New York Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

by Stuart Woods (Author) "Elaine's, late. The place had exhausted its second wind, and half the customers had gone; otherwise she would not have given Stone Barrington quite so..." (more)
Key Phrases: velocity theory, Van Fleet, Sasha Nijinsky, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Woods's latest (after Palindrome ) is a slick thriller set in Manhattan's Upper East Side, the stomping ground of Stone Barrington, a well-bred but unpretentious detective who, in a city of several million people, always ends up in the right place at the right time. Late one evening, as Stone trudges home from Elaine's Restaurant, popular TV newscaster Sasha Nijinsky plummets 12 stories from her terrace and lands on a heap of dirt 20 yards away from him--remarkably, still alive. Stone fails to apprehend the person who flees Sasha's penthouse and, after the ambulance carrying her collides with a fire truck, Sasha herself disappears. Despite the fact that no corpse is in evidence, the baffled NYPD eagerly pins a murder rap on Sasha's distraught lesbian lover. Stone refuses to accept his colleagues' pat solution and even maintains that Sasha might have survived thanks to skydiving training and her billowing, parachute-like robe. Bed-hopping TV newspeople, a sexy blonde judge sporting a red dress beneath her robes, a serial killer targeting cabbies and a creepy med-school dropout turned mortician who idolizes Sasha romp through this calculatedly melodramatic crime story all the way to its grisly B-movie finale. 75,000 first printing; $125,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
The first of the author's novels to feature police detective Stone Barrington, this 1991 thriller finds him in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessing an accident that turns his life inside out. His investigation leads into some serious weirdness of both the criminal and sexual kind.
Copyright 2001 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: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (September 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061090808
• ISBN-13: 978-0061090806
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #126,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Stone Barrington Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I had to struggle to put the book down! I needed the ending!, May 23, 1999

By A Customer

The reason that I read this book first is that it is the first in the Stone Barrington series and I have an obsession with being chronological about novel characters. However, I wasn't at all disappointed with the writing! This book has all the necessary components of a contemporary detective novel! A wacky partner, seduction, news crowds, and an unexpected ending! I managad to read this very quickly, and that doesn't always happen. Also, I learned everything I need to know about police safety. Get shot, go through hell. One thing I am skeptical about: how can anyone survive a twelve story fall? I know it's possible, but only about one in a hundred thousand. Anyway, excellent way to pass the time, and Stuart Woods is on my positive list!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of fun!, April 11, 2006

By	K. Sozaeva "Obsessive bibliophile" (Athens, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In this Stuart Woods' book, we find Stone Barrington in his first outing. He is a Lt. Detective on limited duty due to a bullet he took to his knee and has decided after an evening out to walk home in order to get some exercise to it when, in a case of being in either the right place at the right time, or wrong place at the wrong time, he witnesses a woman falling from a building. It turns out to be a rather famous TV personality who was scheduled to take her place as a co-anchor on a prestigious network the next night. When he arrives at her apartment he hears someone leaving it rapidly, but when he gives chase his knee gives out and he loses the person he was chasing. However, what is set up to be a relatively open-and-shut homicide case is quickly muddied by the arrival of a freelance journalist who got footage of her at the scene showing that she was still alive when put in the ambulance, by her diary that shows that she was severely depressed at times, and then by her disappearance - no body, no crime. Barrington's obsession with finding out the truth in this case, as opposed to just finding someone to stick with the crime, quickly puts him at odds with the rest of the department (with whom he never fit in all that well to begin with) and he soon finds himself railroaded out on a medical disability retirement. However, he has a background in law and decides to take the bar exam and set himself up that way. The twists just keep on coming as taxi drivers start getting murdered around the city, and Barrington begins to get notes purportedly from the missing star.

I started to read these books out of order when I picked up "Reckless Abandon" and then "Two Dollar Bill," then I decided to hold off until I put my hands on all of them and start at the beginning; I'm glad I have, because I can now look forward to a long line of these most excellent thrillers. Woods knows how to put together a great mystery and keep it exciting!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ah, a new series to look forward to????, April 9, 2003

By	Robert Busko (Waynesville, NC USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

New York Dead is my first Wood's book, but it won't be my last. I have to agree with some other reviewers....New York Dead is a silky smooth read. The plot unrolls itself without interruption from the first page to the last. The characters, both weird and normal (is there such a thing) are entertaining to say the least. Isn't it the search of entertainment that keeps us avid readers coming back for more??? Stuart Woods delivers.
Can anyone survive the fall from a twelve story building? Well they do in New York Dead. That's not the only surprise in the book.
Get the book and read it you won't regret it.