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Summary: Stone Barrington needs a long vacation or a new job.
Review: Stuart Woods seems to have taken the same road as Patricia Cornwell and other noted contemporary authors. Find a character and stay with it until it begins to smell. There is nothing new or fresh in this work. If I wanted to read amorous fiction I could pick up a tabloid press copy or a bodice ripper at the supermarket.
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Summary: The Short Forever Fo Sho
Review: The Short Forever by Stuart Woods is just one of the many books written by him with the character "Stone Barrington." Stone is an ex-cop turned investigator for a law firm. In this novel, a client, John Bartholemew, is sent to him by an acquaintance of Stone's. He tells Stone to go to London to bring back his neece and to have the man she wants to marry sent to jail for life. Turns out the woman is not his neece and the man is a former man in British military operations that used to work with Stone's client. It also turns up that John Bartholomew is not his real name. Stone, when arriving in london, is reacquainted with an old fling of his, who is now engaged. Stone also gets caught up with busines partners of the man he is supposed to have sent to jail. To Stone, the review of this book is as confuing as what he must go through to solve everything. I personally loved this book and plan on reading other novels in the series.
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Summary: Read this series because you like Stone, not for the mystery
Review: The Stone Barrington books are more about the coolness of the main character than about detective work or suspense. It's sort of the way you keep reading a series because you enjoy the main character, who happens to be a detective, like Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins or Robert Parker's Spenser. Stone is kind of a man's man like James Bond.
If you like Stone Barrington, you'll want to read the whole series (soon to be 11 books long) FROM THE BEGINNING. No matter what Barrington books you've read, you should go back to New York Dead and work your way through the series (New York Dead, Dirt, Dead in the Water, Swimming to Catalina, Worst Fears Realized, LA Dead, Cold Paradise, The Short Forever, Dirty Work, and Reckless Abandon, Two Dollar Bill). They're not all the same quality, but the story builds and you'll have fewer spoilers if you read them in chronological order.
If you must start in the middle, I'd suggest that The Short Forever is a good place to start because it and the two books following it (Dirty Work and Reckless Abandon) continue some of the same storyline and because The Short Forever and Dirty Work are two of the best Barrington novels. You're still going to be wondering why Dulce and Arrington are so important to Stone (both were almost his wife), which you'll understand much better if you at least go back to Dead in the Water.
If you have a chance to listen to a Stone Barrington novel in audio format, you'll really enjoy Tony Roberts' voice and reading style. I listened to my first three Barrington books before I got hooked and went back to read the books, and I still imagine Roberts' gravelly, suave voice when I read Stone's dialogue.
The Short Forever is a little different from the other Barrington novels because it has more international intrigue with spies and double-crosses and travel. However, at its core, The Short Forever is like the rest of the books in the series-it's about Stone Barrington, a former cop turned lawyer who keeps his feet on the street in investigations that always balloon into something much bigger than they first appeared while Stone tries to pursue a life of romance and style.
I mentioned this in one of my other reviews of a Stuart Woods book, but like his book, LA Times, I've found that more of my male friends like the Barrington series than my female friends (and wife). My wife thinks Stone is silly and laughs at the maleness of the sex scenes. She prefers the Lee family political series (Chiefs, Run Before the Wind, Grass Roots, The Run, Capital Crimes) much more than the Barrington series. But don't let that stop you from taking an adventure with Stone!
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Summary: Classic Stone Barrington - Just Not The Best One
Review: This is classic Stone Barrington. His adventures in this storyline are not as fun and exciting as previous novels yet it is still a decent read if you are a Stone Barrington fan.Mr. Woods style continues to keep you turning pages and enjoying the antics of his character. If you enjoy the Stone Barrington series this is worth the few hours it takes to read the novel. If you have never read Stuart Woods Stone Barrington novels....I suggest you read the others first. This one probably won't get you back for more...but Dead in the Water...if you're going to enjoy this series....start there or at the beginning with New York Dead.
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Summary: Much Ado about Nothing
Review: This isn't a mystery novel. That is the first thing one should understand if one chooses to read this book. It would barely qualify as a procedural in my opinion. The problems are many. First, the main character isn't described at all untill 3/4 of the way into the book and then the only feature I was able to discover is that he has blond hair. Second, the main guy runs around a lot and has a lot of apparently great meals but that is all. He solves nothing, it is all solved for him. The only "murder" is solved in a way that would be kind of like playing a guessing game and at the end someone saying "oh it was number 13." without you even trying to guess. Needless to say, I was terribly dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Much Ado about Nothing
Review: This isn't a mystery novel. That is the first thing one should understand if one chooses to read this book. It would barely qualify as a procedural in my opinion. The problems are many. First, the main character isn't described at all untill 3/4 of the way into the book and then the only feature I was able to discover is that he has blond hair. Second, the main guy runs around a lot and has a lot of apparently great meals but that is all. He solves nothing, it is all solved for him. The only "murder" is solved in a way that would be kind of like playing a guessing game and at the end someone saying "oh it was number 13." without you even trying to guess. Needless to say, I was terribly dissapointed.
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Summary: Stone Barrington Rocks
Review: This Stone Barrington novel does not disapoint. Stone is, as always, a James Bond-type hottie, and you gotta love him. His buku-bucks and luck with the ladies makes for a nice fantastical read once again.
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Summary: Stone Barrington Rocks
Review: This Stone Barrington novel does not disapoint. Stone is, as always, a James Bond-type hottie, and you gotta love him. His buku-bucks and luck with the ladies makes for a nice fantastical read once again.
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Summary: Another fabulous Stuart Woods book
Review: To say Stuart Woods is a good storyteller is like saying Tiger Woods is a good golfer. This is another is what is becoming a long line of terrific and highly readable novels. Although my personal reading interests are diverse, I pick up each new Woods' release shortly after they come out and I've never been disappointed. Stone Barrington fans will love the situation he gets into this time and those not familar with him will become loyalists after this one. A quintessential beach read, even if the beach is miles away.
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Summary: Studly Stone in The Short Forever by Staurt Woods
Review: When the annoying trend of product placement, which has been annoyingly prevelant in movies, finally makes it full-scale to books, Stuart Woods will be in the forefront cashing the checks. His suave and sophisticated character Stone Barrington never drops into the local fast food joint for a burger like the rest of us. Instead, he is having fillet of sole with a nice red wine in an upscale restaurant. If forced to pay, he signs the check with his Mount Blanc pen before driving off with the beautiful woman (every woman wants to be in bed with him putting it politely) in an Austin Martin touring car. Later, he will jump on the Concorde or current equivalent, before doing whatever his client needs him to do, to be followed by splitting another bottle of champagne and dancing with another lovely woman. Following on the heels of his novel Cold Paradise, the studly Stone is back in The Short Forever. As I have noted before, if you haven't read the last several Stuart Woods novels featuring Stone Barrington, then please skip the rest of the review after this paragraph. This novel refers to the previous novel as well as some things in earlier works. Ideally, if you haven't read the works containing Stone, then you should start with the first, New York Dead. However, if that isn't possible, then you should work your way forward from Dead In The Water. If you are still reading, you have been warned. This latest adventure finds Stone just weeks after the conclusion of Cold Paradise. Within a matter of pages as this quick read starts, Callie informs Stone that she is dumping him as well as suddenly marrying Thad James. She has decided that while Stone is great in bed, he just can't give her what she needs, financially or emotionally. Stone is pretty well off financially and one would think that by now, since he has heard this before, he would be used to it. But, he isn't and he is rather upset. However, before he has too much time to self reflect (which would not take too long as these still waters are very shallow) he receives an urgent call from Bill Eggers. "Bill was the managing partner of Woodman & Weld, the prestigious law firm for which Stone did unprestigious jobs." Basically, a glorified troubleshooter for the messy things that the rich involve themselves in from time to time. Bill says that a man will come see Stone the next morning and Stone is to do whatever the man wants. The next morning, John Bartholomew arrives and sits down with Stone at his home. John tells him a story involving his niece Erica Burroughs. She is in London and has suddenly dropped out of school and has involved herself with Lance Cabot, but he is not of the Massachusetts's Cabot's. That is his first strike against him as far as John is concerned. But John is more concerned as he believes Lance is smuggling small quantities of drugs into England and he wants Stone to get Erica away from him and at the same time, find a way to put Lance in jail that does not involve Erica. He will finance Stone's efforts and Stone, once he thinks he has all the facts, agrees to handle the problem. But soon, after arriving in London via the Concorde, he fins out that things are nowhere near what they appear to be. Like most of the other books in the series, this one is extremely short on character development. Stone hardly ever contemplates his own life, the mistakes he has made, and his future. This is not a character one would ever find sitting on a porch somewhere at two in the morning wondering how the heck he had screwed up things so royally. Instead, he moves from beautiful woman's bed to beautiful woman's bed, occasionally roughed up by thugs, and always eating and drinking at the best places. Clearly, it is the good life one hears about. However, this particular novel is considerably better than the last several. The plot is very complicated and there are several twists and turns to it all the way to the end. Like most of the others in the series, this effort is action based and as such, this one seems to have more action than normal in it. Also, as I have warned before, graphic sex is a common occurrence in a Stone Barrington novel. While several practices are hinted at different times in the novel, there are also several explicit and detailed scenes, which may offend some readers. While it is a typical Stone Barrington novel, this one is better than most. Stuart Woods does not plow any new ground here with these characters in the terms of development, but there is quite a lot more action in this novel. This novel is an improvement as far as plot design and action upon the previous novel, Cold Paradise. Hopefully, this is a sign that Mr. Woods has turned away from the speedy production he has generated the last few years and will once again turn out the quality work that marked his earliest work. This one is a definite improvement and a pretty good read.
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