Saxton Reads! & Reviews

Dreading cleaning the bathrooms this morning I wondered what I had to listen to to make the time fly by. I didn't want to start an audio book because I couldn't devote enough time to get into the meat of the story. Then it dawns on me that I do have a mp3 player so I could download an author interview to "listen while I worked". I visited one of my favorite sites Library Love Fest on BlogTalk Radio. BlogTalk radio is "the largest and fastest-growing social radio network on the Internet. And Library Love Fest features Virginia Stanley hosting lively conversations with authors, librarians, editors in discussing a wide variety of both fiction and non-fiction.

An interview with James Grippando, author of several standalone thrillers and the series starring Jack Swyteck, Miami Criminal Defense Attorney, immediately caught my eye. A quick download and transfer to my mp3 player and I had 46 min. of entertainment to make me forget the chore at hand. I have to tell you it was a great choice. If you haven't read Grippando's latest, I'd bet you'll run to pick up a copy of Money to Burn,, that's how good it sounds. Money to Burn, one of his standalone books, is described as being ripped out of the headlines, before the headlines were printed. Writing this before the Bernie Madoff scandal and the meltdown of Wall Street, Grippando didn't realize how close to truth his fiction hits. Listening to Grippando describe the book, you realize it is so much more than a financial thriller. It has something for everyone, including a great love story. Michael Cantella, an up and coming investment banker for Saxton (can you believe it?) Silvers is on a cruise with the love of his life when they decided to literally jump ship and get married. Before Ivy Layton gets to enjoy the honeymoon, she disappears. Fast forward seven years, Cantella has picked up the pieces, remarried and become quite financially successful. Sounds like a great life until the day before his 35th birthday, Cantella discovers his bank account wiped clean. And we're off for a fast paced thriller with lots of excellent characters, some easy to love and some just as easy to hate. You can bet Money to Burn has been added to my Good Reads to be read list.  

Listeners are encouraged to call or write in questions to Love Fest. At one point Grippando tries to answer the question as to why so many lawyers have become authors. Grippando loved being a lawyer so that wasn't the motivator. He thinks back several years to reading Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent, a book he enjoyed. Not to brag, he immediately thought, hey, "I could do that". Summarizing he says Writing a book is not as simple as rolling out of bed. Lawyers are a smart bunch and many are English majors and so it's not such a big leap to authorship. 

When asked what he reads he answers; some suspense to keep up with the genre, a great deal of ya because he reads what his kids read and lots of nonfiction, particularly enjoying the many historical offerings that read like a novel. I wish he had mentioned a few titles.

Grippando is working on on new title set to be released in 2011, Afraid of the Dark which brings back three characters from other novels, Swytek, FBI Agent Andi Henning, from Born to Run and also (probably Grippando's favorite) blind hostage negotiator, Vince Paulo, When Darkness Falls. 

Grippando has written one Ya novel that has been a hit with both teens and teachers and it sounds great, combing history and mystery, Leapholes. He may just try another YA outing one day but feels his books for grownups would be suitable for older teens. He says he in to someone who swears in real life, so his characters language is clean and the violence is built by tension, not graphic detail. 

You can visit him at jamesgrippando.com where the first line on his webpage will draw you right in,

"My dad was a stripper". This should give you a clue to his sense of humor. And he is on facebook where he invites you to chat. 

Want to listen to the podcast. You can find it on the Adult Services Pageon our website www.columbiactlibrary.org under Library Love Fest. Happy Reading!