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.
Rating: 
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.
Rating: 
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.
Rating:
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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