Reckless Abandon (Stone Barrington Series) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Stuart Woods (Author), Tony Roberts (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004 | Series: Stone Barrington Series (Book 10)

Stone Barrington is, once again, right at home in New York City; but this time he is joined by the tenacious Holly Barker from Orchid Blues, the lady police chief of Orchid Island, Florida. In Reckless Abandon, Holly finally makes it to Manhattan, hot on the trail of an evil fugitive from her jurisdiction. Stone is, well, glad to see her, right up until the moment when her presence creates a great danger to both of them - and to their surprise, she becomes the pursued, not the pursuer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's double the pleasure and double the fun as Woods brings series character Holly Barker, chief of the Orchid Beach, Fla., police department (of Orchid Blues, etc.), onstage to co-star with PI Stone Barrington (of Dirty Work, etc.) in his latest adventure. Holly's come to New York hot on the trail of Trini Rodriguez, a bad guy she thought she'd stabbed to death in an earlier adventure. He's currently wanted for (among other things) blowing up a dozen people by hiding bombs in the caskets of two of his earlier victims and detonating them at the funeral. But finding him won't be so simple: he's been placed in the FBI Witness Protection Program and is working with the Feds and the CIA to catch an Arab terrorist group trying to employ the Mafia in a money-laundering scheme. Shortly after Holly takes up residence in Stone's guest room, the two of them are hip deep in the dangerous caseâ€"and likewise each other. They go at it so often it's hard to say what's going to kill Stone first: the Mafia, Arab terrorists or the athletic, all-night sex. Cross-pollinating all these characters from various books makes for some heavy-handed background exposition at times, but readers with no previous experience will still enjoy this amusing, full-throttle sex and crime romp. Stone's ex-partner and best pal, Dino Bachetti, head of the detective squad at the 19th precinct, sums up Stone's appeal, and that of the entire series, when he says of his friend: "Wherever you go, people drop dead, and women take off their underwear." That's it in a nutshell.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

It had to happen eventually. Woods' two heroes, cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington and police chief Holly Barker, meet up to pursue a hit man in this new outing. Stone and Holly first crossed paths in Florida in Orchid Blues (2001), after her fiance was killed. Now, Holly is in New York, hot on the trail of Trini Rodriguez, who escaped from her clutches in Blood Orchid (2002). Trini is now under the protection of the FBI as a key witness in several cases, and they're not about to release him to Holly, who wants him tried in Florida for the murder of 12 people. Holly enlists Stone's help in tracking down Trini, and it should come as no surprise to Woods' fans that they soon end up in bed together. Trini continues to elude them, narrowly escaping every time they get close to him. Shady CIA operative Lance Cabot is back as well, and he wants Stone and Holly to sign on to help out the CIA on some sensitive cases. Most of the action in the novel involves chasing Trini, and while at times it's a tad implausible (a paid assassin locks the couple up and gives them a bottle of wine and a nice meal before attempting to kill them), it's never less than entertaining. Here's hoping Stone and Holly team up again soon. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio Unabridged Lib Ed; Unabridged library edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593552130
• ISBN-13: 978-1593552138
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,439,225 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

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I was so looking forward to this book...., May 22, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Reckless Abandon: A Stone Barrington Novel (Hardcover)

As an avid reader of Stuart Woods, I was really looking forward to this book, where both of his series characters would meet up. Overall, the plot of the story was great, but there were too many incidents that it all too unbelievable. Stone and Holly managed to escape death too many times, and their personal relationship with each other was a little too hard to believe. I have to give it 3 stars, however, for the good plot, and also the great continuation of characters, interlocking all the books together. I really love that quality about Woods' writings, that he always brings back past characters. However, I am still waiting on Arrington Carter to make an appearance in a Stone Barrington novel. So if you are a reader of the series of Stone and Holly, then you definitely need to read this book to keep up with these characters. If not, then I wouldn't recommend this book, because you would be completely lost in the history of the storyline involved.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Barrington and Barker double header, June 6, 2004

By 

Eileen Rieback (Coral Springs, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reckless Abandon: A Stone Barrington Novel (Hardcover)

In "Reckless Abandon," Stuart Woods brings together two heroes from his previous series, lawyer Stone Barrington and police chief Holly Barker. They work as a team along with Dino Bacchetti of the NYPD to track down and arrest a mob hit man. Things get complicated because the killer also happens to be helping the FBI on an Arab terrorist entrapment, is in the Witness Protection Program, and is under protection of the Mafia. Soon Stone and Holly are in danger, but it is unclear if the FBI, the mob, or the terrorists are after them... perhaps it is all three. There are additional side plots involving the FBI, the CIA, and a thickheaded photographer that caused Stone problems in an earlier novel.

Not only are Stone and Holly together in this story, with the requisite romance on the side, but almost every other major character from Wood's previous books (with the glaring exception of Stone's old flame Arrington) is either part of the action or peripheral to it. It seems like Woods is running out of ideas and is delving into his previous books for material. As a result of the reintroduction of so many previous characters and cases, there are a lot of brief recaps of old story lines, and this distracts the reader from the current plot.

This latest novel is not one of the author's better ones. First, it appears to be a patchwork production into which Woods only put a mediocre effort. Second, some of the plot details are so unbelievable and the reasoning so naive that they are laughable. But in many ways, it is typical Woods: lots of glib and comical dialog, five-page chapters, meals at Elaine's, romps in the bedroom, chases, narrow escapes, and fast-paced action. I don't recommend this for readers new to Stuart Woods because of all the references to past adventures, but for the knowledgeable Barrington/Barker fan, this is an entertaining and light, though mildly lacking, read.

Eileen Rieback

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reckless Abandon, April 13, 2004

By 

L. Hobson (Palmdale California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reckless Abandon: A Stone Barrington Novel (Hardcover)

Stuart Woods is at it again bringing the character Holly Barker to find a man she thought she killed already only to find him a live. She is trying to track him down and finding road blocks every where. He's now in the witness protection program hired by the CIA to work for them. If you're looking for a book to keep you on the edge of you seat then this book is for you. A must read- Larry Hobson- Author- "The Day Of The Rose"