Kisser

Stone Barrington #17

by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington is back in New York in this thrilling page-turner from the perennially entertaining, bestselling author, Stuart Woods.

After a rather harrowing sojourn in Key West, he's looking to stay closer to home and work on some simple divorce and custody cases for Woodman & Weld.

Then he crosses paths with the fetching Broadway actress, and sometime lip model Carrie Cox, and Stone gets a little more deeply involved with business than he'd expected. Soon his new lady love turns out to be a lady with a shady past, and Stone and his downtown cop friend, Dino Bacchetti, realize that, for them, her beauty may come at an unusually high price!

Librarian's note: the characters, settings, etc. for the first 30 books in the series are complete: #1, New York Dead, 1991; #2, Dirt, 1996; #3, Dead in the Water, 1997; #4, Swimming to Catalina, 1998; #5, Worst Fears Realized, 1999; #6, L.A. Dead, 2000; #7, Cold Paradise, 2001; #8, The Short Forever, 2002; #9, Dirty Work, 2003; #10, Reckless Abandon, 2004; #11, Two Dollar Bill, 2004; #12. Dark Harbor, 2006; #13, Fresh Disasters, 2007; #14, Shoot Him if He Runs, 2007; #15, Hot Mahogany, 2008; #16, Loitering with Intent, 2009; #17, Kisser, 2009; #18, Lucid Intervals, 2010; #19, Strategic Moves, 2010; #20, Bel-Air Dead, 2011; #21, Son of Stone, 2011; #22, D.C. Dead, 2011; #23, Unnatural Acts, 2012; #24, Severe Clear, 2012; #25, Collateral Damage, 2012; #26, Unintended Consequences, 2013; #27, Doing Hard Time, 2013; #28, Standup Guy, 2014; #29, Carnal Curiosity, 2014, and #30, Cut & Thrust, 2014.

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

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 19, 2010

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

[Lydia Presley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, Stuart.. what are you doing?!

I've been a Stone Barrington fan for years now. I've followed his escapades, his women and his light nights at Elaine's faithfully and .. there's no doubt about it, Stuart Woods knows how to write a fast-paced, action filled novel.

But..this novel had less of the mystery and more of Stone Barrington's exploits (reaching a new level of lewdness even). I don't read your books, Mr. Woods, to get my romance novel kick. I was able to put up with it when it appeared only once or twice in 300 pages.. but.. this one crossed the line.

Unless things change drastically, I'm thinking I'll be saying goodbye to Stone Barrington. It's a shame really - the books in the past were quick, easy reads with interesting twists and turns. Kisser had none of those. Everything was predictable (and there was quite the potential in a few places). I feel as if Mr. Woods just..glossed over things in order to get Stone laid a few more times.

Such a shame.

[Diane Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok series! entertaining storyline but too much promiscuous relations from Stone plus i'm not even sure if he's practicing safe sex ..not a good series (paperback!)

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't expect much from Woods anymore but I think this was even a new low for him. It's just full of sex, sex, sex. It seems the older the author gets the more he thinks about it. Maybe he's too old to perform so instead he makes up for it in his books.
I just hate giving up on his books because the earlier books he wrote were great and I know he has [had:] talent. It's almost like he woke up one day and realized he had loyal fans so he started mass producing them with less and less substance. These Stone Barrington books are the very worst. Finally I quit spending the money and just check them out of the library.

[Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, with this book Stuart Woods slid into the comedy genre. Excellent. He USED to a pretty decent thriller writer. I'm still not sure why his protagonist, an attorney, ends up tracking down missing persons or being hired to keep people safe from their Highly Dangerous and Obsessive Exes, but that's what he does. And for someone who has two houses, a secretary, a cook, a housekeeper, and an airplane, I'm not sure why his secretary is constantly harping on him that they don't have enough money to pay the bills. Dude, stop living beyond your means.

In the last book, the first sex scene was on page 11, so I was disappointed that I had to wait all the way until page 16 for the first sex scene in this one. I thought maybe Woods was finally learning some restraint in that department. But lo, was I ever wrong. In this book, Stone (the detective turned attorney) gets not one, but two, threesomes! Of course, neither of these are the woman he begins seeing at the beginning of the book - that would be Carrie.

Carrie is an actress and lip model who is newly divorced from Max. Depending on whose story you believe, either Carrie or Max is obsessive and violent. But since Stone is having sex with Carrie, of course he believes her. He puts her in touch with a security firm and they protect her from the Big, Bad Ex-Husband while Stone has lots and lots of sex with her.

In the meantime, Stone hears about the daughter of his boss' friend who is dating an Unsavory Guy who is probably into embezzling and drugs. Stone is hired to legally make the guy disappear from the daughter's life forever. Again, I have no idea why one would turn to an attorney for such a job, but whatever. Stone, in turn, devises this grandiose plan utilising the NYPD, the FBI, helicopters, and raw eggs (don't ask).

It most likely doesn't bode well that, at one point in the book, Stone scalded his tongue and throat on too-hot coffee and I guffawed with laughter.

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. More like 3.5. He's at it again. It's always fun to follow Stone Barrington's adventures. There's even a little law in the story, on two occasions if I am not mistaken. Once at the beginning and once at the end - different clients though. I am not sure he was ever retained for legal work by the aspiring and mercurial actress Carrie Cox but, between romps, he does offer advice and support as she moves towards stardom on Broadway. More importantly he tries to keep her a step or two ahead of her dangerous former husband. On another front, the daughter of one of Woodman and Weld's clients has aligned herself with some questionables in the art world, and Bill Eggers asks Stone to extricate her. Whether she wants to be extricated or not. There's a substantial family trust at stake. At one point, Stone finds himself with a few too many women on the line - although not that new for him. Shouldn't he settle down? It can be exhausting for the collective readership! It doesn't improve when his former wife Dolce, she of uncertain mental stability who once tried to kill him, makes a brief appearance. Since there is a volume #18, I assume he survives. (Se2018/Oc2025)

[Chana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and sleazy, old man sleazy. Here is what the book is about in the author's own words:

Chapter 43

"Stone sat at Elaine's with Dino, gulping bourbon.
"What's the matter?" Dino asked?
"What's the matter?" Stone made a moue.
"Well, let's see: I've been assigned by Eggers to save a fair damsel from the clutches of an evil fortune plunderer, as a result of which I've become embroiled in an NYPD undercover drug operation; I've been shanghaied back into the department, reporting to Brian Doyle, of all people; I've been fucking his undercover detective and her girlfriend at the same time, all while trying to protect Carrie Cox from her evil ex-husband while fucking her; Tiffany Baldwin has reared her beautiful but addled head again and wants me to fuck her, and she's going to try to shanghai me into working on her undercover operation to bust Sig Larsen. Let's see, did I leave out anything?"
Well, mostly, it sounds as if you're fucking every woman in sight. What else is new?"

Does this sound like a book you want to read? Besides the above, he eats and drinks. He details each meal and drink that he has. It was like having someone you know put as their status on FB everything they eat and drink, with pictures.

[Sandie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seems that the OLDER Stuart Woods gets the more sexually active his protagonist Stone Barrington becomes. It appears that Mr. Woods is compensating for a flagging libido by vicariously fulfilling his fantasies of sexual gymnastics through his character.

In KISSER, Barrington needs nothing short of a big stick (excuse the pun) to keep the women at bay. Everyone is bent on hopping into bed with “Studly Stone”, and not necessarily one at a time. Most of Woods better novels were done earlier in his career, and there was a time when publication of his novels like CHOKE and SANTA FE RULES as well as his Will Lee series were eagerly anticipated by his readers. In fact there was even a time, when the Barrington books (SWIMMING TO CATALINA) were fairly entertaining. This was definitely not one of those times. It’s almost as if Woods himself realized that the duo stories of the Broadway actress being stalked by her ex-husband and the spoiled little rich girl who has gotten involved with the wrong people were so weak that he felt the need to liberally pepper the story with plenty of sex in order to keep the reader interested. Well, that ploy did not work! This tale is mediocre and so is the sex. If there was a RAZZY award for novels, this one would certainly be in contention.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kisser was a fun read!

While helping to keep one client’s husband from killing her, he helps another client with getting the client’ daughter away from her lover who’s involved with a ponzi scheme.

Fans will be pleased to learn, or not, that Dolce, Barrington’s ex-wife, is back and is stalking him. Dolce’s father, who’s had her under lock and key, believes she has her sanity back and allows her to go on short jaunts but instead of shopping, she stalks Barrington. We’ll have to wait for the next book to learn what happens.

The only complaint I have is Tony Roberts does not have the talent to capture the personalities and moods of the characters. It was a mistake to replace Richard Ferrone as narrator.

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this unashamed ham-job Stone Barrington (or was that Bond) attorney/ex-cop/porn star attempts to bust a try-hard drug dealer to save the dealer’s girlfriend, all while falling into bed with every woman he meets (sometimes simultaneously)


The story line is ridiculously badly crafted, the relationships seemed to have found their inspiration from FHM or Ralph magazines and the prose... think lines like “grabbed with by the cock and led him upstairs”


Yet despite all this, Kisser is a self-aware novel. Nothing about it suggests it is anything otherwise to what it is, and the whole book doesn’t take more time than you would want to spend on such a thing, to read. Overall it’s a pretty funny read recommended to those who can take a light hearted approach to books.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've only read one other Stuart Woods book and thought it was a fairly simplistic read so I wasn't expecting a lot out of this one. It proved to be another effortless plot with an overly zealous sex theme. Come on... If a retired cop where women are falling all over him, is going to be the main character, at least give us an interesting and challenging story line.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A typical Stone Barrington story from Stuart Woods. Stone Barrington, a lawyer, is a real lady killer but his shenanigans in this book were waaaaay over the top. I think Stuart Woods is getting lazy - substituting sex for a good story line. I might have to give up on him.

[Leo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read lamost all of Woods books and this one tilted the scale. It's very disappointing. Stone Barrington is at Elains Restaurant, sees a woman at the bar and goes up and righ away she is sitting at his table and next thing they are in bed together. The sex goes on with the employee of an art dealer and a female detective. I could count more than 15 times that he is drinking knob creek which I dont know if Woods is being paid to advertise the drink.

Not recomended to entertain your time on it.

[Melissa Kayden · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I might be officially done with Stuart Woods after this one. I like some fluff and over the top story as much as the next person, but this one was nuts. Barrington has 2 girls over for la "business lunch" and they all fell into bed??? I liked Woods' books when they were a little over the top, but this book had one unbelievable thing after another. If Woods would stick to trying to write a good "mystery" instead of trying to top his other books with Barringtons's feats, I may still read his books. But it doesn't seem to be the case, so I think this will be the last Woods book for me.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read digitally and it was a good choice since Stuart Woods is inconsequential reading anyway. And that's not a bad thing. His books, more than 30 of which I've read, are like palate cleansers. Easy and undemanding. This one ranks consistently with all the other Stone Barrington books. The writing is the real pleasure as the plot and stakes are humdrum. If you liked any of the others, there's absolutely no reason to think you won't like this. Two things on the debit side. One, I know Stone is a ladies man and the sex in these books was appealing to me at 15 when I started reading Woods. But it seems now more like a dirty old man projecting his fantasies and it's getting a little creepy. Stone is a womanizer. I get it. But the way all these women throw their legs in the air right when they meet him like he's Don Draper is getting a touch old. Two, there are typos all through this book. Not slang or questionable grammar but honest to goodness misspelled words. I swear no less than 10! This isn't the first time I've noticed this in Woods' books so someone over at his publisher needs to give this a better glance. But a fun read and certainly painless.

[Barbara Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a disappointing one, definitely not a page-turning thriller as described by the publisher. It has little to offer, and reads as if Stuart Woods just sort of mailed it in. It is about NYC rich people who have absolutely no depth, and their sex lives which are adolescent at best. It's as though Woods has been replaced by a pubescent boy. Do not read if you want characters you can care about or if you like an intriguing plot. Not really a mystery at all.

[ML · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is by far the worst Stone Barrington book I’ve read. Woods is a dirty gross old man that vicariously lives through Stone.

In this installment, the plot is super stupid and Stone has threesomes and every female character in the book seems to want to f- Stone. Epic eye roll 🙄

The plot is non existent and makes no sense. AND on top of all that Dolce is back and stalking Stone. I know he lives on but maybe he shouldn’t. Ugh.

[Brians]

I've been a Stone Barrington fan for years, but Stuart ruined years of work. This is the worst release by Woods ever to the point I had to put it down; I fell asleep. Not only is it boring, Woods destroyed the character. On a personal note, I met Stuart Woods in Sarasota Florida a few years ago at a book signing and he was just a boring and rude a Barrington is in this book. Bad read.

[Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Stuart Woods' best. It revolved more around his 'unrealistic' sexual activities than the normal thriller that Stone Barrington provides. Nothing to read about here.

[Barbara Sprufera Ruggles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a great, quick entertaining read. Love the characters in the Stone Barrington books. Read his books in order … it keeps you up to date as to what is going on in Stone and Dino’s lives.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

October 2024. Not in my top ten Stone B stories.

January 2023. I’m never keen on reading of violent and greedy characters. This story has been in my life for 12 years.

Oct2021 book. if you like the series, you'll like this story. Otherwise, don't bother. I liked it.

Nov 2019 book on tape As this point I should plan on this as one of my Nov books on tape!
Nov 2018 book on tape. still 4 stars.
June 2017 book on tape. So much better to listen to this story in the car vs. the news in the summer of 2017.
not read on 1-1-2015 but i want to give this one a rest.
third read 6-1-2011. i gotta get a life!
second read: 2-27-2011
I've been running out of series books and this was in the "new Book" section under mystery. I liked it much more the second time. in july i gave it 3 stars, i've now goosed it up to 4 stars.
happy reading.!!!!!
first read: 7-1-2010
even the book review is bland. i liked the plot but thought woods included way more sex than he usually does. also a menage'e tres, for good luck. even the lady undercover was too far fetched... a gazillionaire who had a $30 mil line of credit... oh please. none of this stopped me from reading to the end. and i'll ge t the next one too.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of the same - if you've read two or three of the books in this series, you've read them all. Stone meets a beautiful woman who falls all over him, totally wearing him out in bed, Stone protects her with Dino's help, several plot twists ensue, a former love of his life pops in, book ends. I only read these books because they are light, fast reads in between reading books of a far higher caliber. Based on the poor quality of the books to this point, I can't imagine what later books in the series will be like, once the author started cranking out four or more books per year. Bottom line - I may read a couple more and then move on to books of a higher quality.

[Kathi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another one, like #6 in the series, about beautiful women dragging Stone into bed.

It starts with Carrie, an actress from Atlanta, that Stone picks up in a bar. She's the "Kisser" in the title. Her ex is trying to kill her. Or so she says...

Then there;s Mitzi, NYPD cop (originally from Savannah) assigned to a case that Bill Eggers throws Stone's way. And Rita, also part of the case...

about 1/3rd of the way in, Carrie disappears from the plot line (I was beginning to wonder if she was written out of the story) only to re-appear for the final few chapters. Not a lot of substance to this one, but a quick read.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stone is assigned to get a young woman away from an con man/artist before her twenty-fifth birthday and her trust becomes hers. At the same time, he's dealing with a young actress and her ex-husband, who's out to kill her.

Woods is not the writer he used to be, but he's still one of my guilty pleasures.

[Kym Gamble · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could give half stars I would have given this a 3.5 stars not a 4. A woman comes to town to become an actress. Her ex-husband follows her to New York. A con man tries to get someone to turn over their funds so he can "invest" them and another sells drugs to an undercover detective. And Stone is in the middle of it all.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one in the series. A lot more adult relations from Stone in this one. A lot of people might get turned off from the series because of this…DON’T!!! It doesn’t go into detail and I’ve read other books from the series after this book and the sex stuff is mild.

[Joy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth reading. Such a disappointment after his other books.

[John Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How old is Stone? His sexual escapes would kill a normal guy. Interesting how the developments of the stories evolved.

[Neil McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, every time.

hope that this series continues. 🙏

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 2010. A page-turning thriller.

[Chad McCauley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story line, while interesting, could have been more developed.


Instead, it seems that a third of the book was Stone Barrington’s sex life.