Stone Barrington is at it again. This time he's attending a board meeting in Key West, Florida for Arthur Steel, CEO of the Steel Insurance Group. He has invited his BFF Dino Bacchetti, NYC Police Commissioner and his ex-cop wife, Vivian to join him. His secretary Joan has found a four bedroom rental that comes with a golf cart and a convertible Mercedes with 28 miles on the speedometer. The house is elegant, beautifully furnished, and is fully stocked with food and drinks. It has an attached building for the master suite and caretaker. Such a lovely property and Stone ends of buying it. So much nicer than staying in a hotel when he gets to visit the Keys!

Invited to play in a golf tournament, Stone arrives at the golf club and joins the foursome of Arthur Steel, his son, Arthur Jr., and a curvy blonde beauty, Meg Harmon. Stone knows she has recently sold her Silicon Valley software company for $1.5 billion. She is very attractive and looks fit. She hits a long, straight ball and as they are returning to their carts, a shot is fired and a man in the next foursome is hit. An ambulance is called and he is taken to the hospital. When the police arrive to question Meg, she tells them she thinks it could have been her ex-partner, Gino Bellini, who owned 10% of the business with Meg and she gave him $150 million when it was sold. He also was given $1 million for the six years her worked with Meg. However, Gino did not think it was enough and has a vendetta against Meg. A decision is made by Stone and Dino to return to NYC where Meg would be safe. Was the shooter after Meg, the Steels, or him?

Stuart Woods has long been one of my favorite authors. He has written over 75 novels filled with colorful characters and plenty of action. SHOOT FIRST is a page turner with non-stop action that begins in Key West, heads to the Big Apple, over to Isleboro in Maine, and across the pond to Barrington's idyllic English country retreat. Paid assassins along with Russian thugs are determined to catch and kill Meg Harmon and steal the plans of her newest project, a self-driving car, which is in the final stages of testing. There are many close calls for Stone and Meg as they manage to stay a few steps ahead of their pursuers, but in the end with Stone and Dino's expertise they manage to catch the guilty parties. This story is chock full of danger, sex, travel, sex, real estate deals, villains galore, and did I mention sex? Five stars for SHOOT FIRST! I eagerly await the next adventure from Stuart Woods.

Book Summary

Stone Barrington is enjoying a round of golf in Key West when the game is violently interrupted--and it seems as if the target of the disturbance may have been one of his playing companions, the brilliant businesswoman behind a software startup on the cutting edge of technology. Soon, it becomes clear that this incident is only the first thrust in a deadly scheme to push the beautiful young woman out of the way and put her company's valuable secrets up for grabs.

From the sun-soaked Florida shores to an idyllic English country retreat, Stone embarks on a quest to protect his lovely new companion while searching for the mastermind behind the plot against her. But he may find that her enemy is far more resourceful--and dangerous--than he could have anticipated.