James Grippando Books in Order (Updated September 10, 2026)

James Grippando is an American lawyer and novelist best known for Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck. His fiction draws heavily on courtroom strategy, criminal law, politics, financial crime, technology, international disputes, and headline-driven legal questions.

Jack Swyteck is the central series, with twenty published novels through The Right to Remain. Grippando has also written a group of standalones, several of which feature FBI agent Andie Henning before she becomes a major recurring character in Jack’s life.

The easiest way into James Grippando

• For Jack Swyteck: Start with The Pardon.
• For the strongest long-term continuity: Read all twenty Swyteck novels in publication order.
• For Andie Henning before her Swyteck role: Read Under Cover of Darkness, Money to Burn, Need You Now, and Cash Landing.
• For a standalone financial thriller: Try Need You Now or Code 6.
• For a courtroom-focused recent Jack novel: Read The Right to Remain after the earlier books.
• Next announced Swyteck novel: Shadow Jury, scheduled for January 5, 2027.

Jack Swyteck books in publication order

Grippando says each Jack Swyteck novel is written so it can be understood as a standalone case. Publication order is still preferable because Jack’s relationship with his father Harry, friendship with Theo Knight, marriage to FBI agent Andie Henning, and family life change substantially over the series.

1. The Pardon (1994): Miami defense attorney Jack Swyteck becomes estranged from his father, Florida governor Harry Swyteck, after Harry allows one of Jack’s clients to be executed despite Jack’s belief that the man is innocent.
2. Beyond Suspicion (2002): Jack returns after a long publication gap and becomes trapped in a case involving insurance money, a client whose story keeps changing, and evidence that makes his own conduct look increasingly suspicious.
3. Last to Die (2003): Jack represents a wealthy woman whose unusual will promises millions to the last surviving beneficiary, turning inheritance into a motive when people connected to the estate begin dying.
4. Hear No Evil (2004): Jack takes on a murder case involving a U.S. naval officer killed at Guantánamo Bay, and the trial exposes family secrets while changing Jack’s own understanding of his past.
5. Got the Look (2006): Jack’s girlfriend becomes the target of a serial kidnapper whose ransom demands follow a disturbing pattern, forcing Jack and law enforcement into a race against a killer who knows how to manipulate families.
6. When Darkness Falls (2007): A homeless man takes hostages and demands Jack as his lawyer, drawing Jack and Theo Knight into a crisis where the gunman’s claims may connect to a much older crime.
7. Last Call (2008): Theo’s past becomes central when an escaped convict offers information about the murder of Theo’s mother in exchange for help, sending Jack and Theo into a conspiracy rooted in their old Miami neighborhood.
8. Born to Run (2009): Jack’s father Harry becomes involved in a crisis at the highest levels of federal government, and Jack is pulled into political secrets surrounding the presidency and vice presidency.
9. Afraid of the Dark (2011): Jack investigates a case that stretches beyond Miami into international terrorism and intelligence, while people close to him become vulnerable to enemies operating outside ordinary courtroom rules.
10. Blood Money (2013): Jack defends nightclub waitress Sydney Bennett in a sensational murder trial involving the death of her young daughter, then faces the dangerous consequences of a verdict that turns the case into a national media obsession.
11. Black Horizon (2014): A catastrophic oil spill in Cuban waters leads Jack into an international case involving corporate liability, political pressure, and legal conflict between the United States and Cuba.
12. Gone Again (2016): Jack takes his first death-row case since The Pardon when a convicted murderer faces execution even though the supposed victim’s mother believes her daughter may still be alive.
13. Most Dangerous Place (2017): Jack represents a woman accused of killing a man who raped her years earlier, bringing domestic violence, trauma, memory, and the reliability of old evidence into the courtroom.
14. A Death in Live Oak (2018): Jack enters a racially charged murder case after the president of a Black fraternity is found dead and the president of a white fraternity becomes the principal defendant.
15. The Girl in the Glass Box (2019): Jack represents an undocumented immigrant who fled abuse and is threatened with deportation, turning an immigration case into a fight involving family safety and federal policy.
16. The Big Lie (2020): A dispute over a presidential elector reaches a Florida courtroom, placing Jack inside a constitutional crisis involving the Electoral College, political manipulation, and the transfer of national power.
17. Twenty (2021): A mass shooting at the school attended by Jack’s daughter places his family directly inside the investigation and forces Jack to confront difficult questions about terrorism, prejudice, guns, and criminal responsibility.
18. Goodbye Girl (2024): Jack represents a global music star accused in a case involving control of master recordings, digital piracy, enormous entertainment-industry fortunes, and an unsolved murder.
19. Grave Danger (2025): Jack represents a woman accused of abducting a child from Iran, only to learn that his client is actually the child’s aunt and that the biological mother may have been killed by Iran’s morality police.
20. The Right to Remain (2026): Jack represents murder defendant Elliott Stafford, who suddenly refuses to speak to anyone, and discovers that his client’s silence may be protecting another person rather than concealing Elliott’s own guilt.

The Right to Remain, published January 6, 2026, is Jack Swyteck book twenty and the newest released book in the series as of September 10, 2026.

Why The Pardon still matters after twenty books

The first novel does more than introduce Jack as a defense lawyer. It establishes the difficult relationship with his father, the death-penalty questions that shape Jack’s view of the law, and his willingness to defend unpopular clients even when the public assumes that representation means approval.

Those themes return repeatedly. Gone Again is especially meaningful after The Pardon because Jack once again represents a client facing execution and must decide whether the criminal justice system has reached the correct result.

Theo Knight develops from former client into Jack’s closest ally

Theo Knight was once a teenager on death row for a murder he did not commit. Jack helped prove his innocence, and Theo later rebuilds his life as a Miami bar owner.

By When Darkness Falls, Theo is part of Jack’s regular circle rather than merely an old legal success. Last Call then moves Theo’s murdered mother and childhood history to the center of the story.

Reading in order therefore changes Theo from a colorful side character into one of the most important relationships in Jack’s life.

Andie Henning has a bibliography before and inside Jack Swyteck

FBI agent Andie Henning eventually becomes Jack’s wife, but Grippando used her in several other thrillers before making her central to the Swyteck family.

1. Under Cover of Darkness (2000): Seattle lawyer Gus Wheatley searches for his missing wife while FBI profiler Andie Henning investigates disappearances that may be connected to a serial killer.
2. Money to Burn (2010): Wall Street banker Michael Cantella watches his fortune disappear and becomes caught in a financial attack whose origins may connect to the disappearance of his first wife.
3. Need You Now (2012): Financial advisers Patrick Lloyd and Lilly Scanlon uncover a massive fraud and conspiracy with implications reaching from international banking into government.
4. Cash Landing (2015): A group of amateur criminals plans a huge airport cash robbery in Miami, while law enforcement tries to understand how ordinary people became involved in a heist inspired by real events.

These four books are not a tightly numbered Andie Henning series in the same way as Jack Swyteck. Each tells a different principal story, and Andie appears at different stages of her FBI career. Cash Landing also includes a Jack Swyteck appearance.

The marriage changes the stakes in Grave Danger

By book nineteen, Jack and Andie have spent years balancing careers that frequently require confidentiality. That professional boundary becomes a marital problem in Grave Danger.

Jack’s client fled Iran with a young girl and is accused of international child kidnapping. He then discovers that she is actually the child’s aunt and claims the child’s mother was killed in Iran.

Andie’s FBI superiors pressure her to convince Jack to abandon the case, leaving husband and wife on opposite sides of a dispute where diplomacy and national interests may conflict with what Jack believes is best for the child.

The Right to Remain builds its mystery around a client who says nothing

Elliott Stafford is charged with murder but refuses to speak to Jack, the court, his girlfriend, or anyone else. There is no clear medical reason for the silence.

Jack initially appears to have the worst possible client, somebody unwilling to participate in his own defense. As Jack investigates independently, however, much of what Elliott previously told him proves false.

The deeper question becomes whether Elliott is silent because he committed the crime or because speaking would endanger somebody else. That structure puts Jack’s role as advocate at the center of book twenty.

The next Jack Swyteck case is Shadow Jury

Shadow Jury is scheduled for January 5, 2027 as the next Jack Swyteck novel.

Jack represents Iris Canto in a civil case against powerful investment-bank president Perry Rutledge. The defendant’s litigation consultants use artificial intelligence and large-scale personal data to create a shadow jury whose members closely match the real jurors and react to the trial in real time.

When the actual juror matched to shadow juror Cassie Logan disappears, the legal experiment becomes part of a larger criminal mystery. Because the novel is still forthcoming as of September 2026, it should not be counted among the twenty released Swyteck books.

Grippando’s standalones before the modern Swyteck era

1. The Informant (1996): An FBI agent and a journalist separately pursue a serial killer and the mysterious person feeding information about the murders to the press.
2. The Abduction (1998): A presidential campaign is thrown into crisis when the granddaughter of one candidate is kidnapped, turning electoral politics into a personal and national emergency.
3. Found Money (1999): Amy Parkens unexpectedly receives a box containing two hundred thousand dollars and begins tracing the money toward secrets surrounding her mother’s death.
4. Under Cover of Darkness (2000): A Seattle lawyer’s wife disappears, and FBI agent Andie Henning investigates whether her case belongs to a series of killings.
5. A King’s Ransom (2001): Nick Rey’s father is kidnapped while doing business in Latin America, forcing the son into negotiations where ransom insurance, corporations, and criminal groups all have competing priorities.
6. Leapholes (2006): Written for younger readers, the novel uses magical movement through major legal moments to introduce a boy to law, rights, and famous cases.
7. Lying with Strangers (2007): Doctor Peyton Shields survives a frightening road incident and becomes trapped in escalating suspicion while her marriage and professional life begin to collapse around conflicting stories.
8. Intent to Kill (2009): Former baseball player Ryan James investigates the hit-and-run death of his wife after new information suggests the crash may have been deliberate.
9. Money to Burn (2010): A successful Wall Street executive loses access to his fortune and discovers that the financial attack may connect to unresolved questions about his first wife.
10. Need You Now (2012): Two financial professionals become caught in the aftermath of an enormous investment fraud and uncover money trails capable of damaging powerful institutions.
11. Cane and Abe (2015): Miami prosecutor Abe Beckham becomes a suspect after his wife disappears, especially when the case appears connected to the murder of another woman Abe once loved.
12. Cash Landing (2015): Amateur criminals attempt one of the largest airport cash thefts in history and discover that possessing stolen millions is harder and more dangerous than taking them.
13. The Penny Jumper (2016): A mathematical genius working with financial markets becomes involved in an extraordinary scheme where tiny movements in price can be worth fortunes.
14. Code 6 (2023): Aspiring playwright Kate Gamble investigates the dark side of Big Data while her father runs a powerful data-integration company serving intelligence and counterterrorism agencies.

Code 6 and Watson are designed to complement each other

Kate Gamble, the protagonist of Code 6, is writing a play about the relationship between information technology and power. Grippando separately published the play Watson, which examines IBM technology and Nazi Germany.

Watson is not another thriller novel or a Jack Swyteck story. It can be read alongside Code 6 as the fictional play being developed within the novel.

A publication-order route for readers who want Jack’s personal life intact

1. The Pardon: Establish Jack and Harry Swyteck.
2. Beyond Suspicion through Hear No Evil: Follow Jack’s return and major early family developments.
3. Got the Look through Last Call: Develop Jack’s friendships and Theo Knight’s history.
4. Born to Run: Bring Harry Swyteck back into a national political crisis.
5. Afraid of the Dark through Black Horizon: Move Jack into larger international and public cases.
6. Gone Again: Return to the death-penalty questions that began the series.
7. Most Dangerous Place through The Girl in the Glass Box: Follow a run of cases driven by contemporary legal controversies.
8. The Big Lie and Twenty: Put Jack’s family inside political and national crises.
9. Goodbye Girl: Enter the music-rights and digital-piracy case.
10. Grave Danger: See Jack and Andie’s professional obligations threaten their marriage.
11. The Right to Remain: Reach Jack’s twentieth published case.
12. Shadow Jury: Continue after its scheduled January 2027 release.

Does Jack Swyteck have a different chronological order?

No major chronological rearrangement is necessary. The Jack novels move broadly forward as published, even when individual investigations reach into old crimes or earlier family history.

Grippando himself notes that the novels are designed so readers can enter at different points. Publication order remains the better choice for readers who care about Jack’s evolving family and recurring characters.

Current James Grippando release picture

• Published Jack Swyteck novels: Twenty.
• Newest released Swyteck: The Right to Remain, January 6, 2026.
• Next announced Swyteck: Shadow Jury, January 5, 2027.
• Latest standalone novel: Code 6, 2023.

Answers to the main James Grippando order questions

What is the first Jack Swyteck book?

The Pardon, published in 1994, introduces Jack Swyteck.

How many Jack Swyteck novels are published?

Twenty have been released through The Right to Remain.

What is Jack Swyteck book twenty-one?

Shadow Jury is the next announced novel and is scheduled for January 5, 2027.

Do the Jack Swyteck books need to be read in order?

Grippando writes each major case to be understandable on its own, but publication order is preferable because Jack’s father, Theo Knight, Andie Henning, and Jack’s family life develop across the series.

Is Andie Henning only a Jack Swyteck character?

No. She appears in several Grippando thrillers outside the main Swyteck sequence and later becomes Jack’s wife and a major recurring character.

Is Code 6 a Jack Swyteck novel?

No. Code 6 is a standalone thriller about playwright Kate Gamble, Big Data, and her father’s technology company.

The most reliable reading plan

Start Jack Swyteck with The Pardon and read through The Right to Remain in publication order. That preserves the gradual transformation of Jack’s relationship with his father, Theo Knight’s place in his life, Andie Henning’s role, and the way Jack’s legal career becomes increasingly intertwined with his family.

Read the other Grippando novels separately by premise. Several feature Andie, but they are not required chapters between Jack novels. Add Shadow Jury after its 2027 release rather than counting it as already published.