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Two Dollar Bill (2005)

Two Dollar Bill (2005)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Rating
3.84 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
045121319X (ISBN13: 9780451213198)
Language
English
Publisher
signet

About book Two Dollar Bill (2005)

Decent enough Barrington, twisty suspense / entertainment!Maybe the most obvious thing to say, especially to those like us that have read every book in Woods' growing bibliography, including all the Stone Barrington series, is that this one is as predictably good as most of them. While sometimes our playboy sleuth's antics are just too good to be true, his friendly band of regulars - Dino, Elaine, Lance Cabot (CIA), ex- Arrington, and a new love interest, NY ADA Tiffany Baldwin - help conspire to make "$2 Bill" a fun read. Even the villain, Texas con artist Billy Bob Barnstormer, who spreads around two-dollar bills (hence the title) like they were pennies, has so many aliases and concurrent schemes going on that there's rarely a dull moment. Bill's attempt to cast suspicion on Stone by slaying a hooker while spending a night in Stone's house didn't really generate much suspense, but the multiple identity Billy Bob keeps law enforcement and Stone hopping to even figure out who's who half the time. An appearance by Stone's old lover Arrington Calder did heat up things near novel's end, in a couple of ways (!), and frankly the ending was both a little surprising and satisfying. Many feel Woods' books have descended into straight formula work, though we feel the Holly Barker stories (she gets a few brief mentions herein) have a fresh feel to them. With the Barrington set running a dozen or so tales, it's tough to get too creative - but then we pretty much know what has to happen anyway! Enjoy!

It's another Stone Barrington novel. So I knew it would be fun to read and he didn't disappoint me. Here is a story where he gets the CIA, FBI and the NYPD involved (did I mention more sex). So as you might guess Stone winds up putting the bad guy away. You knew it was going to happen. Here are a few of his more memorable lines."I'm afraid that if I breathe the air I might leave here as a tight-assed, right-wing, fundamentalist, anti-civil libertarian with a propensity for singing gospel music. And I don't think it's treatable.""I want both of you to listen to me carefully," Stone said, keeping his voice low and calm. "Either we are going to have a moratorium on this subject from this moment on, or the two of you can dine together without my company."

Do You like book Two Dollar Bill (2005)?

A fun and thrilling ride until halfway through when the body count undermines the lightness. This is the 11th of the series of 22 featuring Stone Barrington, a loveable scoundrel and a former cop turned NYC lawyer who never has much trouble finding trouble or romance. This time he cruises along romancing the new District Attorney and cavorting nightly at fancy Elaine�s until he takes on a new rich Texan client who proves to be more than just an outrageous con-man. The dangerous cascade that emerges threatens a lot of Stone�s dear ones and calls for a lot of help from his special friends in the police and CIA and some over the top crisis scenarios. Sort of a James Bond meets "The Perils of Pauline".
—Michael

This was a typical Stone Barrington book. The action sequence in the last 100 pages was a little over the top for action, cop inter-agency slips, a too smart adversary with such well executed plans that the novel became almost like a Cussler superhero action sequence.Tiffany as an Attorney general turning on Stone was not handled well. She was used as a 2d cardboard character to decorate the scenery and page fill up to the halfway point.Stone as an action hero that ends up as the sole focal point of the final action sequence while he pilots a helicopter under duress to save his son, also leads to a character stretch of the super-smooth, womanizing attorney who likes fine food and is more familiar with touches of the upscale lifestyle than with hard cold realities of a buffed action hero in a stressful performance.Bringing in Stone's son, particularly into the action sequence, just doesn't fit the Stone character that dances through legal hurdles and jumps jurisdictional loopholes while handling women in stunning soft porn fashion and doesn't have any pretense of a desire to adopt or maintain a blissful domestic relationship.With the negatives taken into account, the first 75% of this is still a light fun Stone read. It fits the standard pulp production size of 300 pages and can be easily read in 4 to 6 hours, and you may feel entertained, while not being preached at or ask to become a cult follower of unusual lead characters.
—Joe White

I stopped reading Stone Barrington after the ridiculous and unsexy L. A. Dead, then gave him another try a year later with Dirty Work, which was more of the same. I stayed away almost two years this time. This book was still ridiculous, but with a wink, the author nearly comes right out and says he knows his plots are unbelievable. I've given up trying to remember Stone's history—romantic and otherwise—maybe that helps. (I'm pretty sure I've missed several books along the way.) This reader pronounces the name of Stone's former partner differently than the reader I've listened to before; that was slightly distracting.
—Karen

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