Customer Reviews

Lucid Intervals: A Stone Barrington Novel

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The first two reviews are complaints regarding the lack of a Kindle version and are not really a review of the book. I have read all of Stuart Woods' books and found Lucid Intervals to be an easy and enjoyable read. It is short and to the point although somewhat repetitive which is the case of most prolific writers when they are trying to bring new readers up to date. I gave it five stars in view of the two previous reviews. If you are looking for a deeply complex and suspenseful thriller, this is not it. Lucid intervals is fun, simple and interesting. Thank you Mr Woods for keeping me supplied with an easy read for my afternoon sojourns.

I was the one who participated so much in the negative reviews of SW's last book, "Kisser".

First of all, I'm old and have bad eyes. I will buy the Kindle or audio book version first or, if not available, the paper book. The lack of availability of a particular format does not stop me for one minute if I want to read a book I've been waiting for. If you've kept up with events in the publishing world since the intro of the IPad, you would know that a renewed 4-way struggle exists between authors, paper book publishers, Apple and Amazon about splitting up the financial pie on electric books. This book would have been available on Kindle, on day one, had it not been for the recent strong-arming by Apple of paper book publishers and Amazon's price increase on many of the Kindle books due to the "electronic book wars," intensified with the intro of the IPad. Has anyone noticed Kindle prices went up in April on many of their books? Hello! The last person to blame, BTW, is the Author. They deal from the position of least strength.

But, in my opinion, this is no more the place to snivel and whine about that than it is to write 15 paragraphs in a blow-by-blow of the books plot or (my favorite) to write", I received the book in just a few days and it was "as represented" and I would buy from this seller again." This is not eBay, for crying out loud. Here is where we're supposed to write about, "HOW WE LIKED THE BOOK!!"

Upset about the diluted plots and weak character development of some of the later SW books and, especially, his sex scenes that had become, in my opinion, juvenile pornography, I had threatened to quit buying hos books. However, I ended up not being able to do that. When Lucid Intervals (L.I.) hit the streets, I'm really glad I gave Stuart one last chance. I thought his treatment of sex in L.I. was perfect and very tasteful! Only once did I find myself cringing and telling myself, "This scene would have been just as good without the sex". Good for you, Mr. Woods! I don't know if he reads the Amazon reviews but with L.I., I felt that he must have. This book was "back to classic Stuart Woods" and I'm really glad to have him back!!

I also liked the reintroduction of Herbie, one of Woods newest characters. He makes for a lot of fun in the book and also makes it easy to overlook Stone and Dino's constant and boring "fine dining" at Elaine's. I've never liked the food or conversation so well I'd be willing to eat dinner in the same place more than twice a month. Considering Stones huge appetite for sex, I continue to be surprised that he eats dinner at the same place every night. I also have never been able to understand why Woods writes the Stone character as so "upper crust" with his language. Stone's hardly a descendent of the Asters. I always wonder, when starting a new Woods book, how long before I'll read that dreaded line of Stones, "I'm of council...." He's a "Fixer" for crying out loud, who deals with thugs, gangsters and hoodlums who shoot at him all day. I wish Woods would quit making him sound like a Blue Blood. I think I hear it 3 times in this book.

SW writes about flying and boats because he is an avid and very accomplished pilot and yachtsman and, as a result, knows a lot about both. Why wouldn't he include it in his plots? I liked the parts in the book about flying because I'm interested in flying too.

L.I. was true SW and I enjoyed it a lot. The "Old Boy" still has it! He is coming to the Portland area for a signing May 5th and, although I don't usually drive at night, I'm going to figure out a way to be there just to tell him I really felt he'd given us what we paid for with this book and that I liked it a lot. We don't buy Woods books because he's the new Hemingway, we buy them to be entertained and, unlike Kisser and some of his more recent efforts, :ucid Intervals was pure Stuart Woofs, I was very entertained with the book and would strongly recommend it to others.

Michael Roeper, Portland, Oregon

Stuart Woods recreates the elite lifestyle of lawyer Stone Barrington in LUCID INTERVALS. Stone's tastes put him in a difficult financial position when he looks at seemingly endless red ink in his checkbook. His enterprising secretary, Joan Robertson, has his best interests --- and his bank account --- in mind when she ushers in Herbie Fisher, nephew of a good friend but a monstrous pain. Herbie, an Internet-degreed attorney, has won a $30 million lottery. He is certain that someone is out to kill him, and so he wants to hire Stone to represent him. Sure enough, gunshots shatter glass in Stone's favorite restaurant, Elaine's, when Herbie approaches him. Stone turns him down, but Joan accepts the $1 million retainer behind Stone's back in order to pay his bills.

Stone's next client, British intelligence officer Felicity Devonshire, is an old acquaintance of the intimate type. She's investigating the whereabouts of a former British agent believed to have left the intelligence service with information for sale to the highest bidder, and enlists Stone to verify his appearance in the United States. Under the Official Secrets Act, she asks for his help, promising a hefty retainer in British pounds. The elegant Felicity, chauffeured to Stone's office in a slightly elder Rolls Royce, accepts an offer to stay at his house. His libido is satisfied by the insatiable appetites of his British guest; tastefully written, the sexual scenes are as much innuendo as reality.

Throughout, Woods uses the setting of Elaine's as a rendezvous for his characters. Stone's former cop partner, Dino Bacchetti, proves useful when an official investigation is necessary. Dino's access to police records is invaluable when it comes to searching for Stanley Whitestone, the elusive British agent. Herbie wanders in and out of Elaine's when seeking advice from his reluctant attorney; his adoration of Stone borders on hero worship.

Woods, himself a pilot, writes his passion for flying into LUCID INTERVALS when Stone meets a third client, Jim Hackett, a naturalized U.S. citizen and owner of a successful security conglomerate. Jim wants to hire Stone and offers him flight instruction in piloting a small corporate jet. Felicity believes that Hackett is Whitestone's assumed identity, but Stone disagrees until further sleuthing can satisfy both their reservations. Meanwhile, Herbie prances through the plotline and becomes involved in a murder investigation when he is accused of killing his prostitute girlfriend. Stone abruptly leaves the Whitestone case to bail his wealthy client out of jail.

A third subplot involves a young woman intent on killing Stone and anyone close to him. She is Dolce Bianci, Stone's brief commitment to marriage. Dolce's rich father has restrained his psychotic daughter, but she has escaped with the intention of stalking her former husband.

LUCID INTERVALS contains sufficient humorous episodes when Herbie is present to take an edge off the cloak and dagger effects of Stone's relationship with Felicity. This latest installment is a must-read for Stone Barrington fans, and I wonder if Dolce will be given a meatier role in future books. I certainly hope so.

First let me say that I have read all of Mr. Woods books. His books are usually amusing and light with enough action and romance to keep it interesting.

On the other hand I do get a little tired of the Airplane jargon when it does not really pertain to the story that much. Its in all his books and this leads me to believe that Mr. Woods has a healthy interest in planes and flying them. That being said I don't believe this was one of his better books. It dragged in a lot of places and did not hold my interest as his books usually do. Case in point I now know way to much about planes.

To the people complaining about it not being on Kindle -- This forum is not for complaining about the lack of Kindle or the cost, but about what you liked or disliked about the book of which the review is about, to give a book one star because its not on kindle is quite misleading to those that might be thinking of buying said book and only have time to check the ratings but not read the reviews. It's really unfair to the writer and to your fellow Amazon shoppers and readers. Please don't do this its just wrong.

Lawyer Stone Barrington and his former partner when he worked for NYPD Dino Bachetti are at Elaine's when Herbie "the loser" Fisher enters carrying an attache case. He rushes over to Stone hiring him on the spot to be available when he needs an attorney. Stone and Dino knows something is bt off in the universe when Herbie pays Stone $1 million as a retainer. Herbie explains he won several with the lucky lotto, but the lawyer and the cop are skeptical.

Soon afterward British intelligence officer Felicity Devonshire retains Stone to find vanished former operative Stanley Whitestone, who disappeared a dozen years ago, but remains a person of interest by his former agency. Apparently, he was seen in New York recently. Jim Hackett, owner of a large private security firm, also employs Stone, who believes there is a reasonable chance he is Whitestone. Like a bad penny, then there is Stone's crazy ex-wife Dolce Bianci causing havoc. In his life.

This is an entertaining Barrington thriller that is filled with action and increasingly peril for the hero, but also somewhat tempered smoothly like good bourbon with jocularity. The two cases are fun and Dolcie brings her usual insanity to the mix as she is Loitering with Intent. As expected even the British spy joins the great Kisser for some boudoir activity as Stuart Woods provides an enjoyable blending of babes, bourbon and sleuthing in his latest Barrington tale.

Harriet Klausner

The quality of the Stone Barrington novels by Stuart Woods continues to go downhill. These books are a nice way to pass the time on a cross country flight but they really have become hugely "formulamatic". Stone and Dino eat a Elaine's, an old client/character is somehow always involved, Stone hooks up with an old flame but his eyes are always wandering, he and his partner end up "exhausted and sweaty" and "sleep til noon. Helene send up breakfast in the dumbwaiter", etc., etc., etc. It seems that Mr. Woods was up against a publisher's deadline since the entire plot gets wrapped up in about 2 pages at the end. A disappointing read. Mr. Woods should consider writing one or two good books per year vs. pumping out three or four repetitive, predictable and boring reads.

By virtue of the fact that this is a Stone Barrington novel, I had an inherent interest in the book. Is this Stuart Woods's best work? No, but it does have the elements that he is known for and which I love. Lots of action and intrigue from start to finish. One of the other reviewers mentioned that this book is heavy on the plane lingo, and my guess is that Woods is a pilot and enjoys letting others know about his knowledge in this area. It is a bit heavy in this area and dragged the story in places. Plot is good, characters up to snuff, but the pilot references bogged it down. If there was a way to edit out 50% of the pilot talk, then this would have been up to par. I have been reading Woods's books for many years and always look forward to the newest Stone Barrington thriller. This is a good read but not his best.

A WINNER and I gave the character, Felecity, a standing ovation for her performance (no spoiler) throughout this page-turner.

Like many, I wanted the whole 9 yards on "The Adventures of Stone Barrington" and started the series off at square one. AND, disregarding the up and down customer reviews, I've now made it through Lucid Intervals. MY reviews on each, 5 Stars--Yeah, a Stone "Over 65 Groupie".

I regard Wood's "Stone Series" as Episodes that I predict will be consolidated at some future point in a muti-volume compilation of Stone's adventures. The entourage of characters is exceptionally entertaining. Even Herbie, the not-to-believed numbskull, has a part in "saving the day" in this book, despite Stone's aversion to the bungling idiot. We can expect to see him emerge again for comedic relief. When it happens, we'll all say, "NOT Again" with a sigh.

It's that element of comic relief (mainly in the repertoire between Stone and Dino) that adds value to the page-turning qualities of each book, and increases as the books advance. I lost count, but Woods seems to be able to fit every interesting character in one or more of the series. Arrington, who has popped up so many times, is the only key character who seems to have faded. Guess she's tending to her horses.

Most important is the attitude one has in advancing to the next Stone Barrington book. I, like many of the other "high mark simplistic reviewers", know what's coming and it's pure FUN, easy reading and a nice break from the depressing CNN News and other "Real World" events.

Just sit back and relax, don't try to over-analyze--Take it "AS IS" and you'll be a happy camper. Personally, I'm getting tired of the comparisons between one book to another. The basic plot doesn't change and the opening is set in "Stone", "Elaine's late."

Gimme more Stuart. I'm running out. I may have to return to Jack Ryan and his escapades. However, the Kindle edition of "Strategic Moves" is already holding on Chapter 1 on both my PC Kindle app and on my 3G Kindle--little testimonial from a reader with some eye-issues, Kindle, especially the smaller one with the cover with built-in light: BEST e-reader and value and electronic device ever purchased--Perfect as is (3G version allows sycning device to PC app. BIG fan and former user of a Nook--hate Touch controls.

Written by an Average reader not seeking to critique, only to be entertainment.

Anyone who listened to actor Tony Roberts narrate any of these Stone Barrington novels will be in for a treat, not really a shock.

These novels are not formula and yet you the listener will feel a kinship with them. The characters will become like a familar well wore pair of loafer that you love to wear. Roberts's narration is crisp and full of vocal bag of tricks. Each character has his or her own special voice and you will know them.

This novel involves the British Government and a search for a missing man. He is ask to find this man and in steps a web of cloak and dagger with pomp filling. It has three storylines running withing this novel and they intersect so well at the end.

This audio novel is a pleasant shock we love to get like credit on an account. Woods work in my book is already paid in full. Start this series soon and enough them

So until next time, I will be under the headsets

Bennet Pomerantz
Audio

There are a few loose ends from this novel including the $50.00 bill. Where did it come from? And Dolce... What is to happen with Dolce? Will she and Stone eventually get back together? Is Dolce still in love with Stone? One of the other reviewers questioned Stone's crazy spending habits. On one hand I understand why he always needs money. There would be no need for the story if Stone didn't need to work. Wasn't it handy the way Herbie's million dollars bailed Stone out just in time. Joan insisted that the taxes took up most of the money yet Stone was able to continue to afford the expensive dinners at Elaine's. Maybe Stone's idea of being broke is relevant to his station. Trivial issues I know. And honestly not that big of a deal.

I'm not sure if the author is leaving loose ends intentionally. The writing style is as good as usual. The books are pure entertainment and I enjoy them for those purposes. I'm not as upset over the other issues because Woods does not aim to write the next great American novel. I read the Woods books entirely for the escape.