First edition as new

Probably 2.5 stars. Bill Eggers pawns off another loser case on Stone Barrington, suing a Mafia boss for trying to collect a debt from Herbie Fisher. Mix in a psycho ex-boyfriend trying to kill Stone, and off we go for another adventure. ( )

What can I say, this is one entertaining series. My first Stuart Woods novel, and I'm hooked to Tony Roberts reading the audio version. ( )

Stone embarks on his most dangerous adventure yet when a chance encounter with the wrong man sends him straight into the heart of New York's Mafia underworld. It starts as just another late night at Elaine's and ends with Stone forced to deal, yet again, the the hapless Herbie Fisher, the bane of his existence. Stone finds that what should have been a throwaway case instead leads right to a powerful mob boss with a notoriously bad temper and long reach. Fortunately for Stone, the twists of the case also take a more congenial turn - sending a little romance his way, and giving him another opportunity to try to rescue a beautiful woman in distress. ( )

Herbie Fisher, a new character, decides to sue a Mafia biggie who has had him roughed up over a past-due gambling debt. Stone Barrington gets the case since he is "of counsel" to big time law firm Woodman and Weld. In this instance, "of counsel" means getting the cases the firm wants keep at arm's length. This puts Stone is up against Carmine Dattila. Everyone presumes that Herbie Fisher will soon be dead because he sued the mob boss. As soon as Stone becomes more than minimally involved, odds are taken that he will wind up dead as well. And Herbie, poor Herbie. Every 50 or so pages, another attempt in made on Herbie's life.

Good book, entertaining read. Maybe I've just read too many Stone Barrington stories, but this one made Stone into a superman, and everything was a little too coincidental and convenient. For this, I give the book 4 stars, not the usual 5. ( )