STUART WOODS

President Will lee's vice-president just died during surgery, and Lee's new pick may be hiding something from his past. Meanwhile, rogue CIA agent Teddy Fay is plotting revenge on CIA Director Kate Rule Lee, the First Lady. On top of all this, some nuclear weapons are "loose" in Pakistan, and the prevention of WWIII depends on Lee's efforts to resolve the situation.

Stone Barrington enters the cutthroat fray of politics in the exceptional new thriller from #1 "New York Times" bestselling author Stuart Woods. When Stone Barrington travels to Los Angeles for the biggest political convention of the year, he finds the scene quite shaken up: a dazzling newcomer--and close friend of Stone's--has given the delegates an unexpected choice, crucial alliances are made and broken behind closed doors, and it seems that more than one seat may be up for grabs. And amid the ambitious schemers and hangers-on are a few people who may use the chaotic events as cover for more sinister plans.... In this milieu of glad-handing and backroom deals, only the canniest player can come out on top...and it will take all of Stone's discretion and powers of persuasion to arrange a desirable outcome.

In the newest addition to the bestselling series, Stone Barrington and Holly Barker pursue a master spy and murderer in a tropical paradise where very little is as it seems. Teddy Fay, a rogue agent last seen escaping an imploding building in Iron Orchid, has been considered dead for some time now. But President Will Lee thinks Teddy may still be alive. In a top-secret Oval Office meeting, Stone learns that he and his cohorts, Holly Barker and Dino Baldachetti, are being sent to the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Marks, courtesy of the CIA, to track down Teddy once and for all. St. Marks is a vacationer's paradise, but its luxurious beach clubs and secluded mountain villas are home to corrupt local politicians and more than a few American ex-pats with murky personal histories. Stone and Holly soon discover that in St. Marks, everyone is hiding something, and Teddy Fay may just be hiding in plain sight.

A roller-coaster ride of breathtaking speed, sharp, totally unexpected turns and unflagging suspense. (Los Angeles Daily News)

Présentatrice vedette de télévision et parachutiste chevronnée, Sasha Nijinsky a-t-elle pu survivre à sa chute du onzième étage d''un immeuble new-yorkais ? C''est ce que pense, à peu près seul de so

Bestseller Woods piles on the coincidences in his modestly entertaining fifth thriller to feature CIA agent Holly Barker (after Iron Orchid). When Holly returns home to Orchid Beach, Fla., where she was once chief of police, she's reunited with both welcome and unwelcome figures from her past. Renegade ex-CIA agent Teddy Fay, sporting a new identity, has chosen to settle in nearby Vero Beach. Lauren Cade, a former military comrade, is now a sergeant with the Florida State Patrol. Holly is shocked to learn that James Bruno, her former commanding officer who was tried and acquitted of raping Lauren and who once tried to rape Holly herself, is Orchid Beach's new police chief. Holly's not so shocked to learn that a serial killer and rapist is at work in the area. Woods glibly lets the reader stay well ahead of the legal posse tracking the killer while still keeping a card or two up his sleeve. Playful dialogue and romantic sexual escapades lighten the atmosphere. (Sept.)

Stone Barringtons appeal as a handsome big city attorney continues in Stuart Woods new novel, KISSER. At Elaines, his favorite New York City restaurant, Barrington meets Carrie Cox, an aspiring actress and singer intent on landing a big Broadway musical part. In the meantime, she works as a lipstick model for an advertising agency. As a virile, good-looking man, Barrington is exploited by Woods, both in comic relief during tight circumstances and in thematic dramatization.