Doing Hard Time: A Stone Barrington Novel

If Teddy Fay is a new name for you, you probably shouldn't read this book yet. I like to read books that have continuing characters and Stuart Woods is a guilty pleasure. His characters are shall we say very sexually active although the author has toned down the explicit descriptions over time. What is unusual about these series is that the characters weave back and forth between the series. Teddy Fay appears in Stone Barrington and Holly Barker books long before book one of his own series. If you don't like spoilers, you need to ignore the series names and read the books in the order of their publication. The books do contain a list of the author's earlier books with footnotes indicating the lead characters, and if you read the books starting at the bottom of the list, you'll avoid spoilers. Unfortunately, the Will Lee series is the oldest and like many authors his first books have some growing pains.

While this story circled Stone Barrington. He certainly was not the main focus of the story line. That focus went to a man named Teddy Fay, a former CIA agent who has managed to slip under the radar through clever manipulation of personal records through his mastery of computers. He has taken on the job of being the protective guardian of Stone's son Peter in order to save the young man from being murdered by a Russian Mafia figure Majorov. The Russian Mafia is ruthless, but they are not in the same ballpark as Teddy Fay, Whose alias is Billy Barnett. Most of the action takes place in Los Angeles at Centurion movie lot where Peter is producing a movie. The book. Is easy reading. The plot is easy to follow and it is a book that you can enjoy without blatant sex scenes and enormous use of foul language, which is kind of refreshing. Anyhow I liked the book and finished it during one snowy day. I can't say it was my most favorite of Stuart Woods books but it did move along swiftly. Doing Hard Time really didn't seem all that hard to do.

The thing to remember when reading a Stuart Woods novel is to give lots him of wiggle room. Everything is subject to subject to change.

I really enjoy the Stone Barrington books by Stuart Woods. I sometimes think I will get tired of the same characters. But this is my 27th book in the series and still enjoy reading them. The author brings in enough new characters with the continuing previous characters that it remains . Also, his story lines are not so similar that one would get tired of the series. Great escapism and easy read.

Haven't read it yet. But I know it will be terrific. All Stuart Woods books are. When i could go to library I read every book of his within 24 hours. Now that I have to buy books I can no longer enjoy most of the authors I really enjoy. They are too expensive. I wonder if publishers& authors realize this. They have made a lot of readers settle for less known authors. You should realize most elderly people,living on social security, cannot afford to spend too much on books. There must be more than just me who can no longer drive to libraries, hold books due to physical disabilities & read almost constantly. I read at least 3 books a week. How can people like me afford $10 or more for Stuart Woods, James Patterson, Harlan Coven,Richard north Patterson, John Grisham,Ken Follett, etc. Wish you all, publishers, authors, &Amazon could find a way to help us avid readers who MUST rely on e-books to make our days more enjoyable

Not the best one of his books. Doesn't quite manage to explode with excitement. His treatment of the female characters is so outdated!

This is the best Stuart Woods novel I've read! Doing Hard Time features Billy Burnett, a former CIA operative on the run. He crosses paths with Peter Barrington, and gets caught up in a pursuit of various Russian mobsters out to harm Stone Barrington through his son.Burnett is a fascinating character, whose spy craft is excellent. The plot is a page turner, with twists and turns in every chapter. Stone is a minor character in this novel, which I think is for the best. I get bored with Stone's typical perfectly genteel lifestyle where a lot seems to happen around him, without him being central to the action.Bring back Billy Burnett!

Fast, easy, fun. Love the Teddy Fay development in this novel and look forward to how the character will develop in the future. The Stone Barrington novels are entertaining, nothing heavy...and that is exactly why I enjoyed this book. For a few hours, I read and escape and laugh along the way. The characters could easily become a fun television drama, light intrigue. Some of the more recent Woods novels were lackluster, but this one showed signs that perhaps Mr. Woods is back on his game. Pumping out novels more quickly is probably challenging, and I've noted that Woods books are now coming at faster pace.

Utter rubbish. I have read so many books by this author but books released in the past couple of years have been absolute rubbish. The storylines (when they exist) are so weak, everyone has so much money and everything at their fingertips that it just becomes incredibly boring. Read Chiefs and Palindrome, but skip this one.

I am a huge fan of Stuart, in all his series, but this time the book is weak, maybe the publishers were pressing and he had no inspiration. Stone is just a shadow and Teddy Fay, the evil Teddy Fay turns into a good samaritan. No, I didn't enjoy it.

This was a very well written story. The plot was a bit messy in places but overall I would recommend the book. Tony Lincoln

Usual tongue in cheek Stone Barrington yarn. Perfect for holiday reading and not easy to put down!

Good read as always from Stuart Woods