Dead in the Water : A Novel

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Summary: A thrill a minute must read!
Review: "Dead in the Water" by Stuart Woods delivers a suspenseful thriller formula about a beautiful young woman that docks a yacht in a Caribbean port. Allison Manning, claims her husband had a heart attack and she buried him at sea. The plot thickens when she is charged with murder after the authorities learn about the $12 million insurance policy her husband took out several years ago. Vacationing lawyer Stone Barrington, whose girlfriend misses their flight to the Caribbean because of a work assignment, leaves Barrington free to come to Manning's aid. Allison tearfully tells the authorities, how her husband suffered a fatal heart attack while she was lodged atop a mast and was unable to help herself down much less help him through his unfortunate incident, and was forced to finally bury him at sea. The story's good enough for the coroner's inquest, but not enough for Sir Winston Sutherland, an ambitious Minister of Justice, who thinks a high-profile conviction might be just the thing to catapult him into the Prime Minister's post. Allison comes off as the poor little rich girl with all the right credentials (blond hair, killer body, and boundless sexual stamina) to secure herself the premier legal representation on St. Marks in the vacationing New York lawyer, Stone Barrington and his side kick Leslie Hewitt an elderly local barrister.Stone believes that he need only lodge a media campaign to expose the islands government that assumes that the accused is guilty and the real crime would be keeping the jury past dinnertime. Stone is pulled deeper into the mysterious web of Allison Manning by succumbing to her seductive advances which render him impotent to a justice system which bears very little resemblance to the American courts. Dead in the Water is a cyclone of a roller coaster ride. Every page leaves you on the edge and the verge of suspense.

Rating:
Summary: "Dead in the Water" is the consummate beach read.
Review: Take "Dead in the Water" to the beach, but leave it in your casita for the next guest. If you like to finish quick-paced thrillers in an afternoon, this book is for you. It's the sort of mind candy that makes a good treat rather than a steady diet. Woods makes no attempt to be cerebral, and I'm glad that he didn't. Never mind the hanging plot lines (i.e., why was there a thump from the gallows?) and delight in the guilty pleasures of this lurid thriller. After all, if your body is on vacation, doesn't your mind deserve a vacation, too?

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Summary: Dead in the Water is Not A Dead Story
Review: ... The author was effective in keeping my attention because not only was there the suspense of the sexual tension, she threaded the suspense of trying to find the real murderer throughout the novel.

Rating:
Summary: Dead In The Water but Not Dead Reading
Review: This is the first book I have read by Mr. Woods. The plot combined with Mr. Woods writing style made for exciting reading. I found it extremely hard to put down. I often found myself feeling sorry for Allison and Stone as well as thinking "She Did It", only to find myself a few pages later thinking "She Didn't Do It". Later in the book I found myself thinking, "Insurance Scam". I won't spoil the book by telling you what happens or if she did or didn't do it. What I will tell you is that this is definatly a must read book with a fantastic ending. Being the first book I have ever read by Mr. Stuart I was plesantly surprised to find that there was nothing about this book I didn't like. Easy, smooth flowing reading. I will definatly be reading more of Stuart Woods writing. Even though this book is not listed as a legal thriller, I would rank it right up with authors suchs as John Grishim and Brad Meltzer's"Dead Even". Let me take a minute and reiterate that this is a great book and a must read for any avid reader.

Rating:
Summary: "Dead in the Water" is the consummate beach read.
Review: Take "Dead in the Water" to the beach, but leave it in your casita for the next guest. If you like to finish quick-paced thrillers in an afternoon, this book is for you. It's the sort of mind candy that makes a good treat rather than a steady diet. Woods makes no attempt to be cerebral, and I'm glad that he didn't. Never mind the hanging plot lines (i.e., why was there a thump from the gallows?) and delight in the guilty pleasures of this lurid thriller. After all, if your body is on vacation, doesn't your mind deserve a vacation, too?

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Summary: Whatsup???
Review: I was walking and reading this book on tape. It concluded with Stone hailing a cab to scuttle off to LA because his former girlfriend was pregnant and he'd gotten a call from her new husband????? That's it????? Why should I ever read another Stone Barrington story if it doesn't conclude!

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Summary: Way too unbelievable...
Review: Let me start off by saying that I have read numerous books by Nr. Woods, with the latest being Dead in the Water, and that is exactly what this book was...Dead in the Water! I usually speed right through his books with no problem, but with this one...it was kinda hard to finish...I did not even want to read the Epilouge! The ending was way far fetched and very unbelievable. I dont want to give it away, but it stunk!! I wonder what Mr. Woods was thinking when he wrote this one. I wonder if I will be inclined to read another one of his books in the future. I am finding that I am getting bored with his style and the whole thing.

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Summary: Just Dead
Review: Stuart Woods has quickly become one of my all-time favorite authors, however, I found this Stone Barrington series to be a little bit far-fetched and not so good (as compared to his others in the series). Woods does a great job of maintaining a great character in Stone, I just did like some of things that Stone did in the book. He is supposed to be madly in love with Arrington, yet he keeps finding comfort in the arms of others. I guess it goes with Stone's character loving many different women. The ending was very far-fetched and kind of a letdown. If you have never read Woods before, I would suggest that you not make this your first novel of his that you read. Instead, go with "New York Dead," "L.A. Times," or "The Run". Not that this book isn't good, it is just definitely not his best.

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Summary: first read by this author...I will have to read them all..
Review: I am not an avid reader, but I read a few pages and could not put it down. Does not take a long time to get started and it moves along at a very fast pace. VERY GOOD

Rating:
Summary: Good...but no cigar...
Review: I had the fortune of listening to this book as read by Richard Ferrone. What a build up! What characters! What a scenario! Too bad none of it goes anywhere. Of course, I cannot go into too many narrative details but suffice to say the ending is very disappointing...and things you felt should have happened didn't. Perhaps the greatest disappointment of all was the author using the ending as the beginning of another book...as though I want to read something else equally as dissatisfying?