Customer Reviews

Iron Orchid (Holly Barker Novels)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If I could've rated this book 0 stars, I would have.

Stuart Woods has been going downhill for quite some time now with both of his series. Holly was the better of the two, although he ruined her when he teamed her up with Stone. This book, however, is the end of the line.

The ridiculousness is jaw-dropping. Among the idiocies you come across:

- Holly attends CIA training and is allowed to bring her dog. Not only bring her, but the dog is allowed to go everywhere with her -- including the cafeteria

- There's terrorist activity in NY, so after about two days, the director of the CIA decides that Holly's class no longer needs training and sends them up to NY to work the case

- Holly is such a star pupil that not only does she work the case, but she becomes assistant to the head honcho and supervises people

- She takes a walk down Park Avenue, decides that she might like to live there, and within about 24 hours, she's found a place, been approved by the board, signed the papers and moved in

- When she feels like getting a little nooky with Stone, all she has to do is call her superior and they call her guards off -- even though the bad guy has made her as an agent and lives nearby

- In the middle of this major case and a few weeks on the job, she just breezes into her boss' office and receives a few days vacation effective immediately because her Dad wants to come visit her

The list goes on and on. It's like Woods was thumbing his nose at his readers -- "Let's see how ridiculous I can get because you all will still buy my books!" No, Stu, I won't. You've been an arrogant, pompous windbag for far too long now, and your books officially stink. I'm done with you.

Teddy Fay Worked for the CIA for forty years, eventually becoming a Tech Services coordinator and when he retired, he erased all his files in the Agency's computers. They have no pictures or fingerprints of the man who disappeared with astonishing ease. He started killing Right Wing politician including the Speaker of the House and when he was close to being caught, he blew up the plance he was flying and jumped out into the ocean.

While the FBI and CIA think he is dead, Teddy relocates to New York when he starts killing terrorists, the enemies of America as he calls them. A joint FBI-CIA task force is formed and one of the CIA members is Holly Barker, the former Chief of Police in Orchid Beach, Florida. They recruited her and she eagerly grabbed the chance to become an operative. She is the only agent to see Holly and she is in the forefront of the investigation as Teddy tries to avoid the agents while continuing on his mission.

The antagonist is the focus and the star of IRON ORCHID as he calmly hacks into CIA and FBI computers with the help of an inside source. Readers will be simultaneously drawn to and repelled by this character who marches to his own drummer. The protagonist takes to her CIA training like a duck to water and is able to carry her share of the work load on her uses first case as an agent. Stuart Woods has written a compelling and entertaining cat and mouse caper.

Harriet Klausner

There was a time when I could turn to Stuart Woods and know I would get a lightweight but well-written thriller. In recent years, however, Woods has remained lightweight but his writing has gone downhill. His recent Stone Barrington novels have been minimally entertaining and his latest standalone novel, The Prince of Beverly Hills, was equally mediocre. The one ray of sunshine in his recent works has been Holly Barker novels, and in Iron Orchid, we get Woods at his recent best: not really good, but a cut above his non-Barker works.

As the story opens, Teddy Fay, the villain from Capitol Crimes is back and on the run from the FBI and CIA; he fakes his death which buys him a little time, but soon enough the authorities are after them again. Meanwhile, Holly Barker has quit her small-town police job and has joined the CIA; her training is cut short when she gets involved with the hunt for Fay. Most of the novel is a cat-and-mouse game, with Fay a step or two ahead, evading Holly and company and at the same time, committing a string of assassins. Since Fay is killing suspected terrorists, he is not exactly an entirely unsympathetic character.

There are plenty of things wrong with this book, flaws that have been a distinct Woods trait for a while. Typically, most of these problems come from the shallowness of the story and its characters. The only two characters with any real substance are Holly and Fay, and since they rarely interact, we get no really good interplay between the two of them. In fact, there is little in the way of real suspense, at least as far as the heroes are concerned: since Fay only kills "bad guys", Holly is in no real danger (a brief side plot involving the threat of a CIA instructor goes nowhere). Actually, the only suspense involves Fay as he is the only one in real danger; in a certain way, that makes him the protagonist in this novel. There are also bits of silliness that take away any potential realism in this novel; for example, the idea that Holly could bring her dog with her to CIA training seems a bit implausible. The ending of the story will probably also be dissatisfying to many.

I continue to read Woods, because he was good once and I keep hoping he will be again. I think his biggest problem is that he is writing too fast (it seems like he's doing two novels a year) and it shows. His latest books seem hastily written. Iron Orchid may be better than other recent Woods fare, but it is not a novel I can recommend; I'm giving it a low three stars, and probably only rating it that high to distinguish it from his other books. If you want to read Stuart Woods, read his early stuff: it's entertaining and well-written. His more recent books are just fast, empty reads.

I was disappointed in this book. The protagonist, Holly, was one step behind the "bad guy" the whole time and never recovered. There was no great twist in the plot line or the ending. Many side lines ended up nowhere. For example, the bad guy has an attraction to Holly and stalks her, but then nothing comes of it. Holly has a big fight with an instructor and is warned that she might be in danger from him - nothing comes of it. The dog, Daisy, is constantly mentioned throughout the book with references to her security and guard training - but Daisy never gets a chance to prove her worth - she just chases balls and does her business - no big deal. A secret offshore bank account of Holly's is given large play in the beginning of the book - but nothing comes of it. All the FBI's and CIA's mistakes and missed opportunities are overlooked by the big wigs - they are very forgiving - a bit hard to believe. The story line had potential but the book has the feel of being incomplete and leaves you hanging without that "cliff hanger" thrill that would make it interesting. As an earlier reviewer wrote - it's pretty much a big yawn.

I have read all of Stuart Woods novels, so I was excited when Iron Orchid was released. Boy, was I surprised when I read it. First of all, like many series, you were supposed to know all about the main characters without introduction or history. However, I've read all the former novels with these characters, and I still have to ask what the point of this novel was? I looked for story. There was none. I searched for plot. What plot? The characters were cardboard cutouts. Stone Barrington was mentioned twice, I think to remind readers that Stuart Woods can create characters with blood in their veins and emotions in their hearts. The novel was a series of incidents which might serve as a sort of "How To" manual for a budding terrorist, but serves no other imaginable purpose. The good guys were stymied, the bad guys got away, and I think we're supposed to wait with breath held for the next installment when they might get closer to or, god willing, catch the evil mastermind. Someone else will have to find out and tell me. I wasted almost $20 on this meaningless money maker for Stuart Woods. I won't be throwing more money after it.

What a cheat! Don't waste your time. Any good writer can put together a suspense novel; a novel worth reading requires that the author resolve the crime. The FBI and CIA have no luck; the bad guy has more luck than 12 4-leaf clovers. So, I read through all of it really trying to guess how this will be resolved. But, Stuart Woods can't resolve his own story, so on the last page, the bad guy and his accomplise go to ST.Bart's to start a new life. With this ending, the story is no longer even remotely clever.

We've read Woods' entire booklist and don't intend to stop now. From his Will Lee series, his standalone books, his lengthy playboy-investigator Stone Barrington collection to his newest, the Holly Barker set, we've generally enjoyed each of his outings. Ostensibly, this book is another in the latter run, all of which contain "Orchid" in the title, which is the only sense we can make out of the otherwise cryptic title of this one. Holly has resigned from her unduly low key post as a small time Florida beach town police chief to seek more thrills (certainly not money, as she has a secret cache of several million in a numbered account) as a CIA operative. But just weeks into training at "The Farm" her class is hustled to New York City to track down Teddy Fay, good guy/bad guy villain from the earlier "Capital Crimes" novel. Now Fay is bumping off middle Eastern terrorists in a personal vendetta against "undesirables" that his former employer (also the CIA) cannot take on themselves. His exploits escalate to President Will Lee's attention; CIA bigwig Lance Cabot is back helping direct the hunt; and Stone and pal Dino make brief cameos, mostly we guess to assure us how red-blooded Holly is as she once again beds Stone like she did in "Two Dollar Bill". So almost every ex-character but Barrington's on-again off-again girlfriend Arrington is here to help.

Alas, the plot never goes much of anywhere -- and worse, gets there slowly. Easily the most entertaining facet of the book is the exploits of the clever Teddy, who actually takes Holly to the opera without her knowing it! He's a villain we come close to rooting for, and only the most naïve reader will think we've seen the last of him given the way this one ends up. Along the way, he uses multiple disguises and extensive planning, as well as a somewhat unbelievable inside connection, to stay several beats of ahead of his chasers, including Holly who as a new recruit seems to have the only good ideas in nailing him down.

In sum, "Iron Orchid" rolls out familiar faces and places, but the tepid plot does little to amuse. It's not a totally bad novel, but we know Woods can do much better by giving us something to care about, generating sustained suspense, and closing out the affair with some certainty. Not this time.

I completely agree with the prior reviewer -- this book was way too silly to be taken seriously. I've read some of Stuart Woods' earlier work, which was VERY well written and believable. This book was decently written (I finished it) but had so many ridiculous plot developments that I can't recommend it.

My advice is to skip this book unless you're looking for pure escapism.

Having read all of Stuart Woods' books, usually as they first come out, this one is very disappointing. The book goes nowhere slowly. Although Holly Barker has always been a likable character, it is unbelievable that she would go through a few weeks CIA training to become an assistant to Lance Cabot. The entire book is spent with the CIA chasing Teddy Fay, although they are mainly chasing their own tails. There are no exciting subplots or getting to know the characters any better. You keep waiting for the book to take a new turn or get better, but it never does.
Apparently Mr. Woods has become content with mechanical writing and relies on his name and reputation to sell books. Put some effort into it, and give us back the writing we are used to. Any more dissapointments like this one, and I'll have to stop buying them.

For any fan of Stuart Woods, this has to be a disappointing book. Unlike previous stand-alone books, the very best of which (Heat and White Cargo, especially) are really great, well-written and well-plotted exciting thrillers, this is a real let-down. Against previous Holly Barker's and Stone Barrington's, it also falls pretty flat. This problem is that this book is about nothing. It has no plot, no new major characters, no sub-plots and no climax (other than the one when Holly has another one-night stand with Stone. Events happen, without followup (as wehn Holly smashes the face of her unarmed combat instructor, he's fired, she's warned he's nasty ....but they never meet again!) In fact, though Holly is the main focus, she does nothing, other than complete her CIA training, move to New York on a man-hunt, and coincidentally, by pure-happenchance, keep bumping into the bad guy without recognizing him. And, to make matters worse, the `bad-guy' isn't really `bad,' just a former CIA agent off the reservation who kills the really bad guy the CIA can't touch. Mr. Woods, I am a fan of your books and I will keep buying them in hardback as they come out. But, instead of two weak books a year, how about slowing down and delivering g one really good one. Until, then, I'm disappointed ...