Desperate measures

Format:

Book

Title:

Desperate measures

Author:

Woods, Stuart author

ISBN:

9780735219236

Edition:

First G.P. Putnam's Sons premium edition.

Publication:

New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019.

Physical Description:

338 pages ; 20 cm

Series title(s):

Stone Barrington novel.

General Note:

Includes excerpt from A Delicate Touch.

Originally published in 2018.

Summary:

"Upon returning to the states from a European jaunt, Stone Barrington makes the acquaintance of a stunning woman who seems like she could be an ideal candidate to meet some of his professional--and personal--needs. Before long, though, Stone is put to the task of protecting his new hire when New York City is rocked by a series of disturbing crimes, and it looks as if she might be the next target. In the city that never sleeps there's always a plot being hatched, and the only recourse is constant vigilance and a bit of luck. But if those defensive systems fail, Stone will have to go head-to-head against some of the most dastardly scum he's ever faced ..."-- Provided by publisher

Personal Subject:

Barrington, Stone (Fictitious character)-Fiction.

Barrington, Stone (Fictitious character)

Subject(s):

Private investigators -- Fiction.

New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction.

New York (State) -- New York

Genre:

novels.

Novels

Detective and mystery fiction

Detective and mystery fiction.

Fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Sheridan Public Library	Woods, Stuart Stone Barrington v.47	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Stone Barrington faces down danger on New York's mean streets in the latest thriller from perennial fan favorite Stuart Woods.

Upon returning to the States from a European jaunt, Stone Barrington makes the acquaintance of a stunning woman who seems like she could be an ideal candidate to meet some of his professional--and personal--needs. Before long, though, Stone is put to the task of protecting his new hire when New York City is rocked by a series of disturbing crimes, and it looks as if she might be the next target.

In the city that never sleeps, there's always a plot being hatched, and the only recourse is constant vigilance and a bit of luck. But if those defensive systems fail, Stone will have to go head-to-head against some of the most dastardly scum he's ever faced . . .

Author Notes

Stuart Woods was born in Manchester, Georgia on January 9, 1938. He received a B. A. in sociology from the University of Georgia in 1959. He worked in the advertising business and eventually wrote two non-fiction books entitled Blue Water, Green Skipper and A Romantic's Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland. His first novel, Chiefs, was published in 1981. It won an Edgar Award and was made into a TV miniseries starring Charlton Heston. His other works include the Stone Barrington series, the Holly Barker series, the Will Lee series, the Ed Eagle series, the Rick Barron series and the Teddy Fay series. He won France's Prix de Literature Policiere for Imperfect Strangers. His autobiography, An Extravagant Life, was published in June 2022. Stuart Woods died on July 22, 2022, at his home in Lichfield, Connecticut. He was 84.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

A killer is stalking petite blond women on Manhattan's East Side in Edgar-winner Woods's diverting 47th novel featuring New York lawyer Stone Barrington (after Turbulence). One intended victim, Faith Barnacle, whom Stone recently hired as his personal pilot, manages to elude the unknown killer by crashing through a window of the seedy Lexington Avenue hotel where he's held her captive. Luckily, she falls into a dumpster and suffers only minor injuries. Meanwhile, Stone assists a wealthy heiress he meets by chance with securing a divorce from her no-good husband, the book's other villain. Dino Bacchetti, Stone's police commissioner pal, lends a helping hand as needed. As usual, Woods keeps the tone light, as shown by the many pages devoted to the flirtatious banter between Stone and the book's several attractive, available women. At the end, he surprises the reader by not neatly tying up every thread. Series fans will be satisfied, but those who prefer realistic police procedurals will have to look elsewhere. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Consumer alert: Sleeping with Stone Barrington (Turbulence, 2018, etc.) can be hazardous to your health.Moments after accepting his dismissal by model Kelly Smith at the East Side Heliport, Stone literally bumps into pilot Faith Barnacle. He apologizes for jostling her and incidentally salves his wounded ego by giving her a lift back to Midtown, offering her a job as his personal pilot and head of his flight department, and taking her to bed. Since Faith has indicated a limit of three intimate encounters before she dumps any man, Stone stops at two. It's no big deal, and besides, there are bigger fish to fry. New York is being terrorized by a killer who stalks, strips, rapes, and strangles beautiful blondes, then scrupulously cleans and redresses them and dumps them. Faith is scared, but she's also independent. Even after Stone provides her with Jimbo, a minder from the security firm Strategic Services, she sneaks out of her Turtle Bay apartment in search of soap and promptly gets kidnapped. Inconsolable, Stone consoles himself with Priscilla Scott, an aspiring divorce who literally falls into his lap while he's sitting in a luggage store, and recently widowed Edith Beresford, whose ex-husband had the decency to die before he could change the will leaving her everything. Donald Trask, the hedge fund manager Priscilla is divorcing, is a violent man with a short temper, but Stone is Stone, and although Priscilla gets stabbed to death shortly after the divorce, hours after changing her own will, Stone doesn't, and NYPD Detective Sean Muldoon (the smart one) and Dante Calabrese (the kid) can't help regarding him as a prime suspect. Still on the horizon are deputy mayor Caroline Whitehorn and her highly competitive and equally beautiful sister. Anything might happen with them.A serial killer, a violent abduction, an acrimonious divorce, the hero suspected of murderand all of it serenely weightless, in the episodic manner of a Road Runner cartoon without the laughs. Who cares what happens to the most alluring woman when the next one is just around the corner? Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

A serial killer is targeting pretty, petite blond women on Manhattan's East Side, a description that fits Stone Barrington's newest employee all too well. Barrington met Faith Barnacle in a heliport on his return from Europe just after being dumped by a woman who had given him up for her CIA career. After bedding Faith twice, he hires her as his personal pilot and provides bodyguard security because of the serial-killer peril. But she chafes at being guarded and nearly becomes the next murder victim, thus faring better than Priscilla Scott, a woman who literally falls into Barrington's lap when the heel of her shoe breaks. Barrington provides treatment for Scott's sprained ankle, and offers legal advice and more; but her furious about-to-be-ex-husband becomes a threat. Despite briefly becoming a murder suspect himself, the urbane Barrington banters with his pal Police Commissioner Dino Bacchetti, and is never lacking for female companionship. In Woods' reliably smooth style, his latest, set as usual in the milieu of the rich and beautiful, even serial murders come to lack menace. Just the ticket for those craving a certain kind of escape.--Michele Leber Copyright 2018 Booklist