Customer Reviews

Worst Fears Realized

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Stone Barrington lives a life most guys would kill to have (No pun intended). He is a handsome cop-turned-lawyer who needs an umbrella to keep the women from falling into his lap. The suspense in this novel is erratic. You find yourself hooked for the first 30 pages then wading through the next 2 chapters until the suspense builds again. Much of the plot is completely surreal. You have to suspend your disbelief to get through the book. Woods chose all the right ingredients: sex, murder, etc. They just weren't mixed together well to create a great novel. Makes a decent summer read, but definitely not a great book. If you want a really good Stone Barrington novel, try the first one Woods wrote: "New York Dead", a truly unique thriller and one of the best examples of Stuart Woods hitting on all cylinders.

Stone wasn't expecting anything to happen when he is dragged into attending a party by his ex-partner, Dino. All he was looking for was some alchohol to numb the pain of the absence of his former love, Arrington, who was now married to a superstar, and was raising his child. He ends up going home with a assistant DA, but the night ends in horror when she is murdered while he is out getting dinner.
Things go from bad to worse when his secretary is also killed, then his neighbor is brutally slaughtered right in front of him. It seems that someone has a grudge...
And not just for Stone. Dino is also targeted when his wife is attacked. Now, they both come to the conclusion that the killer must be someone they know.
And in the midst of searching, Stone comes back into contact with Arrington, who throws sparks as she comes face-to-face with Stone's latest fling. Dino's sister-in-law, a hot-tempered Italian girl, who's father is a Mob boss. Now, Stone must find the killer before he makes him pay in ways he's never thought possible.

As always, Worst Fears Realized, was a roller coaster ride of a novel. It had plenty of twists that will keep you guessing, and turning pages eagerly.

For those of us who have become Stone Barrington fans you won't be disappointed. Stone is up to his usual tricks. He gets any girl he wants, spends lots of money, keeps you in suspense for a while but of course, solves the crime. The ending was very weak and I did wonder how Arrington's baby went from being a girl in the end of "Swimming to Catalina" to a boy in the beginning of this one. It is by far not the best Stuart Woods book I've read but I found it to be an enjoyable quick read.

I read this book in less than two days and can understand why so many other reviewers here found this book lacking compared to previous Stone Barrington novels. Perhaps they are right and Stuart Woods is slipping. However, while this book certainly is not a great novel, it also does not deserve a 1 star rating, either.

Fans of Stuart Woods need to remember that Stone Barrington was created by the author as SOMETHING OF A CARICATURE. Several installments back, Mr. Woods even commented in one of his afterwords that readers had commented on Stone's sluttish behavior. He stated (somewhat tongue in cheek) that he tried to tone Stone's behavior down but Stone just wouldn't toe the party line. In any case, these books are light reads and should not be confused with Tolstoy or Dickens.

WORST FEARS REALIZED is just another fast paced read in the continuing saga of Stone Barrington and his upper crust NY friends. This book has it all: Stone bedding one gorgeous woman after another, lots of money, Mafia dons, released psychopaths hunting Stone and Dino Bachetti and killing their friends. This is a quick easy read and I found it entertaining. I laughed a lot at some of the funny lines that Woods gives his characters to deliver.

Give the guy a break! Mr Woods has written over 21 books. How many of the critics here at Amazon have done that? How many readers could craft even the worst of his efforts and turn it into a bestseller? I defy any of the other 44 reviewers who submitted reviews before me to do so. I know I can't (and haven't) and therefore, reserve my harsher criticisms for those truly terrible pieces of trash that get past editors and publishers. This may not be his best effort to date, but it's still a damn sight better than a lot of the schlocky stuff that passes for popular literature.

What can I say? WFR kept me reading and after finishing it, I immediately picked up a copy of L.A. DEAD where the adventures of Stone Barrington, Esq. and "bon vivant" are continued. When I finish it, I'll pass along my comments.

Paul Connors

This reads like a formula. The characters, especially Stone are flat and silly. I had 100 pages to go and didn't care if they all got murdered. I hope we have bottomed out and it is up hill for Mr. Woods from here.

Worst Fears Realized was a great book and more than lived up to the past Stone Barrington novels.

After having just read three of Michael Connelly's novels (The Poet, The Black Ice and the Conrete Blonde), which were all superb, I was kind of hoping that Worst Fears Realized by Stuart Woods would follow the same track. It was not to be. As bad as it was, however, for some reason I stayed to the bitter end.

Like others who have reviewed WFR, this was a quick read. Stuart Woods gives us another episode of Stone Barrington, complete with sex, money and suspense. Once I picked the book up, it kept my interest until I finished.

If there is a fault with WFR, it is the ending. I expected something more detailed and riveting. It didn't happen. I've read several books by Stuart Woods and have found them to be worthwhile. The Stone Barrington character possesses quite a few traits that many of Mr. Woods' male readers probably only dream about. A cut-and-dried ending does not favor Stone.

Although I enjoyed the story, I have a real hard time swallowing the character of Stone Barrington! No one with any conscience can jump in and out of bed like this guy, I don't care how good looking he is. With as many women as this guy has slept with he is sure to have a fatal disease by now!

I had high hopes for this one, especially with Stone back aboard

But it's a little weak in plot and the writing suffers from superficiality

The other 2 books I got from Amazon made up for this one--Triumph and Glory was a riveting war novel I really got into, and The Devil's Teardrop was SUPER.

Three stars for Worst Fears Realized, it could have been better