Amazon.com (ISBN 0451205626, Paperback)

Suave, sophisticated Stone Barrington is a hero destined for the big screen. (Since Cary Grant is dead, Stone will have to be played by Bruce Willis, if he can keep his smirk under control.) He's certainly got the trappings: the Armani tuxedo too well-tailored to reveal the gun beneath the drape, the sexy sports cars, the beautiful women who never fail to throw themselves at him, the confident familiarity with a complicated wine list or French menu. And he's got friends in high places, which helps when you're looking for a beautiful woman who made a big impression on the slightly nerdy but nice software billionaire who hires Barrington to find her.

Between bedding the billionaire's chef in Palm Beach, hiding from the homicidal Mafia princess he almost married in Italy, and playing games with a Hollywood beauty whose young son may or may not be his very own child, Stone hardly has time to do the job he's been hired for. But when he does, he discovers that the object of his search is still another ex-lover, a woman he thought had been executed on a Caribbean island three years ago. All these women, and all these adventures, plus Stone's old pal Dino, a New York cop, will be familiar to readers of Woods's other Stone Barrington thrillers. This one has Woods's trademark narrative punch, solid pacing, and glossy, brand-name panache. If Judith Krantz wrote thrillers, this is what she'd turn out. But don't let that stop you. Cold Paradise is the perfect book for a hot day in the hammock or a long plane ride to a ritzy resort destination. The only real surprise is why Stone Barrington hasn't made it to the big (or small) screen yet. --Jane Adams

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0399147365, Hardcover)

Abridged. Four cassettes, 6 hours.

On the Gold Coast of Florida, Stone Barrington hunts a master of disguise and deceit in this latest thriller in his compulsively readable, bestselling series.

"Stuart Woods is a no-nonsense, slam-bang storyteller."
-Chicago Tribune
Cop-turned-investigator Stone Barrington has the street-smarts, dry wit, and debonair charm his fans love, and Palm Beach-the setting of his new adventure-is his most glamorous scene-of-the-crime yet. In Cold Paradise, he becomes reacquainted with a case he thought was buried years ago-and must settle romantic entanglements that haunt him still.

Luxuriating in the winter warmth of a Palm Beach cafŽ, Stone is stunned to recognize someone he thought was dead: the beautiful Allison Manning, a woman he had defended against a murder charge on a Caribbean island in Dead in the Water. Allison is alive and well-and suddenly very rich. And she needs a favor: Might Stone help her square a charge of insurance fraud that's been hanging over her head for years?

But first, Stone must find the man who is stalking her. He suspects more than one man: an elusive writer who never shows his face; an enigmatic businessman with a past he won't reveal; and even Allison's former husband-whom they have all thought dead since those days in the Caribbean. Only Stone can thwart the sly and greedy plan to steal the millions at stake in this crafty new thriller.