Shoot First (A Stone Barrington Novel)

Super fast paced. Relentless plot and edge of your seat excitement. Also one of the funniest Barrington novels ever. There are some scenes that are laugh out loud funny. I would put this as one of the top ten in the series. I just finished it and I’m exhausted. If you have read other books in this series you are in for a real treat.

Stuart Woods always shares a great story line about Stone Barrington. He puts him in situations and keeps the reader hanging on. Can't get enough of his books. I wish Stone would find a long lost love.

Former NYPD detective turned lawyer Stone Barrington serves on various boards, and the Steele Group now hosts him in Key West, Florida.

Stone plays golf with the company’s CEO, Arthur Steele, along with new board members Meg Harmon and Arthur Junior. After practicing a few drives, they set out for the first tee box. Near them, a cracking sound splits the air. Stone immediately identifies a rifle shot, yelling at his group to hit the dirt. Al Harris, from the next foursome, has been hit in the shoulder. A car skids away from behind swamp grass and brush, kicking back gravel in its wake. Too late for pursuit, Stone is glad he has invited best friend and former partner Dino Baccetti and his wife, Viv, to join him on the trip.

The local detectives question the golfers about possible motives for the murder, deducing that the attempted assault was a professional hit. Stone invites Meg back to his rented house for lunch with Dino and Viv. Meg is the CEO of a software company that has developed a prototype for a self-driving car. She is agreeable, and the two share backgrounds, as well as present and future aspirations.

In the days that follow, it becomes apparent that Meg was the target of the shooter's fire. A former employee has stolen the prized software prototype, with plans to sell it for a huge profit. Stone vows to protect Meg, accepting her as a new client. The plan turns personal when the two mesh physically as well as ideologically. They become lovers with ease.

Various players enter the story to complicate the plot. A change of scene becomes necessary, leading Stone to shelter Meg by flying her to his manor in the English countryside, only to discover that a major villain has followed them there. When a fire threatens to destroy the house, arson is blamed. The outcome is less than originally predicted, but Stone again changes course. Between jaunts to his New York home and others, the two jet-setters remain a step ahead of their pursuers. The registered patent of Harmon's software becomes a questionable entity as well.

Woods further complicates the plot with murder, more deceit, foreign agitators entering the picture, and an international arms dealer running the show. At a time when the patent seems locked up, a secured copy of the software is back with its owner, and life appears to be with few distractions, Stone and Meg can breathe easily. But when Meg is abducted and threatened with death, Stone must produce the thumb drive with software information to secure her release. Nothing is certain now. Stone must work magic. Is he up to the task?

In typical Stuart Woods fashion, the plot thickens with precision. His readers will enjoy the action in SHOOT FIRST, a novel that is well-titled. This is a fast read that can accompany one on a late spring/summer holiday for entertainment to be readily shared.

Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

Stuart Woods 2018 book “Shoot First,” which is another of his many Stone Barrington novels, is a delightful book. Stuart Woods describes Stone Barrington as a hugely rich man who spends money freely and who beds pretty women all the time, often, as in this book, as soon as he meets her. In this book, while vacationing in the Florida Keys, he buys still another house and a yacht. He meets a beautiful woman who just sold her business for $1.5 billion, and he beds her. She gave an employee, a computer expert, ten percent of this money as stipulated in their contract, but he wanted more money and is doing all he can to ruin her business and have her killed.
I enjoy award-winner Stuart Woods’ books. He was born in 1938. He wrote over seventy books. I read them all and enjoyed every one of them. His first book in 1981 won a prize. It was the first in his seven book Will Lee series. His first book in his 46 Stone Barrington series was published in 1991. His first in the Holly Barker series was in 1998. The first in his Ed Eagle series was in 1992. The first in the Rick Barron series was in 2004. He also wrote ten standalone novels since 1987.

I checked this book out of my local public library. I am a big fan of this author Stuart Woods. I enjoy every one of his books. I have read about 60% of his Novels. Stuart Woods is an excellent writer. His stories always take me away on an adventure. They are really fast reading enjoyable Novels. When I am in the mood for a good Novel, Stuart Woods Novels are a sure thing.

I find the character Stone Barrington and his friends really entertaining. This is a good story that moves quickly from location to location. The way the writer moves the story along to the different locations so effortlessly makes it an enjoyable read.

The author Stuart Woods brings out the best in the Stone Barrington character when he writes lines like this.

"Ah, gentlemen, welcome," Stone said. "There is a handgun on the floor over there. Please unload it, give it to the uglier of these two gentlemen, and then escort them both to the street."

Great Novel......

One thing ,when it comes to Robert Parker and Stone Barrington , it is a non-stop joy ride. And this may be one of Parker's best.
Stone is off to Key West with his best 'buds' Dino and Vivian Bacchetti. Vino is the NYC Police Commissioner and Viv is an ex-cop.They are going to participate in a corporate golf tournament and enjoy a few days of leisure. In Key West they meet Meg Harmon, who was the head of a software company that she recently had sold for 1.5 billion! However , she now has a mortal enemy in Gino Bellini along with his wife, Veronica. Gino , who was forced out of the corporation with a very generous buyout is not a happy man. He is plotting to get revenge by assassinating Meg.
And so the adventure begins ....from Florida to NYC to Maine...Stone tries to protect Meg and stay one step ahead of Gino. The pace is frantic , dangerous and hilarious too.
Enjoy Robert Parker's and Stone Barrington in " Shoot First " !! !! (less)

Some people here are asking if Woods wrote this book because it just seems so different than all the other Stone Barrington books. I have to wonder if these people actually read any of the other books in this series because they're all the same. OK, So I've read five books in this series and they're all the same so I'm assuming that the other 30 or 40 are too.

There always seems to be criminals in every book but the bad guys are always inept, making the crime solving quite simplistic. In the meantime Barrington is busy flying to and from one of his many houses or banging the next hot nympho he meets. They never stay, probably because they know he's an empty suit. Even the conversations he has with others in the book are void of any meaning.

The Stone Barrington books are the literary equivalent of one of those Candy Crush mobile games. Nothing more than a time waster for when your done watching the paint dry and the grass grow.

Like some of the other reviewers - I can’t believe that Stuart Woods actually wrote this book. The books he co-wrote with Parnell Hall were so much better - can’t compare to this book. Talk about formula writing. Patterson does the same sort of thing - with ghost writers - but they are more entertaining. Woods needs to find a better ghost. This book was boring.

A very simplistic story line - I could have written the book myself. Almost could anticipate each move of good guys and bad guys.
So bad I only read half of the book. I usually force myself to read the whole book even it is bad/ poor but I could not justify wasting more time to finish it. Extremely poor writing ,, I think this was a high school project from/for a journalism class
One of the worst books I have read.