Rating: 
Summary: Bad book by an arrogant author
Review: Before you even consider reading this book, take the time to read the author's note at the end, which gives great insight into the author's boundless ego. If that isn't enought to turn you off entirely, please trust me when I say that this is one of the worst books I have ever read! The characters are flat, the dialouge is boring, and the ending is predictable. The author obviously didn't bother to do any background reasearch, because the book is rife with legal inaccuracies. You would think that if he wanted to go into detail about the legal justice system, he would have bothered to do his homework. I seriously considered mailing the book back to the publisher, but I just threw it away instead, because the book isn't even worth the postage.
Rating:
Summary: My God, It's One of The Worst of The Century
Review: I think one star is not what I'd really like to rate; it should be less than zero (-0, or 0-), like what I had given to "MEG", another horrible book written by certain amazingly talented guy who got the guts to publish. Amen.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good
Review: I happened to really enjoy this book. Vinnie Calabrese is one of my favorite Stuart Wood's characters. The book started out in NYC and soon moved to Hollywood. It was a simple interesting look at how movies are made. The plot was good, not great, but what made up for it was Wood's great writing style of getting you hooked in at the beginning. I recommend this to anyone looking for something simple and enjoyable to read. Nothing deep, but fun.
Rating:
Summary: Not a minute too soon
Review: Stuart Woods is capable of writing interesting fiction but this isn't it. Stone Barrington is at his most basic - a phallus with a pimple for a brain. All the females are similar in nature to Stone and not ones you'd care to meet in a dark space. We can only hope that Stone will marry his soul mate Arrington so that she can be Arrington Barrington. They certainly deserve one another. Then they can rename their son Carrington Barrington and call him Care Bear for short. Too cute.
Rating: 
Summary: Let down from the beginning.
Review: This is the third Woods novel I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed the first two. LA Dead misses the mark badly. It is almost as if the author is too caught up in painting the Hollywood jet set that he forgot there is supposed to be at least some mystery and suspense. This novel has niether of these attributes. The characterizations are overdone. I cannot recall an appealing female in the plot. The "non-ending" is a perfect fit for this most imperfect novel.
Rating:
Summary: A very bad book
Review: I was shocked what I got for (dollar amount)at the airport. I had no expectations but this book surpass my expectations. One of the worst detective storries I have ever read! Lime story. "Stone got up, had a shower, dressed, shaved....." every morning! What's a surprise! Never heard of an e-mail and a cell phone.
I wish I could get my money back.
Rating:
Summary: What Have You Done With Stuart Woods?
Review: Normally one of my favorite authors and my favorite series, I found this book to be pretty bad. The dialog was shallow (do we need to hear his telephone calls word for word, including details of him identifying himself and leaving word on how to reach him?), the characters even shallower (are there *any* women in this book besides Mary Ann who don't walk around buck naked and throw themselves at Stone?). Even the main characters were pretty unlikeable this time around -- doesn't Stone have anything else to do but boink everyone in sight? Doesn't Dino have a job to do in NY? Why is a mob boss so easy on Stone for dumping his princess daughter? Why isn't Arrington at least grieving for a husband she certainly didn't dislike? Why would Mary Ann invite her sister to dinner knowing the circumstances?...
Rating:
Summary: What happened here?
Review: As an avid Stuart Woods fan, I was extremely disappointed in this book and wonder if he really did write it or if someone else just used his name. Maybe just a filler to make money without effort as some others have done. I will be very careful before I buy his new books.
Rating: 
Summary: You know the difference between Stone Barrington and a dog?
Review: A dog chases his own tail. Barrington simply chases...tail. As his only off-duty activity, it seems. There have been reviews that suggest that this trait likens him to James Bond, but--other than quantity of women--no comparison as far as I can see. Bond's womanizing is semi-misogynistic--there's a place in a 007 book where Bond reflects; "Women are only for recreation, they hang on your gun arm". As such, no woman every really controls him. Barrington, on the other hand, is forever getting entangled with ladies that friends tell him he's a fool to mess with and getting burned in the process. He starts this book in the process of a wedding with a Mafia princess whom her own brother-in-law tried to warn him away from in a previous book--the brother-in-law is Stone's best friend from his days with the NYPD. He leaves her at the altar to scramble to the aid of an old flame who's suspected of murdering her movie star husband whom she dumped Stone to marry in another previous book. He also gets mixed up with a supporting player from one of Woods' "Lee Family" books (see "Grass Roots"), a Hee Haw Honey who's now a Silver Screen siren. Don't get me wrong--the cases themselves from each of these books (this one no less than the others) provide the type of reading entertainment consistent with a Stuart Woods book--but I wish Stone had some other diversion besides being a ladies' man in the Sicilian sense of the word. If they ever ask me to do a Stone Barrington logo (like the Bond logo with the "7" part of "007" serving as a grip for a Luger), I swear--I'll do a picture of a dog running madly in a VERY tight circle.
Rating:
Summary: Cheap, Trashy, Pointless
Review: If there is one thing fascinating about this book, it is the question why I actually finished it. Granted, I was looking for light entertainment, a bit of legal intrigue and a possibly reasonably interesting whodunit. I also figured that Stuart Woods' considerable success may be indicative of writing ability. I was wrong!The writing is consistently flat, unoriginal and unobservant. Do not expect your mind to be burdened with wit, intriguing observation, occasional social commentary or insight into the character's depth (of which, regrettably, there is none). Any author who has to habitually resort to the adjective "randy" to describe several of his characters... (words fail me)... The plot is weak, shows no drive, and peters out in a pathetic whimper, long after this reader had lost all interest in its resolution. Not even the whodunit is in any way suspenseful or unpredictable. Worst of all are the characters. They are shallow, self-centered sociopaths, flatly conceived and lacking of any redeeming value. This applies to the "hero" who shows no moral center or likable qualities, and descends even further with the rest of the cast. Consequently, it is impossible to like any one of them or to become engaged in their personal journey. Brushing up against any one of them would fill me with a compelling desire for a long hot bath! I certainly did not approach this book expecting great (or even good) literature. Unfortunately, this book turns out to be pathetic in the most unforgivable way: it is bad and does not even realize it!
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