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Short Straw (Hardcover)

by Stuart Woods (Author) "ED EAGLE DIDN'T WANT TO GET OUT OF BED. USUALLY HE woke at the stroke of seven, put his feet on the floor and was..." (more)
Key Phrases: Big Bear, Puerto Vallarta, Barbara Eagle (more...)

2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of this taut tale of a very bad woman out to fleece a very good man from bestseller Woods, Santa Fe, N.Mex., lawyer Ed Eagle wakes up one morning with a terrible hangover and a missing wife. After a few phone calls, it turns out that not only has his wife, Barbara, disappeared, she's in the process of taking $5 million of his money with her. Ed, who met Barbara in an earlier Woods novel, Santa Fe Rules (1992), knew she was a shady character, but she was also beautiful and fabulous in bed so he married her. He hires a couple of PIs to find her, but every time they catch up with the unrepentant Barbara, she shakes them off and gets away. She's the most compelling character in the book, willing to go to any lengths, including murder, to keep the money. Scarcely an excess word gets in the way of the briskly moving plot. Author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Santa Fe defense lawyer Ed Eagle is the epitome of worldly success. He presides over a highly successful practice, which is moving into showcase quarters overlooking Santa Fe's Governor's Palace. He loves his work. He loves his wife. But, when he wakes up on the morning of his fiftieth birthday, he discovers his wife has left him and taken him for a cool million. The second shock Eagle receives is news that a local lawyer has blown his brains out in the courthouse, after murdering his wife and children. The plot races off in two directions: with two edgy characters, an ex-LAPD detective and an Apache Indian tracker, whom Eagle hires to find his wife in Mexico; and with Eagle's efforts to clear a man wrongly charged, he believes, with a triple homicide. Woods keeps the wattage high as the two plots intersect, and Eagle finds himself more and more entangled in a deadly criminal scheme. The homicidal desperation of Eagle's wife and the dodginess of the men he sends after her keep the surprises coming. Woods first introduced Eagle in 1992, in Santa Fe Rules. He was then, and still is, a fascinatingly flawed character. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; LARGE PRINT EDITION edition (October 9, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399153683
ISBN-13: 978-0739475720
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #386,054 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
ED EAGLE DIDN'T WANT TO GET OUT OF BED. USUALLY HE woke at the stroke of seven, put his feet on the floor and was up and running, but not this morning. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Big Bear, Puerto Vallarta, Barbara Eagle, Ch�teau Sunset, Cupie Dalton, Pep Boys, Gun Club, Barbara Woodfield, New York, Pine Cottage, San Diego, Susannah Wilde, United States, Beverly Hills, Bob Martinez, Eddie Harris, Los Angeles, Wolf Willett, Centurion Studios, Harold Fuentes, Minnie Mouse, Russell Norris, Tano Norte, Grand Cherokee, Gulf of California

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 18 books:

Under the Lake by Stuart Woods in Front Matter
Reckless Abandon (Stone Barrington) by Stuart Woods in Front Matter
Imperfect Strangers by Stuart Woods in Front Matter
New York Dead by Stuart Woods in Front Matter
Swimming to Catalina by Stuart Woods in Front Matter

See all 18 books this book cites

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	67% buy the item featured on this page: Short Straw 2.8 out of 5 stars (40) $13.50
	11% buy Fresh Disasters (Stone Barrington) 3.2 out of 5 stars (53) $9.99
	8% buy Santa Fe Rules 4.3 out of 5 stars (10) $9.99
	7% buy Shoot Him If He Runs (Stone Barrington Novels) 2.8 out of 5 stars (49) $10.40

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Customer Reviews

40 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(12)

Average Customer Review

2.8 out of 5 stars (40 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time and money, June 4, 2007

By	Jane Austen "Barb" "schriftstellerin" (Montreal, Quebec, CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Short Straw (Ed Eagle Novel) (Paperback)

I've enjoyed previous books by Stuart Woods; sure, they're short on characterization and the plots are full of holes, but the action is non-stop, making it a good read at the beach, on an airplane, whenever you want a fun, fast paced thriller. However, Short Straw reads as if the author had a contract to churn out a certain number of books and couldn't care less what he wrote. It's shallow, silly and boring.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Unsatisfying, July 14, 2007

By	Steven Sabin (Lake Tahoe, NV USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've read 8 or 9 books now by Stuart Woods. This one ranks at the very bottom. Woods is real hit and miss. "Chiefs" was great. "Under the Lake" was unusual. "Prince of Beverly Hills" was nostalgic. This one was really just a waste of time.

The first book in this particular series was called Santa Fe Rules and introduced us to protagonist Ed Eagle, a Santa Fe attorney. It was a reasonably fun read, even though completely implausible.

This one picks up about two years after the conclusion of "Santa Fe Rules" with Eagle awakening on the day he is to celebrate the grand opening of his new offices. Within the hour he learns that his bank accounts have been cleaned out and his wife has fled the country. But yet, he manages to put on his game face and carry on as though life is grand. It is just the first in a long string of impossibilities in terms of how humans actually behave outside the pages of fiction. The only glimpse Woods ever seems to give us into the inner turmoil of his characters in any of his books is that they throw up. Literally - woof their cookies. Doesn't matter whether they have been shot at, robbed, seen a ghost, whatever. They throw up and continue on their merry way as though they just had a touch of food poisoning and now have it out of their system.

The book has no twists at all. There's really no mystery here either. Wife runs off with money. Husband gives chase through a series of private investigators. Husband catches wife. The end.

It is exactly what it seems. For no apparent reason, Barbara -- Eagle's wife of two years who we first meet in the pages of Santa Fe Rules -- has just up and left him and Woods proceeds to take the next 300 pages making her out to be a world-class b**ch. It really is quite senseless. We're never given any motive. There isn't another lover. There isn't a secret life. There isn't unhappiness at home. And it isn't really for want of money as Barbara lives a life of luxury under Eagle's roof with a man who treats her well and is faithful.

As I said, there are no plot twists. It just plods along with Barbara always half a step in front of Eagle, but with him finally catching up to her at the end. And instead of delivering a "she reaped what she sowed" ending that would have been a little bit satisfying to make up for absence of plot and motive, we get something that feels like one of those insufferable TV cop shows where the scummiest criminals never meet the violent end they really deserve, but instead a taxpayer-funded waltz through the American justice system where you know a parole awaits them all-too-prematurely. And the cops who moralize that if they rough the guy up or dispense their own brand of Clint Eastwood style justice, they've "sunk to the level of the criminal."

"Prince of Beverly Hills" was far more satisfying in this respect.

Maybe Woods was trying to leave the door open for a sequel with this book's ending. But my advice? Don't bother, Mr. Woods. You've milked the antagonist in this story for all she is worth, which wasn't enough for even a single book - let alone two. This book was truly pulp fiction. It wasted a perfectly good tree. I perservered to the end, only to find it wasn't worth waiting for.

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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Another sloppy effort from Woods, November 6, 2006

By	J. Norburn (Quesnel, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Note: This review reveals plot points. This shouldn't matter too much since my advice to you is - don't read this novel.

Okay, I realize that this is a `beach novel' and that it isn't meant to be particularly insightful, realistic, or memorable - but come' on, even beach novels should meet some kind of standard.

Short Straw is just plain dumb.

It wouldn't be so bad if the characters in the novel were supposed to be stupid (I'm a big fan of novels featuring dumb criminals) but much is made about how smart these characters are; despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Case in point: The Santa Fe police department arrest a man for murdering his wife and her lover and the DA is ready to go to trial on the case, but no one thought it was necessary to interrogate the alleged killer and to check out his alleged alibi.

Are we supposed to believe that the Santa Fe police department is that inept? I could be wrong here but I think the police would interrogate the man repeatedly for hours, grilling him about his movements that day and following up on any inconsistencies in his story. They would sort through his phone bills, business records, and computer files, and interview his friends, neighbours, and associates. It's ridiculous to think that in a case like this the DA wouldn't even know where the defendant was on the day of the murder.

But that's only one example in a long list of grievances. For example....

1. Why does Big Bear tell Ed that he left the worksite to buy an auto part (effectively putting hole in his alibi)? He doesn't object to lying to Ed about his innocence, so why tell the truth on this point, especially when he has to know it will affect his alibi. Why doesn't Ed (who is a brilliant legal mind) realize until later the significance of this fact? Answer: The author wants Ed to get Big Bear off, but then have an epiphany later when he remembers what Big Bear said about the auto part store. It will be in this moment that Ed realizes, for the first time, that his client is guilty after all.

2. Why doesn't the DA make any effort to effectively cross examine the sole alibi witness in the case? Surely the witness couldn't have been watching Big Bear all the time (didn't he have to go to the bathroom or make a sandwich or something?) Answer: The author wants Ed to get Big Bear off and then have an epiphany later, realizing that his client was actually guilty (see point 1). If the DA did his job and actually cross examined the witness, this might not happen.

3. Why does Barbara steal Ed's money AND try to have him killed? If she was going to have him killed, it would have made a lot more sense for her not to go running off with his money, casting suspicion on herself. Answer: If Barbara had Ed killed she would inherit his fortune, get the life insurance money, and the novel would end on page 3.

4. If Barbara is so smart, why does she use the PI's cell phone to call the spa where she plans to hide out, when the call can obviously be traced? For that matter, why does she use her own name at all the hotels she booked in Mexico? Answer: The author needs the PI's to keep finding her so that she can keep giving them the slip. Much of the novel is spent having Barbara escape and hide somewhere (but not very well). The PI's then find her, only to have her slip through their fingers again and again.

5. Why does Barbara change her appearance? It would have made more sense for her to have plastic surgery at the beginning of the novel. Once her plan to steal Ed's money falls apart, she returns to the States, waiting for an opportunity to kill Ed or have him killed, so she can claim the insurance money. There's no need for her to change her appearance until it is time to disappear. There is no point in disappearing until she has the money (or if she has reason to believe the police will arrest her - which she doesn't). If Ed is murdered and she gets away with it (presumably that's the plan), there is no need to disappear at all. Answer: The author has planned a scene later in the novel where Ed enters a bar and doesn't recognize his own wife, but she sees him. In order for this scene to work, Barbara can't look the same can she?

6. If Barbara is so smart, why does she keep the gun she used to kill the couple in the hotel? Answer: It's the only evidence that can tie her to the crime. If she gets rid of it, Barbara will get away with murder. We can't have that now, can we?

7. For the love of God, what did Ed see in this woman in the first place? He says that he loved her but there is no evidence of that (he doesn't seem heart broken) and given that he is supposed to be a reasonably intelligent man; couldn't he tell that she was a cold blooded self absorbed sociopath? Answer: I think the author was just too lazy to delve into any emotional issues or provide any insight into their relationship.

The bottom line is; this could have been a decent novel if Woods had put some effort into it. If he asked himself these types of questions while he was writing the manuscript (and trust me - there are more) he could have come up with a stronger plot that made sense.

I realize I have been ranting (this is a long review) but for whatever reason, this novel really frustrated me. Mostly because I know Woods could have made it a good novel if he wanted to. He just couldn't be bothered.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A mile wide and an inch deep
This book was a gift from my ex-wife - thank you. I had never heard of Stuart Woods, though I do often read and enjoy mysteries. Read more

Published 2 months ago by John Durkee

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story
As with all Stuart woods novels, I enjoy his writing. The writing is fast,the novels are page turners. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Anthony Vera

1.0 out of 5 stars Short Shrift
I give "Short Straw" one star only because there's no provision for no stars. I thought Woods had hit bottom with "Hot Mahogany," but I was wrong. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Robert T. Comey

1.0 out of 5 stars Huge disappointment
I have always enjoyed Stuart Woods books as his work is usually very entertaining. This one, however, was a big disappointment. I think he just phoned it in.

Published 8 months ago by Rita

3.0 out of 5 stars Weak Ending to Fun Read
Picked up this paperback in the airport. Fun read for flight time. Had never read S. Woods before...enjoyed plot twists - was so anticipating a clever ending. Didn't happen.

Published 16 months ago by N. Dreisbach

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful
Absolutely awful. I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing ever did. I thought my copy was missing pages at the end because the ending was so bad. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Kerri

3.0 out of 5 stars A good story although bland for thriller fans
This review is for the Signet paperback, May 2007, 375 pages. SHORT STRAW was on the USA Today's Top 150 Best-Selling books list for eight weeks reaching the peak position of 43... Read more

Published 24 months ago by Gregory Bascom

3.0 out of 5 stars A woman takes off with the money
This is entertaining light reading with a somewhat unlikely, but interesting, cast of characters. Ed Eagle, attorney in Sante Fe, wakes up one morning and finds his wife gone... Read more

Published on June 14, 2007 by Fred Camfield

3.0 out of 5 stars Wayward Wife
Stuart Woods, "Short Straws" resurrects Ed Eagle from "Santa Fe Rules," whose wife does not want a divorce, but a permanent separation with winner take all. Read more

Published on June 10, 2007 by Nash Black

5.0 out of 5 stars Great suspense - easy read
This is my first read of this author. Plot grabs you from the first page and holds you until the last. I'll look for other of his works.

Published on June 7, 2007 by Charles B. Towner

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