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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