Julie's Review: Fresh Disasters

Summary: Smooth-talking New York lawyer Stone Barrington, along with his sidekick, NYPD detective Dino Bacchetti, get dragged into an impossible case in Stone's entertaining 13th outing (after Dark Harbor). Stone's bosses at the high-class law firm of Woodman and Weld want him to sue major league Mafia don Carmine Dattila for beating up a character from earlier Stone adventures, the hapless Herbie Fisher. It's all pretty much good fun—the snappy repartee, hot sex, dinner at Elaine's, comedic Mafia hoodlums with names like Sammy Tools, Johnny Pop and Dattila the Hun—until the tale turns darker with the introduction of a psychotic sculptor, Devlin Daltry, who's the ex-boyfriend of Stone's current flame, Celia Cox, a tall, fabulously beautiful masseuse. Woods delivers few surprises, but there are plenty of laughs as the pages speed by. Series regulars and newcomers alike will be perfectly satisfied. ~amazon.com

Review: I really can't believe it's been 2 years since I've visited Stone Barrington. I mean I've bought all the books but somehow they just get put to the bottom of the pile. Shame on me. I always find these books quick, easy and entertaining reads. Fresh Disasters is no different. I'm always amazed at how many women Stone "has". Seriously, if he were a woman, he'd be labled all kinds of derogatory names but he's not so we get to join in his adventures. We are joined by all the usual characters: Dino, Elaine, Joan and Bob Cantor. This time Bob's nephew, Herbie Fisher joins us for the adventure. Actually, he is the adventure. He's into Mob Boss Carmine Dattila for $24K in gambling debts and gets roughed up at Elaine's while Dino and Stone are there, along with Bill Eggers. Needless to say Bill sees $$ in suing Carmine "Dattila the Hun" and weasels his way into having Stone represent Herbie in the civil lawsuits.

Not only do we have that storyline, but we also have one of the beautiful masseuse, Celia, which isn't only giving massages to Stone, but she's also being stalked and harassed by her ex-boyfriend, Devlin Dalty. So Stone gets wrapped up in that as well. There are quite a few things going on in this book, but like a Stone Barrington novels, I didn't feel it was overwhelming. I felt that all three cases were similar in nature that they fit well together. I found parts of the book funny, as Dino has his typical one-liners and there were some unexpected twists.

Overall a solid entry in the Stone Barrington series. Mr. Woods never lets me down.

Final Take: 3.5/5