Rating: 
Summary: Orchid Blues not up to Woods usual Standard
Review: I like Stuart Woods. Ever since Chiefs, I've been a fan, and I enjoy especially the little hints he leaves that remind you of previous books of his. Each of his stories builds a bit on previous ones. He started a new character a couple of years ago in Orchid Beach, in which the main character was a retired military police officer, Holly Barker, who has been hired as chief of police of a small town in Florida. Orchid Blues is the second book in that series.In this book, Holly's about to get married, but her fiance gets caught up in a bank robbery, and killed. It soon becomes obvious that this was an unusual robbery, and the killers dissappear. Holly has to contend with various forces who want to catch the robbers also, but don't want her to participate, or have agendas of their own, including the FBI and her own father, who gets involved with the killers. The plot is alright. I don't want to give too much away, but suffice it to say Woods has been down this route before, and much of the plot itself feels like a reworked version of several of his other books. I wasn't terribly upset, but I also wasn't that impressed with the book. It was almost as if he wrote it in his sleep or something. It's probably still a good bet, especially if you haven't read all of his books.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Mystery Well Told
Review: I like the way Stuart Woods writes. His Stone Barrington character is one I will routinely buy as soon as it hits the shelf. Like Robert Parker he has decided he needs a female character and in Orchid Beach he created a retired military policewoman turned small Florida town police chief Holly Barker. She is a much more reasonable, much more middle-class person than Stone and the rhythm of the two novels which feature her are tighter, more directed and less personality dominated than the Barrington novels. In this case, there is a tragic killing of her fiancé on the morning of their wedding day. A simple brutal murder in a bank robbery turns into a much bigger case as anti-government extremists become the center of the plot and the FBI are called in. Holly's father, a retired Army sergeant becomes the bait for the bad guys and infiltrates their operation. The climax is satisfyingly fast paced and you'll cheer as the bad guys lose. A worthwhile book to take a break from the day's problems.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Okay
Review: I picked this up because I enjoyed Woods' earlier works. This is okay light reading. The story is fast-paced, the characters likeable. My difficulty with the book is that the reader has to suspend reality. The militia is too powerful; the "star" character's father (who really is the star character in this novel) is too good or too lucky (In one place he is able to plant a bug in a completely ridiculously lucky set circumstances.); and, the twists in the story-line are never quite believeable. The man is also immediately taken in as a blood brother by this super-careful super-paranoid group. Also, the killing of the main character's fiance at the outset is absolutely superfluous to the story - although it was a good way to hook me into the book. If you can suspend reality it is okay beach reading. If you can't, it is a trumped up mystery where the author pulls all the strings to make the story work. Although this novel can be read in a matter of hours, there are other better ways to spend that reading time.
Rating:
Summary: Just Okay
Review: I picked this up because I enjoyed Woods' earlier works. This is okay light reading. The story is fast-paced, the characters likeable. My difficulty with the book is that the reader has to suspend reality. The militia is too powerful; the "star" character's father (who really is the star character in this novel) is too good or too lucky (In one place he is able to plant a bug in a completely ridiculously lucky set circumstances.); and, the twists in the story-line are never quite believeable. The man is also immediately taken in as a blood brother by this super-careful super-paranoid group. Also, the killing of the main character's fiance at the outset is absolutely superfluous to the story - although it was a good way to hook me into the book. If you can suspend reality it is okay beach reading. If you can't, it is a trumped up mystery where the author pulls all the strings to make the story work. Although this novel can be read in a matter of hours, there are other better ways to spend that reading time.
Rating:
Summary: what happen to Stuart Woods?
Review: I read the first 100 pages and wondered when the book would begin. Very little story, poor character development. I look forward to my favorite author's releases but this was a big disapointment.
Rating:
Summary: Thought this was going somewhere...
Review: I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Felt that it had
potential. However, after about the first 100 pages, I felt that
this was a James Patterson wannabe. Two to three page chapters with a lot of empty pages in between. This could have been condensed to a 150 page novella. There was no tension towards the end...everything just worked out much too easily. I liked the fact that the heroine's father, Ham, went undercover into a
subversive group bent on assasination. But could top government agencies be so bent on their own glorification that they would risk the lives of important officials? I think not. Was very
disappointed toward the end of this book...and at the 5 star review that Harriet Klausner (my hero) gave it. I have
read every Stuart Woods book and felt that this was a major
disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Gets Worse and Worse
Review: I really enjoyed this author when I started reading him, and I was happy to see the introduction of a new line of characters in "Orchid Beach." However, it seems that with each effort Mr. Woods puts out lately, they just keep going downhill. There is nothing at all realistic about this book. As a matter of fact, there's nothing that you can even stretch your imagination to believe. Holly's fiancee is killed on the way to their wedding and she barely sheds a tear. Ham is basically able to show up in a little central Florida town one day and suddenly he's the main marksman for a militia group, making a hit on a VIP, while one of the former leaders of the group is suspected of being a spy because of all the suspicious goings-on that suddenly started happening right around when Ham showed up. Huh? The dialogue also sounds like it was written by a 12-year-old. Characters constantly to refer to each other by name in every sentence, and we're subjected to ridiculously long descriptions of dinner menus and word-for-word phone conversations to get a single point across. And when the author wants us to know something, he inexplicably has the characters telling each other very obvious things -- for example, as Ham is getting ready to make his hit, John is explaining their escape plan and says, "And, of course, you're wearing your disguise." Ham doesn't know he's wearing a disguise and has to be told? Certainly there had to be a better way for Mr. Woods to let readers know Ham was in disguise than something this inane. And, as I've seen mentioned in other reviews, I found the "Author's Note" at the end of the book offensive, where the author instructs readers on what they may and may not write to him about, and informs them that unless they contact him via e-mail, they will not receive a response because he basically can't be bothered. I'm sure that sounds very warm and welcoming to readers who may not own a computer or know how to operate one. The Stone Barrington series has gone way downhill since it started, and this one seems to be headed in the same direction. Perhaps Mr. Woods should come down off his high opinion of himself and actually put a bit of effort into any future books...or I'm sure I won't be the only one who drops both of these series.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy Orchid
Review: I usually find Stuart Woods' novels fast-paced fun. This sequel to ORCHID BEACH (which I enjoyed) is silly and...what's worse...sloppy. Did Woods dash this one off over a weekend? Characters actually contradict themselves, forget things they said earlier in the novel, and ramble unedited. Loose ends abound. On top of that, the bad guys are just another stereotyped bunch of "right-wing racist militiamen." These baddies went out of style and became hackneyed several years ago. No motivation, no persoanlity, no menace. I looked forward to this book. What a disappointment! Skip it.
Rating:
Summary: I listened to the tape while driving
Review: I'm not sure that I would actually devote prime time to reading this sort of light fare, but it is great for driving. Really beats the radio. The tape is very well produced. I agree with most of the negative reviews. However, I must say that I found the main characters, Holly and Ham, to be believable and consistent, and likable. I did not enjoy this book as much as DEAD IN THE WATER by Woods.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good, quick paced read
Review: I've been enjoying the Stuart Woods series of books lately..been reading more stone barrington novels, but I wanted to pick up and see what holly barker was up to in her sophomore effort..
what I like about woods is that he writes these two characters so differently and it keeps the books varied and interesting....barrington, while likeable, has questionable moral standards at times, whereas Baker is quite the opposite..in other words, his books aren't predictable and they're never formulaic!
Anyway, onto this book..there are some BIG surprises and the return of some familiar faces (some surprise appearances as well)...the good guys are never perfect and the bad guys aren't always 'evil incarnate' either..everyone's got a motivation for doing something..
this one starts in a completely different place than where it ends (plot wise, not geographically speaking) so you're brought along for a pretty good ride...some parts just have palpable tension too...
definetly worth reading..
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