July 4, 2011
Everything flows so smoothly in Woods's 21st Stone Barrington novel (after Bel-Air Dead) that one knows disaster can't be too far behind for the New York lawyer now a full partner in Woodman & Weld, among his other duties. Arrington Calder, Stone's lover and the mother of Peter, the son Stone unknowingly fathered 15 years before, wants father and son to get to know one another. Stone and Peter, who has plans for a film director career that includes Yale Drama School, form an easy relationship. While Arrington sees to the completion of her Virginia mansion, Stone begins using his connections to ease Peter's path, though the precocious teenager doesn't need much help. Kelli Keane, New York Post reporter, is one fly in the ointment as she probes the relationship of Stone and Arrington. Series fans may enjoy the flagrant uses of wealth, prestige, and influence, but Woods provides little of the mystery or suspense he's delivered so well in the past.