Son of Stone

Stone Barrington, Book 21

By: Stuart Woods

Narrated by: Tony Roberts

Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A new addition to the New York Times best-selling Stone Barrington series.

After an eventful trip to Bel-Air and a reunion with his sophisticated (and very wealthy) former love, Arrington Calder, Stone Barrington is back in New York, and he's looking to stay closer to home and cash in on his partnership at Woodman & Weld. But Arrington has other plans for Stone... including introducing him to the child he fathered many years ago.

More mayhem? Listen to all of our Stone Barrington mysteries.

©2011 Stuart Woods (P)2011 Penguin

Critic reviews

“Woods’ vast and loyal audience will be thrilled with a second-generation Barrington charmer.” (Booklist)

“Well written with a surprising twist.” (Midwest Book Review)

Disappointed

I love Stuart Woods books and will continue to read/listen to his work. This was not his best work. The ending was a little to predictable and his son's character was not what I expected. Tony Roberts did a good job in narrating the book.

As the Stomach Turns

This book is misnamed--it should be "As the Stomach Turns"--as it was 95% soap opera and 5% mystery. Another title could be: "Lives of the Rich and Famous in New York". I especially enjoyed the part where the Virginia sheriff asked for a clarification of "uptown" and "downtown" in NYC; stated by one of the characters as if the other 99.9% of the world should know the difference. This book lives barely above DNF (did not finish) only because I continued on wondering if ever there would be a mystery. Yes, it happened and was solved in the last 45 minutes of the audio book. Stuart Woods can do much better than this.

Worst one yet!

Would you try another book from Stuart Woods and/or Tony Roberts?

Yes. I have enjoyed all the Stone Barrington novels, except this one

Would you ever listen to anything by Stuart Woods again?

Yes

Any additional comments?

The story was flat - Stone's son was very unrealistic. There was very little response from Stone when Arrington was killed. The story was very disappointing.

Nothing gripping in this book.

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

Nothing, it will go down as the worst of Stuart Woods

What could Stuart Woods have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Have his son murder his mother and become Stones nemesis unknown to Stone. The Kid finding out she willed all to Stone and now he becomes the kids new target. The reader knows what the kid was up to but Stone is blinded by not expecting anything like this from his own kid. The first time Stone can not see the plot before the reader. Dino and Stone get in a argument because Dino starts his own investigation unknown to Stone. The kid steals all of Stones money and his mothers paintings and crashes his plane and fakes his death. Title

What aspect of Tony Roberts’s performance would you have changed?

He is good. But I hate it when a reader includes

What character would you cut from Son of Stone?

The jilted boyfriend of the mother other than to deflect Stone from the real killer

Any additional comments?

This was his worst book, no surprises and no plot, more like a journal.

Not much of mystery, even less of a thriller

Story is relatively slow to get going and as the headline says, not much of a mystery or a thriller. The writing style of this author doesn't lend itself to being read aloud. Sentences are too short and there are way to many Stone said, Arrington said, etc.

What were you thinking

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

I have loved alll of Stuart Woods books until this one. It droned on, lacked excited and was overloaded with fashionable

What was most disappointing about Stuart Woods’s story?

Horrible story line.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

NONE

Not his best work....

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Though this book wasn't for us, I think someone who just wants entertainment with no real plot would like it. It does not measure up to Stuart Woods previous books and we should know, we have listened to all of them. It lacks his usual wit and humor. It also falls short in the main plot. The book was too predictable and just down right boring.

Would you ever listen to anything by Stuart Woods again?

Yes

Which character – as performed by Tony Roberts – was your favorite?

We have always enjoyed Stone and Deano.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Son of Stone?

I would send it back to the writer and have him add a lot more story plot to it.

Very, very poor

This is by far the worst Stuart Woods book to date. Same old characters in the same old places would be ok if there was a plot. But there is no plot, instead there is just a description of the son who is a completely improbable character.
The narration is only acceptable, Tony Roberts representation of female and italian characters is truly awful.

I have enjoyed the light reading of previous Stuart Woods books, but this one was a complete waste of money.

Frustrating

I have enjoyed most of all Stuart Woods books before. This one was way too implausible and annoying to enjoy. The son's character presented himself as a 50 year old man in all situations. It was like Woods ran out of imagination and simply created a mini-Stone Barrington. The plot wasn't there and basically "wrapped" up this book as a segue into his next book. Save your money, buy another book.

The narration was the only highlight to this book.

This is the worst of Stuart Woods

What disappointed you about Son of Stone?

I have never heard so many 3 word sentences.

What was most disappointing about Stuart Woods’s story?

No mystery, or plot-only a string of Stone Barrington and his son getting richer in a string of totally improbable events.