A Delicate Touch
A Delicate Touch – Stuart Woods
Just under the wire, I suspect. Book was released New Year’s Eve, 2018. There’s an intriguing cast of characters, roster of interesting suspects, all people Stuart Woods and his fictional Stone Barrington have built up over the years.
I complain that it is formulaic, trite, or insignificant, but I’m in line on the day of a new release to fetch up a well-made hardback copy.
Respect the craft.
The book, as usual, starts with a kick. Twist and kick. Never a dull moment, and what I still admire the most is the quality of the un-stylized prose.
Instead of mythical drug cartels and Russian mobsters as bad guys, this is old school: the Mafia. Takes A Delicate Touch?
A Delicate Touch
Remember, it is fiction, and unless the poles have reversed, yeah, still fiction.
“The best thing the newspaper business has taught me is how to plant my ass in a chair every day and write two thousand words, whether I feel like it or not.” Page 202.
A writer’s point of view, for sure, and how that author respectably cranks out novel after novel.
Points for realism and an accurate, if fictional, look at our modern world.
Without fail, each new book from Stuart Woods impresses me, some artless, seamless prose that just goes ripping along. The biggest let down? I had it for a little more than 24 hours before I was done with it. Read it cover to cover.
The pacing seemed a little more laconic and little less headlong-rush, and that made it an even more enjoyable read.
If you like this kind of stuff, and I’ll readily admit, I do. I consider these books a guilty pleasure.
As a gentle reminder? Don’t piss off the nerds.