Sex, Lies, and Serious Money

Stone Barrington #39

by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington takes on a client who gives him a run for his money in the newest heart-stopping thriller from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author.

Fresh off the runway at Teterboro, Stone Barrington arrives home to find an unexpected new client on his doorstep, anxiously soliciting his help. But everything is not as it seems, when the client reveals the true nature—and value—of his recent turn of fortune.

From luxury New York high-rises to the sprawling New Mexico desert, his client is pursued from all angles . . . and Stone quickly learns that easy money isn’t always so easy.

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

339 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2016

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

[Ken · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mr Woods Needs Ideas

Despite his disclaimer not to send him ideas for novels, Mr Woods clearly needs them. The first third of the book is a sort of stand alone novella, that presents Stone with a lottery winning client, and goes on forever about all the things Stone helps him do. Then he disappears. There is a tenuous connection through the girl the client marries and her bad brother and his friend, where the story jumps next. Won't spoil ending, such as it is, but "less bad guy" wins, and gets away undetected while Stone is buying a new house. Worst book I've read for n this lightweight series, (and last one).

[Montessahall Montessahall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another very slow, stale, boring book containing the same basic elements and has been cast of characters as the other books in this series. The plot is practically non existent. This kind of book makes users of Goodreads long for a negative stars rating feature! A pure literary rip off and a waste of time.

[Skip · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can usually count on Stone Barrington for an amusing romp, but it took more than 200 pages for him to get laid so you know this one is a stinker. Basically, the first 200 pages are the story of a lottery winner spending $100 million of his $612 million jackpot. Men can only take so much shopping, right? Stupid, inane. Skip this one, it's not worth the paper it is printed on.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not call this a heart-stopping thriller. No character development. The characters are totally shallow, all they do is buy stuff. The women stuff things into their bras, and the men mop their brows. There doesn't seem to be any kind of plot at all. I won't be reading any of the author's other books.

[Mike French · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another in the long line of Stone Barrington books.OK,but not great.

[William Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing

I use to. Look forward to getting a new Stuart Woods book but he is just dumping garbage for a while now. His first book Chiefs was very good but it is obvious he doesn't put any effort in his last series of books. Try John Sanford and Robert Crais they will not disappoint. Stuart Woods will not be read anymore by me.

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read all 38 of the previous Stone Barrington books and, for the most part, enjoyed them. This one not so much. Typically the books are pretty much the same and you know what you are going to get with them, but not this one. A young man wins the lottery, is advised to meet with Stone, and 100+ pages later we finally leave that character and rejoin Stone. During that time we watch that guy spend money like Stone usually does. I have a hard time not pushing through and finishing a book, so I guess the best thing I can say about this one is that i finished it.

[Gerri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot believe how bad this book was!!!!!! I have read every Stone Barrington novel and altho the last two books were weak and not up to par this one was just plan awful. This novel was so slow and almost void of a plot; at times it read like something an amateur writer had written. I feel as if Woods has decided to go for the number of books he can write in a short period of time instead of giving us the quality books we are used to getting. If you are fan just a bit of advice....don't waste your money; get this one from your local library.

[Marty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another almost plotless gibberish from Stuart Woods. Stone gets a new client and then goes and gets laid. Woods had a better idea on his last book when he teamed up with Parnell Hall and they wrote a decent book. Maybe Woods should change the note at the end of his books and start soliciting ideas.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stone Barrington is at it again spending money like there is no tomorrow and bedding the ladies. old friends and new ones. He has also taken on as a client a young recent lottery big winner and his guiding him through the pitfalls of new wealth and notoriety as well helping become another big spender.. Typical Woods, quick, easy and light.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Woods is one of the most prolific authors out there. There have been Stone Barrington books where I've thought, "perhaps he's no longer interested in anything more than getting another one out the door," because they fell flat, but this one has all the fun, charm, wit, and good dialogue I could have asked for. Stone Barrington books are not "literature," (but then who would expect them to be?) However, they are quick, fun reads and for the most part quite amusing.

[Greg Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lame. Poor effort by Mr Woods. His books are getting very boring and always with the same outcome. Couldn't use the spoiler alert because there is nothing to spoil. I'm sure Mr Woods will still get a very nice paycheck that he doesn't deserve.

[Sharlene Pollock · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book only gets one star because I can't give it less. Absolutely no character development, no plot development and no story. A complete waste of my time. Sadly I will never get that time back. This book is suitable for grade 2 reading level.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh…kinda, sorta boring. Nothing terribly exciting happens. Stone being rich. Sleeping with everything that moves. Gets dumped. Buys more houses. Just boring. The title makes the book sound way more exciting than it is.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very lame story.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story gets off to a fine start until careening off track with Stone Barrington nonsense. After which, it does find its stride back to relevancy. 4 of 10 stars

[Kimberley McDonough · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has no character development, and a thin go nowhere plot. I prefer a book with more substance. My first and last Woods novel.

[ML · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was basically 2 books in 1.
Laurence the 600 million dollar lottery winner and how Stone becomes his attorney. Lots of compulsive spending, cars, houses, furniture, planes and wardrobes.
It was an orgy of $$$$. Crazy amounts.


Stone becomes Laurence’s advisor. Criminals try to take advantage of both.

Stone is a 3 woman man in this one. It seems to be his average now. He buys yet another house. 🙄🙄🙄

[C-shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

These silly Stone Barrington books are guilty pleasures for me.
* * * * *
Ugh, what tripe! I doubt any new Stone Barrington books will appeal to me ever again. Some of the old ones are good, but this was pure junk, a waste of even the paltry sum of $1.99 US. Give it up if you can't do better than this, Mr. Woods.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although not my favorite Stone Barrington novel, it was still a Good read. I wouldn't miss it.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow I've read 39 Stone Barrington books! Thanks to our public library system I haven't bought any. In this book, we meet a young man, who won over half a billion dollars in the lottery. With Stone's mentorship, he's soon outfitted with multiple houses, multiple cars, fabulous wardrobe, a plane, and a beautiful girlfriend with a dark connection. No resolution at the end, so Stuart has probably churned out the next one already. As a liberal progressive, Woods was able to insert agenda talking points - recommends against owning a gun, when forced to shoot, just aim to "cripple" (a word I'm surprised made it through the pc police), disparaging Republican businessmen who know nothing about government, etc. surprisingly, no digs at GWB - maybe the clock has run out on that. Oh well, keep on writing Stone Barrington books, Stuart, and I'll keep checking them out of the library.

[Don Gorman · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2) I really enjoy the Stone Barrington books, they read ridiculously quickly and are very soothing, but they are getting awfully repetitive. I guess when you crank out a new one every 3 months that is to be expected. As always, the usual cast of characters are here, and Stone's private aircraft makes his presence felt all over. Good fun, not necessarily a good book.

[Hapzydeco · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stuart Woods takes a page from the James Paterson playbook and leaves Scott Barrington followers hanging in this novel without an conclusion. The inclusion of a lottery winner as the newest Barrington client does give this work oomph. But unless Woods puts more effort into his body of work, his sales should dry up.

[Michael crage · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you want me to say besides that is another great Stone Barrington novel. It is a little different than most of the books in that Stone did not personally solve all the problems. But as usual, he slept with many of the good looking women and flew all over the world. Oh and he bought another house.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuart Woods is my favorite author! This book is one of his best yet. (I say that every time, as each one is better than the last) The premise of this story was so much fun and it was very intriguing. Absolutely loved it!

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, a fun fast read by Stuart Woods. Not sure if he's introducing a new character into the mix or this will be a mini series within Barrington's.

[Cybercrone · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I resisted reading any book with a character called Stone Barrington for a long time.

The series seemed to be popular, so I decided to give it a whirl anyway. Glad I did.

I was convinced, after reading for a bit, that the author must be a Brit writing a takeoff on American crime novels, and throwing in a bit of 'Bond, James Bond'. All together, the name, the planes, the houses all over the world and the nightly bouts of booze and endless sex had me giggling and groaning often.
However, the crime was good and interesting, so altogether it was a fun read.
If his work is so formulaic that it gets tedious, I'll be sure to space out my dips into this series.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

More guilty pleasure of another episode of Stone Barrington's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!"...Barrington's new client is a new winner of the Powerball and must protect his new wealth...more jets, jet-set travel, fine restaurants, Friday editions of WSJ's real estate dream home purchases and fancy personal security...Oh, did I mention, plenty of no consequence sex?...Yeah that too...Still decent after all these years, though nothing like his best, "Chiefs!"

[Joanne Kelleher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Stuart Woods book. I expected it to be a quick easy listen. It was quick but it was terrible. The narration was mostly stodgy with some raspy-voiced criminals and cops. The main plot was that an English teacher won $600 million in the lottery, and we watched him spend it - apartments, houses, new wardrobes, planes, cars, art, furniture are purchased in days. Meanwhile, some criminals try to rob him repeatedly. My eyes were rolling out of my head with the ridiculousness of this book.

[John Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one his better attempts to say the least. This one was very predictable. LA, Santa Fe, one the palms in Florida, NYC. How long does 60 million last spending 100 million at a crack. Typical lottery winner broke before you know it. How about income of some sort. Investments?