really fun read, the kind of book you pass along to all your friends. I look forward to spending many more late nights reading Heather Graham!

A mystery you just can't figure out! Everybody looks guilty. I kept refering back in the book thinking, well, this one's here and this one's there. They couldn't have done it. But, as I soon learned, you can convict them all and you can clear them all. You just have to get to the end, the very end, to find out. My husband says, one more of Heather Graham's books and I'm fired!!

Heather did a great job. I thought I knew who the killer was; when suddenly someone would do or say something and I'd have to rethink my logic. The book kept me on my toes and wide awake until 2am. First time to read a book by this author, but not my last.

An easy reading, fun book. Particularly interesting if you are familiar with the Cuban American culture and South Florida. A simple suspense novel that follows the goings and comings of a young and hip Cuban American private eye.

As a mystery author who writes about the multicultural southern California coast, I've found Carolina Garcia-Aguilera's Lupe Solano series fascinating since I first came in contact with it by way of this debut mystery. Her works are set in Miami, the Florida equivalent of my multicultural home base.

Garcia-Aguilera's protagonist is Lupe Solano, the daughter of wealthy Cuban exiles. Her father dreams of sailing his yacht home to his native Cuba following Castro's demise. One of her sisters is a thoroughly modern nun. Her other sister is a single mother of two. Her assistant is her cousin Leonardo, a bodybuilder. Her lovers are varied and numerous.

In BLOODY WATERS, Lupe becomes involved in the search for an illegally adopted child's biological mother. Garcia-Aguilera's plot takes many twists and turns and becomes one of the most sophisticated first mysteries I have read in years. It is a terrific book, and I recommend it highly.

one of the best books i've read in a while. enjoyable for all

Although this book is worth reading, I do not think it is one of Heather Graham's best by far. It took me a long time to read this book because I really couldn't get into it until about the middle. Once I got to the middle I finished it in a night. I thought the book jumped around a lot and had too many details on everything. I will definitly keep reading her books because I love most of them, this just was not one of them.

It's obvious Heather Graham has a history in writing romance. "Picture Me Dead" pits jaded, cynical homicide investigator Jake Dilessio against the young, persistent rookie Ashley Montague, who reminds Jake of his former partner, who died during an investigation. Jake and Ashley are thrown together in trying to solve what begins as two separate mysteries but soon merges into one. The story moves fast, but the part I enjoyed best was the contradicting tension versus attracion between Ashley and Jake. Graham portrays this in a fun way, and I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more of her work.

"Picture Me Dead" is an well-crafted murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.

If you are not a fan of romance, don't be put off by this novel. The romance is subtle and definately not all lightness and purity. The real meat of this story is the unfolding mystery that has been silently brewing for five years in the backwoods of Miami-Dade County.

This is a real page-turner.

I can definitely see how some people would enjoy this book, but it didn't do much for me. I felt some stories were too long winded, especially the one where the husband is having a sleepless night and keeps worrying about his wife's faithfulness to him. It was torture trying to get through that and other stories. Sure, the author could write beautifully, but I didn't feel like I learned anything from the stories or the novel as a whole. A disappointing read.

As I walked through the bookstore the other day, a yellow cover with the title "In Cuba I was a German Shepherd" caught my eye and I stopped to read the first few pages. Ana Menendez's eloquent use of the English language pulled me in enough to purchase the book, and I must admit that I didn't regret it.

This is a wonderful collection of short stories about Cuban immigrants and their children. An easy read with a free-flowing style, it was hard for me to put this book down. Yes, the other reviewers are correct in saying that in some stories the characters aren't fully developed, but that doesn't detract too much from the overall feel of the book. I walked away with a somewhat greater understanding of the Cuban community in Miami which is unique in and of itself, but is also very similar to other immigrant communities that also place importance on family, friendships and respect.

If you're looking for a quick read at the beach or on a plane, go ahead and pick up this catchy title, then sit back and savor Menendez's beautiful string of words.

The stories Ana Menendez collected in her work "In Cuba I was a German Shepherd," have no direct link to each other in the traditional sense of a unified plot working throughout the book. Rather, these stories and their sometimes-overlapping characters share an inherent links and themes that give the book a general sense of unity. One important and omnipresent unifying theme projected in the collection of stories includes romanticizing the past and its affect on the present for each of the characters. When speaking chronologically, past and present appear diametrically opposed in their position on time's arrow. However, Menendez argues that the two remain inseparable in the exilic condition, as the past maintains the place of greatest prominence for her characters amidst the background of the present, not vice versa. Without the past, the characters would lose their interpretation and understanding of the present, as well as the comfort generated by reflecting on the beauties and idiosyncrasies of their Cuban heritage. This backward view on life and its beauty serves as a unifying experience for the exile community and definitely maintains a prominent position in the bittersweet realities of the present.

Lupe Solano is an interesting and engaging character. Ms. Garcia-Aguilera lays out the story well and throws in enough twists to keep the story moving at a good pace. Despite the rejection of most things "American" (wich means anything or anybody not Cuban or Latino) the reader is kept guessing as Lupe investigates the circumstances surrounding the death of a Cuban "rafter" shot in self-defense by the wealthy owner of a jewelry store. The Solano family, the offbeat characters, the wonderful culture and color of the Cuban community and of course, Lupe, combine for a very enjoyable reading experience.

Bloody Shame, the second book in the series starring Miami PI Lupe Solano, is an exciting read. The plot twists just enough, and Garcia-Aguilera paces the novel well with the series of interviews with the suspects. Her references to the Mercedes and over-active sex life can be tiresome, but the environment places the reader right in the heart of Miami and Coconut Grove. A good read and a good series!

In "Bloody Shame", Carolina Garcia-Aguilera reveals the most accurate portrayal I've ever come across in fiction of the inner workings of the Cuban-American Miami psyche. Granted most Cuban-Americans in Miami are not P.I.s and are not as extravagantly wealthy as Lupe Solano. But when Lupe sits down and relishes her freshly made cafe con leche, or when she is harassed by her worried sisters for not having phoned home in the last 24 hours, the reader is introduced to the small things of daily life that make the Cuban-American culture unique.

Contrary to some of the fireworks below, this book does not assign any significant partisan blame for the Florida fiasco. In other words, there is no great revelation that "If the GOP/Dem party hadn't done _____, then Bush/Gore would have won the election!"
To the contrary, the book quite effectively and disturbingly demonstrates how the election system--particularly the technology--was a fiasco just WAITING to happen and, alas, with an election as close as that one was, it most certainly did.
The system itself was a taped-together jalopy that's managed to survive all these years because lopsided victories made the exorbinant tossed votes (undervotes/overvotes) seem irrelevant. In 2000--when EVERY vote became relevant--the flaws in the cracked and decaying system became painfully obvious.
You'll be surprised at the outcome of the recounts; the more liberal standards favored Bush, while the most stringent favored Gore--in diametric opposition of what each campaign was fighting for! Irony with a capital "I"!
This book does NOT get into the behind-the-scenes machinations of either campaign during November--with all the drama--but rather sticks directly to the Florida employees within the election office.
There's a few unsettling tidbits: Katherine Harris' barely disguised partisanship and the stream of emails from her office cheering on a Bush victory, for instance--but for the most part this is a pretty dry telling of the election drama. No accusations of theft, of skulduggery, of conspiracy (except what you may read between the lines)--rather, a conclusion that the system was so screwed to begin with it was just begging to be manipulated... before, during and after.
What you will ask yourself after reading this book is: "What now"? How fervently each party pursues election reform ought to clue you in as to their real agenda.
Definitely worth reading if you want to impress friends/co-workers with the actual facts/findings, rather than partisan assertions and accusations. This is the not-glamorous-but-true "real" story of the election from the ELECTION standpoint, and not the candidates. Recommended.

BONUS UNSETTLING FACT: Florida was hardly the only place with reams of tossed votes. In Illinois alone, there were over 123,000 spoiled ballots!

"A recently released University of Minnesota study
estimates that, for example, 93 percent of felons of all races favored Bill Clinton in 1996"
Uh--New York reader-reviewer..is this because they like to vote for one of their own?
I enjoyed this book and felt it showed both sides of the battle. The liberals will always think they had the election stolen from them and the conservatives will always feel the right man won.
I would LOVE to see a book written that discusses ALL the goings-on that happened with the elections, past and 2000. The vote-buying in Chicago, the Haitians being helped to vote a straight Dem ticket, the exchange of votes for liquor or cigarettes.
But this book answered a lot of my questions and I will recommend it to others.

Historians will use this book as the chief reference book in documenting the death of democracy. The example after example of immoral and illegal actions that occurred in the 2000 Presidential election should be the rallying cry for reform of the election process for decades to come.