Stuart Woods has had 29 consecutive hard cover best sellers. 23 have had ex-cop/lawyer Stone Barrington as the lead character. I've just finished the fifth in that series, Worst Fears Realized (1999). It must not have been one of his better efforts. The story is routine and does not ring true. The characters are one-dimensional. The dialogue is mediocre. Of all the mysteries I've sampled, this was the least interesting. Even the presence of four Italian-Americans failed to bring me around. There is considerable name-dropping. At times the novel reads more like the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The late Elaine Kaufman, famed NYC restauranteur, is one of the characters. Only a brief segment captured my imagination: a sleazy lawyer lying to everyone in his sphere. The body count is substantial, for those who like it that way. Blood flows liberally. The handsome lead beds beautiful women easily. It's a fast read. Its 300 pages seemed more like 200. On a scale of five: one. Episodes of TV's Castle and The Mentalist are far superior, and less time consuming.
The floating book shop had a successful day. Not only did I make a lot more money than usual, I exchanged books with costumers and donors. The 84-year-old vet dropped off a mix of fiction and non-fiction, and was thrilled when I offered him the book on Judaic Mysticism that had caught his eye. A woman dropped off four pristine James Patterson hard covers and selected a paperback of Erica Spindler's Forbidden Fruit. Another woman, who has given me several books, chose a mystery for her sister, who will be undergoing knee replacement soon. A middle aged Russian woman bought three Sidney Sheldon novels, and spoke of her love of opera, which her father had bred into her as a little girl. But the highlight of the day was a deposit for a copy of Killing from Big All, local beat poet. He heard me mention it to someone else the other day and was immediately intrigued. He's a kind soul baffled by man's failure to resolve issues through dialogue. He believes this can change. History says otherwise. While mankind continues to create wonderful advances in technology and medicine, its basic character has not evolved. I hope Al is right, though.
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