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) 

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.

Wandering plot

There may be a plot. But the story wanders all over and left me wondering why I was still listening. I kept waiting for it to come together. But it is more like a series of plot wannabees strung together. The performance was good. The characters flat.

I enjoyed the story, as usual.

I enjoyed this as usual. Tony Roberts does such a good job narrating. This series of books are not complicated books...just good easy listening. I always look forward to the next chapter in Stone Barrington's life and those associated with him. There were no surprises in this, the most recent book in the series, which is what I want. I usually listen to my audio books either in my car or in my sewing room so it is nice not to have too complicated of a plot.

SNORE

I have listened to most of the Stone Barrington books. They do not require much concentration and the plots usually have some interesting elements. They work well when I am weeding or driving. But, this book just doesn't do anything. It is swarmy and pedantic, made worse by the tone of the narrator who exaggerates his speech to sound snobby and elitist. The conversations between characters are too contrived and unrealistic and smack of a "Leave It To Beaver" or "Father Knows Best" triteness. Stuart Woods can do better.

The Death of Stone Barrington

I'm not sure what to make of this Stone Barringtion book. While everyone must grow up, the joy of fiction is characters can be suspended in time. In this foray is all about wonderful rich people and there wonderful rich life. Stone makes lots of money as partner in firm, he gets close to his kid, his kid is smart, he finally marries Arrington, he looks nice in riding pants. There is no twist of government intrigue, no beautiful smart femme fatale, no car chase, no flash of Stone's hard edge ... in a nutshell no mystery or drama. All the things that have made Stone a favorite are missing. I kept waiting for the changed birth certificate to cause a problem. For the villian to actually be connected in some way to the premise of the kid's movie. For Herbie, Joan or Dino to get capped by mistake. Nada. What did happen was predictable. Tony Roberts did a good job, but this was my first real disappointment with the series.

Very Enjoyable Read

I enjoyed the book very much. I did find that the son seemed too good to be true, but he was the ideal of what every parent dreams of and he was smart enough to pull it off. Tony Roberts did a very good job of narration. If you like Stone B, you should like this book.

So disappointed

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I've read the first few and then listened to the rest during my daily commutes. This is the first one I keep talking back to, as in "are you kidding me" and not in a good way. The story line is unbelievable as well as predictable, everything just falls right into place. Woods cannot write in young adult voices, no matter how refined/educated/naive they are intended to be. The story line has gotten elitist and boring. I hope Woods is just setting the stage for something better with these characters, they're not very compelling in this work.

Would you ever listen to anything by Stuart Woods again?

Yes

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

Stone Barrington. His female voices and Dino's are just adequate

Could you see Son of Stone being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not one I would watch

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.

Captivating Story

This was one of the better Stone Barrington stories, surprises along the way with a strong finish. If you like Stuart Woods you will love this one.

Chip Off The Old Block

AS usual, Tony Roberts is a fantastic narrator. It just doesn't get any better. He uses different accents for each character, but he keeps up with them all throughout the book.

The story was well written. Stone Barrington must be Mr. Woods' favorite character because he writes about him with an exciting spirit. I wonder if his fingers (typing) have trouble keeping up with his inspirations?

I cannot give away the story line, but has some really heart-wrenching sad parts as well as joyous happy parts. I will tell you it looks like we have another Barrington character to look forward to.