Rating: Summary: Democrats rule - Republicans drool - geesh! Review: A very disappointing and not-so-novel premise of bumbling, stupid, inept, hypocritical right-wing Republicans, sleezing their way through Capital Hill with the saavy, young, energetic, superior intellectual Democrats covering their asses. This book oozes of polital bias and a lame plot complete with the FBI director actually satisfied, well, let's say not disappointed, with the sniper shooting of one of the victims, a conservative SOB (all conservatives are in this book)who is a senator. As an avid reader, I just get tired of the same predictable stories and villains in current fiction. Do authors honestly think their readers are buying (no pun intended) this fodder? Woods needs to stick with the Barrington line and phase out the Will Lee novels if this is all he can come up with. Trust me, this is no "Chiefs", which is unfortunate.
Rating: Summary: Stuart Woods and the White House Review: Again Will Lee center of a novel. Very well written and never boring: an easy read for a winter evening.
Rating: Summary: Very Predictable! Review: As a sometimes fan of Stuart Woods, and as a reader of all the Will Lee novels, I picked this book up to stay in the loop. Let me say that I loved Chiefs, liked Grass Roots and Run Before the Wind, and tolerated The Run. However, this was just all too predictable from beginning to end. Mr. Woods puts out so many books that it seems like he is just spewing words out of his computer. If you are looking for a thriller, read David Baldacci's Split Second.
Rating: Summary: A good beach book Review: CAPITAL CRIMES, a slapdash poltical novel, involves the FBI's pursuit of a serial killer who is targeting well-known right wing figures - a talk show host, a supreme court justice, etc. The killer is someone with a wealth of technical knowledge and capability to carry out elaborate murders, and for most of the book there's little suspense as to how he'll behave. The murder victims are all caricatured as leering idiots A deputy FBI director is put in charge of the case and for much of the book seems to be one of only 2 competent people in the bureau, along with his young sidekick. The FBI director, for no particular reason, is made into a preening buffoon. CAPITAL CRIMES is filled with improbabilities. One character repeatedly ignores communications about the identity of the killer, and the killer himself publishes his intended targets on a website. A subplot involving a British raid on the web server goes nowhere. There's nothing the least bit original or interesting in this book. Skip it .
Rating: Summary: My first Will Lee novel! Review: Having read all of Woods' Stone Barrington novels, I had no doubts that this book would be anything but great!Will Lee is the President of the United States, and his wife is the head of the CIA. Though they are advertised as the main charaters, I didn't feel that their parts were that involved in the storyline. To quickly sum up the story, a highly trained assassin is killing very prominent figures in the US government. Throughout the story you will follow those trying to track down this crazed man/woman, as they race this mad person before he/she kills others. And as I hate to give away too much information, just know that this book is a fast read that you will not be able to put down until the end.
Rating: Summary: My first Will Lee novel! Review: Having read all of Woods' Stone Barrington novels, I had no doubts that this book would be anything but great! Will Lee is the President of the United States, and his wife is the head of the CIA. Though they are advertised as the main charaters, I didn't feel that their parts were that involved in the storyline. To quickly sum up the story, a highly trained assassin is killing very prominent figures in the US government. Throughout the story you will follow those trying to track down this crazed man/woman, as they race this mad person before he/she kills others. And as I hate to give away too much information, just know that this book is a fast read that you will not be able to put down until the end.
Rating: Summary: So, Is Woods a registered Republican or Democrat?!? Review: I am a big fan of novels by Stuart Woods. This latest novel is the 4th in the Will Lee series. Someone with a great knowledge of how to kill people in many different ways has gone out and started assinating right-wing conservatives. Deputy Director Robert Kinney must figure out who is commiting these crimes. Will Lee, the president, and his wife Kate Rule Lee, the CIA Director, are there to help Mr. Kinney in his quest to find the assassin. The relationship between Kate Rule Lee and her mentor gone bad, Ed Rawls, is revisited when Ed sends information to Kate concerning the murders. A couple of things that I didn't like: I felt that some of the characters were sort of flat. We never get a sense of who Robert Kinney really is and what his interests are. Also, there is no real explanation as to why the assassin wants to kill right-wing conservatives other than the fact that he doesn't agree with their politics. It would have been nice for there to have been some kind of underlying reason for the killings other than the guy just felt like doing it. Lastly, even though this novel is presented as a "Will Lee" novel, the story really centers around Robert Kinney with Will and Kate being supporting characters to the story. It should be interesting to see what Mr. Woods does in the future with these characters. As always, Woods creates a great plotline and a hard-to-put-down page turner despite some of the characteristics that the novel is lacking (hence the reason for 4 stars instead of 5). Mr. Woods will continue to be my favorite author, even if I don't agree with his political views. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a quick and easy read!
Rating: Summary: Quite enjoyable and really 3+ stars Review: I'm back from our Christmas trip to visit the relatives, so it's time to get caught up on a book review. Yesterday I started (and finished) Capital Crimes by Stuart Woods. Woods brings back one of his earlier characters (Will Lee) in this political crime mystery. I must say I like the Stone Barrington novels better... A serial killer is starting to pick off a number of right-wing government officials and media celebrities. A web site is discovered that shows who is on the list to be killed, and the FBI has to figure it out quickly before he strikes again. Perhaps it's because I haven't read the prior Will Lee novels in awhile, but this book lacked any depth or substance. The story is OK, but the characters are just "there". Not much development if they were meant to stand on their own in this book. If there's no other recreational reading to be had, I'd say go for it, but if you have other titles you want to start first, this one can wait.
Rating: Summary: You have to give Woods credit for now juggling three series! Review: Just when we were getting a little tired of playboy detective Stone Barrington, and while we enjoy Woods' fairly new Holly Barker series, along comes the latest entry in the Will Lee series. Will is now U.S. President, but truthfully his role is little more than "keep me informed" in this new political thriller. The plot gets going fast as a right-wing senator, and then in short order, a rightist talk show host, are apparently assassinated. It takes a couple more killings before the FBI/CIA team chasing the killer gets some solid enough leads to go into action. The second half is the typical race to catch the bad guy while he plots his next victims, but the suspense and cleverness of the assassin kept us turning pages into the night. The story was somewhat reminiscent of Woods' last Barrington novel, "Dirty Work", which featured the resourceful female executioner "La Biche". With maybe tongue in cheek, the author gives a bit part to British secret agent "Carpenter" (from that book), whose brief appearance in "Crimes" serves to actually tie the two books together a little bit. Woods' novels rarely fail to please and this compelling story line, crisp writing, and slightly untidy ending make for another good addition to his bibliography. Enjoy!
Rating: Summary: Time for re-election Review: Stuart Woods has finally returned to past success. This book is a dramatic improvement over the Dirty Works novel. While this book has a number of flaws, it maintains a good pace. The storyline is interesting. The one disappointing aspect of this book is that it does not center around Will Lee or his wife. Rather the focus is on the Deputy FBI Director, Robert Kinney. One has the feeling that this person will become the focus in future books. I listened to this on audio cassette. The reader was adequate. However, there are a number of individuals capable of performing at a much higher level.
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