Stuart Woods (1938–2022)

I’m all over the map with this series. I have always liked the character of Stone Barrington but I hate what Mr. Woods has turned him into. The description says quiet clearly the problem here…”his LATEST paramour”. He goes through women like water through quicksand. He has, in some books, become an alley cat with alley cat morality. Stone is a brilliant attorney and when the majority of his efforts are devoted to this venture these books are a pleasure to read. I’m not in any way show more opposed to sex in a book but how about a little mystery to the mystery? show less

Heat is a below-average suspense novel from 1994, with a predictable plot and no character development. As an audio cassette, it runs to 3 hrs, which is long enough to give a good account of the storyline. The protagonist is an ex-Drug Enforcement Administration agent named Jesse Warden who has been falsely imprisoned. In return for release, he agrees to help investigate a strange church- based clan that has taken over a town in Idaho. The clan turns out to be a group of white supremacists show more named the Aryan Universe; they have accumulated massive weaponry and constructed a heavily fortified mountain that overlooks the town. The church is used to indoctrinate children and adults and prepare them for some presumed armed conflict.

Here's the basic plot. Jesse infiltrates the group and gains their trust; he also forms a love relationship with his landlady (a single widow), with whom he has sex on his first night in his new digs. He manages to uncover their plans, and locates many millions of dollars the leaders have socked away (where the money came from is not clear). Then, with plastic explosives, bombs, timers and automatic weapons supplied unquestioningly by his police colleagues, he singlehandedly destroys the mountain compound, killing the cult leaders who try to stop him, and escaping with the merry widow in a conveniently placed airplane, armed with new passports, false identities, and the millions he's managed to steal.

The predictable plot offers little in the way of compensation. What's more, too much is just not credible. Why for example would this woman, a member of the white supremacy group, unquestioningly follow Jesse as he plans to destroy them? Was she converted away from beliefs in white supremacy? (Experienced readers may expect her to be a double agent working for the Universal Aryans, but such plot twists are not to be found in this work). Why would Jesse's police cronies gladly supply him with enough weaponry to fight a small war? And why does no one raise the question of what crimes (if any) the group was committing that justified their wholesale destruction?

This book was published after the siege and slaughter of a fundamentalist religious group in Waco Texas, when tactics of the DEA and FBI came under severe criticism. Perhaps the author patterned the plot after that armed conflict, but if so, his evident approval of the outcome took no notice of such criticism.

Reviewers at Amazon are quite enthused; some call it the best book they've ever read. That's awfully sad, and suggests this to be a work for people who seldom read books. Meanwhile, a few readers of a more critical nature state that this is one of the author's weaker works. Thus its flaws may not be a reason to steer clear of his other novels. show less

[Sex, Lies and Serious Money] by Stuart Woods
Stone Barrington series Book #39
3.5★'s

From The Book:
Fresh off the runway at Teterboro, Stone Barrington arrives home to find an unexpected new client on his doorstep, anxiously soliciting his help. But everything is not as it seems, when the client reveals the true nature—and value—of his recent turn of fortune. From luxury New York high-rises to the sprawling New Mexico desert, his client is pursued from all angles...and Stone quickly show more learns that easy money isn’t always so easy.

My Thoughts:

Stuart Woods is doing so much better than he was a few months ago. Once again he's managed to produce another Stone Barrington book without the main theme being noting but sex with a little "oh yes...maybe I should throw in a story line." Like all these books everyone is richer than God and spends money like it grew on trees...and for these characters...maybe it does. One thing that I have always liked about these books is that they are a fairly quick read with little time wasted on unnecessary description...and it is so entertaining seeing how the other one-third lives. I do wish that Mr. Woods would invest in a map of the U.S. so that he can see there are many more cities in this country than Delano, Georgia. Nice town but does every character have to have originally come from there..and if that is true...why don't they ever know one another? I will await the next two books of 2017. After all you did leave us hanging. show less

I really enjoyed this entry in the Holly Barker series. Holly feels like a totally believable character — tough, smart, and determined, but also human enough to deal with doubts and emotions along the way. She’s the kind of protagonist you want to keep following from book to book.
The pacing in Blood Orchid is just right. It moves quickly but not so fast that you lose track of the details. There’s always something happening, whether it’s police work, small-town politics, or Holly’s show more personal life intersecting with her job.
(Spoilers ahead)
The murder plot and the corruption running through Orchid Beach kept me hooked. I liked how the story built toward uncovering how deep the deception went and how personally it affected Holly. The final reveal and how she handled it felt satisfying and true to her character — gritty, emotional, and believable.
Overall, Blood Orchid was one of my favorites in the series so far. If you like character-driven police thrillers with a smart, capable lead, this one’s definitely worth reading. show less