Shoot First (Stone Barrington Series #45)

by Stuart Woods Narrated by Tony Roberts

Overview

In the latest nonstop adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods, Stone Barrington must defend a woman whose business--and life--are under threat.

Stone Barrington is enjoying a round of golf in Key West when the game is violently interrupted--and it seems as if the target of the disturbance may have been one of his playing companions, the brilliant businesswoman behind a software startup on the cutting edge of technology. Soon, it becomes clear that this incident is only the first thrust in a deadly scheme to push the beautiful young woman out of the way and put her company's valuable secrets up for grabs.

From the sun-soaked Florida shores to an idyllic English country retreat, Stone embarks on a quest to protect his lovely new companion while searching for the mastermind behind the plot against her. But he may find that her enemy is far more resourceful--and dangerous--than he could have anticipated.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

02/19/2018
At the start of bestseller Woods’s smooth 45th Stone Barrington novel (after Unbound), business takes the wealthy New York lawyer to Key West, Fla., where he meets Silicon Valley entrepreneur Meg Harmon, whose company has recently developed software for a self-driving car. Unfortunately, a former partner of Meg’s, Gino Bellini, feels she cheated him out of his fair share of the profits from the software design, and sets a pair of assassins on her trail. In between dodging bullets first on a golf course and then on a beach, Meg and Stone find time to get to know each other and have great sex. They later retreat to Stone’s Manhattan townhouse, though trips on Stone’s private plane to his place in Maine and his house in the English countryside also prove necessary for their safety. No surprise, Stone and his allies thwart Gino and assorted other bad guys with relative ease. As usual, the principal pleasure lies in watching the suave, resourceful Stone maintain his good humor and high lifestyle through- out all his travails. Author tour. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

Praise for Shoot First
 
“Smooth...The principal pleasure lies in watching the suave, resourceful Stone maintain his good humor and high lifestyle throughout all his travails.”—Publishers Weekly

“Barrington’s banter with Dino and the lure of diving into the hero’s lavish lifestyle will satisfy those seeking a fast-paced escapist adventure.”—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

“Woods’s Stone Barrington is a guilty pleasure...he’s also an addiction that’s harder to kick than heroin.”—Contra Costa Times (California)

Kirkus Reviews

2018-02-20
New York attorney Stone Barrington (Unbound, 2018, etc.) moves deeper into James Bond territory in his increasingly unsuspenseful attempts to keep his latest paramour's cutting-edge technology from falling into the wrong hands.Years before she sold her startup, Harmony Software, to a business group including insurance mogul Arthur Steele and then met and slept with Stone during an outing in Key West that included a board meeting of the Steele Group, Meg Harmon had a torrid affair with Gino Bellini. The two became partners; Bellini developed the software for an unusually resourceful self-driving car; Meg, her ardor cooled, edged him out of the company with a $150 million payout. When a sniper interrupts Stone and Meg's round of golf at Key West by shooting someone in the next foursome, Meg thinks the disgruntled Gino just might be behind it. She's right, of course: Gino and his conniving wife, Veronica, have hired an equally malevolent pair of killers, Dirty Joe Cross and his girlfriend, Jungle Jane Jillian, to exact condign revenge. In the hands of another writer, the threats from such well-heeled villains would be bound to create suspense. But this is Stoneland, where no one you care about is ever in enough danger to distract Stone from his primary mission: wandering the planet purchasing everything that isn't nailed down (the list this time includes a Key West house, club membership, slip, and boat, in that order). Not even the news that Stone can't force Gino to relinquish the Harmony Software designs he's stolen because he's already sold them to an international arms dealer turns up the heat: Stone just turns his sights from private malefactors to the dealer in illegal arms and the sinister political regimes behind him. Starved for anything more consequential to do, Stone enjoys even more sex than usual, watched several times through a hidden camera by someone who intends to shoot Meg and maybe him as well. The only people who get killed are the killers, and Meg's kidnapping ends almost before it's begun.Sleep tight, children: There's nothing here to spoil your dreams.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171850562
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	04/10/2018
Series:	Stone Barrington Series
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,021,021

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Excerpted from "Shoot First"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Stuart Woods.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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