This one hits you right in the chest and floors you. ( )

I enjoy this series and audio book is great. Recommend for a quick mystery read. ( )

Was surprised that just like in the first book, a character close to Holly, her fiancée, dies without giving any info about the killer. Did not like that Holly did not play a major role in this story though she did work with Harry Crisp, the FBI agent again. Her father, Ham, took over all the adventures in this one by getting involved with a militia group of extremists. Scary to realize there are groups like them in existence. Disappointing the way various units of government do not try very hard to work together. ( )

This is typical Stuart Woods. Fast action with humorous dialogue...easy read. The second Holly Barker novel, Stone Barrington is introduced but has a small part. Again, Holly cooperates with the FBI and they pursue the bad guy; her dad "Ham" goes underground to infiltrate a domestic terrorist gang. The ending is particularly stimulating. The book is reminiscent of one of Woods' best novels--"Chief." ( )

This, the second book of five featuring Holly Barker, a retired Army MP who is now police chief in the small town of Orchid Beach, Florida. It's not a spoiler to say that within the first few pages of the book, her fiance is brutally killed during a bank robbery. There are two suspects, both recent hires at the bank. There seems to be some evidence that they belong to a group of domestic terrorists. Holly calls an FBI friend and they decide to send in Holly's father, another ex military man, to be recruited. As he becomes more involved in the group it begins to look like they have an assassination planned.

This is a typical Stuart Woods novel. The action is fast paced, it's got some humorous dialogue, and it's a pretty easy read. Woods' favorite character, Stone Barrington, makes a cameo appearance which serves to indicate we'll be seeing more of him. Holly takes a bit of a backseat to her father in this story but we still get plenty of Daisy, her amazing Doberman. I read the entire series years ago when they were first published and really enjoyed them. When I needed to read a book with a character named Holly, I chose this one. I would say this book is probably not the best of the five, but if you are a fan of Stuart Woods and don't mind his usual mediocre, one-dimensional writing, it's still got some entertainment value.
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The second in the Holly Barker series is an excellent mystery. ( )

It is Holly's wedding day and Jackson makes a last minute stop (dressed in his white tux) at the bank. Unfortunately, as he is waiting for a free teller, the bank is robbed. When one of the robbers bumps into Jackson and tells him to get out of the way, Jackson tells the robber that he wasn't the one that had bumped into anyone. Jackson's smart mouth gets him shot.

The FBI is involved since it is a bank robbery and they soon come to believe that a radical group is involved in the robbery. Meanwhile, Holly and Ham have stumbled onto a gun and knife sale, sponsored by the same group. The group soon invites Ham to join their group. He is the FBI's mole and what he finds out is very interesting. ( )

Diverting, though not challenging. ( )

You love Holly so much you hate to see anything bad happen to her. ( )

The second volume in the Holy Barker series.
This one finds her father, Ham, going undercover in an extremist group. Her FBI friend, Harry, is getting into territory wars with other agencies and her life has been rocked off its foundation. ( )

Holly Barker is the cities Police Chief and is accompanied by her best friend Daisy, her Doberman Pincher. The book starts with Holly waking up on the morning of her wedding day. However, her day takes a sharp downturn when her fiancé is murdered during a bank robbery that turned violent. Holly leads the official investigation with the aid of her friend in the FBI. The investigation leads her to a town that is not shown on any maps. The inhabitants are white supremacists who recruit Holly's dad Ham into joining their organization. Ham pretends to join this group and is quickly given a key role within it. His infiltration of the group enables the law enforcment agencies involved to learn that Ham is selected to assassinate a VIP, but no one knows whom the intended victim is. Unless they can learn the identity of the target, someone will die. ( )