Customer Reviews

Dirt (Lib)(CD)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am a HUGE Stuart Woods fan, and although some parts of this novel weren't exactly believable, it was still a great read. Some reviewers of this novel have been a bit too harsh. Whoever said that you need to believe everything that is written? Can't it just be an entertaining novel? From the start, this book grabs you with the gossip columnist being harrassed by an anonymous person, and I love cop-turned-lawyer Barrington who is brought back to solve the crime. He is the epitomy of the knight in shining armour, whom every woman longs for in her life!

Dirt, by Stuart Woods was a plethora of stink. This novel is quite possibly Woods' worst piece of literature ever. I, an avid Woods fan, was in the library one day and saw Dirt, a book that I had not read. I checked it out and anticipated a great piece of writing. Fifty pages into the book, I was, to say the least, extremely disappointed. Being the optimist that I am, I decided to give the book a chance, hoping it would get better. I was horribly mistaken. The further into the plot, the worse it got. Then, nearing the end, something miraculous occurred, I started to enjoy the book. I read faster and faster, enjoying every word. I turn to the last page two hundred sixty-something and then the book stops. No, I mean ends, without tying up the loose ends. It was the most disappointing ending I have ever read. I want to ask Mr. Woods for two things. First, three dollars for the late fee, and second, the two hours of my life back. Stay away from this book.

When I first began reading this book, I was not too sure if I was going to finish it! But then I thought, "This is Stuart Woods-it has to be good". And indeed it did get better. It turned out to be his usual suspensfule style that makes you keep turning those pages! Surprise ending, at least it was to me! Check out this book and see if you can solve the mystery behind the strange occurences in this book. Just don't be discouraged by the first few chapters. Enjoy!

I've not read anything else by Stuart Woods, but using "Dirt" as an example of his writing, I'm not likely to. Very low on believable characterizations and high on mindless, hedonistic action, it gives the sometimes-appealing "trashy novel" a bad name. Makes Jackie Collins look like W.Somerset Maugham.

I ask the question because 'Chiefs' was an absolutely fantastic novel. One of my favorites. This story is easy to read, quick-moving and entertaining but, for me, ultimately it is disappointing because I know that he could do sooooooo much better. If you've never read Stuart Woods, read 'Chiefs' and maybe you'd be better off just walking away.

So, why am I irritated? The characters are two-dimensional cutouts of what we might suspect the rich and the famous are really like. They reminded me of unpleasant parodies of the Howells from Gilligan's Island. Woods can do so much more.

To be fair, I guess I'm really irritated to see a man who showed so much early promise resort to being a hack writer, pounding out the same story time after time. I tolerate, in fact, I revel in it when it comes to Robert Parker. But in the case of Stuart Woods - what an incredible waste of writing talent!

If you have never read Woods before, you might be better off skipping this one and picking up an earlier work first. Not that you should ignore DIRT, but you might want to try CHIEFS, SWIMMING TO CATALINA, N.Y. DEAD, or THE RUN first. I have read maybe half of Woods' books, and this is the first one I can find reason to speak negatively about. Not too negatively, mind you. You want intrigue, you want flash, you want Flesh? You got it with DIRT. And lots of flesh. Woods always sprinkles a healthy bit of graphic sex into his stories, but DIRT relies on the sex a bit too heavily, taking away from what could be a typically taut Woods story and turning it into a letter to Penthouse, the story lost in the smut. I sound harsh, again I will attempt to state that DIRT is a good read, but you have to wonder, what happened to Stuart Woods? Tabloids and sex, fine. Good even. Ferragamo shoes and purple label Ralph Lauren suits. Fine again--status and all that. More sex. Still fine. Just stop trying to show off there Stu. Cartier, Rolex, Chanel, Purple Label, whatever. You got a good story, it just got lost somewhere between the bedroom and Barney's.

I really loved this book it was a real page turner for me. This is my first book I've read by Stuart Woods and in the last month I've read every book that has this charcter in it. It kept me reading long into the night, and always on the edge of my sit. If you love supense this is a great book. I must warn the sexual appetite of the character is high, but that didn't bother me. Stuart Woods has got a fan for life.

Dirt is a novel about the world of celebrity gossip.Amanda Dart is the Queen Bee of that world -a gossip writer who knows everyone and who is courted and feared in equal measure.She finds what it is like to be on the receiving end of gossip when she is caught having sex with a married Atlanta industrialist and blackmailed with the threat of having the story exposed in a scurrilous scandal sheet named Dirt.She hires a private eye -Mr Woods' regular series character Stone Barrington- to investigate .
She is not the sole victim of the magazine and the blackmailers running it .There is also a British "journalist"(an editor of a west Coast tabloid) -and then there is Amanda's boss who is on the verge of being outed as the head of a porn publishing empire.This guy raises the stakes ,bypasses Stone and engages the Mafia to root out the person or persons behind the stories.
The hunt is on -Barrington and the Mafia guys for the blackmailers .snd then in conflict with each other.

Barrington is the least convincing PI in modern crime writing -independently wealthy ,an ex-cop and qualified lawyer,he is suave and sophisticated and seemingly irresistible top women .James Bond-ian in a way and like no PI yopu would find in the phone book if you wanted to hire an investigator.Amanda is a great creation however -a Joan Collins role in waiting ;if they ever make a TV movie of the book she would be great casting .Amanda is tough as old boots -born of poor white trash and utterly unscrupulous she is not above ,murdering her own PA when she discovers her disloyalty
It is schlocky and wildly improbable and I like a bit more grit in my crime writing but if you want a night or two of escapism and gloss in your reading you could do a lot worse

I finally finished this book after having to stop a few times. The plot isn't all too interesting and I thought that Woods could've done much better. It is a good book to read if you have nothing else to do and the suspense does build up by the end but by that time, most people are prone to have already gotten bored with it. It is not recommended for those who are impatient.

This book was a hoot and a half to read - a vicious gossip-monger who has always been careful to keep her own dirty laundry hidden finds out she hasn't done as good a job as she would like and finds the tables turned. She turns to Stone Barrington to get help. As things progress, more and more of the high and mighty find themselves being drug through the mud. I had lots of good laughs in this, and of course the suspense was great as well. The twists and turns were everything you would expect out of Stuart Woods and more and the mystery plotting was tight. Expect some pins and needles, because you're not going to want to put it down - you'll sit right where you are until you're finished!