A surviving terrorist from Severe Clear, Woods's preceding Stone Barrington thriller, sets off bombs in London and New York, and it's up to the New York attorney and Holly Barker, his CIA lover, to stop her. While the previous book was tightly constructed, this title meanders at times. Even though dozens of innocents are killed, the principals hesitate only briefly before their thoughts turn to food, sex, and career advancement. Tony Roberts, at his best in this series' lighter moments, follows Woods's lead in shifting the tone too abruptly from serious to trivial. -VERDICT Except for a climactic shoot-out, there is little here to enthrall any but the most devoted Barrington fan. [The Putnam hc was a New York Times best seller.-Ed.]-Michael -Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Picking up where Severe Clear (2012) left off, Stone Barrington and company are trying to keep the news that a nuclear bomb was almost detonated in Los Angeles from the public. As President Will Lee decides what he's going to tell the nation, another threat arises. Jasmine Shazaz, sister of the bomber who almost took out the metropolis, is targeting U.S. dignitaries in London, and it isn't long before she decides to mount a strike on U.S. soil. Holly Barker, an assistant director at the CIA, is tasked with stopping Jasmine, and she enlists Stone to help her out. As the two close in on Jasmine in New York, Jasmine decides to make them her next victims. Woods can be hit-or-miss, but as far as action goes, this latest entry is undoubtedly a hit. It starts off strong and never lets up, building to an exciting showdown. These days, Stone and Holly almost always share the spotlight, and the two make an appealing team. Woods' fans won't want to miss this action-packed thriller. HIGH-DEMAND BACK STORY: With 35 consective hardcovers on the New York Times bestseller list, Woods is ramping up the appeal of his Stone and Holly duo in the latest magnetic installment in this popular series, and a new national tour and topnotch publicity will follow.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2010 Booklist

The sister whose brothers died only weeks earlier in their attempt to plant an atomic bomb in Stone Barrington's new Los Angeles hotel (Severe Clear, 2012) resolves to follow in their footsteps. Jasmine Shazaz doesn't have access to any nuclear devices, but she has serious potential as a vengeful terrorist. When her latest contact tells her, "Welcome to New York.Do you need to sleep?" she replies, "I need to blow up something." That exchange tells you all you need to know about the geopolitical nuances behind Jasmine's vendetta against MI6, the CIA, President Will Lee and his wife, Katharine, director of the CIA, Assistant Director Holly Barker, and especially Holly's frequent lover, Stone Barrington, now a CIA consultant. Starting in London, Jasmine blazes an explosive trail to the New World, making a mockery of the devices and protocols designed to protect England and America from the likes of her. Back in the U.S.A., Katharine Lee's CIA types, long familiar with the Whack-a-Mole approach to containment, agonize over where the unknown terrorist will emerge next, and Holly schemes to keep a lid on Kelli Keane, the Vanity Fair writer who knows a lot more than the American public needs to know about the attempted bombing in LA. All hands take their jobs so seriously that there's hardly any time for on-screen sex, and Stone makes not a single new conquest. But wish-fulfillment fantasies still blossom--Holly gets another promotion; Katharine Lee, her eye on a new plum, plans to resign the CIA directorship; and Stone's best friend, New York cop Dino Bacchetti, proposes marriage--as Jasmine sets her sights on Stone's building in Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighborhood. Agatha Christie's reputation as a puzzle-master survived the long series of spy thrillers that culminated in Passenger to Frankfurt, and Woods will no doubt survive his anti-terrorist confections, along with all his regulars, at least till the inevitable next round.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In Woods's previous installment of his Stone Barrigton series, America's secret weapon, Manhattan lawyer Barrington, stopped a terrorist attempt to kill the president in a Los Angeles hotel bombing. Now, the sister of two of the dead terrorists, Jasmine Shazaz, is on a London-to-New York revenge tour, blowing up British and American bastions of diplomacy with shocking ease. Tony Roberts, a frequent narrator of the Barrington chronicles, turns in a charismatic performance in this audio edition. His glib, fast-paced delivery makes even Woods's 1960s-style playful sex banter sound contemporary. And his naturalistic narrative skills help to turn this somewhat predictable yarn into thrilling and very listenable entertainment. A Putnam hardcover. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.