Collateral Damage

October 8, 2012
In Woods’s high-octane 25th Stone Barrington thriller, which picks up where 2012’s Severe Clear left off, terrorist Jasmine Shazaz orchestrates a series of bombings designed to avenge her brothers, Ari and Mohammad Shazaz, who met untimely ends in the previous book. Her first salvo, in London, kills the foreign secretary and triggers alarms that have assistant CIA director Holly Barker talking to MI6 head Felicity Devonshire and sharing the suspicion that Jasmine is responsible. The elusive Jasmine escapes capture in London and leaves a trail of carnage before moving to New York City and other targets. Meanwhile, Barrington and Barker continue their affair; Lt. Dino Bachetti and his flame, fellow NYPD officer Viv DeCarlo, play important roles; and series fans will find significant changes marking the lives of several series characters. Woods’s blend of exciting action, sophisticated gadgetry, and last-minute heroics doesn’t disappoint. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit.