Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

Teddy Fay #7

by Brett Battles

From a USA Today bestselling author: On a European film tour, ex–CIA agent Teddy Fay takes on a covert mission when his old operation, Golden Hour, resurfaces in blood. As agents tied to the mission turn up dead, Teddy dodges assassins, fans, and fame to uncover who’s out for revenge… ✳Read by an Earphones Award–winning narrator!

Former CIA operative Teddy Fay returns for another heart-pounding Hollywood-fueled adventure in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling series.

Teddy Fay is ready to embark on the European press tour of Peter Barrington’s latest film Storm’s Eye, when he receives an unexpected visit from Lance Cabot, director of the CIA. Several CIA agents have been turning up dead. The commonality? They were all part of a mission Teddy was involved Golden Hour. Lance wants Teddy to use his trip as a cover to investigate who is behind these killings.

From Venice and Budapest to their last stop at a film festival in Berlin, Teddy must dodge excited fans, enamored women, and a few too many assassins who seem dead set on tracking down Golden Hour agents. And if Teddy doesn’t work fast enough, his identity—and life—might just be the next target in the killer’s ruthless plot for revenge.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook, Espionage

368 pages, Paperback

Published May 27, 2025

About the author

Brett Battles is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling and Barry Award-winning author of forty novels, including the Jonathan Quinn series and its Excoms spinoff, the Project Eden series, and the time bending Rewinder series. He’s also the coauthor, with Robert Gregory Browne, of the Alexandra Poe series. He is one of the founding members of Killer Year, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. He lives and writes in Ventura County, California.

Reviews

[PamG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Danger, suspense, action, and glamour are combined in Stuart Woods’ Golden Hour by Brett Battles. I was happy to see the Teddy Fay series continued by this author with the seventh book in the series. Teddy is nearly ready to depart on a European press tour with Peter Barrington and others associated with the latest Centurion film when he gets a surprise visit from Lance Cabot, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director.

Several CIA agents have been killed and they all were part of a mission Teddy was involved with years ago: Golden Hour. Lance wants him to use the trip as a cover to investigate who is behind the killings. Rome, Venice, Zurich, Budapest, and Berlin are the cities for the press tour. Teddy, in his many disguises, must dodge movie fans, fascinating women, interesting men, and assassins. Can he maintain his aliases and identify the culprits or is this the end for Teddy?

Teddy is a master of disguises and aliases. He can be charming, genial, considerate, humorous, and respectful. However, he can also be deadly. The other characters have a variety of levels of depth, but it’s appropriate for their roles in this novel. There are always several new characters as well as some visits from characters from previous books giving the series even more continuity. Reconnecting with these old friends was effortless.

Battles’s writing is vivid and enabled me to easily visualize the people, the glamourous parties, photo shoots, and the lesser-known areas of several European cities. This riveting mystery kept me flying through the pages. While readers know who is ultimately behind the murders relatively early, it was exciting to see Teddy’s investigation into trying to understand who it is.

The author’s writing style hooked me immediately. The dialogue feels natural and flows well, pulling readers into the inner world of the characters. There are a few twists and turns with some unpredictable moments in the story to keep readers on their toes. Dynamic characters and fantastic world-building, along with a great plot, intense scenes, and excellent pacing kept me glued to the book. As I advanced through the story, I kept wondering what would be uncovered next.

Overall, this suspenseful, entertaining, and exciting novel gripped me from the beginning and kept me fully engaged. I’m a fan of the author and am looking forward to reading his next novel in the series. Battles has done an excellent job continuing this series started by the late Stuart Woods.

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam – G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Brett Battles provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for December 03, 2024. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
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My 3.95 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another decent story by Brett Battles.

[R L HERSKOWITZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written by Brett Battles.
Action packed.
Fun read.
Good flow.
Great characters.
Teddy Fay is back & better than ever.

I recommend this book!

[Carol Irvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another outstanding Stuart Woods book by Brett Battles! Keep them coming!!

[Donna]

DNF was bored

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a lot of fun. Typical Woods Universe story—light on detail, heavy on dialogue, and reads fast. I like Teddy Fay and will continue to read the series.
But…Brett Battles is a wonderful author! If you haven’t read his non-Woods books, do yourself a favor and get ‘em! He’s top notch.

[Tabitha Driver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't have the best impression of Stuart Woods/ghost writers from Class Act, so perhaps that affected my boredom and feeling about this book. I will say Golden Hour was definitely better than Class Act.

However, I still felt that the conversations were boring/conflict-less and there wasn't much suspense since Teddy has assistants to cover for him and Kevins who traveled and followed his orders even though they didn't want to. I was most interested in Jillian's story (She worked for the bad guys but was only slowly realizing they were bad), and was curious to see if she'd survive.

Samuel Rogers and Danielle Verde both had information for Fay, but Fay never really seemed that concerned about their information.

[Gary Evins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the Teddy Fay franchise has run its course. Three characters in one is just not remotely believable.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first novel I read by Brett Battles. The story easily unfolded with likable charming characters. Though I felt there were a few too many of them.
The dialogue was humorous and entertaining , and the length of the story was just right.
What I didn't like was how Jillian played a major role, but was barely mentioned at the end.
The protagonist and actor and producer and CIA agent Teddy Fay, his 3 identities was excessive and likely impractical. What bothered me the most - Stop spoilers!
Was the ending, where Barrett set himself up with a rubber apparatus round his neck in case he was injected with I guess a knock out drug. Felix Braun the bad guy had an obsession to kill Teddy Barrett, it was plausible that he could have killed him on the spot. Instead they carry him back to their headquarters where they never notice there is an appendage around his neck? They tie Teddy to a chair and where Teddy and Felix argue and threaten each other. Braun could have just shot Barrett! Instead Barett is able to slip out of his knots with no one noticing? A milieu occurs as CIA agents come crashing through the door. None of that was necessary, the CIA knew who was Braun was involved in the murders and where they headquarters were located!
There is another point I either missed or wasn't addressed the heroic Danielle Verde was at deaths door, I think she was moved to ICU, but her condition or influence wasn't addressed at the end.
Authors want to have an exciting ending. There is such a thing as literary privilege, but this was a bit too over the top.

[Karen Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are good easy, fast reads. This Teddy Fay story has so many similar writing qualities to Woods’ originals. Much better than Stone Barrington’s, Smolder, which I thought was poorly written.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

ebook/audio

[Seth Gottfried · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t typically finish a book in one day, but when the book is good, it can happen. My one concern with the series is that more people are getting to know that Teddy Faye is still alive and that doesn’t bode well for him. How will this impact future books? I guess we will find out.

[Thomas Franks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my Summary Free and Spoiler Free review of Stuart Woods's Goldn Hour by Brett Battles.

This is Battles 3rd book in the 7 book Teddy Fay sereis that was sprung from the Stone Barrington books from Stuart Woods.

If you read a lot of Stuart Woods when he was alive, or other books in the Teddy Fay series you know exactly what is happening, what to expect and this is no spoiler, you get it. Brett may have written it better than Chat GPT, but not by much. I did finish it, it was mildly entertaining, the villians were not well developed or extra interesting.

If you have not read a Teddy Fay novel before, go ahead and read another one. If you have not read any of the sixty plus Stone Barrington books, or other series, then if you like slightly spunky spy books, go ahead and read this one.

[Wendi Flint Rank (WendiReviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s lovely to know that this series is in such capable hands. Brett has the
rhythm and tone of Mr Woods in this second book and several times I was
certain this was actually written by Mr Woods. The characters (both old and
new) remain true to the series. The adventures remain believable to the theme
of the books and if was not a reviewer I would have not noticed any change in
my favorite series, which is quite a nod to Brett Battles. As always, I look forward
to the next installment and hope it will have more for Stone, whom I adore.

[Laura Wonderchick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brett Battles has done an excellent job taking over this series by the late Stuart Woods. I can see slight differences is in writing style but basically it’s almost as good. Another great addition to the series. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

[RumBelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Teddy Fay book. I'm of two minds about it. This was the most unusual spy novel I have ever read, which in a way makes it good, but in other ways makes it kind of silly.

Teddy, Rogue CIA agent is now working, under multiple aliases, in the film industry. While on a press tour in Europe for his latest film he gets word that members of an operation he ran years ago are being killed, and he is pulled back in to find out who is killing his former operatives and why. In the midst of that he has to keep up appearances as his Hollywood persona, essentially juggling three personalities.

Teddy is a very skilled operative, and I love his sarcastic sense of humor. His colleague Vesna was another one of my favorite characters, she was a master of her craft too, and had a similar personality. She and Teddy were the perfect pair. Once Teddy figures out what is happening, he makes quick work, with Vesna's help, of eliminating his enemies.

The Hollywood cast of characters were really fun too, especially Stacy. Once she finds out who Teddy, and all his aliases are, and freaks out a little, she handles the situation very well. Her bravery is exemplary.

There were a few things about this book that, for a spy novel, didn't really work for me. First and foremost the completely incompetent CIA agents. They were extremely inept and I seriously doubt would actually pass at the CIA. Also, most of this book was about Teddy, and his press tour and movie with bits of spy action. It just felt weird.

The book moved at a lightning pace, and the dialogue was not heavy or cumbersome, and I might try more because I really enjoyed Teddy as a character.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Golden Hour, Bret Battles steps into Stuart Woods’ long-running world with a fresh voice that stays true to the legacy while adding a spark of originality. The result is a surprisingly engaging thriller that respects the tone Woods established but feels more purposeful and tightly plotted.

One of the most enjoyable aspects is seeing the younger generation of characters truly come into their own. They’re no longer just background players or narrative devices—they’re driving the story forward, making decisions, and showing growth. Battles gives them room to breathe, and that energy revitalizes the familiar formula.

At the same time, the older generation—Stone Barrington and Lance Cabot—remain their comfortably stereotypical selves. Fans of the series will recognize their usual rhythms: Stone’s charm, Lance’s cold precision, and the high-flying lifestyle that borders on the absurd. It’s all there, and Battles handles them with a deft, knowing touch, never straying too far from what longtime readers expect.

What sets Golden Hour apart is that Battles seems to genuinely care about crafting a solid thriller. The pacing is tight, the stakes feel real, and there’s a refreshing sense of purpose to the plot that has sometimes been missing in the later entries of the Woods-authored books.

Here’s hoping Bret Battles sticks around—Golden Hour proves he has both the respect for the series and the storytelling chops to take it into a promising new era.

[Ken Karcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun European summer vacation!

These books have always been a fun romp, easy to read, and just a pleasure to spend time with friends you've known for over 30 years, and Brett has continued in that grand tradition with this newest novel. Our hero is a former world-class spy, now thought by the public as dead but in reality, living a dual life as a Hollywood producer and a movie star. The previous sentence is the reason I love these books, the outrageous old-fashioned caper movies I loved as a kid. Teddy and all the famous and wealthy people he works with just finished a film and are going on a European trip to promote it. It just so happens that the CIA is investigating the murder of its agents, and Teddy was involved in the original operation connected to the deaths. They travel from Italy and have to contend with an assassin on their train. Finally ending in an East German interrogation room, the action is continuous, and the book goes by much too quickly, which is always a sign for a great book. I love that the final line of the novel made me laugh out loud, and now I'm off to read the next title in this series.

[Michele A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teddy finds himself being enlisted by Lance Cabot yet again. It appears that someone has been killing off agents who were involved in an operation known as "Golden Hour". When Teddy gets wind of this, he steps up to help out. He utilizes his unending skills at deception to try and figure out what is going on. He gets help from several sources and soon begins to realize who is behind it and why. Lance did seem pretty ineffective in getting to the bottom of what was going on. He also knew he had a mole in the CIA but didn't seem to be making any headway on that either. Since Lance usually knows what is going on before most other people, this was surprising. Teddy also realizes that he is being used as bait and has to figure out a plan to use it to his advantage. I did like the story and found it to be very entertaining. It had the right note of intrigue and suspense to keep me reading. I look forward to more Teddy Fay novels.
I was given an ARC by NetGalley for my honest review.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In STUART WOODS’ GOLDEN HOUR by Brett Battles, Teddy Fay is approached by Stone Barrington to meet him and Lance Cabot from the CIA to talk about Golden Hour, a CIA operation that took place over 20 years ago. Teddy is told that three agents assigned to Golden Hour have been killed. Since Teddy is one of the twelve CIA agents who had been assigned to Operation Golden Hour, finding the person responsible for killing the agents is imperative. What happens next? I’m hooked.

This is the first time I’m reading a Teddy Fay novel, so it surprises me to learn Teddy has two additional personas, film producer Billy Barnett and actor Mark Weldon. Bret Battles handles this trio quite well. In fact, the three versions of Teddy Fay make this a fun read. There are times when the dialogue reminds me of Robert Parker’s writing. I find the plot fascinating, and look forward to reading the next book in the series. Thank you, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of STUART WOODS' GOLDEN HOUR.

[Kristin Winfrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brett Battles, you’re killing me. Deciding to continue to read the Stone series while forever mourning Stuart’s departure from them was already dubious. He pulled it off by just a hair with Near Miss and Smolder, I was glad to not have to also mourn the loss of the beloved characters I’ve loved chronologically from book one forward in addition to the loss of Stuart. In this book, I can understand the desire to return to the known of the Teddy Fay books he co authored with Stuart but Brett honestly, these weren’t the good books to begin with. The only reason to continue to read under Stuart’s name is the continuation of the Stone and Dino and Co. characters. I don’t care about all these boring side quest stories and people I don’t even know. The writing isn’t intriguing enough to make me interested or care about them. If you aren’t going to stick with the primary characters, I’d recommend just writing under your own name.

[Joanie Hinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teddy Fay is getting ready for a European film festival tour for the latest movie he made under his actor persona, Mark Waldon. As he is preparing he receives a message from his friend, Stone, that the head of the CIA, and Teddy's former boss, whom he does not want anything to do with, needs to meet with him asap. When he reluctantly meets the man, it is not good news. Agents that worked a mission that Teddy led over ten years ago are being killed. The only reason Teddy has not been targeted is the world thinks he's already dead. So the CIA director wants Teddy to use the European film tour as a cover to find out who is doing the killings and stop them. It will mean leaking information that Teddy is alive and being the bait. Hopefully it will work...
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy)

[Lisa Malmquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teddy Fay is going to be on a European tour for one of the Centurion Studios films, Storm's Eye.
But there is trouble from an old operation he did when working for the CIA.
Someone is killing all of the agents that worked on a CIA operation from years back.
The problem is that Teddie is supposed to be dead.
He has two new personas that he uses: One of Mark Weldon film actor, and one of Billy Barnett film producer. Now, the director of the CIA, Lance Cabot, wants Teddy to use his film tour as a cover to find out who is killing the agents off and use Teddy as bait.
The tour is moving from Venice, Budapest and Berlin and meanwhile, all of his fellow agents are in danger from the Golden Hour mission.
Can Teddy find out who is out for revenge before anyone else is found dead? And do it while being in the crosshairs himself? Fast paced thriller.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brett Battles is doing a great job of remaining true to the style and approach of Stuart Woods, and I am so glad. Woods was always one of my favorite authors. His style of writing was easy, and the characters were developed well, and this is still the case. Teddy Fay is the star of this book, and he does not disappoint. Teddy remains true to himself while working to assist Lance Cabot (CIA) in his task of figuring out who is killing operatives. Teddy Fay switches seamlessly between the characters that he portrays while still keeping things interesting. It provides intrigue and adventure in an entertaining manner. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

[Michael Baskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, it's nice that the Stone Barrington and crew series can continue after Stuart Woods passing and Brett Battles as done a decent job of keeping it going at a credible level. This one features our old "presumed dead Teddy Fay" and his alter egos of Billy Barnett and Mark Weldon. The story centers around a decades old CIA mission where agents are being hunted and executed and Teddy as the leader of the Golden Hour mission is asked to find the culprits and bring them to justice. Not too many surprises or negative twists for our hero to contend with but none of the "amazing coincidences" that our beloved Stuart Woods used to weave into his stories, which used to confound me. Good, light summer reading with enough action to keep it enjoyable.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been awhile since I read a Stuart Woods book. Glad I chose this one because I didn't have to suffer through Stone Barrington's bed hopping. I've always like Teddy Fay since he was first introduced. Teddy always raises the Woods's books to another level. This time someone is out for revenge on all the members of a special Op called Golden Hour that was coordinated by Teddy many years ago. Will using Teddy as bait by letting it slip that he is possibly still alive, actually flush out the culprits? Read and find out. I enjoyed this book very much and enjoyed getting back into the Stone Barrington world even though Stone had just a minor part in this one. Great storyline and an entertaining read.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good solid read at 3.5*.
I struggled at the start like I do with many similar books with the early introduction of so many characters, but I got the key ones straight very quickly and the book engaged me so that I finished it in just over one day. What's not to enjoy about a Stuart Woods even if written by his successor assigned to keep the series going after Stuart's death in 2022.

While this was a Teddy Fay book, Stone Barrington had a role which was nice to see since I "know" him from the Stone series. I enjoyed the tracking of the Golden Hour players. Of course Teddy had to have his admirers - enter Bianca. I also enjoyed Vesna. A real favorite for me was his assistant Stacy where I enjoyed the reparteee and banter between the two of them.

Recommend.

[WILLIAM EYRE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't put it down!

Like most of his others, I really enjoyed the characters in Golden Hour. The story line is just complex enough to make me want to keep reading..as usual Teddy Fay is just enough bad mixed with good. Like many others, I have read all of the Fay books and as usual, I wait anxiously for number 8. PS. Now that all of your fans have read your "tongue in cheek" closings, we promise not to write you concerning mistakes or our ideas for the next book or the next crime you may accuse of. We will just have to wait for the man with the "bum" knee to reappear. Thank you Stuart for keeping me a awake long after my bedtime.

[John Licardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I mentioned this last time, although Stuart Woods has passed away, Brett Battles has taken up the mantle, and continues the tradition of Stone Barrington and Teddy Fay.

A very quick read with an intriguing plot that seems very straight forward, but a couple of twists and turns keep everything humming along.

While the plot focuses on Teddy Fay's past, all the usually characters show up to lend a hand, Stone, Lance, Peter, etc.

Wrapped around Peter's new film and the press tour, there's enough to get you to the end.

Probably knock this book out in two days.

Sit back and enjoy.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the late Stuart Woods Franchise, you have to suspend reality and plunge into the lives of the "Rich & Famous"...The Woods' Estate, has chosen Bret Battles as the legacy author for this, the 7th in the Teddy Fay series, and it was an excellent choice...I have enjoyed all of his Jonathon Quinn, The Cleaner series...They're top-notch!...In "Golden Hour," Teddy's three different personas are threatened by assassins targeting Teddy and other former CIA operatives for a past CIA operation...Someone is seeking revenge, and someone is seeking to out and kill Teddy...Just suspend your imagination and sit back and enjoy as the pages fly by!