February 10, 2012 / Leslie

Review – Audiobook: D.C. Dead by Stuart Woods

D.C. Dead (Stone Barrington #22)
by Stuart Woods
Read by: Tony Roberts

Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publish Date: December 27, 2011
Format: Audio CD | 7 hours and 44 minutes
Rating: 2½ of 5

Stone Barrington is summoned to Washington, D.C., by President Will Lee. The president has a special operation that calls for Stone’s unique skill set, and it’s a mission that will reunite him with his former partner in crime and in bed, Holly Barker.

Joining Stone on his trip to DC is his friend Dino, a New York homicide detective. They are needed in Washington to investigate the murder/suicide of a White House staffer accused of killing his wife. The president doesn’t believe the dead man was guilty of murder and wants Stone to find the truth and the real killer.

This was an escapist and fun story, but not very realistic and at times completely improbable. If you’re looking for a well-developed mystery plot, you won’t find it here. Stone and Dino spend time running around DC investigating a crime the FBI doesn’t seem to be able to solve, and having a bit too much casual sex along the way for my tastes. Oh, I don’t have a problem with sex in a story but this was no-romance, just-met-you, let’s-do-it sex. And then there was a sub-plot involving Holly that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

At just under eight hours, this, the 22nd Stone Barrington novel, is a fast-paced quick read, or in my case, quick-listen. The narration was excellent, especially Tony Roberts interpretation of Dino. What a fun voice and there is no mistaking that Dino is from New York.

Die-hard Stone Barrington fans will probably like this book; however I don’t think this is a good introduction to the author who has written many excellent novels. For anyone unfamiliar with Stuart Woods I’d suggest one of my favorite titles, written back in the 80s, Under the Lake, or one of the earlier books in the Stone Barrington series.
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Source: Review copy.