Shoot First
Stuart Woods and his character, perhaps an alter ego? Stone Barrington. The character has uncharacteristic sex, a fascinating life, and lots of excitement.
He’s cool under fire and knows the perfect end-run for almost any flanking maneuver.
Old girlfriend, years ago, got me hooked own the author, and I’ve been anticipating each new release since, as a writer myself, I recognize quality. A while back, I came up with the perfect analogy, “Hardy Boys for Adults.” Kind of a simplistic answer to the question, but at some point in misbegotten youth, I escaped into Hardy Boys books. Series. Nancy Drew, as well. Do love us some strong women.
Haven’t bothered to pursue that line of thought, about either series, and the only change, near as I can tell, I doubt that Stuart Woods’ novels would be an animated Saturday Morning Cartoon.
Because the local library — a preferred resource for me — didn’t have the e–book version available, I tried the audio book, as it was ready on the first release date.
For the last several years, I’ve maintained that these are excellent library books.
While I’ve enjoyed the vocal work of the single reader, he’s voicing various characters far different from the way I would — just not in a style I would — doesn’t reflect what I hear when I read the texts. Then, too, there’s the problem with time, the audio (unabridged) version is rated at — like — 8 hours in runtime. I can read one of those books faster than that, and I’ve become a slow reader.
Audio book didn’t make it, snapped up a digital copy soon enough. Would rather read, than listen to, this material. One of the items I maintain, though, that the Stuart Woods prose, the story-telling, the arc, the way the words are jammed together, the novelist’s eye for description, all of that works well. Limited amount of words? Maximum amount of data. Maybe I should learn from this.
Listening to Shakespeare studies the other afternoon, there was information about the 3rd or 4th act twist. “Sure didn’t see that one coming,” being a common comment. Thought about that comment. Building and then turning the suspense on its side, then, up one more notch.
So, if one is an avid reader of this type of material, it’s a well-crafted novel with a few turns that makes it more interesting.
Shoot First
Shoot First (A Stone Barrington Novel)
