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Summary: Stone Barrington, at it again!
Review: Stone Barrington is back again in the newest book in the series. He is again reunited with Allison Manning from Dead in the Water. She now has a new name, a new lover, and a new "plan". In this book, you will follow Stone in his search for "Liz's" husband, who is alive, regardless of what previous books have told us. Both Mannings are on the lose, and could they both be up to no good? Stone begins to wonder as the events in this book unfold, and you will too.Also, could it be that Stone and Arrington are reunited? She does make an appearance in this book, but I do not want to give away what happens in this soap opera romance. And of course Stone's old partner Dino tags along to Florida for the ride. Despite other comments, I felt this was a great book and lived up to Woods' previous work. It had the thrilling page turning excitement that I love about this author. Check it out!
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Summary: Stone Barrington¿s Appeal is Wearing Thin
Review: Stone Barrington is hired by a nerdy software billionaire, Thad Shames, to find the woman he has fallen instantly in love with after just one meeting. All he knows about her is her first name, Liz, and the fact that she has left New York to visit someone in Palm Beach. So, with this meager trail, Stone is sent on Thad's private jet to stay on his yacht in Palm Beach while looking or Liz. In one of many incredible coincidences throughout the novel he finds her right away, and she turns out to be the woman that Stone had rescued in St. Marks a couple of years ago, and who he believed to be dead. Stone helps her to settle with the insurance company who had paid the $12 million life insurance policy upon her husband's death and agrees to keep her secret from Thad. In another recurring theme, suave, sexy Stone immediately attracts Thad's private chef and assistant, Callie, into his bed. Liz has also asked Stone to help her thwart a stalker who she believes to be her ex-husband, who supposedly had died on their boat in St. Marks. Stone is also being stalked by his ex-wife, Dolce, who has become dangerously psychotic. Just to fill up a few more pages of the novel, Stone's ex-fiance Arrington, now the widow of Vance Calder, appears on the scene reminding him of how close they once were. In just one novel, four of Stone's current and former conquests vie for attention. Although I've enjoyed all of the Stone Barrington novels to date, Cold Paradise drags too many characters from previous novels into the plot and tries to find something for them to do. The coincidences and overlaps are too contrived to be realistic. It's time for Woods to retire Stone or at least let him shed some of his past and move on.
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Summary: Palm Beach Payoff
Review: Stone Barrington, high-money New York City lawyer, ex-cop, and sleuth, takes on a case that seems impossible at first. Thad Shames, rising young billionaire in the computer software world, met a woman once in a bar that he's decided he can't live without. Problem is, he doesn't know who she is or even where she lives. Enter Stone, hired by Shames to track down the elusive mystery lady that has won the geek billionaire's heart with a single glance. Hitting Palm Beach in elegant stride, always knowing which wine to order and which luxury car to drive, Stone turns up the love of Todd Shames' life in short order--while finding a new lady love himself. Of course, in a swiftly-plotted Stuart Woods novel, an experienced reader knows that only the tip of the iceberg has been touched. In no time at all, Stone is plunged into a world of deceit and trickery that reaches back into his own past. And while he's battling the tangled skeins of changed identities, dead men who aren't dead but who have had nose jobs, and fighting off the unsettling advances of Arrington Calder (whom he can't seem to get out of his system and who may be the mother of his child), he finds out his ex-wife Dolce (deranged and a Mafia princess to boot) has stopped taking her Thorazine and escaped the facility where she's been kept and is now on a mission to track Stone down and kill him. Stuart Woods is the best-selling author of eight Stone Barrington novels, including the recently published THE SHORT FOREVER. He's written four novels about Will Lee and three about Deputy Police Chief Holly Barker. In addition, he's written a growing list of stand-alone thrillers, including the award-winning CHIEFS, which was filmed as a television mini-series. Reading a Stuart Woods novel, no matter who the main character is, guarantees a slam-bang driving plot, lots of decadent elegance, and a compendium of brand-names showing how to live life as one of the financially elite. The writing is crisp and tight, but also light enough that the books can be picked up and put down without fear of losing the plot thread. COLD PARADISE perfectly fits that formula. Stone Barrington is a likeable hero and leads a life many can only fantasize about. Besides handling cases that get bizarre and twisted yet ultimately make sense, Stone also handles a bevy of beautiful women and lives the good life, serving the reader a glass of collector's wine and placing the reader in the shotgun seat of the world's sleekest automobiles. COLD PARADISE continues several threads that Woods has in the air regarding his series character, resolves a few of them, and ends at a spot that will make readers rush out to pick up his next novel to see what happens to Stone next. The pacing and plotting move the book along easily, and the copious amounts of dialogue make reading almost a sinful pleasure. The only caveat that must be offered is that while Woods delivers a fast-paced story, he also cuts a few corners. Suspects are conveniently found rapidly, and with Stone's luck at finding things he should go to Vegas. Readers of light mysteries and casual thrillers will enjoy COLD PARADISE. It's a perfect novel to take along to the beach and read purely for pleasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Stuart Woods at his Worst...
Review: Stone Barrington, that sexy hunk of a cop turned lawyer finds himself an interesting assignment when Thad Shames, a young, exorbitantly rich software mogul hires him to locate a young woman he met at a party. All Thad can tell Stone is that she's thirtyish, brunette, of medium height with blue eyes and her first name might be Liz. And, he has a feeling that she might be in Palm Beach, where, of course, Thad has a palace of a home and a yacht. But never fear, Stone takes the corporate jet, and by page fifty has found this elusive damsel, who by coincidence he knows very well from a previous novel, Dead in the Water. Mr Woods now has 275 pages to fill and he does this by chronicling the very vacuous and decadent lives of Stone and company. We get to see them all eat beluga caviar and drink Krug champagne, loll around on the yacht, drinking and snacking, shop for expensive, custom made clothes and jewelry, drive expensive cars to golf outings and go to elegant, black tie dinner parties with the other rich and famous. And, of course the book is full of beautiful, desirable women, all fighting over Stone, so his sex life is never lacking. Cold Paradise is a novel with absolutely no substance or merit. The plot is thin, really almost nonexistent and predictable, the writing poor and uninspired and the characters, many back from previous Stone Barrington adventures, one-dimensional caricatures. It's nearly impossible to connect with and care about these people and what is happening to them. Stuart Woods wrote many good thrillers earlier in his career, Chiefs and Palindrome being among his best. But not now. Do yourself a big favor and skip Cold Paradise. It's definitely one of this year's worst!
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.
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Summary: Stone Barrington's at it again
Review: Stuart Woods is a strange author. He writes these detective novels. They have mundane plots, relatively straightforward action, and somewhat pedestrian dialogue. Yet they're very popular, and he's built up a considerable following (of which I would consider myself a member) writing them for about two decades. The strangest thing of all is his ability to hang the whole plot of a book on one or more ridiculous coincidences, and get away with it. This book has several enormous whoppers, and yet it works reasonably well. Stone Barrington, for those who don't know him, is a former NYPD homicide detective who went to law school nights, and got himself hired by a fairly prominent law firm in the city. He does the odd legal stuff for them---getting someone's son out of jail when they get caught DUI, sorting out where all the assets went in a messy divorce, that sort of thing. In the current installment, he's hired by a dot.com billionaire entrepreneurial geek to find the woman of his dreams, who he's only met once. He only knows her name, doesn't know much of anything about her, and yet is in love with her anyway. Stone travels to Palm Beach, Florida, to find her, and winds up helping an old flame out of some legal difficulties too. There's a new romance with the geek's sexy chef, entanglements with a former lover, and an ex-wife (which could be confusing if you haven't read the previous books in the series). Much intrigue and deception follow, and there is the requisite suspense, and romance. While this is a good book, it's not the best suspense novel ever. It is, however, a reasonable entertainment for a plane ride or an afternoon on the beach.
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Summary: Beige Paradise a more appropriate title
Review: The bad phrasing and uninspiring writing style made this one the worst reads of the millenium. I strongly advise against any literature by Stuart Woods.
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Summary: Stone Cold Paradise
Review: The latest Stone Barrington book is the best by far - pure escapism. You can't take these books too seriously. Woods must write them with tongue-firmly-in-cheek. All of the characters we love, Dino, Dolce, Allison and Paul Manning (from Dead in the Water) are involved in this intricate plot. Even selfish Arrington makes an appearance (although I am growing tired of her - Stone is too good for her). Stone is called in to help a computer magnate find the woman of his dreams. Little does Stone know that he will become embroiled with a couple who were both supposedly executed on a Carribean island years before. As always, Stone's sexual escapades are an integral part of the book. In past offerings, Stone never met a woman he could so "No" to. Now, finally, he seems to have developed a conscious. He at least THINKS about saying "No". The plot moves along at a quick pace, the characters are well developed and then ending doesn't fall apart (or wrap up too quickly). It left me ready for Stone's next great adventure.
Rating: 
Summary: love boat: a male fantasy
Review: the world of stone barrington is from the pages of a gq with an attitude or of a remington steele episode which has gone soft porn. as slick as the pages of playboy. all bare boned action featuring cardboard stereotypes of the chichi set in palm beach. mindless entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Enough of Stone
Review: This book starts out from where we were left dangling at the end of the last Stone Barrington book. It is filled with the same slick characters,plus a few new ones thrown in.Stone is sent to Palm Beach with the impossible assignment of finding a woman,whom he manages to find immediately.She turns out to be Allison,from the past,who along with her husband,Paul,contrived a massive con game in an earlier book.Paul is again the main villain with a secondary villain thrown in to confuse the plot.Stone immediately falls into bed with Callie,who has a job but doesn't appear to ever work. Dino arrives from his NYPD job to aid Stone, as the Palm Beach police seem ineffective.Of course, Arrington briefly appears as does his non-wife,Dolce,who seeks revenge. The entire Palm Beach Scene plays a vital role in this book with its lavish parties,expensive cars,private clubs, and Stone,whose life is always endangered,manages to partake of all the glamour The entire plot is so convoluted with these various characters at odds with one another it gets tedious At a point in the book I was hoping that one of the villains would wipe out Stone and his tiresome friends to put an end to this,as there is a certainty that there will be yet another Stone Barrington book with the same wordly boring characters
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