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Stone Barrington knows everything there is to know about the city he loves, but he's about to learn something new about himself...
Not the least new surprise that Stone Barrington confronts in his latest outing is that he is the father, not just of a newborn, but of a fifteen-year-old boy. Arriving with that revelation are a host of problems, including his relationship with lover Arrington Calder and the aggressive prying of a tabloid celebrity sleuth. A suave change of pace for a popular series.
New York super-lawyer Stone Barrington's teenaged son comes to live with him. Wait, there's less, much less.
Naturally, the kid is a genius: handsome, charming, courteous, already at 15 a precocious filmmaker who graduated from high school early because they'd run out of things to teach him. How could he miss, with parents like Stone (Bel-Air Dead,2011, etc.) and Arrington Calder, the movie actress Stone impregnated shortly before she was swept off her feet and to the nuptial bed by legendary star Vance Calder? Swiftly recovering from his initial jitters about parenthood, Stone buys Peter new clothes, lays some fatherly advice on him and takes him to a board meeting of Centurion Studios, where Peter passes a rough cut of his amateur movie on to CEO Leo Goldman Jr., who's eager to buy it outright. With a little help from his friends, Stone helps Peter change his name to Barrington, backdates his birth certificate two years, helps him get into exclusive Knickerbocker Hall and greases the path to the Yale Drama School. While he's at it, he proposes marriage to Arrington, who's traveled to New York to help Peter get settled, warm Stone's bed and incidentally escape from Prof. Timothy Rutledge, the jealous architect who designed her house in Virginia and warmed her own bed. So many scenes pass without casting a shadow over the new family's happiness, as in a Care Bears story, that you just know something bad must be looming, and finally, in Chapter 50, it arrives. Fortunately, the characters pull themselves together manfully with the help of some philosophical reflections, a convenient .45 and a fresh infusion of cash.
Further proof, if the series needed it, that there's no lifecycle trauma that won't yield to the power of money, contacts and bling.
However, despite his best intentions, Woods got sidetracked in Ireland. He was nearly 100 pages into a novel when he discovered the seductive pleasures of sailing. "Everything went to hell," he quips on his web site "All I did was sail." He bought a boat, learned everything he could about celestial navigation, and competed in the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) in 1976, finishing respectably in the middle of the fleet. (Later, he took part in the infamous Fastnet Race of 1979, a yachting competition that ended tragically when a huge storm claimed the lives of 15 sailors and 4 observers. Woods and his crew emerged unharmed.)
Returning to the U.S., Woods wrote two nonfiction books: an account of his transatlantic sailing adventures (Blue Water, Green Skipper) and a travel guide he claims to have written on a whim. But the book that jump-started his career was the opus interruptus begun in Ireland. An absorbing multigenerational mystery set in a small southern town, Chiefs was published in 1981, went on to win an Edgar Award, and was subsequently turned into a television miniseries starring Charlton Heston.
An amazingly prolific author, Woods has gone on to pen dozens of compelling thrillers, juggling stand-alone novels with installments in four successful series. (His most popular protagonists are New York cop-turned-attorney Stone Barrington, introduced in 1991's New York Dead, and plucky Florida police chief Holly Barker, who debuted in 1998's Orchid Beach.) His pleasing mix of high-octane action, likable characters, and sly, subversive humor has made him a hit with readers -- who have returned the favor by propelling his books to the top of the bestseller lists.
His first job was in advertising at BBDO in New York, and his first assignment was to write ads for CBS-TV shows. He recalls: "They consisted of a drawing of the star and one line of exactly 127 characters, including spaces, and I had to write to that length. It taught me to be concise."
He flies his own airplane, a single-engine turboprop called a Jetprop, and tours the country every year in it, including book tours.
He's a partner in a 1929 motor yacht called Belle and spends two or three weeks a year aboard her.
In 1961-62, Woods spent 10 months in Germany with the National Guard at the height of the Berlin Wall Crisis.
In October and November of 1979, he skippered a friend's yacht back across the Atlantic, with a crew of six, calling at the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands and finishing at Antigua in the Caribbean.
Anonymous
Posted September 21, 2011
I think Stuart Woods is starting to phone it in instead of committing to true story development. This one is just too simple to be a mystery everything just falls into place unlike real life. His wife to be jumps out of bed with her lover, tells him to hit the bricks and within a short time is married to Stone. He has the perfect son who writes, stars and directs the perfect movie, meets the perfect girl who write the perfect score for the movie and sell it all for twenty million dollars. Give me a break! I think Woods feels he has the perfect fan base, just throw it out there and they'll buy it, unfortunately I did. I'm a big fan but not of this kind of tripe.
7 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 27, 2011
SNOOZE FEST.Skip this one.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Stoneman11
Posted September 26, 2011
Woods is wearing out! This was his worst to date and will probably be his last for me. Very amateurish and a waste of my time.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lawyer Stone Barrington has made full partner at Manhattan's Woodman & Weld. After his latest escapades (see Bel Air Dead), Stone plans to stay low key in New York and get closer with his teenage son Peter who he only recently learned he sired. Stone's former lover and Peter's mother Arrington Calder wants that for both males.
Peter plans to attend Yale University Drama School as he wants to become a film director. He and his dad develop a nice relationship while Arrington is sleeping with University of Virginia Architecture Professor Timothy Rutledge who oversees the finish to her mansion in Virginia. Stone uses some of connections to help Peter with his career choice. Meanwhile New York Post tabloid reporter Kelli Keane senses a scandal so she investigates the relationship between Stone and Arrington while a threat using Peter as the bait occurs.
Son of Stone is more of a family drama than the usual Barrington suspense thriller as Stone and Peter get to know each other while the father uses his influence to try to help his son further his career. Well written with a surprising twist, the tension comes late as much of the tale is about father and son getting to know each other.
Harriet Klausner
4 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 24, 2011
The characters lack any emotional depth. Characters are one dimentional and uninteresting. I think this is an end to my reading Stuart Woods. I only gave it one star, but when I posted it, they added a star. I guess that way they try to make a book look better than it is. Not sure it is even worth one star.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 23, 2012
So disappointed, not up to your usual writing Mr. Woods.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 30, 2011
Shame on Mr Stuart. I feel insulted. At first I thought it was me, I have been reading more literally challenging books and I was thinking that this book was not up to par, but then I soon realized that this book was just writing at its worst. I felt like I was reading a not very good first time author. I never looked at the reviews because I have always enjoyed Stuarts books. I will not make that mistake again. If I could have returned this book I would have.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 28, 2011
This is the WORST book I have ever read. Everyone who buys it deserves a refund! I was so excited to see a new Stone barrington book come out and then to waste time in my life that I will never get back reading this trite, boring, ridiculous, emotionless, amatureish book - what a dissapointment. Stuart, you should be embarassed at what you've done to Stone and the gang. Perfect Peter made me want to throw up. I want to believe that you didnt write it, because I know you can do much better.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 11, 2011
Enjoyed every one of the previous books, however this one is really bad.
Everyone and everything ... just too perfect...like a poor romance novel.
Stuart....we're through!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 5, 2011
I usually enjoy the Stone Barrington series, but almost could not believe the 'flatness' of #21. The dialog was poor throughout the entire book. What has happened??
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 1, 2011
I have followed Stone Barrington since his introduction way back when. This is clearly Woods poorest effort in the series, although it has been trending that way for the last few. It seemed that many of the scenes were created simply to fill up the requisite number of pages. It was a lot more fun when Stone was hustling to make a living and not flush with cash! Let us hope that Mr. Woods can recapture the old Stone or he will have one less reader.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 11, 2012
I tried to get my money back from B & N. Wish I could give a negative rating. Can't believe he got paid for writing such tripe. Woods should give everyone an apology And their money back.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Well_Read
Posted July 16, 2012
Mr. Woods should never have written this book. It is completely out of genre, there is NO mystery, and he is preachy throughout. He shouldn't use a light mystery book to soapbox his causes. It's also very apparent that the "reviews" published in the front of the book must either be paid reviews or the reviewers didn't read the book. I'd put this book more in the fantasy genre as NONE of this realm. Come on, a genius boy, meets his father after 16 years and allows him to preach to him on how to behave in public and with his friends? And how realistic is it for ALL the cards to continue to fall into order for Stone. Come on Mr. Woods, your readers are not (or weren't) children.
I wish there was a minus scale on the ratings, I'd be well into with this book.
Mr. Woods has lost another reader for good!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 7, 2011
If you like infantile dialogue and zero plot then this book is for you. I defy anyone to tell me what was funny about the Rockettes joke. Last Woods book for me.
I just wanted to add, I think the publisher owes everyone who bought this mess a refund and a sincere apology. How it arrived on any "best" list is a mystery, the only thing about the book that is.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 5, 2011
A fan of Woods but this book is not very good
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 28, 2011
Son of Stone is a soap opera story well below what's expected of Stuart Woods. This volume was made to move the Stone Barrington character onto the next level but this could have been done using Woods' skill as a writer in a much better way perhaps as flashbacks in a more interesting story.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 15, 2011
Haven't received this pre-ordered book yet. I'm expecting it to be as
interesting as Stuart Woods many other books.
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 29, 2013
A little too much bed hopping by everyone & a very callous reaction by Stone & his son to Arrington's death. Also, found the changing of birth records for his son a stretch. But I did read it.
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Posted January 22, 2013
Lawl thats what one direction and nicki manaj were doing today
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 21, 2013
[•_•]
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Overview
Stone Barrington knows everything there is to know about the city he loves, but he's about to learn something new about himself...