Strategic Moves

October 18, 2010
At the start of Woods's routine 19th novel featuring lawyer and man of action Stone Barrington (after Lucid Intervals), Barrington has a lot to celebrate: he's received a $1 million bonus from Woodman & Weld, the prestigious New York City law firm of which he's "of counsel"; he can expect to make partner in the firm within a year; and he meets a beautiful widow, whom he's soon romancing. A murder close to home and a request from the CIA to help transport a fugitive, Erwin Gelbhardt, from Spain to the U.S., bring him back to earth. Gelbhardt, who becomes Barrington's client, reveals he knows the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, but as the attorney works to get him the best possible deal from the American government, the bin Laden business goes nowhere. Newcomers may find Barrington an emotionally shallow cipher, while certain details, like the British government in the age of the Internet trying to suppress a story by banning sales of the New York Times, may strike others as less than credible.

Even actor Tony Roberts can't save this latest Stone Barrington mystery. Number 19 in the series, it's boring, slow moving, and wordy. The once-admirable Barrington is now depicted as shallow. Woods starts the story with a case of embezzlement at an investment banking firm, and an apparently related murder. Then he juggles this plot with Stone's journey to Iraq to pick up an arms dealer. Naturally, the CIA is mixed up in this mess. Roberts's varied voices can be appreciated, but he can't overcome the rambling plot and endless dialogue. Woods begins some plot threads, such as the murder of Stone's female friend, Adele but loses that strand too as Stone moves on to international intrigue. No fault can be attributed to Roberts: There's no way he could make this lemon into lemonade. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine