Publishers Weekly
Stone Barrington continues to enjoy good food, good drink, and good sex provided by an eager succession of beautiful women in bestseller Woods's smooth 18th novel to feature the New York City attorney (after Kisser). Unstable ex-wife Dolce Bianci once again menaces Stone; “walking catastrophe” Herbie Fisher pays Stone a $1 million retainer to keep him, Herbie, out of trouble; and attractive British intelligence officer Felicity Devonshire hires Stone to find Stanley Whitestone, an ex-agent still wanted by her superiors after 12 years and recently spotted in New York. Stone walks a tricky ethical line by agreeing to work for Jim Hackett, who owns a large private security firm, and who may in fact be Whitestone. Stone's powerful cop friend, Dino Bacchetti, is ready to do favors or share a Knob Creek bourbon at Elaine's. Woods mixes danger and humor into a racy concoction that will leave readers thirsty for more. Author tour.(Apr.)
Kirkus Reviews
Jet-setting New York attorney Stone Barrington's old acquaintances present him with a fistful of new problems. Herbie Fisher, the most clueless member of the New York bar (Fresh Disasters, 2007), turns up in Elaine's announcing that he's won a $30 million lottery prize, shoving a handbag full of hundreds in Stone's face and insisting that he needs a lawyer of his own because somebody wants to kill him. Moments later, he's followed by Dame Felicity Devonshire of MI6 (Capital Crimes, 2003), who offers Stone the relatively piddling sum of £100,000 to find Stanley Whitestone, who since retiring from Her Majesty's Secret Service a dozen years ago has been selling classified information on the open market. Since Felicity offers a sweetener Herbie can't hope to match, Stone agrees to her terms as quickly as he declined Herbie's. Next morning, he awakens to find that he's inadvertently accepted both clients. If Herbie's constant demands for help and Felicity's for sex aren't draining enough, Stone also learns that Dolce Bianchi, the homicidal Mafia princess to whom he was once married for a heartbeat (L.A. Dead, 2000), has stabbed her minder and gone off the rez, presumably gunning for Stone and his ladylove. Things get even more complicated when Jim Hackett, the security expert Felicity is convinced is really Stanley Whitestone, takes to Stone so warmly that he offers him a job at his firm, Strategic Services, creating what passes for moral conflict in Woods's world of frothy wish-fulfillment. Will Stone ace his first assignment for Security Services by qualifying to fly Hackett's private jet? Will he, and should he, convince Felicity that Hackett isn't Whitestone? Will Herbie get killed? If heisn't, will Stone be able to spring him from a jail cell? And what will become of Dolce, armed, dangerous and demented?Some of these riddles are handily resolved, others fade away, and then this weightless tale is done, setting the stage for the inevitable next installment.
From the Publisher
Praise for Lucid Intervals
“Woods’s Stone Barrington is a guilty pleasure…he’s also an addiction that’s harder to kick than heroin.”—Contra Costa Times (California)
“Smooth...Woods mixes danger and humor into a racy concoction that will leave readers thirsty for more.”—Publishers Weekly
“In Lucid Intervals, [Woods’] blend of booze, broads and bullets remains a winning formula. In an ever-changing world, it’s nice to have reliables such as Woods and his characters on which to depend.”—Bangor Daily News (Maine)
“Fans of Woods’s long-running series will not be disappointed by this romp, which is peppered with plenty of humor.”—Booklist
More Praise for Stuart Woods
“Stuart Woods is a no-nonsense, slam-bang storyteller.”—Chicago Tribune
“A world-class mystery writer...I try to put Woods’s books down and I can’t.”—Houston Chronicle
“Mr. Woods, like his characters, has an appealing way of making things nice and clear.”—The New York Times
“Woods certainly knows how to keep the pages turning.”—Booklist
“Since 1981, readers have not been able to get their fill of Stuart Woods’ New York Times bestselling novels of suspense.”—Orlando Sentinel
JUNE 2010 - AudioFile
Stone Barrington's got it all: money, brains, and women. Actor Tony Roberts brings Stone to life in the 18th novel featuring the New York City lawyer. Here Stone is working for a new client, the beautiful (naturally) British Intelligence officer Felicity Devonshire, who wants him to prove that businessman Jim Hackett is a missing MI6 operative. In this installment the hero comes off as rather cold, both in the text and Roberts’s performance, as he doesn’t seem to care what MI6 plans to do with the man once he’s exposed. In addition to Felicity’s British accent, Roberts adds some ethnic color to his performance though the character of Stone’s best buddy, New York cop Dino Bacchetti. A great summer read. M.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
