Helpful Score: 2
This second thriller in the series Woods inaugurated with Orchid Beach starts with a bang a literal one. While series heroine Holly Barker, a former military police commander turned police chief of smalltown Orchid Beach, Fla., waits at the local courthouse to marry lawyer Jackson Oxenhandler, her fianc gets himself killed in a shoot-out at Orchid Beach's bank. Once past this shocker of an opening, the thrills quickly deflate. Holly stifles a few sobs, gets back into uniform and sets off to track down the gunmen, a gang of highly organized robbers who planned to heist $4 million in payroll cash. It soon becomes clear that they aren't ordinary robbers, however, appearing to have some connection to a weird little town in a neighboring county, where the average resident is white, male and a gun nut. In the course of his meandering tale, Woods deepens his portraits of Holly and her father, Ham, a retired army noncom, and dog lovers should enjoy the antics of Daisy, the Doberman diva who is Holly's constant companion. Stone Barrington, the cop-turned-lawyer from such Woods bestsellers as L.A. Dead, makes a couple of important cameo appearances. But pages of lifeless dialogue and too much dead air in an already thin narrative eventually stifle most of the book's energy. Woods knows how law enforcement agencies from local cop shops to the Secret Service work, and his action scenes are clean and sharp.
Helpful Score: 1
The Holly Barker novels are really well written and entertaining with enough suspense to keep you interested.
Helpful Score: 1
Love Stuart Woods and love Holly Barker so it was great to read. I think Harry needs more work. Doesn't ring quite true.
Great thriller! I couldn't put it down!
Stuart Wood...always a fun read!
Holly Barker, police chief of Orchid Beach, FL, meets Stone Barrington. Her fiance is killed minutes before the wedding. Holly and her father, Ham, hunt the killers and get involved in more than a crew of bank robbers.
Stuart Woods up to par.
Stuart Woods up to par.
T Riffic! Love anything Stuart Woods.
Love Stuart Woods; love the "Orchid" series.
First Holly Barker book I read, and I love it! Stuart Woods writes page turners!
Very fast paced book. Keeps the suspense throughout the whole book.
After reading, and not particularly caring for Orchad Beach, another of the Orchid series, I chose not to read the book because I don't care for the type of book it is.
i love to read woods
I love Stuart Woods books and this is another good one.
Holly and Ham are sucked into a whirlpool of crazed crimology. In the end, even the FBI could do little to help him. They wouldn't have it anyother way.
Holly Barker retired from the US Army is now Chief of Police in Orchid Beach. Her wedding plans are interrupted when a brutal robbery kills an innocent bystander. Holly vows to find the culprits and put them behind bars.
FANTASTIC
The 2nd Holly Barker book. Also very enjoyable & I certainly didn't have any trouble getting through it! However, it felt a little contrived in a few places and that is something that always nags at me a bit. I don't like my authors to take too many "leaps of faith" to make a story-line develop the way he wants it to.
Plesae don't let me dissuade you, though - I liked it & am moving on to the third book of this series!
Plesae don't let me dissuade you, though - I liked it & am moving on to the third book of this series!
Mediocre read not up to his usual
Holly Barker novel. Good and very fast reading. Woods is getting clever: Stone Barrington has a small part as well as Will Lee. The plot was to kill Lee but we all know that will never happen.
Another Holly Barker books. Great series. Good mystery without all the gore and anxiety like James Patterson!
Suspenseful thriller. At a wedding, the groom is shot and killed in the midst of a brutal robbery. The bride, Holly Barker, happens to be a cop and she vows to find the killer(s). She discovers evidence that the killers are tied to a weird and zealous clan. Enter Ham, Holly's father, who has the expertise to track down these men. What he finds boggles the mind and could put him and Holly in grave danger. Even the FBI have trouble capturing this clan which brings the suspense up a notch.
Holly Barker is an intriging character
GREAT STORY GREAT READ HOLLY MEETS STONE!
Orchid Blues and Blood Orchid; the first two and the best two of the Orchid series.
Woods departs from Stone Barrington but nevertheless there is intrigue and thrills in Holly Barker. Very good book
When Holly's wedding festivities are shattered by a brutal robbery, she vows to find the culprits. With nothing to go on but the inexplicable killing of an innocent bystander, Holly discoverws evidence that leads her into the midst of a clan whose members are as mysterious as they are zealous. Holly's father, Ham a retired army master sergeant, is her ticket into their strange world. What he finds there boggles the mind and sucks them all--Holly, Ham, and Daisy--into a whirlpool of crazed criminality from which even the FBI can't save them........
Enjoyable read, I liked this one.
when holly's wedding festivities are shattered by a brutal robbery,she vows to find the culprits.with nothing to go on but the killing of an innocent bystander,holly discovers evidence that leads her into the midst of a clan whose members ar3e as mysterious as they are zealous.
"Orchid blues," indeed: Holly's wedding day is ruined by a nearby bank robbery that leaves no clues but one unfortunate corpse, and when she investigates she finds that the robbery has political trimmings
Actually I read the book so long ago and really enjoyed it that I ordered it again for a family member.
Excellent story line and love the characters!
This was the 2nd book of the Holly Barker series. I am really enjoying this series and also the part Holly's doberman, Daisy, has in the book. This was a fast-paced plot that kept me interested until the end. I will definitely keep reading this series and I look forward to the the next installment.
good read
