Unnatural Acts

February 27, 2012
The closing of Manhattan’s real-life Elaine’s restaurant kicks off bestseller Woods’s 23rd Stone Barrington novel (after D.C. Dead), in which the usual cast overcome whatever obstacles fate places in their way with an appealing and inspiring insouciance. Barrington, partner in the prestigious law firm Woodman & Weld, plays a mostly subsidiary, advisory role, while once inept and bumbling Herbie Fisher continues his transition to rainmaking senior associate in the same firm. Fisher has numerous new tasks, including dealing with the sociopathic son of a wealthy investor and helping transform a fledgling software company into a major player. Meanwhile, Barrington’s best friend, NYPD Lt. Dino Bacchetti, can’t bring himself to arrest or turn in former assistant FBI director Shelley Bach, who’s both a serial killer and a fantastic lover. Woods’s well-tested formula ensures that the action purrs along fueled by good food, good liquor, good sex, and plenty of wealth. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit.

April 15, 2012
Now that everything in New York super-lawyer Stone Barrington's life is perfect, it's time to start grooming a successor: ex-loser Herbie Fisher, now a junior associate at Woodman & Weld. Although he's willing to listen to billionaire Marshall Brennan's tale of woe about his son Dink's piddling $200,000 gambling debt, Stone's too big a player to give the problem his personal attention. So he recommends it be turned over to Herbie, who's had plenty of personal experience dealing with loan sharks. It's a good choice. In short order Herbie rouses Dink, gets him to sign a power of attorney, reads him the riot act and packs him off to rehab. Even after Dink jumps out of the van taking him to Winwood Farm and escapes, Herbie promptly tracks him down again and makes sure he's properly checked in. Meanwhile, Shelley Bach, the deranged serial killer Stone and Lt. Dino Bacchetti identified but didn't lock up in D.C. Dead (2011), has come to New York and rekindled Dino's sex life. Not to be outdone between the sheets, Stone, fresh from a quick tumble with U.S. Attorney Tiffany Baldwin ("he knew he was not going to make it through the evening without feeding her pleasure"), picks up theater director Marla Rocker at P.J. Clarke's and sets about sweeping her off her feet--a job that's made both easier and more complicated by the fact that publicist Ed Abney, who's been sending her candy and flowers, just won't take no for an answer. As Herbie's star rises at Woodman & Weld, he reflects that he's overdue for some trouble of his own, and he's absolutely right. But nothing very bad will happen to Herbie or any of the regulars, though several members of the supporting cast end up rather the worse for wear. More coherent than most of Stone's recent adventures, with actual resolutions for the major plot lines instead of the usual annoying to-be-continued signs.

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 15, 2012
The cover and the opening chapter of Woods' new Stone Barrington entry feature a tribute to Elaine's, the famous New York eatery that Stone and his best friend, Dino Bacchetti, have patronized since the series' inception. Their mourning for their beloved haunt and its proprietress is interrupted by the reappearance of seductive serial killer Shelley Bach, who can't seem to get Dino out of her head. The feeling, to Stone's dismay, is mutual, and Dino puts his job at risk when he gives in to his attraction to Shelley. Stone romances a ballet director with a deadly ex-beau, while lawyer Herbie Fisher tangles with the sociopathic son of a new client. Former thorn-in-Stone's-side Herbie gets the most development here. He's grown from a hapless dope into a rather sharp and savvy lawyer, wrangling an impressive promotion for himself and even fielding a competitive job offer. It's all familiar territory for Woods, but that doesn't stop the pages from flying by fast and furious as the novel builds toward several exciting and dangerous confrontations HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Woods is a perpetual reader-magnet, and his latest installment in the long-running Stone Barrington series will be supported with a national tour and ad campaign.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)