Orchid Beach [Mass Market Paperback]

Stuart Woods (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2010

New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods delivers a riveting thriller that introduces an exciting addition to the pantheon of fictional sleuths.

Forced into early retirement at thirty-seven, smart, attractive, and fiercely independent Major Holly Barker trades in her bars as a military cop for the badge of deputy chief of police in Orchid Beach, Florida. But below the sunny surface of this sleepy, well-to-do island town lies an evil that escalates into the cold-blooded murder of one of Holly's new colleagues.

An outsider, Holly has little to go on for answers and no one to help her—except Daisy, a Doberman of exceptional intelligence and loyalty that becomes her companion and protector. The closer Holly gets to the truth, the more she knows that it'll take one smart dog with guts to sniff out this killer—before he can catch her first.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Talk about a bad first day. Major Holly Barker thought she was getting out of a mess when she left the army. She'd been sexually harassed by her superior, but the exigencies of the military legal system wound up wrecking her career. Orchid Beach seemed like the perfect place to start over. Though Chief Marley, an old family friend, was worried about some local increases in the drug trade, the Florida barrier island was not a crime mecca. As the new deputy police chief, Holly would be stepping on the toes of a few Orchid Beach P.D. regulars who were being overlooked for the job, but she would prove her worth in short order. After installing her trailer in Riverview, though, the bad news started to flood the Beach. The chief was found along the side of highway A1A with a bullet through the head, and his closest friend just had his skull blown apart with the chief's shotgun. Now, Holly is the acting chief in a town she hardly knows and with a police force that's full of animosity towards its newly minted leader. Just about the only consolation is that Holly has inherited Daisy, a Doberman who's about the best and most faithful friend a troubled gal could ask for; Daisy's a fierce defender of her master and she knows how to retrieve a beer on command.

Holly is a new character for Stuart Woods, and the author wastes no time getting readers into the thick of the mystery. This means that character takes a bit of a back seat to plotting in Orchid Beach, but with a mystery this fast-paced, the tradeoff is worthwhile. --Patrick O'Kelley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

After a string of successes based on the escapades of the redoubtable Stone Barrington, Woods (Swimming to Catalina) shifts to a female protagonist in this police procedural, with mostly smooth and satisfying results. Woods's new heroine is Holly Barker, a 37-year-old MP supervisor whose army career comes to a halt when she loses a sexual harassment suit against her superior officer. A friend of her father's offers her a position as a deputy in the small Florida town of the title, but life becomes even more problematic when she gets there and finds that her benefactor is in a coma after having been shot. The body of his best friend is discovered next. The clues quickly lead to an exclusive community for the ultra-rich within Orchid Beach that bears a suspicious resemblance to a military installation, and the trail gets hotter when several corrupt Miami ex-cops turn up on the community's roster of security workers. Aided by local defense attorney Jackson Oxenhandler, Barker gathers a raft of evidence that she turns over to the FBI, which organizes a well-planned assault on the fortress. The climactic raid is somewhat lacking in suspense, but Woods compensates by introducing a charming romantic subplot between Holly and Jackson, and the story gets extra bite from Holly's intriguing relationship with an inherited canine named Daisy, the clairvoyant Doberman that belonged to her mentor. Agent, Anne Sibbald.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (August 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061987301
• ISBN-13: 978-0061987304
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #353,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stuart Woods is the author of forty-four novels, including the New York Times-bestselling Stone Barrington series and Holly Barker series. The last twenty-eight of them have been New York Times best-sellers. He is an avid private pilot, flying his own jet on two book tours a year. His latest novel is Santa Fe Edge,to be published on September 21st. You may see his tour schedule and learn more about the author on his website, www.stuartwoods.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Predictable Fast Read BUT, Ultimately Disappointing, September 27, 1999

By 

P. Connors "Colonialpara" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orchid Beach (Hardcover)

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.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Orchid Beach, May 14, 2004

By 

Ricky N. "Ricky C. Nelson" (Commerce, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orchid Beach (Hardcover)

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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gotta love Stuart Woods!!!..., January 13, 2003

By 

Jessica Davis "J.D." (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orchid Beach (Holly Barker Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

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!