Customer Reviews

Blood Orchid (Holly Barker Series)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Orchid Beach, Florida Police Chief, Holly Barker, is on the job as, once again, murder and mayhem visit what should be a quiet and peaceful little seaside town. It appears that someone is trying to manipulate the bidding of Florida prime real estate development by, literally, killing off the competition. The first suspicious deal, Blood Orchid Estates, happens to be in Holly's own backyard. She's on the case, driving from one end of the sunshine state to the other, tracking down leads, shooting bad guys, and working with a secretive, and of course, hunk of an FBI agent, Grant Early. In no time, she's outmaneuvered the feds and uncovered an international plot that includes drugs, money laundering, mobsters, and contract killers..... Stuart Woods is back with the third installment of his Holly Barker novels, and unfortunately, this is a series that goes downhill with each new entry. The story line, though at times entertaining and action-packed, is silly, weak, and predictable, and it's a wonder that it takes Holly and the FBI over two hundred pages to figure out what's going on when it takes the reader less than fifty. Blood Orchid bills itself as a thriller, but the writing is neither suspenseful nor compelling, and the tension never builds. The dialogue is inane and rarely rings true, and Mr Wood's poorly drawn players are all stereotypical cartoon characters, lacking depth, motivation, and most human qualities. Add to that a ridiculous, almost comical climax to finish things off, and you have the makings of a thriller without the thrills. There are a lot of really good novels out there that shouldn't be missed. Unfortunately, Blood Orchid isn't one of them. Don't waste your time.

I am a big fan of Stuart Woods and have read most of his works including all since the mid-1990's. This is not as good as his previous Holly Barker or even Stone Barrington books. Like an earlier reviewer, I skimmed the last 20 or so pages as I was bored, which is very unlike Stuart Woods.

I would still recommend this book but I expected more creativity: this book basically has already been written in an earlier book.

Understand this: Stuart Woods is not Ernest Hemingway or William Faulkner, nor does he try to be. Woods writes two books every year and his readers enjoy something that not many authors can promise. He never fails to entertain. Some of his books are better than others. Chiefs, for example, is one of the better mysteries that I've ever read, while The Short Forever was just decent. One thing readers can count on from Woods is that he will deliver an interesting, exciting, entertaining thriller regardless of his subject.

Blood Orchid is the third novel centered around Holly Barker. Of Woods' three recurring characters (Will Lee, Stone Barrington, and Holly Barker), Holly is probably the least compelling to most readers, though some prefer her to Stone. Despite this, she is nonetheless an interesting protagonist who draws the reader into the story and has us pulling for her to succeed.

The storyline is typical Woods with few twists and turns - some of which will surprise, while some of which will be picked out by savvy readers. I've read all 25 of Stuart Woods novels, and while I generally feel that his earlier works are far superior to his later books, I find that if I open his newest book knowing what to expect and allowing myself to be entertained, I am seldom disappointed.

Also recommended: Chiefs, Run Before the Wind, and White Cargo by Stuart Woods for readers who want to sample his early stuff. Anything by James Patterson or Jeffery Deaver. Keep an eye out for Dirty Work, the new Stone Barrington novel in April 2003.

As the third book in the Holly Barker series, I believe Blood Orchid is the best yet!

Still recovering from the shock of Jackson's death and trying to move on with her life, Holly must now deal with attacks on her own life! The book opens with Palmetto Gardens up for sale, and the high-bidders in a pool of blood. Enter Ed Shine, the highest bidder left alive, with a hefty 60 million purchase! Palmetto Gardens becomes Blood Orchid Estates, and the corpses start piling up.

There are several attempts made at Holly's own life, and her new boyfriend/under cover FBI friend is not much help, since he and Harry Crisp (making an appearance in each book of the series) are both with-holding information from her...not to mention that someone has bugged her house.

Soon the intruder ends up dead in the river and Barker begins to investigate. She ends up south of Orchid Beach with possible Mob involvement, a dead Russian, a suspicious restaurant, and more and more dead bodies.

Holly must determine who is bugging her and Ham's houses, who is trying to kill her, and why. Is Ed Shine and Blood Orchid involved? Or is this stemming from a past case and someone Holly put behind bars?

The story starts with murder and ends with murder. You will have to read to find out who survives!

Trite. Predictable. And doesn't he proofread his work? Why didn't her dog see the burglar the first time he came into the house?

It has been almost a year since Jackson died and Holly has buried herself in work trying to block out the pain. The Chief of Police of Orchid Beach, a coastal town on the East Coast of Florida, is usually very quiet. However, when Holly and her father visit a new friend Ed Shine, a sniper fires a shot that almost kills him. Ed is a property developer who bid on a piece of land in Orchid Beach that the federal government is selling and the two other bidders on the property are also assassinated.

Holly immediately connects the dots and sees a link since the property in question was used in drug smuggling. She contacts the FBI and an agent tells her that he is sending an undercover operative into the area on a completely separate assignment. The agent and Holly hit it off but Holly is too busy dodging bullets to give their relationship a chance to grow.

Stuart Woods famous for his Stone Barrington private eye novels has created a whole new series with it's own unique voice. The Holly Barker police procedurals are fun to read because the author imbues a subtle sense of humor in many of the characters. The heroine really doesn't know why she keeps getting shot at yet she still manages to produce a credible investigation. Mr. Woods just keeps getting better with each book he writes.

Harriet Klausner

Blood Orchid with heroine Holly Barker is less of a insipid tea cup of manners and money than his Stone Barrington novels; there is still some actual detection going on here. But not much. Watching the plot unfold is like watching geriatric softball -- every pitch is long and slow, and it hurts to see the batter swing and miss. Poor Mr. Woods is substituting formula for real action or real work; his works have become the lightest of light reading. I sincerely wish he had kept the regard for his readers that his earlier novels showed. If readers want respect, they would be well served to find it elsewhere. I wish I had.

The latest Stuart Wood Book is a total disappointment I have read about ten of Mr. Woods mysteries and found this one a waste of time. The dialogue was akin to The Bobsey twins meet the Hardy Boys at Tom Swifts summer detective camp

This is the first and last Woods book I'll ever read. I picked it up while on vacation because the inside cover made it sound like a Grisham-esque style story of crime, intrigue, love, mystery. All it was was a series of phone calls between Holly and Hurd, Ham, Harry, et al.

The writing was dull and uninspriring. The most common sentence in the book was "Holly hung up." Well, if you're going to fill the book with phone conversations, at least try to be a original from time to time when indicating that the call ended. Another thing that irked me---the characters often used the term "got dead." Huh? Is this a form of English only the cops and fibbies use...or just Woods?

For those who had not read previous the previous adventures of Holly, it would have been nice to know a little more about her. What she looked like, her age, etc. All we learned is that she was a police chief with a wooden personality. I feel I know Nancy Drew better and I hadn't read about her in years!

Can't wait for winter so I can chuck this book into the fireplace.

We had begun to tire of Woods' jet-setting playboy and sometime sleuth Stone Barrington, so this relatively new series starring Orchid Beach FL Police Chief Holly Barker has to our eye brought new life to his writing. In this third of the series featuring Holly, there are killings galore with a plot that moves along at a "murderous" pace. Indeed several attempts on our heroines own life only add to the suspense as she unravels a tale stretching back and forth to Miami, with mob and drug connections bringing help from the FBI to the scene. That latter element is almost more a hurdle than anything -- we even wondered for a while if the agent in charge, Harry Crisp, who hindered Holly while constantly pumping her for leads, was one of the bad guys. Meanwhile, Grant Early, a federal agent working undercover in Orchid Beach, adds a little romantic interest to the story, leading to a climax or two other than the one at the end of the book!

The villain was probably a little more obvious than usual  one player seemed a little fishy almost from the start, but it's quite a while before enough facts and clues converge to spell out the whole scheme of things. In between, we turned pages and burned the chapters almost as fast as they would go to reach the satisfying conclusion.

Holly is a tough but likable character; her father Ham and one of her local officers, Hurd, plus her faithful hound Daisy add some good support roles in this well written, lively mystery which we thoroughly enjoyed. Some good scenes involving small aircraft added interest as well. So  a step up from a beach read, but a tale that moves quickly longside the fireplace. All in all, Woods in great form.