Chelsea James is killed in a hit-and-run accident on her way to watch her husband Ryan play the last game of the season of a minor league baseball team. This could have been his chance to launch his career in the majors so he had insisted that Chelsea and daughter Ainsley attend the game. Three years later Ryan is still consumed with grief in this new thriller by James Grippando, “Intent to Kill”.

Ryan is a shock jock on a popular radio Sports talk show in Boston and it is the third anniversary of his wife’s death. Ryan is still grieving and suffering from insomnia but beginning to come to terms with the new life he has made for himself and 5-year-old Ainsley. Emma Carlisle was the prosecuting attorney for the case and has never been able to quite let it go as a cold case. Emma receives an anonymous note on the third anniversary suggesting that maybe the accident was not really an accident. At the same time Ryan gets an unusual call-in on his radio show.

Chelsea’s brother Babes suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism and Ryan suspects he may know more about the accident than he has admitted. Babes loves anagrams and the encrypted messages that are being sent point strongly in his direction. His parents, Rachel and Paul try to protect him but have let someone in their home to question Babes in private. Grippando craftily uses Babes autistic traits to heighten the suspense when he is on the run and not sure who he can trust.

Grippando spins the story in such a way that we invest our interest in the characters as if they were family and then everything explodes. What really happened the night Chelsea died becomes much more complicated. There are important families in New England who could be affected. Ryan, Emma and Babes find themselves in danger as they try to sort out what happened that fateful night and who was involved. Old family friends, a former boss now involved in politics, and even Babes become suspects.

This book is a change for Grippando his usual protagonist is missing so it is a stand-alone novel. But fans will not be disappointed the twists and turns of the story are cleverly revealed. “Intent to Kill’ is a book you will find impossible to put down until the last page.