Swimming to Catalina

Stone Barrington heads to Hollywood in this fourth series entry when his former lover Arrington vanishes from the home she shares with a movie star who wants no police involvement. The Hollywood setting gives the book more atmospheric variety than the New York-based entries, and Publishers Weekly called it Woods' fastest-paced and most riveting thriller at the time of publication. If you are a Stone Barrington reader, this delivers exactly what the series promises: fast movement, glamour, layered deception, and a satisfying resolution. The content notes are clear and consistent with the series: Stone has sexual encounters with multiple women, there is murder and violence, and the moral framework is loose by faith-friendly standards. This is not clean fiction. For adult thriller readers who enjoy the series, it is a strong entry; for everyone else, the content is a genuine barrier.