Customer Reviews

Fresh Disasters (Stone Barrington)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Warning: There is one small plot spoiler in this review

The best I can say about Fresh Disasters is that it isn't the worst Stuart Woods novel I've read.

I can appreciate that people, on occasion, like to read a 'so-called' beach novel and that such novels can have plot holes and poorly developed characters, provided they are fun to read. This is where Woods has really lost whatever touch he once had. Fresh Disasters is decidedly `not fun'.

The most perplexing thing is the apparent fan-base that there is for the character of Stone Barrington. Stone is a shallow, superficial, misogynist. This wouldn't be a problem if he were charming, intelligent, witty, or in any way interesting - but he's not. Not only is he a complete bore, he has to be the most incompetent lawyer ever.

I won't point out the plot holes or mention any unrealistic scenes (they are numerous). I concede that these `come with the territory'. What I will complain about is the complete absence of a plot, and in particular, the fact that Stone does absolutely nothing to resolve anything that happens in this novel. His principal role is to go out to dinner, drink bourbon, and have sex with Amazon women.

The novel has two mostly unrelated story lines. Stone has a client who is suing a mob boss for having him roughed up. I won't complain about how silly this is - but I do want to point out that Stone does absolutely nothing for this client except complain about him and poorly represent him. This story line resolves itself without any help from Stone.

The second story line involves a nymphomaniac Amazon masseuse (a prototype that Woods seems fixated on) who is being stalked by a violent ex-boyfriend. Stone does little for the woman except have sex with her, give her bad advice, and then find her dead body. Stone plays no constructive role in catching her killer.

There are various sub plots, involving Stone's sex life and a silly divorce case, but these add little to the novel - certainly not suspense. In fact, there is a complete absence of suspense in this novel and absolutely no mystery. The dialogue can only be described as `goofy' and `juvenile'. The plot, such as it is, is little more than a backdrop for Woods' real obsessions - namely fine dining and sex, lots of sex.

The bottom line is - I don't get it. I really don't. This isn't the literary equivalent of a popcorn movie. It's a cynical novel written by an author who stopped trying a long time ago.

While probably not the best in the Stone Barrington series, this is a fun and quick read (I went through it in just over 3 hours) and great for a light evening of entertainment.

Stone, Dino and Bill Eggers have an evening at Elaine's interrupted when Herbie Fisher stops by their table to announce he has passed the bar and is now a lawyer. A few minutes later a couple of knuckle-draggers come in, grab Herbie, haul him out the door and proceed to lay the hurt on him. Dino gets them to back off, but Herbie announces he wants to sue them for assault. Bill says he will take the case, even though Stone advises against it since the two goons are representatives of Carmine Datilla - Datilla the Hun - one of the biggest, baddest Mafia dons in the area. The next morning, apparently thinking better of the situation, Bill lays the whole thing off on Stone in such a way as to leave Stone no option but to do the suit. Of course, Herbie is a squirrelly fellow and keeps disappearing, which doesn't help matters, nor does the fact that any other witnesses keep ending up dead. . .

In the process, Stone also becomes embroiled in a divorce suit between the opposing council and his wife in an amusing side-bar, as well as a not-so-amusing stalking case with a potential new love interest, which ends badly. Woods weaves these three strands together a bit clumsily, but they still work; however, as long as this series has been going on, Stone is getting a bit unbelievable as a playboy. That, however, is my only real complaint about this story.

Overall, as I said, it was enjoyable as a light, quick read as a bit of fluff and light entertainment. There are other installments in the Stone Barrington series that are much stronger, but there is nothing wrong with this one.

This once awesome author may want to RETIRE. He has completely lost his skills of storytelling and character developement. The last few books have been an effort to read even though I have been a serious fan from the first book. I will be buying no more and suggest if a tree has to give its gifts for books the public support a real author!

Stuart Woods used to be a favorite author of mine, but his latest book, FRESH DISASTERS, is so poorly written I found myself skimming over most of it just to finish it. The dialogue is juvenile, characters goofy, and the events in the book defy belief. Mr. Woods must have churned it out in one day, if it even took that long to construct. How sad to see such a poor quality read delivered by an author of Mr. Woods reputation. Don't waste your time, or your money... this book is a "Fresh Disaster" of its own.

Stuart Woods is a facile writer. I suspect he turns out these Stone Barrington novels in little more than the time it takes to read them. That's not a criticism. I happen to like Woods' Stone Barrington novels because they are very light, fast, purely escapist reading.

After you've read one, you're familiar with the main characters and don't have to worry about them changing. There's Stone Barrington, former homicide detective, current lawyer and bon vivant. Barrington has the occasional lucky break that brings him a bunch of money which he needs to support his lavish lifestyle which includes a Manhattan townhouse, a Mercedes, a country home in Connetticut, another in Maine, an airplane and generally the high life. There's Dino Bachetti, a NYPD homicide lieutenant, who also has a fair degree of bucks because of his one-time marriage to the daughter of a one-time Mafia biggie who went straight. Stone and Dino share a father-in-law. There's Joanne, Stone's assistant who is forever - at least once per novel - told to take a few days off because someone is trying to hunt down Stone to kill him.

And then there's Elaine Kauffman of Elaine's, the legendary watering hole of New York's glitterati. Virtually every night, Stone and Dino are found at Elaine's, often with Elaine herself stopping by to share gossip and advice. The meetings at Elaine's provide a lot of the motive power to the interactions of Stone and Dino, which are really what the novels are all about.

In this one, a nebbish by the name of Herbie Fisher decides to sue a Mafia biggie who has had him roughed up over a past-due gambling debt. Barrington gets the case since he is "of counsel" to big time law firm Woodman and Weld. In this instance, "of counsel" means getting the cases the firm wants keep at arm's length.

So Stone is up against Carmine Dattila. Everyone presumes that Herbie Fisher will soon be dead because he sued the mob boss. Naturally enough, as soon as Stone becomes more than minimally involved, odds are taken that he will wind up dead as well.

Of course, that story isn't enough, so Bernie Finger, Dattila's lawyer gets involved, with Stone arranging for him to get into a lot of trouble with his wife, who promptly hires Stone to represent her in divorce proceedings.

And Herbie, poor Herbie. Every 50 or so pages, another attempt in made on Herbie's life.

Stone does not pursue justice without getting banged up a bit, which author Woods tries to alleviate by folks telling Stone he needs a massage, which he indeed gets from a statuesque (6'4") masseur named Celia. Soon enough Celia's ex-boyfriend who is stalking her is trying to injure Stone which puts him into contact with Doctor Eliza - who winds up in bed with Stone as did Celia.

In fact, Woods this time around has women falling all over Stone, a bit of a change from earlier novels and, frankly, not a welcome one. Way too much time is spent on sex in this book.

Anyway "Fresh Disasters" is pure escapist reading. There are a few major lapses in editing, not much of a plot to speak of and the characters don't have any real depth. There aren't any real suprises and no edge-of-your seat excitement. An occasional murder or two, but you know that in the end, justice will prevail.

In short, this is perfect airplane, rainy day, lazy day or bedtime reading. If you're in search of "great literature", don't bother. If you just want a few hours of entertainment, Stuart Woods, Stone Barrington and "Fresh Disasters" are a lot of fluffy fun.

Jerry

My good friend gave me this novel to read. She told me that she wasn't very excited with the story, but since she knew I had read several of Mr. Woods novels, she thought I might find it enjoyable. (Enjoyable? Hmmmm, that word didn't sound very encouraging to describe a story), but I thanked her very much and read the novel over the next 4 or 5 days.

My friend enjoyed the book, but not as well as she enjoyed The Monopoly Factor by Robert L. Saunders that I had encouraged her to read several weeks ago. Her overall disappointment was that in the novel "Fresh Disasters", Mr. Woods's characters were not realistic and the author should have spent more time developing the plots. Her comments struck me as valid points, since I'm a big fan of a realistic story, even if the novel is categorized as fiction.

I've read several novels by Mr. Woods, and it was always a pleasure to read his earlier novels but I have been disappointed in his bland, choppy writing skills over the past year. He can do better, so, I'm hoping that I won't be disappointed in this read.

In the story you have Stone Barrington, a lawyer, with roots as a homicide detective and a fellow that likes to live beyond his financial means. (He likes his armored Mercedes, his NYC penthouse and did I fail to mention his country estate). He lives this lifestyle with little or no money. I might give Mr. Woods a call and ask him how this be and please tell me the secret.
There are other characters that come close to Barrington, in fact they sort of run in the same mold. The reader will find that there is the detective from NYPD, Dino Bachetti. He likes to have lots of money in his pocket at all times. These two men are what you call "Best Buddies" and the novel drums home that point till the author is ensure that the reader thoroughly understands this point. I got it, Mr. Woods!!

The main character Stone Barrington is the predictable ladies man, and a considerable amount of pages is given to the reader regarding Stone's sexual appetite. Again, Mr. Woods drums this point home so the reader can thoroughly understand it. I got this point also, Mr. Woods!! Personally, I'm not a big fan of novels that fill up pages with the sexual relationships of the characters. For me half of the pages in this novel could have been removed and the story would not have suffered. I won't even address the constant splattering of filthy language throughout the novel, which bothers me.

Unfortunately, for Stone he has a bad habit of traveling with a "black cloud" over the women he encounters. For some odd reason his lady friends tend to meet an untimely death. One of them lost her head. I assume it was one of his ladies, but the story wasn't really that clear who she was. Guess I'll have to wait for the sequel to find out. (I don't think so.)

There are numerous reviews, so I won't go into anymore detail about the story except to tell you that the story moves along and you'll find the Mob involved, and Stone gets serious and digs in to ensure that justice does prevail.


I had several faults with this book and one being that it was completely unrealistic. A mystery novel should at the very least fit into some resemblance of the real world that we live in. The plot(s) are very weak and the characters are boring with no real substance to them. Now, that I think about, I don't think I actually rooted for Stone or any of the characters the entire time I read the novel. There are no real page turning episodes and certainly no surprises. I suppose the novel has merit if you want an easy read to take along with you to the beach. Mr. Woods is a talented writer when he buckles down and spends time with his craft, but this novel he failed and I'm sorry but I wouldn't recommend someone to spend their hard earned money on it, at least not this novel from the author's inventory.

In summary, it has have been my general consensus that most mass produced paperback mysteries are too often clunky, inadequately didactic, and just downright boring.

Stone Barrington fans are legion, but this episode is flat. It doesn't have the sparkle one expects from Mr. Woods.
"Fresh Disasters" maybe the result of deadlines, publishing contract demands, or even editor manipulations with eyes on what's selling, but it is isn't the Stone Barrington we respect and admire.
The mattress gymnastics have the reader saying come-on Mr. Woods, "You can do better than this."
If you are new to Stuart Woods, with a fantastic talent for storytelling, go to the beginning and read "New York Dead". Then follow Stone and his buddies through the series, it is an excellent reading adventure.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Writing as a Small Business."

Like several of the other reviewers, I anticipated the arrival of the new Stuart Woods novel. I, too, was disappointed. Good grief, did he change the sheets between sexual encounters? Or perhaps the sex was of no more consequence than changing the sheets. And plot. Was there a plot? There were several different story lines and sometimes they converged but mostly, they diverged. I really don't mind characters with active sex lives, but I would like a real story with character development and emotional depth. Will I read the next one? Probably, but if the series continues like this book, I'll be finished with Stuart Woods.

Stuart Woods writes, over and over again, the quintessential male fantasy, that every woman he meets and beds will say to him what someone named Dierdre said on page 215: "I'm not going to cling to you, stalk you or make your life miserable. All I want from this relationship is an occasional drink or steak and a spectacular roll in the hay. We clear on that?" The only thing that struck me about this book, aside from the headless woman (maybe that's a male fantasy too) was that Stone Barrington seemed ruder, cruder, and lewder this time around--- not his usual sophisticated self, more like a dirty old man too jaded to ever take anything seriously again.

If Stuart Woods is going to write about lawyers, maybe he should learn some law or hire someone who knows about it.

He doesn't seem to realize that a person doesn't immediately become an attorney upon passing the bar, but that there can be a delay of many months before a person is admitted. That's especially true in New York, which waits until after an applicant passes the exam to do its background checks, character and fitness interview, and make the candidate attend an Orientation to the Bar course.

But, wait, there is an even worse error. Stone agrees to handle a divorce case for a contingency fee. Wrong! Contingency fees in general are frowned upon when a client can pay reasonable fees, and the client in this case had access to money. Furthermore, it's a serious violation of ethics (both ABA and New York) for an attorney to charge contingency fees in divorce actions (or in criminal cases).