A Delicate Touch (Stone Barrington Series #48)

by Stuart Woods

Overview

Stone Barrington is back in hot water, but prepared with some new tricks, in the latest thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Stuart Woods.

Stone Barrington uncovers a societal minefield in this exhilarating adventure from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Stuart Woods.

When an old acquaintance reaches out to Stone Barrington requesting assistance, the job seems easy enough. She needs an expert in an esoteric field, someone with both the knowledge and careful dexterity to solve a puzzle. But the solution to one small problem blows the lid open on a bigger scandal going back decades, and involving numerous prominent New Yorkers who would prefer the past stay buried.

With this explosive information in-hand, Stone Barrington is caught between a rock and a hard place, his only options either to play it safe to the detriment of others, or to see justice done and risk fatal exposure. But when it comes to Stone Barrington, danger is usually just around the corner . . . so he may as well throw caution to the wind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735219267
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/23/2019
Series:	Stone Barrington Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	107,535
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Stuart Woods is the author of more than eighty-five novels, including the #1 New York Times-bestselling Stone Barrington series. He is a native of Georgia and began his writing career in the advertising industry. Chiefs, his debut in 1981, won the Edgar Award. An avid sailor and pilot, Woods lives in Florida, Maine, and Connecticut.

Hometown:

Key West, Florida; Mt. Desert, Maine; New York, New York

Date of Birth:

January 9, 1938

Place of Birth:

Manchester, Georgia

Education:

B.A., University of Georgia, 1959

Website:

http://www.stuartwoods.com

Editorial Reviews

Praise for A Delicate Touch
 
“Suspenseful, twisty . . . Woods tells a fast, enjoyable crime story seasoned with tantalizing views of the lifestyles of the rich.”—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

10/22/2018
At the start of bestseller Woods’s suspenseful, twisty 48th Stone Barrington novel (after Desperate Measures), lawyer Stone arranges for a safe located in the Brooklyn mansion of the late Eduardo Bianchi, “a mysteriously powerful man reputed to have been at the top of the Mafia,” to be opened on the behalf of Eduardo’s grown daughter. Inside, besides millions in cash, are criminal histories prepared by Eduardo of a number of high-level mob bosses, all of whom are dead, except for Henry Thomas, formerly Gianni Tommassini. Long ago, Henry founded an investment bank, “with much of its original funding from the Five Families.” Henry’s son, Jack, has run the bank for the last 20 years, and Jack’s son, Henry II, is a popular New York congressman. What are the Thomases up to now? Stone joins forces with comely New York Times reporter Jamie Cox to find out. Meanwhile, Henry becomes aware that Stone is on his trail and orders his henchmen to use any means to stop Stone. As usual, Woods tells a fast, enjoyable crime story seasoned with tantalizing views of the lifestyles of the rich. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

2018-10-28

A long-hidden safe turns out to contain enough material to juice the next half-dozen adventures of jet-setting lawyer Stone Barrington.

Mary Ann Bianchi Bacchetti, the ex-wife of Stone's ex-NYPD partner Dino Bacchetti, who's now the police commissioner, calls Stone because she needs to open an Excelsior safe she's found in the library of her late father, reformed Mafioso Eduardo Bianchi, before turning the place over to its new buyer the next day. So Bob Cantor, Stone's tech guru, locates Solomon Fink, at 104 one of the last surviving members of the Excelsior firm, who opens the safe during a brief break from his nursing home, to reveal a prodigious sum of cash, documents leading to even more millions, and some detailed files on some very dangerous criminals. Since much of the money is earmarked for Dino, it looks at first as if this will be nothing more than another exercise in unbridled consumer spending, as Dino and his current wife, Viv, race to rival the conspicuous consumption that's marked Stone's recent outings (Desperate Measures, 2018, etc.). But the file on Jack Thomas, ne Gianni Tommassini, promises more interesting developments, from his initial and predictably unsuccessful attempts to silence everyone who knows about the file to his deep-laid plans to help his son, Congressman Henry Thomas II, become president by running as an independent against Secretary of State Holly Barker, one of Stone's many once and future lovers. Armed with a formidable bank of computers and a staff whose loyalty isn't limited by inconvenient notions of personal morality, the Thomases are formidable opponents. But Stone, Dino, Holly, Bob Cantor, and even Solomon Fink, who returns for a closing bow, are fighting for truth, justice, and the American way.

The best of Woods' recent thrillers, a primer on election rigging that plays to both Democrats' recent alarm and Republicans' attachment to the material perks of the good life.

Kirkus Reviews