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Reckless
Abandon by Stuart Woods Rating: •• (Mildly Recommended) |
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Serial Stuart Woods is a prolific writer who has brought together two of his
serial characters in his latest book, Reckless
Abandon. An attempt to bring together fans of both Woods’ Stone
Barrington series and his Holly Barker series, may
please some fans of each character. For me, it came across as a desperate
attempt to breathe some life into two characters that Woods has pretty much
exhausted. Keeping with the serial theme, there are serial murders that Woods
and Barker work together to solve. By the middle of the book, I really didn’t
care, but that might be because it started to rain and there was something
more interesting to look at. Other readers will find this an ideal beach
book: you can pick up and put down with ease. Here’s an excerpt of all of
Chapter 17, pp. 82-87: Stone took Holly to the Four Seasons, because it was the most elegant Holly
had spent the afternoon shopping and had come home with bags from Armani and
Ralph Lauren, the result of which was a black Armani dress that made Stone
forget he had had too much sex the night before. They settled into a good
table in the Pool Room. “What
would you like to drink?” Stone asked. “A
vodka gimlet, three-to-one, straight up, shaken so cold the bartender’s
fingers stick to the shaker.” “Two,”
Stone said to the waiter. “Would
you like a particular kind of vodka?” the waiter asked. “Anything
will do,” she replied. When the waiter had gone she said, “Vodka is nothing
but grain alcohol that has been cut in half with water. I don’t know what the
big deal is about brands. It’s not as if it’s eighteen-year-old Scotch.” “I
agree,” Stone said. “Do you always give such explicit direction when you order
a drink?” “Just
with vodka gimlets,” she replied. “Bartenders never measure, and they always
put too much vodka in them.” “You’re
a control freak, aren’t you?” “Just
with vodka gimlets.” “The
dress is. . . You make that dress look gorgeous.” “Well
put, and just in time. I thought you were going to tell me the dress makes me
look gorgeous.” “Certainly
not,” said Stone, who had been about to do just that. “You don’t look
like a cop at all this evening.” “Even
higher praise! You know, there just isn’t any way to look feminine in a
police uniform, unless you’re wearing shorts.” “You
wear shorts?” “We’re
in “Which
female officers?” “The
ones who look good in shorts. It encourages tourism.” Their
drinks arrived, and they sipped them appreciatively. “Now
that’s a vodka gimlet,” Holly said. “You can tell if it’s right by the
color. It should have a pretty, green tinge.” “And
it does.” “Stone,
I need your advice about something.” “Shoot.” “This
is legal advice and must remain confidential.” “Shoot.” “I
have five million seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars I don’t know what
to do with.” “Buy
a jet airplane.” “I
don’t think so.” “You
want me to introduce you to my broker?” “What
do you want to do with the money?” “I
haven’t the faintest idea.” “You
could give it to your favorite charity.” “That
would involve a paper trail.” “Uh-oh,”
he said “What’s
the matter?” “This
is illegal, isn’t it?” “That’s
what I wanted to ask you about.” “Okay,
where’d you get the money?” “Well,
last year I was investigating this thing where the proceeds of various crimes
were being put into a vault back home. I was watching some of these guys
unloading a van filled with suitcases and boxes. And, wanting to know what
was in them, I snatched one of them, a large briefcase, which turned out to
be filled with five million seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars.” “And
where is the money now?” “In
a tree.” “What
do you mean?” “I
mean, I climbed a tree and wedged the briefcase into the branches.” “This
is in “Yes.” “They
have hurricanes in “Then
there will be hundred-dollar bills all over “All
right, let’s go to basics: This is illegal; you’ve committed a crime.” “I
figured.” “Why
did you do this?” “Well,
I took the briefcase to find out if they were transporting cash, so I could
hardly hand it back to them. I hid it, and I didn’t even think about it until
a couple of weeks after we had arrested the whole bunch.” “Why
didn’t you give it back then?” “Give
it back to whom? The criminals? They were all in jail.” “Did
you tell anybody about this?” “Yes.
I told Grant Harrison, my FBI friend. Well, former friend. This was
before he became such a bureaucratic ass.” “And
he didn’t arrest you?” “I
told you, we were, ah, friendly at the time.” “How
friendly?” “Very
friendly.” “And
he didn’t do anything about this?” “About
the money? No.” “Well,
that makes him an accessory” “Funny,
that’s what I told him the last time he mentioned it to me.” “What
did he say?” “He
didn’t say anything. In fact, he stopped talking altogether for quite a
while.” “Why
don’t you just give it to the FBI?” “I
suggested that to Grant, but he turned pale. He wanted to know how I could
explain the long delay in turning it in. I told him zL’e
would have to explain.” “And
what was his reaction?” “He
told me to shut up and never mention it to him again.” “Were
there any witnesses to this conversation?” “No,
we were in bed at the time.” “Then
I guess you weren’t wearing a wire.” “Good
guess.” “I
don’t think I’ve ever run into a problem quite like this,” Stone said. “Me,
either.” “I
suppose you’ve thought about spending it.” “Well,
yes, but I have everything I need, and I can afford a lot more, so what would
I do with it?” “You
could put a big ribbon on it, leave it on the doorstep of your favorite
orphanage, ring the bell, and run like hell.” “I’ve
thought of that, but I’m sure somebody would see me, and I’d get caught.
Anyway, I don’t have a favorite orphanage.” “You
could just leave it in the tree until some lucky lumberjack chops it down and
finds the money.” “I’d
worry about it. I’m tired of worrying about it.” “How
about this: You give the money to your lawyer. . .“ “Yeah,
sure.” “Wait
a minute, I’m not finished. Then your lawyer calls the local chief of police
and says he has a client who has come upon some money that he suspects is
illegal, and the client wants to turn it in, if he can do so anonymously.” “I’m the
local chief of police. Aren’t we talking about a conspiracy?” “A
conspiracy to do the right thing?” “I
think you’re beginning to see the size of my problem.” “Yes,
I am.” “Stone,
you have an airplane, right?” “Yes.” “There’s
an airstrip on the property. Why don’t you and I fly down there tonight, get
the money, and bring it back up here. I’ll split it with you, fifty-fifty.” Stone
held up his hands as if to ward her off. “Oh, no, you’re not sucking me into
this. Anyway, I’ve had a vodka gimlet. I can’t legally fly for eight hours.
By the time we got down there it would be broad daylight.” “So,
we’ll do it tomorrow night.” “Holly,
I need some time to think about this.” “I’ll
bet you know how to get this into an offshore account, don’t you “Sure,
that’s easy. We just fly my airplane down to the “I
like the sound of that,” Holly said. “Of
course, we’d have to sign a form saying that we haven’t taken more than five
thousand dollars in cash or negotiable instruments out of the country. If we
lied about it, that would be a felony.” “It
seems like such a little felony, doesn’t it?” “That’s
it. I’m not having any more to drink.” “So
you can fly?” “So
I’ll stop thinking like this. You’re making me crazy” She leered at him.
“It’s about time.” Later,
in bed, they forgot about the money I
had the sense that Woods wrote Reckless
Abandon in a flowing way, with little re-writing, and presented the
finished book to a publisher who did little editing. Fans will conclude this
is not the best he’s written, but may find some enjoyment in the reprise of
old characters from two series. Light reading, about as pleasurable as a
summer rerun. Steve
Hopkins, June 25, 2004 |
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ã 2004 Hopkins and Company, LLC The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the July 2004
issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/Reckless
Abandon.htm For Reprint Permission,
Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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