Iron Orchid

Holly Barker Series, Book 5

By: Stuart Woods

Narrated by: Carrington Macduffie

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Former small-town-police-chief-turned-CIA-Special-Agent Holly Barker tracks a dangerously clever killer in this explosive thriller from number one New York Times best-selling author Stuart Woods.

When his plane exploded off the coast of Maine, authorities thought they had seen the last of Teddy Fay - the ex-CIA tech wizard who kills his political targets for sport. But now they’ve found irrefutable evidence that he is alive and up to his old tricks.

Now working for the CIA, ex-chief-of-police Holly Barker joins the elite task force tracking Fay in New York City. As he begins to pick off America’s enemies one by one, Holly unexpectedly finds herself face-to-face with the killer, kick-starting a high-speed chase through the canyons of midtown Manhattan, the Metropolitan Opera house, Central Park, and the United Nations Plaza, all to prevent another assassination before Fay disappears again - maybe this time for good.

©2005 Stuart Woods (P)2005 Penguin Audio, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Books on Tape

Critic reviews

“Mr. Woods, like his characters, has an appealing way of making things nice and clear.” (The New York Times)

"Woods certainly knows how to keep the pages turning.” (Booklist)

“A compelling and entertaining cat and mouse caper.” (Midwest Book Review)

A fast moving plot with many complexities

Mr Woods has concocted an interesting story with more twists and turns than might be expected. Light reading and highly improbable, but quite entertaining. My only problem was with the reader’s pronunciation of some of the character’s names. I have listened to all of the available Stone Barrington series of books which introduces many of the characters that appearing this series, but some of the character names are pronounced differently from the way that they are pronounced in this series. I would have thought that the editors would have caught this point before the reading was released.
I am likely being too picky, but having read the Barrington series as well as the Ed Eagle series this was a distraction. Don’t let this stop you from reading the book, you will enjoy it none the less.

A complete waste!

On balance, one of the worst attempts at fiction I've seen in a long time. The plot line and charater development are non-existent. Sub-plots are completely unrealistic. It is formulaic while providing a most unsatisfactory ending. A highly anticipated root beer float without the ice cream.

Didn't Finish It.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The story is typical, and unbelievable. I liked Orchid Beach, but this one didn't do it for me.

Have you listened to any of Carrington Macduffie’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrator was good. The story... not so much.

Unbelievably Boring

If I wanted to go through CIA/military or other training, I would have. The tedium of this book is such that it feels like a stenographer just followed someone around during a training and turned it into a book. Blech.