Customer Reviews

Orchid Beach (Holly Barker Novels)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have read almost all of the popular works of Stuart Woods, especially the Stone Barrington novels. Holly Barker started out as an interesting character and then, dried up and blew away. The conditions under which she becomes the acting Chief of Police leave a lot to be desired and struck me as all too coincidental. The circumstances were so convenient for Woods that I siad to myself, "I've heard of artistic license, but this is beyond the pale....." Holly's relationship with the lawyer was also just to difficult to accept. It seems like she jumps into bed as soon as possible to add to the story line and yet, this was inconsistent with her earlier position as an Army MP major who filed charges against her commanding officer for sexual harassment.

There was another major factual error in the book and it had to do with both Holly and her father, the alleged Special Forces Master Sergeant. In the beginning of the book, as Holly is making her decision to retire from the Army, Woods mentions that her father is still ona active duty as a Green Beret Master Sergeant. Using current military personnel policies, that would have been IMPOSSIBLE. out it. Her father is still in the Army as she is getting ready to retire after having served HER 20 years. How long has he been in if she is already ready to retire? As an E-8 (MSGT), he would have only been allowed to stay 26 years and would have long been retired before Holly. Additionally, if Holly is 37, how old is her dad? If he was 18 when he had her, that would make him at least 55 and that's the mandatory retirement age for enlisted personnel on active duty. Too many of the decsriptions revolving around the military just don't work and that took away from my Woods didn't do his research and his editors are very lazy or sloppy (or both).

I'm glad I took this book out of the library and didn't have to pay for it. Had I paid for it, I would have been mad at two people, Woods and myself. If you still want to read this, get it from the library; don't spend good money for it.

When I learned that the new Stone Barrington novel was to feature Holly Barker, chief of police in Orchid Beach, Florida, I thought I'd get to know her by reading the first book in her series by Stuart Woods. Holly Barker is forced into early retirement from the Army after a nasty sexual harassment case. Chet Marley, chief of police in Orchid Beach, offers Holly a job as his deputy chief of police. On her first day on the job, Holly learns that Marley had been shot the night before and was in a coma. She also finds out that Marley's best friend, Hank Doherty, had been killed the same night. Holly adopts Doherty's Doberman, Daisy. She suspects that someone on the force knows about the shootings, but she isn't sure who knows. As she investigates, she is led to Palmetto Gardens, a very exclusive and rich piece of property in Orchid Beach. It is gated with extremely tight security. With the help of the FBI, her father Hamilton, and her lover Jackson Oxenhandler, Holly gets the answers to her questions. I enjoyed this book. Stuart Woods writes page turners, and "Orchid Beach" will keep the reader turning pages.

I am typically a reader of Woods' Stone Barrington series, but since he cannot write them fast enough, I sought out his other series, in which this is the first book.

The Orchid series follow a character named Holly Barker, who is retired from the U.S. military. She takes a position with the Orchid Beach police, and upon arriving the chief is murdered. While getting accustomed to her co-employees, the Orchid Beach community, and her new friend Daisy, Holly must try to solve the case, while also investigating a mysterious 'members only' development called Palmetto Gardens. And to top things off, the ex-chief hinted to Holly before his murder that he thought something 'suspicious' was going on in the department. Holly must decide whom she can and cannot trust.

The book did tend to be a little unrealistic with the qualities of Palmetto Gardens, but overall if was still a great read. A keeper for any Woods fan!

ORCHID BEACH, the first in the series of Holly Barker novels, sets off with a bang and despite several expected cliches and a rather over the top climax, it's riveting read and prompted me to seek out the remaining novels in this series.
What makes this book work for me is Holly herself: she's brave, straightforward, intelligent and doesn't take poop from anyone. The supporting characters, both heroes and villains, are well fleshed out and the pacing of the novel kept me interested. The inclusion of Daisy, the rather psychic Doberman, also adds some needed color and humor. The Florida setting is appealing and the villains appropriately nasty. A fine read, for both Woods afficionados and mystery readers.

I've never heard of Stuart Woods until I was in the store and happened to pick up this book. I read the first few pages and when I realized I couldn't put it down I had to buy it. I don't think Woods spent enough time explaining the lawyer boyfriend. He was suddenly dating Holly and I had a hard time picturing him because there wasn't enough said about him. Yet he's in the rest of the story. I found it very predictable but interesting enough to not want to put it down. I believe what one reader wrote, once the FBI got involved the story was basically about Palmetto Gardens and it seems like they forgot about the investigation of the Chief. Put it this way, I've read many books before. The one before this was Hannibal. That took me 3 months to read due to lack of interest. (no offense, Hannibal bored me, Silence of the Lambs was great) Either you have it or you don't. Orchid Beach took me 1 week to read. I'm looking forward to reading more of Woods books.

Ever since Chiefs, Stuart Woods has had a loyal following. I'm one of the followers, after a fashion. There's no question he's not the second coming of Chandler, or something, or that his characters are very memorable, or anything. He does, however, create relatively interesting plots, and the characters are interesting also, though everything can be a bit predictable. If you've ever read Nelson DeMille, and not read Woods, I consider the two to be virtually interchangeable, except that Woods' books tend to be shorter, and DeMille's tend to be more international and espionage/military oriented.

In this book Woods introduces a new character. She's Holly Barker, a just-retired Army MP officer who becomes Assistant Chief of a small-town police department, only to have the chief get shot just as she gets into town, and then to have various odd things begin to happen. There's a mysterious Lieutenant who wants her job, small town politics, a dog who gets beer from the refrigerator, a drifter who is a good suspect for the chief's shooting except for he doesn't act like it, and another murder to solve. Barker has to deal with all of this, an adventurous father, his old army buddies, an amorous defense attorney, a bad cop who's been in jail, and a raft of FBI agents. All very fun, and all told in standard Woods style, which means it reads fast. If you're going to Chicago or NYC or LA on the plane tomorrow, this is probably a good bet.

I've only recently started reading the Stone Barrington series and was hooked. After reading Reckless Abandon, where Holly Barker came on the scene, and realizing that she was featured in her own series, I had to read those as well.

I would advise Barrington readers to read Orchid Beach before reading Reckless Abandon, as the events in Orchid Beach happen before Holly and Stone meet again in Reckless Abandon and some of the story lines will be discussed when the reunite in the Stone Barrington book.

This was a great read that you don't want to put down until you turn the last page, and even then, you want to get started ont he next book immediately!

This was the first Stuard Woods' book I've read. I was excited to discover a new author from the suspence genre. I listen to a lot of audio books, especially mysteries, when I travel and heard "Orchid Blues" while on the road. I found the story line a bit tedious but I liked the characters so I picked this book up at a used book store and found I couldn't put it down. The story is strong, fast paced, and the characters are interesting. Holly Barker is a gutsy, commanding female figure, and the supporting characters are colorful. It is a great way to escape from the ho hum. I recommend it.

I bought the book just to read on a plane flight. It was a total waste of money. Woods has a choppy writing style that's about the level of elementary school. No charactor developement. Minimal description and about all the dog does is eat, poop in the yard and ride in the car. Not that I wanted something too cerebral on a plane flight but this book is so inane it's pathetic. I've learned my lesson... I'll pack a good book next time and never read Stuart Woods again.

Having recently read and enjoyed Stuart Woods's four Stone Barrington novels, I bought a discount copy of "Orchid Beach"... and let me first say how happy I am that I didn't pay full price. The book starts fairly well, with an intriguing enough premise, but Woods takes it nowhere. Holly Barker could have been an interesting character, but she's really no character at all. The book would have been far more compelling had Woods chosen to focus on her adjustment to Orchid Beach and her investigation into the shootings of Marley and Doherty, instead of the predictable nonsense about Palmetto Gardens. Somewhere along the way, Holly stopped being the focus of the book, cast aside in favor of Harry Crisp, the literary equivalent of a traffic cop. The book is very badly written; Woods's prose is both tired and repetitious. It's as if he dictated a first draft, and then rewrote only the first third. And the editing is almost profoundly sloppy: does Holly live at Riverside or Riverview Park? Is Goldman's name Howard or Frank? Woods doesn't seem to know, or--tellingly--to care. He's certainly capable of writing well. Why, then, isn't he?