Rating: 
Summary: A first time reader
Review: This is the first novel I've read by Stuart Woods and now I see I should have read "Dead in the Water" first, but nonetheless, it was a good read. The story takes retired detective now lawyer, Stone Barrington, to Hollywood to help search for his former girlfriend Arrington who has married the famous actor, Vance Calder. Stone is surprised after he arrives to find that Calder isn't as worried about Arrington as he had first appearred to be. He is given first class treatment, a fancy car, nice hotel, even a part in Vance's new movie,and is then shuffled out of town in a hurry which only makes Stone determined to find out what is really going on with Arrington, especially since Calder has told Stone that Arrington is pregnant and there is a chance that Stone could be the father. The reader is led on a chase with important Hollywood types who want to see him dead. He narrowly escapes death after being tossed overboard into the Pacific ocean with an anchor tied to his waist. Stone figures out that Arrington is being held against her will and won't stop until he has found her. That may mean an end to Vance Calder's career if the public find out about the scandal he's gotten himself into. It's up to Stone to uncover the truth about who has taken Arrington and why without letting Vance's name come out. The story has a very exciting ending which I won't reveal and all in all it was a good story. The only objection I have is that Stone was sure quick to jump into bed with any pretty woman that looked his way. Isn't he concerned about diseases? Well, I know it's just a story, but I could have done without all the sex.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read
Review: This was the first book that I had read by Stuart Woods. I picked it up on a lark, and started to read and didn't quit until I turned the last page. There was glamour and power mixed in with money laundering, bookies, and kidnapping. It was interesting until the end, and even put closure on all the issues that had been brought up during the story. I am looking for the next Stuart Woods book I can find to read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: This was the first book that I had read by Stuart Woods. I picked it up on a lark, and started to read and didn't quit until I turned the last page. There was glamour and power mixed in with money laundering, bookies, and kidnapping. It was interesting until the end, and even put closure on all the issues that had been brought up during the story. I am looking for the next Stuart Woods book I can find to read.
Rating:
Summary: Full of suspense and hard to put down
Review: This was the first of Woods books that I have read and it will not be the last. This book keep the suspense until the end. I would get to the next chapter and mean to put the book down and not be able to. This book focus' on real places and one can easily put themselves into the book. You feel as if you are there, especially if you are from the part of the country that the plot takes place. I gave this 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Another Fast-paced Page Turner Starring Stone Barrington
Review: Well, Stuart Woods did it again! He provides his readers with another fast-paced page turner with his recurring character, Stone Barrington. Fans of Stuart Woods know that Stone is a retired NYC police detective turned lawyer. While he does practice in the legal profession, he never quite gets away from his past as a dedicated gumshoe and it is this combination (along with other quirks) that makes him such a fascinating character. In this installment, Woods reprises a character from the immediately preceding DEAD IN THE WATER. That person is Stone's erstwhile lover Arrington Carter. As readers of DITW know, Arrington never joined Stone for their mid-winter Caribbean vacation. Instead, she winds up following actor Vance Calder to Hollywood and much to everyone's surprise, Stone's included, she marries him. At the beginning of this novel, Stone is called to California by Vance Calder, ostensibly to investigate the disappearance of Arrington. being the good detective that he is, Stone complies with Vance's request. Upon arrival, he is feted by studio bigwigs and even cast as a lawyer in a movie (for which he is well paid despite his inexperience as an actor and his short time on set and in front of the camera). Stone sallies forth and encounters several young women who seem all too eager to bed him down. Being the person he is, Stone is all too willing to comply and he begins to sample the several sexual pleasures he is offered by different women Woods introduces to the story. In addition to his sexual adventures, Stone also has several that could only be called life-threatening. He meets local mafia soldiers and they proceed to try to get rid of him in a time-tested manner. After reading that scene, it becomes readily apparent how Woods chose his title. Although his escape from that precarious situation borders on implausible, I suspended disbelief, knowing that the story would have a better ending because of it. Throughought SWIMMING TO CATALINA, Stone functions as both detective and lawyer. Toward the end of the novel, Woods gives the reader a treat as we get to see just how good a negotiator and advocate Stone really is. Stone has the opportunity to prevent his client, Vance Calder from getting into trouble with the federal government while at the same time, helping the same federal agencies crack murder and corruption cases. During all of the wheelings and dealings, Stone also must come to grips with the fact that he is still in love with Arrington despite the fact that she is married to Vance Calder. Another complication added to the mix is that Arrington is pregnant and doesn't know whether Stone is the father or her new husband is. That mystery is not solved until the very end. Stone's reaction, while bittersweet shows that he is the better man. Stuart Woods imbues Stone Barrington with several admirable qualities while also showing him to be a man with certain well know weaknesses. The strong qualities are loyalty, a sense of justice and fair-play and a need to see justice done. He is also not above exacting revenge when he feels it serves a purpose. I like Stone Barrington. I believe that Stuart Woods could find many more story lines to use for him much as Robert B. Parker continues to turn out spare but faced new novels in his SPENSER series. Done right, I think Woods could keep Stone Barrington around for quite some time to come. I hope he decides to do so. If he does, I think I can safely say that the books will fly off the shelves in bookstores everywhere. Thanks for another thoroughly enjoyable read, Stuart. Please keep Stone Barrington stories coming!
Rating:
Summary: Another Fast-paced Page Turner Starring Stone Barrington
Review: Well, Stuart Woods did it again! He provides his readers with another fast-paced page turner with his recurring character, Stone Barrington. Fans of Stuart Woods know that Stone is a retired NYC police detective turned lawyer. While he does practice in the legal profession, he never quite gets away from his past as a dedicated gumshoe and it is this combination (along with other quirks) that makes him such a fascinating character. In this installment, Woods reprises a character from the immediately preceding DEAD IN THE WATER. That person is Stone's erstwhile lover Arrington Carter. As readers of DITW know, Arrington never joined Stone for their mid-winter Caribbean vacation. Instead, she winds up following actor Vance Calder to Hollywood and much to everyone's surprise, Stone's included, she marries him. At the beginning of this novel, Stone is called to California by Vance Calder, ostensibly to investigate the disappearance of Arrington. being the good detective that he is, Stone complies with Vance's request. Upon arrival, he is feted by studio bigwigs and even cast as a lawyer in a movie (for which he is well paid despite his inexperience as an actor and his short time on set and in front of the camera). Stone sallies forth and encounters several young women who seem all too eager to bed him down. Being the person he is, Stone is all too willing to comply and he begins to sample the several sexual pleasures he is offered by different women Woods introduces to the story. In addition to his sexual adventures, Stone also has several that could only be called life-threatening. He meets local mafia soldiers and they proceed to try to get rid of him in a time-tested manner. After reading that scene, it becomes readily apparent how Woods chose his title. Although his escape from that precarious situation borders on implausible, I suspended disbelief, knowing that the story would have a better ending because of it. Throughought SWIMMING TO CATALINA, Stone functions as both detective and lawyer. Toward the end of the novel, Woods gives the reader a treat as we get to see just how good a negotiator and advocate Stone really is. Stone has the opportunity to prevent his client, Vance Calder from getting into trouble with the federal government while at the same time, helping the same federal agencies crack murder and corruption cases. During all of the wheelings and dealings, Stone also must come to grips with the fact that he is still in love with Arrington despite the fact that she is married to Vance Calder. Another complication added to the mix is that Arrington is pregnant and doesn't know whether Stone is the father or her new husband is. That mystery is not solved until the very end. Stone's reaction, while bittersweet shows that he is the better man. Stuart Woods imbues Stone Barrington with several admirable qualities while also showing him to be a man with certain well know weaknesses. The strong qualities are loyalty, a sense of justice and fair-play and a need to see justice done. He is also not above exacting revenge when he feels it serves a purpose. I like Stone Barrington. I believe that Stuart Woods could find many more story lines to use for him much as Robert B. Parker continues to turn out spare but faced new novels in his SPENSER series. Done right, I think Woods could keep Stone Barrington around for quite some time to come. I hope he decides to do so. If he does, I think I can safely say that the books will fly off the shelves in bookstores everywhere. Thanks for another thoroughly enjoyable read, Stuart. Please keep Stone Barrington stories coming!
Rating:
Summary: Entertainment, Fame, Sex, Violence, Intrigue & Suspense
Review: What more could you want in a fast-paced novel? Stone Barrington appears again to "save the day" in this thriller set in the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles. Stone is summoned by Vance Calder to help locate Stone's former girlfriend and Vance's current wife, Arrington who has vanished. When Stone arrives in Los Angeles and visits Vance on the set of a movie he is filming, Vance is evasive about the details of Arrington's disappearance, a walk-on part is suddenly contrived for Stone and he is groomed to appear in the movie. But just as suddenly, Vance announces that Arrington is visiting her family in Virginia, the part is reduced, and Stone is rushed out of town. He feels uncomfortable with the story about Arrington and decides to stay around until he finds her. Then the action really starts. He is tailed, his rooms are searched, and he starts to find lots of incriminating evidence that something is seriously wrong. He believes that Arrington has been kidnapped and that Vance is in over his head. Stone has an affair with Vance's uninhibited personal secretary, Betty, who provides some more clues, but Stone later finds out that he can't trust her either. Stone enlists the help of his police buddies to do research on some of the suspicious characters surrounding Vance Calder and stumbles across what he believes to be a huge money laundering operation run by Oney Ippolito. He receives a puzzling invitation to dine on Ippolito's yacht, but never makes it. Two goons that work for Ippolito bind his arms and legs, chain an anchor to him and dump him in the channel. He manages to dislodge the anchor and swim to Catalina. The tale gets even more exciting after this, as the level of danger and intrigue builds. The plot is complicated, but the fast pace and attention to details keeps the book from getting bogged down. Somehow the indomitable Stone Barrington orchestrates a satisfying end to this story involving the FBI, LAPD and IRS. It's good to know that he will live on to star in another Stuart Woods novel.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as 'Dead In The Water'
Review: With 'Swimming To Catalina', Stuart Woods has written a good novel, developing the characters of Stone and Arrington, to a lesser extent Vance, well, but it just cannot compare to the skill of 'Dead In The Water'. 'Swimming To Catalina'will go down very well with his fans, but isn't top notch.
Rating:
Summary: STONE BARRINGTON ROMPS AGAIN!!!!
Review: Woods has done it again using Stone as his main man....what fun! yup, it was difficult to put down and was a total piece of fluff and yet had a bit of substance to it... i loved the characters...and i, too, always look to see where the delano spot will appear just as hitchcock used to do with his films ....hopefully, we can see another marvelous saga such as the incredible, not to be surpassed 'chiefs'....one day, eh????? in the interim, this is a definite buy!
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