What do You think about Short Straw (2007)?
This book was a reminder as to why I even started reading Woods' books in the first place. A fun read that wasn't over-complicated with extra plot points, fast paced and easily found at yard sales for under a $1 a book.I had read the 3rd Ed Eagle book before I found this one but I never read any of the Stone novels in order so whatever, wasn't about to start now. I'll be honest and say that I barely can recall a single thing that happened in the 3rd book so if book 3 had spoilers for books 1 and/or 2, I have no memory of it.This book was Classic Woods', back when he would write a book that made sense, one that he attempted to take his time with and wasn't pushing them out for money.Ed meets a woman and they don't fall in bed minutes after meeting! They don't even sleep together after knowing each other a whole day! In fact, she stays at his house, in a different room! Poor Ed, he must just not have the same charismatic charm that Stone does. The overall story was wrapped up by the end of the book. I don't mean that it tied up so neatly that another book was impossible but rather, you can read this book as a standalone and not be kept up at night with questions. Ed has money, much like Stone but Woods doesn't shove it in your face every chapter. Stuart Woods has started filling his books with outrageous displays of wasting money, large, ridiculous sums of cash that boggle the mind and stretch the plot so thin that you can't even enjoy the story but this book was written previous to that bad habit. I'm not saying that Ed doesn't have cash to burn but it is nothing like the newer Barrington books.I will complain that the fictional "town" in Ga that Woods's created for Chiefs that so many of his characters are from.... it can't be a small town if half the world of Stone, Ed and Will is fictitious from this town which must be a sprawling metropolis at this point. And enough with the Georgia drinkers loving Knob Creek. Been there, read that.. move on!
—Ashley
Barbara fucks Ed Eagle royally. Ed Eagle awakes drugged to find his wife Barbara has vanished and emptied his bank accounts and brokerage accounts and fled to Mexico City. Ed dispatches Cupie to find her and sign pages for a divorce decree, but Cupie is shot instead. Ed dispatches Vittoriot to back Cupie up, and Vittorio is seduced by Barbara and thrown in the Gulf of California during a blow job. Ed meets Susannah and hooks up with his next starlet, and directs the hunt for Barbara, ending at the Tijuana crossing and her arrest for murder.
—Will
Woods is a prolific writer with a handful of prime characters living within a fictional era (1930s to present day). These characters are incestuous – figuratively, that is – intermingling with one another in his various works. This book features Ed Eagle, the Santa Fe attorney protagonist in Santa Fe Rules, an earlier work. Yet still, a few more characters return from other Woods novels, fueling interest further for prior fans. In this paperback, Eagle awakens late on his 50th birthday to discover his wife had drugged him the night before, cleaned out his business, personal, and brokerage accounts to the tune of $4+ mil, chartered a jet, and flew to Mexico. His efforts to recover are interrupted by a judge assigning him work that the public defender’s office is too busy to perform. A couple of detectives become involved, and the chase is on. His wife Barbara proves to be a worthy adversary. In earlier years, Woods developed plots and characters more thoroughly. Nevertheless, I found this story sufficiently compelling to continue reading until 3 a.m. in order to reach the conclusion of the book. But “finished” with woods doesn’t mean “the end.” I expect to see yet more of Ed Eagle
—John Mcconahey
