I can't get enough of Stuart Woods and Stone Barrington. He keeps ya on the edge of your seat waiting to see what comes next. ( )

Kate is elected President in a very close election, but there is a meeting among leading Republicans to undermine all of her policy initiatives. A mole approaches Stone, to sabotage their underhanded efforts, and he is killed after being offered protection by Stone, leading to political and personal retribution. Meanwhile, Eduardo Bianchi passes away, leaving Stone as executor and bringing Dolce back from the monastery. There are questions as to the authenticity of certain of Eduardo's assets, and whether or not Dolce has been healed. ( )

A light and fast read, just a bit of fluff. I can't imagine how the author can make so much money writing these, and still treat his fans so horribly. Well, I don't really care since I am not and never will be a fan- I only read it because it dropped into my lap and was so fast a read (certainly would not deserve any more time). ( )

After many years of appearing in the Stone Barrington series, Stone's mentor and former father-in-law, Eduardo Bianchi, is prepared to die. He asks Stone over for dinner and gives him an envelope on the way out. The next day he's dead. His estate is to be divided equally among his daughters, Mary Ann (former wife of Stone's best friend and the commissioner of Police, Dino Bachetti) and Stone's former wife, Dolci, a crazy woman who has been kept in a convent since she attempted to kill Stone. Eduardo has also left a number of diaries that need to be translated from Sicilian.

I don't know why I continue with this series. I find it annoying, especially since the author insists on droning on about his his political views. There's a bizarre subplot here where he's trying to protect his friend and the the new president, Kate Rule, against some sort of Republican cabal. No matter which side of the political fight you belong to it was just strange. As usual, Stone jumps into bed with every attractive woman he meets.

All in all, this book was better than the last couple I've read because it dealt with some of the relationships that made this an interesting series many years ago. I'll admit I'm gong to keep reading them, as long as I can get them through the library and not pay anything for them. They are short fast reads that often fit one of my challenges.
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Stone finds another bright but willing woman to bed and the storyline loses a quite interesting character. And, politics rears its ugly head to provide a parallel plot to fill up Stone's time and additional pages. The romantic storyline ends in a DC draw with Stone as the dumper and the dumpee. ( )