Skin Game

Teddy Fay #3

by Stuart Woods, Parnell Hall

Teddy Fay returns to his roots in espionage, in the latest thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Stuart Woods.When Teddy Fay receives a freelance assignment from a gentleman he can't refuse, he jets off to Paris on the hunt for a treasonous criminal. But as Teddy unearths more information that just doesn't seem to connect, his straightforward mission becomes far bigger--and stranger--than he could imagine. The trail of bread crumbs leads to secrets hidden within secrets, evildoers trading in money and power, and a global threat on an unprecedented scale. Under the beautiful veneer of the City of Lights, true villainy lurks in the shadows...and Teddy Fay alone can prevent the impending disaster.

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

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 4, 2019

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

[Tim]

A quick, well paced story that demonstrates Stuart Woods ability to generate a good story when motivated. 8 of 10 stars

[Skip]

Teddy Fay gets a call from CIA Director Lance Cabot to request his help to ferret out a mole in the Paris office, who is working with the Syrians. Teddy gets a leave from Centurion Studio and appears at the CIA office as a deep cover officer, denying he is there to review personnel. Ordering Lance around through an FBI cutout, while unrealistic, was hilarious as Teddy guessed how Lance would react to every request. Unfortunately, Teddy has become as formulaic and uni-dimensional as Stone Barrington, bedding the pretty girl and spending money with abandon. While learning the surprise identity of the mole, Teddy discovers a nefarious plot by the Syrians to purchase a bioweapon at a conference on endangered species. While it's reasonable that Teddy skills are an assassin have not deteriorated, his ability to escape prosecution for multiple (justified) killings in France are not.

[Laura Wonderchick]

I love this spin off series of Teddy Fay. It’s a refreshing change from always reading Stone Barrington. This was action packed and sometimes humorous. I’m a huge fan of all of SW books.

[Kay]

Teddy was contacted by Lance Cabot, CIA director to find a mole at their Paris office. Stone and Dino tagged along which made it entertaining. Another okay Teddy Fay. The first book is still my favorite among the three.

[(NurseLisa) Square Granny from Ohio]

Meh. Sigh.

[Donald Peschken]

Enjoyed this book a lot. Teddy Fay is a good character who once worked for the CIA and has been living and working in Hollywood. He gets a call from Lance Cabot, head of the CIA and is sent to Paris to uncover a mole in the Paris branch of the CIA.
Lots of action and intrigue in this tale. I'm enjoying Fay more than Stone Barrington lately. Barrington is getting to be the same old, same old. Teddy Fay is a refreshing change.

[Joanne Farley]

Teddy is called back into service by the director of the CIA with no choice back to see Teddy is back in the game. Teddy is on the hunt for mole and in this novel he uses all of the skills in his arsenical, including Stone and Dino.
This book is well paced and a great story to boot. This one is a win for Woods.

[Jeanne]

Quick listen on audiobook -- Stuart Woods does not disappoint with this Teddy Fay story! What starts down one road branches off into a sub-plot and both merge to make for an enjoyable "read"! Leave it to Teddy Fay to wrap everything up in a nice package (with a rare black rhino thrown in to boot)! 7 out of 10.

[Vicki]

Quick-on-the trigger Teddy Fay buys a black rhino and rescues two dogs in Paris. Zippy spy thriller.

[Lisa Malmquist]

Teddy Fay is the main character in this book. For anyone not familiar with this character, he is more of a spy-not the same type as Stone Barrington in the other books.
Teddy has a little more leeway on how he deals with criminals and the problems they create.
This is more of a hang onto your hat, and buckle your seat belt, kind of guy!
Teddy is sent to ferret out a traitor in Paris. But while there, discovers something much more sinister going on under the surface.
In his usual deadly and competent style, Teddy has to figure out what is really going on and deal with it. Twists and turns, humor and diplomacy.
And he has to convince Dino, the New York Police Commissioner and the French police to give him a hand. Great story. Lots of fun!

[Montessahall Montessahall]

UGH!!! The author has managed to ruin the only interesting character left in this series. Teddy Fay is just as boring and one dimensional as Stone Barrington. This novel is the usual product placement informercial for aviation, hotels and restaurants. BTW, what kind of NYC police commissioner (Dino) can just take off, fly with his buddies to another country and hang out in fine hotels and restaurants? Did crime take a holiday in NYC during his romps around the world? Pretty absurd.

[Al Stoess]

Teddy Fay defeats international (Syrian) terrorists.

Same old unlikely stuff by Woods.

Only one sexual encounter by Stone Barrington.

[John Neglia]

I have read most every Stuart Woods novel. This was terrible. Hard to make Teddy Fey boring, but it was.

[Steve]

March 2025 did enjoy the Lance bashing

March 2024not enough emphasis of potentially getting destroying humankind.

12/14/22. I still enjoy the bantering between Teddy and Lance.

12-27-2021. ditto Like dime store candy - enjoyable at the moment but forgettable.

9-2021 Fun bantering dialogue between Teddy and Lance.

Sept 27, 2019 Co authored with Parnell Hall. Ditto from July 2019 and, for the most part, a forgettable story 2 months later.

July 9 2019. Teddy Fay #3. Farfetched story but a true page turner since there are so few words per page. More of a novella. Woods has resurrected Teddy in all his glory and righteousness.

[Loy]

Teddy Fay - this one big romp of spies, crazy scenes and good ol' Teddy Fay- a former CIA spy.
He has a new identity as Billy Barnett a movie producer. He is dragged into a mission to find a mole in the Paris office.
This is typical Stuart Woods. We have a cameo by Stone and Dino. I like that Dino helped Teddy on in his own. He is usually Stone’s sidekick
I really enjoyed it. It is not great literature but a good lighthearted read

[Rick]

I love Teddy Faye, even with all his aliases. This book was very good with Dino as the only pal involved. A good [if unlikely] premise and a cool ulterior motive and solution. Perhaps more of Teddy and less Stone in the future.

[rebecca O. webber]

I actually like the Teddy Fay series more than the Stone Barrington series. Sure, it follows a formula Teddy gets away with unbelievable escapades, but it is a change than reading about Barrington’s dinners, houses, planes and his sex life.

[Jim Vogt]

Fast, easy read. I enjoyed it.

[Mark]

Early Stuart Woods' works were very good mystery/thrillers...The later stuff has become nothing more than "guilty pleasures" for me...cool characters, living the lives of the "rich and famous"...but still, pleasurable, thus 4-stars...In this very quick read, almost a novella, Teddy is pulled back into CIA service to find a “mole" in the American Embassy in France...While doing so, confront efforts by terrorists, to obtain a bioweapon...Like I said...GUILTY PLEASURE!!!

[Dad]

Teddy is better at making movies as a stuntman and prop maker than he is as a CIA deep cover. Parts of this book were humorous particularly having Stone and Dino as his playmates but otherwise this story was lacking depth. The plot was so unbelievable (a mole in the CIA made Lance call out a long lost assassin) it became tedious to slog through. Normally Woods books are witty and clever and leave me imagining how life with the upper class would be like. This one, well other than Paris and a few dinners, it left me longing. Not at all the book I was hoping for. Better luck next time.

[Seth Gottfried]

What is it about Teddy Faye that keeps me reading? Ability hide in plain sight? Ability to identify the enemy and pick apart their schemes? Ability to come up with a great plan in an instant? What about seemingly endless resources. Whatever it is, bring on the next book.

[Mel Raschke]

Teddy Fay is a great new character by Stuart Woods. I think I like him better than Stone Barrington.

[Ginger]

Interesting TeddybFay thriller with endangered animals

[Wesley]

Teddy Fay is the man!! Stone Barrington makes several cameos in this fast-paced thriller with familiar elements: high-stakes intrigue, glamorous settings, and romantic subplots. A solid thriller...5-Stars!

[Deborah]

I’m a big of Stuart Woods I was happy to see that he collaborated with Parnell Hall for a Teddy Fay book Skin Game. This was a refreshing change from the traditional Stone Barrington books. Teddy takes on many characters in this novel some of them new and quirky and some we have met before. This is a fast paced fun and easy read.

[Lydia Kass]

Teddy Fay is asked by Lance Cabot to help find a mole in the Paris CIA office. Fay recruits Stone and Dino as his helpers as they have residences, planes and know people in high places. While in Paris, he learns of a clandestine operation to acquire rare animals for killing and in true Teddy Fay style, is able to foil the bad guys. Any book with the Teddy Fay character is worth reading.

[Donna]

3.5 stars. Teddy Fay gets a call from the head of the CIA about going undercover in Paris to catch a spy within the organization there. Teddy is ex-CIA who has maintained all his skills. He is also a master of disguise and will use that skill a lot in this story.

As usual with a Teddy Fay book, there's lots of action and readers of this series will be entertained. Stone Barrington and Dino Bacchetti make short appearances. I liked the first 2 books better than this one. Something about the plot simply didn't grab me this time.

[Nancy]

3.8 I had about given up on Stuart Woods, his books weren’t that engaging to me anymore. I’m glad I read Skin Game. It was one of his best! This espionage thriller was exciting , with a little humorous undertone. Teddy Fay and aliases are great characters.

[Will]

SUBJECT READER REVIEW WITH PLOT SPOILERS FOLLOWS:

Teddy Fay's always a nice little break, although Woods infests him with the same ageless nuances of Stone Barrington. I mean, the guy'd have to be in his 60s, and he's picking up hardbody hotties in Paris over dinner? I guess it's a nice fantasy, like all of Woods' books. But, in my humble estimation, Woods doesn't give Teddy the same shrake as Stone. For instance, all sentences are short and the transition between scenes is nonexistent. But I kinda like it when the action's constantly shifting, as it keeps the storyline from getting dull. And there ain't anything dull about Teddy Fay doing a favor for a former disgruntled employer, si?

So of all people Lance Cabot, the DCI, who once put out an open-ended hit on Teddy, has finally accepted that a Presidential Pardon was issued and calls him out of the blue needing a favor. The CIA's gotta mole in their Paris Station, and Cabot can't use anyone on the inside to go sniff it out. Of course Lance grates his molars out since it's gotta be on Teddy's terms, but he's between a rock and a hard spot in Paris, so....

First of all some complications; the Syrians have penetrated Cabot's life with a honey trap, and she planted the microbug in Cabot's smart phone. Of course he doesn't know this yet, so the whole deal with Teddy is instantly known by the Syrian strongman Fahd Kassin, who arranges for a hitter to take him out at LAX. Well, since Teddy's the master of disguise--which he changes no fewer than nine times during 'Skin Game'--the sure shot at LAX is a nothing, as is the 'guaranteed' Mafia hit upon arrival at JFK. Once in New York, Teddy closes with Stone and Dino Bachetti, figures the hitters indicate that Cabot's phone's bugged, and set up an elaborate 'relay' communication between Teddy, a previously introduced hottie Millie Martindale and Cabot. Of course Teddy and Millie are using very clever email to communicate, which she only delivers in person, and on short notice. Cabot gets a case of the red ass, but what choice does he have? Late in the game Millie announces that Teddy needs five hundred thousand Euros wired immediately. Cabot finds this out at the National Zoo and learns that Teddy needs it 'sorta' to buy a black rhino!

So Teddy Fay leaves LA to travel to Paris to sniff around the CIA Station, learn the players and find out who the mole is. Well, things get complicated when the Syrian strongman learns of Teddy's presence and brings too much focus to bear for Teddy to operate within. So he does his normal thing; he's sent in to find a mole, but instead sniffs out a conspiracy and in the end saves the world from the spread of biological agent produced by a German scientist working for Mister Paris Rene 'The Silver Fox' Darjon. I might have slightly overstated it; he sneaks off to Nice, meets a billionaire Texas oilman Floyd Maitland, kills him and assumes his identity as well as his registration at the Endangered Species Preservation Conference being held at l'Arrington Hotel. Then things begin to get interesting.

The Conference is comprised of numerous panel discussions, with only two reserved for special registrants whose ID card displays a golden star. This admits them into the auction portion of the Conference, and a black rhino really is one of the auctioned items. But so is a goofy acting brown English setter, and he's the prize with Dr. Stephan von Heinrich's super virus in a leak-proof vial in the dog's stomach that after properly prepared was deadly, contagious and unstoppable. Better to stop it via deflection, n'est pas? The Syrian informs Teddy that the dog is not for sale, as he is buying it. Teddy tells Fahd not if I buy him first, and that begins the real-time masquerading. Teddy plans to have Cabot smuggle in a near identical dog and swap 'em out, then somehow rescue the planted dog from the Syrian's business jet. Of course they won't know about this until they check on the dog upon takeoff, only to find a few pounds of C4 that Teddy remotely detonates.

Oh yeah, the mole was the thirty-something hardbody hottie CIA officer that bedded Teddy several nights, indirectly causing the complications that made him leave Paris allegedly with Stone and Dino, only to turn up in Nice for a little cooling off. So Lance found his mole, but in the process ended up destroying an international conspiracy to make deadly viral agents available to the most Satanic minds imaginable. A really good cross-country flight read. I liked it!!!

[Alan]

Fay’s the name, Teddy Fay ... Oddly, the writing reminded me of the Hardy Boys novels I so loved as a child, not to criticize the great Franklin W. Dickson.