Have you ever finished reading a book and wished you had back the six or eight hours it took you to slog your way through it? Kisser, by Stuart Woods, was that kind of book.
This is the 17th novel in the Stone Barrington series, and frankly, I was disappointed and embarrassed for poor Stone. While none of the books could ever be accused of being overly cerebral, the earlier volumes were at least reasonably entertaining and inoffensive. I recall reading a few years ago that were actually quite fun, although I usually got tired of hearing what Stone Barrington was wearing.
This book had none of the charm or interest I recall from Woods' earlier works. It went from one scene of gratuitous sex to another with a sloppy plot, poor character development and insipid dialogue. As far as being the "exciting new page turner..." claimed on the dust jacket - not hardly.
I picked it it up because my husband had checked it out from the library and had it along on our recent trip to Salt Lake City. I'd mainly brought along serious stuff and was in the mood for a diversion. I thought this book could provide some fun escape. I should not have bothered. At two or three points I almost put it down because I didn't like the language or the ridiculous sex scenes. However, I kept at it thinking that it would get better. It didn't. From the first page to the last, I never found myself able to engage with the story and there were several spots where it was just plain weak writing. I felt like Woods let his audience down and did a disservice to an established character.
I was determined I was not going to make any New Years resolutions this year. I think I'm going to change my mind. It's going to be a long time before I will be willing to pick up any novel by Stuart Woods (if ever), but more importantly if I ever pick up another book by ANYONE that appears this lame in the first 50 pages I will put it down and never look back. This book was a complete waste of time.
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