LYING WITH STRANGERS by James Grippando
If you have been following the writing career of novelist James Grippando, as I have, then you know that with each and every new novel he just gets better and better. Most of his books focus on the adventures of attorney Jack Swyteck, but in his newest novel LYING WITH STRANGERS Swyteck is nowhere to be found. In this book the characters are all new and all fascinating.
The setting of the story is Boston where Kevin Stokes and Peyton Shields live. They are a young married couple making their way through life. He is an attorney and she is a first year resident in pediatric nursing. Everything is going great for them and then one day it all starts to fall apart.
Peyton has been so busy at her job that Kevin has started feeling ignored. It gets so bad that on a business trip he succumbs to the lure of his office partner. This is a one-time thing but it fills Kevin with guilt. About this same time Peyton attracts the attention of a stalker. She thinks someone is watching her house when Kevin is away on business, and she also thinks she hears someone trying to break in one night.
There are other complications in Peyton's life that end up with her being involved in a late night car accident. She is rescued by a mysterious stranger who quickly disappears. Peyton doesn't know who he was or where he went but she is very grateful.
Grippando keeps the mysterious events piling up one after another until the reader virtually can not put the book down. At least that is how it affected me. It was the wee small hours of the morning and still I read on. When you are caught in that kind of situation you know you are under the spell of a masterful storyteller.
One of the selling points of LYING WITH STRANGERS is the complex plotting Grippando delivers. He has two or three story threads running at the same time and manages to tie them all together and all up before the story ends. He also is able to insert a surprise or two into the story even though you are reading with eyes wide open as to any new plot developments.
Best of all though are his characters. Never have two lead characters in a novel been as flawed yet as likeable as Peyton and Kevin. The make mistake after mistake but are always able to pick themselves up and move on. But being so flawed and so human they become people with whom the readers can identify.
The Jack Swyteck series of novels has been immensely popular for Grippando and he ran a risk in writing a novel that didn't involve him. But a story this good can wipe out any antagonism of this sort. It is doubtful anyone will be carping about this change in characters.
James Grippando is emerging as one of America's best suspense story writers. As stated, he gets better with each new book. Jump on his bandwagon now and read LYING WITH STRANGERS. Just make sure you have hours to spend with it when you start. It is definitely one you won't be able to put down.
LYING WITH STRANGERS is published by HarperCollins. It contains 391 pages and sells for $24.95.