Rating: 
Summary: A fun read, but not the best Barrington novel
Review: After having read Wood's latest Stone Barrington novel, "Dirty Work" (and loving it) I wanted to go back and read the earlier novels in the series, which brought me to "Cold Paradise". It's a very fast-paced story, and definitely keeps you entertained for all of its 300+ pages. Here are some thoughts to help you make up your own mind.Though this is I think the sixth book in the series with his main character Stone Barrington, I did not feel at a loss at all for not having read the first few. That alone impressed me, but then add on top of that a story that grabs you and does let go. Unfortunately, of the ones I have read, this one seemed the least plausible. A real suspension of disbelief is required while reading. While I usually have no problem with that, I don't want to recognize while reading that I am having a difficult time thinking the story is realistic. Still, it is a fun read if you take it with a grain of salt and just allow yourself to be entertained by it. Woods combines characters that are cops, ex-cops, lawyers, hit men, international thieves, and mafia and does it all masterfully. Pick this book up and you likely won't be able to put it back down until its over.
Rating:
Summary: Stone Barrington in Miami
Review: Cold Paradise by Stuart Woods is another chapter in the life of Stone Barrington, ex-cop, lawyer, and super hunk who is hired by Thad Shames, a billionaire Bill Gates clone, to find the love of his life. Shames knows only her first name, Liz, and absolutely nothing else about her. Stone flies to Miami and finds more than he bargained for, a woman he knew and thought was dead. But Callie Hodges, Shames' assistant, eases those pains by jumping into his bed. Insurance fraud, stalkers, and a slippery writer keep mysteries popping up like unruly dandelions in a well tended Florida lawn.
Stuart Woods has delighted his readers for eleven years with the cavorting forty-four year old's adventures in and out of bed. He is a prolific writer and has been popular with readers since his first book, Chiefs, was published.
Descriptions of Thad Shames' life style, Stone's traps for the bad guys and unexpected twists keep the reader riveted and committed to perpetual page flipping. Cold Paradise is a fun bash for anyone wanting a fast read and a visit to Palm Beach where the very rich shop for Armani clothes at the drop of a Gucci shoe and other glitzy characters live life with as much gusto as their bank accounts allow. It's like eating one of Stone's exotic gourmet meals. You want more and more.
In Stone's world, happy coincidences line up like dominoes. Events fall into miraculous place. For example, after Thad Shames, the billionaire, commissions Stone to find the love of his life, it's accomplished on the first night of his search. However, this event sets off a fist-full of twists and turns that pilot the reader through a fast paced reading experience. Could the women who inhabit Stone's world have been a little more restrained without slowing the book down? Wood's fans would yell a resounding, "No!"
Stuart Woods has written dozens of novels and has a vast audience of readers who wait impatiently for his two new novels published each year. Orchid Blues, L. A. Dead, The Run, and Dead in the Water are some of the titles that new readers of Stuart Woods' books will enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Its hot in Palm Beach!
Review: I am a huge fan of S. Woods, and I LOVE Stone Barrington. He's one of my most favorite continuous characters to read. I have to say I did thoroughly enjoy this book. The humor between Stone and Dino keeps the reader involved. I have to say that I would love to see the Arrington and Stone relationship a little more explored (I guess I'm just the true romantic, you know wanting to see the impossible happen)but I loved the conflicts between him and Dolce and Allison/Liz. I can't wait to read The Short Forever, its on my list NEXT!
Rating:
Summary: Saw it coming . . . but that's OK
Review: I'd like to hang around with Stone Barrington for a couple of weeks, buy $150 dollar shirts for my friends, $50 dollar socks when I need the right shade, know what kind of an engine goes in a Bentley, and get $25,000 dollar watches from ex-lovers as a thank you. And the women. As Dino would say, "Marrone!" It's good to be Stone. And that's why we go to read him, for the same reason we read Spenser and go see old Sean Connery movies as "Bond. James Bond." So what's wrong with that? I like to read Stuart Woods. I don't expect to remember any quotes, won't laugh too hard, never shed a tear, chuckle at Bacchetti's New York humor, and try (hard to do) to keep track of the women. So many women, so little time Stone might quip. You kind of saw this one coming in the third inning. Still good to read. 4 Stars. Larry Scantlebury
Rating: 
Summary: Lack of substance and interest
Review: I've read one other Stone Barrington book and enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to Cold Paradise - what a waste of time. This book read like an Archie McNally novel - light, fluffy, no "thrill factor" at all. I knew from the beginning how it was all going to turn out. If you enjoy reading fluff, you'll love it. If you're looking for a story with some substance, however, skip this one. It's not worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good...
Review: It took me a bit to read this book. I am not one to sit and read books in one sitting, like some people. But anyway, this book was good. I enjoyed the plot, the characters blended great! The climax was what I expected...at the end of your seat kinda ending...I have read a lot of Woods work, and I will continue to do so in the future.
Rating:
Summary: COLD PARADISE - Strong chilly mystery
Review: Legal investigator and confirmed bachelor Stone Barrington heads for Palm Beach to help his ultra wealthy client find the woman of his dreams. Stone, a lawyer by day and a lady's man by night, has to balance this investigation with the sudden appearance of two former girlfriends, an ex-wife, and of course, a new female companion. One of his former flames, Allison Manning, also hires Stone to find the man of her dreadful dreams, her estranged husband whom she thinks is stalking her. Stone enlists the help of his former partner, New York City cop Dino Bacchetti, who jets to the Gold Coast with his golf clubs in tow. With his sidekick, Stone goes about solving the murderous mysteries lurking around Lake Worth. Palm Beach and COLD PARADISE becomes ground zero for the appearance of several former book series characters, from girlfriends to villains, both alive and from the dead. For series aficionados, its delightful to have them back for a culminating gala event on the intercostal waterways of paradise. But you don't have to read all of Stone Barrington's former cases and conquests to enjoy the warm mysteries of COLD PARADISE. Its clever story, with charismatic and endearing characters, stands tall on its own.
Rating:
Summary: Cold Decadence
Review: Meet Stone Barrington, a Bond-like attorney/investigator/playboy with exquisite taste and dangerous habits. In Cold Paradise by Stuart Woods, Barrington suffers through another New York winter, but his outlook improves dramatically upon meeting billionaire software tycoon Thad Shames. Shames has fallen hopelessly in love with a mysterious woman named Liz after meeting her only once, and hires Barrington to find her. The only lead Barrington has is that she lives in exotic Palm Beach, so Barrington takes up residence on Shames' 240-foot yacht off the Florida coast, where he is soon ensnared in a web of conspiracy and murder. Cold Paradise is the seventh novel in the Stone Barrington series, first introduced with 1992's New York Dead. Woods is an amazingly prolific writer, having already published dozens of novels and two books of non-fiction. One of his previous novels, Dead in the Water, provides the back-story for Cold Paradise. The first seventy pages of Cold Paradise moves well, as Dead in the Water's Allison Manning reappears after swindling twelve million dollars in an insurance scam. The book is peppered with clever dialogue between Barrington and his sidekick Bachetti, and the setting is vivid, for Woods has an uncanny gift of making the wealthy decadence of Palm Beach come alive. There are plot and character problems, however, starting with an inexplicable coincidence: Allison Manning is Shames's Liz. She is also Barrington's former client and lover, so things get complicated; Allison still lusts for Barrington, but so does every other woman in Cold Paradise. Before long Palm Beach is crawling with Barrington's girlfriends, past and present, and one needs a libretto to keep them straight. This leads to another problem--the author's inability to develop female characters. The two female leads, Allison and Callie, seem incapable of doing anything meaningful, their lives limited to shopping, cooking, and bed hopping. Barrington's ex-wife Dolce (Italian for 'sweet') wants to kill him for reasons unknown, yet readers can safely assume that her psychotic state was induced by Barrington's sexual persona. Midway through the novel, there is a second case of mistaken identity that has no real function in the story except to distract the reader and waste a hundred pages. One wonders if Woods has been influenced by filmmaker David Lynch with his constant manipulation of identity, yet where Lynch dazzles his audience with a unique vision, Woods merely irritates his readers with trivial nonsense. The discriminating reader may soon tire of the crass materialism in the book; conspicuous consumption abounds, with many references to luxury cars (Shames orders three Mercedes convertibles for his house guests), jewelry (Allison impulsively buys a $30,000 necklace) and designer wardrobes (the working-class Bachetti inexplicably goes shopping for an Armani suit). Woods's style in Cold Paradise is infected with narcissism, and readers may feel little empathy for these characters. One can argue that books like Cold Paradise shouldn't be held to the same critical standard as more 'serious' fiction. If the author's intention is 'fiction light' (the argument goes), then critical standards must be adjusted or even ignored. Cold Paradise thrives in that curious realm of books targeted for beachcombers and frequent flyers. Undoubtedly Woods is mining this market.... Cold Paradise will appeal to past readers of the Barrington series; there is a formula at work here that is undeniably successful. In addition to the faithful, the book will attract the Wish-I-Were-Rich crowd, who can, at least vicariously, live the good life between the pages of this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Stuart Woods always keeps you guessing and Stone Barrington is always an interesting person, who always finds himself in trouble in work and in love.
Rating: 
Summary: SUSPENSFUL
Review: THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK I READ AND LET ME TELL YA, I LOVED IT!! I REALLY ENJOYED HIM BRINGING SOME OF THE CHARACTERS BACK FROM PREVIOUS BOOKS(WHICH I DIDN"T KNOW AT FIRST BEING AS I READ THE BOOKS OUT OF SEQUENCED). STONE IS SUCH A HERO, IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. I LOVE THE FACT THAT HE "GETS" EVERY BEAUTIFUL GIRL THAT HE ENCOUNTERS. I ALSO LIKED THE WAY THE PLOT GOES IN THIS BOOK, RIGHT WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT FIGURED OUT ANOTHER SURPRISE HAPPENS AND YOU HEARTRATE JUMPS UP AGAIN AND IT KEEPS YOU WRAPPED UP. THIS WAS ANOTHER ONE I JUST COLUDNT PUT DOWN. I LIKE THE MOOD THIS BOOK PRESENTS, THE YACHET, THE RICH AND THE FAMOUS, AND ALL THE MAYHAM IT BRINGS. IT BRINGS THE READER IN TO THIS LIFESTYLE, THAT I BELIEVE TO MOST OF US IS A FANTASY, BUT IF ONLY WE WERE RICH, OUR LIFES WOULD BE SO EASY. THEN AS THE PLOT THICKENS, WE LEARN BEING RICH AND HAVING POWER BECAUSE OF YOUR MONEY WILL ALSO BRING YOU HARDSHIPS, DECITE AND LIES.
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