Afraid of the Dark
Jack Swytech Series, No 9
James Grippando

Harper Collins
March 2011/ ISBN 9780061840289
Suspense
Amazon

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer

Jack Swytech, a Miami criminal defense lawyer, undertakes a case to defend Somali prisoner, Kaled al-Jawar, imprisoned in Guantanimo, from the death penalty. Jawar is charged with the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend 3 years ago. Jawar is revealed to really be Jamar, an American. He offers for his defense the story of his kidnapping by his Somali father’s enemies and his subsequent and imprisonment.. Any witnesses who could confirm his alibi are being eliminated. Sywtech must uncover the sadistic killer and his bosses before the conspirators can silence everyone who can speak against them.

This is an exciting tale of revenge and intrigue. The story is well plotted. The characters are very human, some very unsavory . There are enough questions in the action to keep the reader in suspense.