Ed Eagle: Short Straw / Santa Fe Dead / Santa Fe Edge

Ed Eagle #2-4

by Stuart Woods

Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle is "a fascinatingly flawed character,: and in these three edgy, exciting novels from the New York Times bestselling author, Eagle takes on difficult clients, a dangerous woman, and cases that offer plenty of fun for thriller lovers. "Booklist"

The three titles are: Short Straw (2006), Santa Fe Dead (2008), and Santa Fe Edge (2010).

Librarian's note: this is a collection of three of the four volumes, #2 through #4, in the author's Ed Eagle series. More complete entries for each of them individually can be found elsewhere on Goodreads. Volume #1 is Santa Fe Rules from 1992.

868 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 3, 2012

About the author

Stuart Woods was an American novelist best known for Chiefs and his long-running Stone Barrington series. A Georgia native, he initially pursued a career in advertising before relocating to England and Ireland, where he developed a passion for sailing. His love for the sport led him to write his first published work, Blue Water, Green Skipper, about his experiences in a transatlantic yacht race.
His debut novel, Chiefs, was inspired by a family story about his grandfather, a police chief. The book, a gripping crime saga spanning several decades, won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was later adapted into a television miniseries. It launched Woods' career as a novelist, leading to a prolific output of thrillers.
Woods' most famous creation, Stone Barrington, is a former NYPD detective turned high-profile lawyer who navigates elite circles while solving crimes. The series became a bestseller and remained a staple of his career, often featuring crossover characters from his other books, such as CIA operative Holly Barker and defense lawyer Ed Eagle.
Beyond writing, Woods was an experienced pilot and yachtsman. He maintained homes in Florida, Maine, and New Mexico, where he lived with his wife and their Labrador, Fred. His literary career spanned decades, with dozens of bestsellers to his name.

Reviews

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. It's not high literature, but it's a great series. This eBook contains almost all of the series - only #1 is missing; Santa Fe Rules is available separately. Although each is a complete novel with little left dangling between them, the debut volume is very important for this series in that the origins of the continuing story can be found in the first entry. If the series had it's own theme and title, it might be: "Ed Eagle Was Heard To Say, 'I Never Should Have Married That Woman!" I have not read many mystery or thriller series in which the story line is as linked throughout as it is with Ed Eagle. More than the usual number of characters repeat, and many incidents from previous volumes are referenced or assumed as known. Woods is a good writer, and little is lost by starting out of sequence. True confessions, I did just that but I regret I didn't have the full flavour of Barbara Eagle, our hero's sociopathic first wife, until fully ingesting volume #1. It's a romp with action galore, numerous changes of venue in the Southwest, and amusing snippets of Mexico. PS: I review the individual titles elsewhere on Goodreads. (Fe2021/Oc2025)

[Cara Oquendo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite boring, and at times, cringeworthy.

The book had somewhat of an interesting introduction. Our main character, Will Lee, has been asked to run for president after it’s been revealed that the current vice president is secretly battling Alzheimers. It’s initially an interesting premise.

Unfortunately, this compelling idea is overshadowed by poor storytelling skills. This book has far too many characters, and many of these characters did not play a pivotal role into furthering the plot of the story. Due to the sheer amount of people that were introduced, many characters were not given enough time to be fully fleshed out, and it was difficult as a reader to keep track of everyone. Upon introduction of characters, the author would switch between using the first name or last name of the character within the same paragraph, which made the story even more difficult to follow. The majority of the characters felt flat and lacked dimension. The women that were featured in this story were the ultimate victims of this, and were often over-sexualized in a way that was not beneficial to the plot.

This book is categorized as a thriller, and it was nothing of the sort. Will Lee didn’t face any major conflicts on his journey to becoming president, and if he did, they were either resolved quickly, or easily, or both. Even at the end when Will thought he lost the election, it was revealed quickly that he won, and more votes just needed to be counted. It felt like a sad attempt at a “gotcha” moment. Due to this, the story didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat, and it was not “thrilling”. The conflicts that were able to occur were incredibly predictable.

The sex scenes were completely unnecessary, and one of the characters used a slur excessively, which was also so unnecessary. Both of these things felt like a feeble attempt to be “edgy”, and neither of them furthered the plot or served any purpose. There were multiple plot lines that were never truly resolved. There were also so many weird details about planes? Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book.

[Dan Donovan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh.

I used to enjoy this author for a reason that now escapes me. All his are now is a series of descriptions of restaurants, stores, and mentions of airplanes - with emphasis on airplanes. Apparently he got his pilots license a while back and is using "writing novels" mentioning them as a way to tax deduct the license and an airplane.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok for beach read

[Lynn Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Stuart Woods that

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Woods' best. Rather boring.