Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Page Six of SixSwimming to Catalina by Stuart Woods
HarperCollins, May 1998.Hardcover, 311 pages.
ISBN: 0060183691.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Ex-cop investigator/attorney Stone Barrington is
still at loose ends after his love Arrington ("we must
never marry," she says) left him to marry the
devastatingly handsome movie star Vance Calder,
who just happens to be a friend of Stone's.
So he is somewhat astounded when he receives a
call from Vance telling him that Arrington has
disappeared and begging Stone for his help. Stone
obligingly makes the trip to Hollywood, where he
is wined, dined and even groomed to be a leading man.
When Stone starts investigating the disappearance of
his former love, suddenly his old friend can't wait to put
him on the first plane back to New York. Of course, Stone
doesn't put up with that for a moment and delves more
deeply into to Vance's background. What he turns up is
a hotbed of intrigue, violence and Mob money. Stone
is forced on the run, making frequent stops to eat at
fabulous restaurants, romance beautiful women and
deliver hilarious observations on the strange world that is
Hollywood.
With his usual wit and panache, Woods creates a fast-paced, suspenseful story that will have readers, at turns, breathless, thoughtful and laughing out loud. Stone lives a life that even James Bond might envy, and his adventures are a must-read for anyone who likes style, wit and nonstop suspense.
--Claire E. White
Uncertainty by Michael Larsen
Fawcett Columbine, Feb., 1998.Paperback, 261 pages.
ISBN: 0449912361.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Martin Molberg, a Danish tabloid
journalist trying to recover from
the unsolved murder of his girlfriend Monique,
takes a trip to Los Angeles to attempt to get an
exclusive interview with Jack Nicholson,
or at least overhear enough at the hotel where the
star is staying to forge
one. On the plane trip back home to Copenhagen,
a very attractive stewardess makes a pass at him, and
he starts seeing her once he gets back home -- but still
he can't forget his murdered lover. Nor can
he get over the photograph of his lover and a
strange man caught in a sexual act. As Molberg begins
to search for the truth about his girlfriend's possible
double identity and her partner in the photograph, he
uncovers a sinister plot that revolves around
the manipulation of digital images.
Michael Larsen's tale is full of sex and intrigue. Larsen is effective at describing the despair, lust and zeal of Molberg's character, whose mental state is detoriating from intoxicants and drugs. An erotic and engaging techno-thriller.
Return to the July 1998 issue of The IWJ.
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