Lies & Serious Money (A Stone Barrington Novel)

It's a typical Stone Barrington book . . . not to be taken too seriously. It's fun, interesting, takes place in many different cities around the world. Love to have to look up the meanings of some of the words, like "penurious". Also like the repartee between the characters. Enjoyable time spent in the company of books in this series, including this one.

This story is more about a new character, a young man who wins a big lottery, and less about Stone Barrington. It is therefore a little different and also this book this a huge opening for the next book.

Profoundly disappointed in this book. The plot is so thinly disguised you can see through it. Barrington is just a bit player in this one, and there is so much emphasis on wealth and privilege that it gets cloying. The book ends abruptly, making no sense at all. Reading this book is like eating stale popcorn. Stuart Woods is just phoning it in.

Yet another excellent book from Stuart Woods. Glad that Holly and Stone are together and the hinted of connection to Lance as VP and Holly as head of Central Intelligence is a look at future books. Love it. Woods is my favourite author.

I wonder if the author gets compensation for product placement as there was endless descriptions of brand name purchases, to much emphasis on big spending with a thin plot. I usually enjoy this series for listening in the car on long drives but this book was rather tiresome.

I have read and loved every Stone Barrington book. However, this book was boring, simplistically worded and it appeared that Mr. Woods simply needed to get a book out. I hope the next one will have a great deal more substance.

Worse novel I've ever read. Avoid losing your time, unless you 're wondering what to do with your money the day you join the billionaire club and decide to use the characters shopping list for luxury homes, luxury cars; luxury garments, luxury private jets.and that's all !
My only regret : spending money to buy this.

In the beginning I used to enjoy his novels because his characters were down to earth and relatable,, now his characters are extremely pompous and not at all realistic. Unfortunately it's boring to an average person. Mr woods has lost touch with reality and while I think he's probably a great guy he writes like a snob.

Definitely one of the poorest Stone Barrington books so far. The money thing is going a little over the top. The ending left you hanging. I fell for it by pre ordering the next book coming January 3rd.

The last "issue" in Woods' "Stone Barrington Quarterly" was centered on longtime supporting player Teddy Fay. I'm beginning to see his Stone Barrington series as more of a quarterly periodical you can't subscribe to--maybe they should offer a subscription to it. Anyway, Woods introduces an all-new character here--Anglo-American private schoolmaster Laurence B. Hayward. The middle initial stands for "Beresford", like the old TV series "The Millionaire" with its benefactor John Beresford Tipton and his agent Michael Anthony. I suspect Woods has seen that series. Anyway, Hayward doesn't get his newly-acquired riches from a secret benefactor like Tipton via Anthony--he scores a winning Powerball ticket. Much of the book is centered on how Hayward spends his loot--new wardrobe, new cars, new digs. Stone Barrington is again a supporting player as Hayward's lawyer. And Hayward finds new love in the person of Theresa Crane, Hayward's "personal shopper" at Ralph Lauren. Unfortunately, Theresa brings her ne'er-do-well kid brother Harold, aka "Butch", as well as Butch's former cellmate in the Joint, a con man named Curly after his resemblance to the Third Stooge. As Stone warns Hayward, wealth brings a lot of parasites around in the form of paparazzi and ripoff artists.

The last "issue" in Woods' "Stone Barrington Quarterly" was centered on longtime supporting player Teddy Fay. I'm beginning to see his Stone Barrington series as more of a quarterly periodical you can't subscribe to--maybe they should offer a subscription to it. Anyway, Woods introduces an all-new character here--Anglo-American private schoolmaster Laurence B. Hayward. The middle initial stands for "Beresford", like the old TV series "The Millionaire" with its benefactor John Beresford Tipton and his agent Michael Anthony. I suspect Woods has seen that series. Anyway, Hayward doesn't get his newly-acquired riches from a secret benefactor like Tipton via Anthony--he scores a winning Powerball ticket. Much of the book is centered on how Hayward spends his loot--new wardrobe, new cars, new digs. Stone Barrington is again a supporting player as Hayward's lawyer. And Hayward finds new love in the person of Theresa Crane, Hayward's "personal shopper" at Ralph Lauren. Unfortunately, Theresa brings her ne'er-do-well kid brother Harold, aka "Butch", as well as Butch's former cellmate in the Joint, a con man named Curly after his resemblance to the Third Stooge. As Stone warns Hayward, wealth brings a lot of parasites around in the form of paparazzi and ripoff artists.

Have read other Stuart Woods novels and found them somewhat enjoyable. I found Sex, Lies & Serious Money utterly boring and extremely snobbish. I generally try to finish a book that I’m reading but had a difficult time getting through it.