Stuart Woods’ Smolder (A Stone Barrington Novel Book 65)
For several years, as an iconic place holder, and as much to satisfy my own whimsy, I used a picture of a shelf full of Hardy Boys books, taken at a collectible bookshop, down on Broadway. Amusing, and yet oddly useful, as much as a visual placeholder as an image.
Stuart Woods, the author, suddenly passed away in 2022. He must’ve had a few outlines and novels in the pipeline, so to speak, and finally, the last few have been turned over to his collaborators.
In a similar vein, I started reading the Spenser novels (like the poet), and that turned into a trip to Boston, just to see. But Robert Parker’s Spenser books I’ve read, almost all of them — maybe all of them — have been digital library loans, a far better experience, and I can’t see collecting a mass of the hardbacks; however, I do have, if not all all, maybe most of the Stone Barrington novels, largely hardback first edition. Most of those have covers in ‘good’ to ‘extra-fine’ condition.
Part of it is obsession. Part of it is the sheer enjoyment of escapist literature. Part of it is the publisher’s art of producing a well-bound book.
Stuart Woods’ Smolder (A Stone Barrington Novel Book 65)
A timeless recollection from reading these novels? We had flight from Seattle to San Antonio, one stop, no plane change, but I didn’t investigate closely, and found out the single stop was Memphis? Nashville? The Stone Barrington/Stuart Woods book lasted the entire ride. Started it leaving Seattle, finished it before landing.
The writer who’s picked up the quill? Did a good job. Better than before, or the memory of the original author is fading. Same structure, same tight prose, seemed like a little more tightly plotted than the original but by the halfway mark? Ripping right along.
I suppose, as bad habits go, a collection of books isn’t too bad, right?
They are well-constructed thrillers. Perhaps I’m invested, but the originals were so evocatively wonderful because there was an absolute absence of style. Clear, relatively sparse prose. Action. Characters drawn with combination of minimalism and maximum data.
I’ve enjoyed them, and this one is just a a good, if not a little more polished than before.
Stuart Woods’ Smolder
(A Stone Barrington Novel Book 65)
