Another entry in the Swyteck series - typical of his plotting and the bantering between Swyteck and his investigator Theo. A quick read with no surprises. ( )

The 11th Jack Swyteck book and they are still very enjoyable. Jack has just gotten married to Andie, his girlfriend who works for the FBI and are on their honeymoon. Of course there is a catastrophe (an oil spill in Cuban water) that involves both Jack and Andie. Lots happening, even Theo gets into the act and both Jack and Theo almost end up in jail. Andie steps in and things get sorted out, but not the way I expected. A good read right up until the end. ( )

This thriller is the 11th in the author’s series featuring Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck. As the story begins, Jack is marrying Andrea (Andie) Henning, who works undercover for the FBI. They are on their honeymoon in the Keys when they learn of the explosion of a huge oil rig in the Florida Straits off of Cuba during a tropical storm.

At first, I thought this book would be a fictional illustration of the theme of Justice Stephen Breyer’s recent book The Court and the World. In that book, Justice Breyer argues that globalization has made a familiarity with foreign law and international affairs not only unavoidable but essential. As parties harmed by the oil spill (such as businesses adversely affected along the Florida coast and spouses of those who died in the explosion) line up to sue for damages, the legal complications seem insurmountable. The rig was built at a shipyard in China and leased from the Chinese. The owner of the rig is a Russian company. The oil company in charge of drilling is owned by Venezuelan government. The drilling is being done in Cuban waters and is controlled by a mineral lease from the Cuban government. The multinational crew of 167 working for this international consortium hailed from seventeen different countries. And to add to the complications, the technology on the rig was manufactured by a foreign subsidiary of an American defense contractor. Regulating all of this is an alphabet soup of laws and agencies of each country that have possible applications to the incident.

The legal aspects of the central event in this book might have made for an absorbing story. How should each country’s laws be applied? How might the U.S. courts determine an equitable resolution to the plethora of intersecting claims, conflicts of laws, and even the problem of treaties and embargoes, when cooperation from some of the countries was not likely? There was some flirtation with the question of which governments might have benefitted from the explosion, but that plot thread wasn’t taken very far.

Rather, the story focused on “thriller” aspects, with kidnappings, murders, shady characters following both Jack and Andie, and threats made to Jack from all sides to drop his case for compensation on behalf of one of the widows.

Jack’s BFF, Theo Knight, is apparently included in all Jack’s adventures to provide comic relief, only he was more annoying than funny, in my opinion. ( )

Jack Swyteck is honeymooning in Key West when an off shore oil derrick explodes. Soon, globs of sticky oil begin drifting toward the Florida coast.

Jack is an attorney and he's hired by a woman of Cuban descent to represent her. He wants to sue for wrongful death but isn't sure who to sue since the oil derrick was in Cuban waters and the derrick was owned by a consortium of China, Russia, Cuba and Venezuela.

Jack works on the case with his sidekick, Theo. The banter between these two characters makes up much of the story.

Jack, Theo and Jack's wife Andie go about their business. Andie is an undercover agent for the FBI. As Jack and Theo progress, I didn't feel any urgency to know what they were going to do.

Theo is constantly complaining and demanding Jack's time, like a spoiled child. Andie's undercover work was interesting but the novel, as a whole, fell below the past work of James Grippando. ( )

Reading a James Grippando novel is always a treat. The plots are fresh, the books are well written, and the characters are well drawn. Jack Swyteck is a well known Florida lawyer who is skilled at handling cases for the down and out. This novel deals with an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and Jack takes on the case of a Cuban refugee whose husband was killed in the disaster. Once again Jack's involvement goes beyond the surface as events lead Jack beyond the cut and dried leaving Jack in jeopard on more than one occasion. The book is a great read. ( )