In this 38th installment of Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington series, readers are treated to travel around the United States, Europe and Russia. Stone and his latest lady friend, Gala Wilde, a Hollywood screenwriter with an ex-husband who is stalking her, try to keep their relationship on an even keel. Her ex-husband is Boris Tirov, a Hollywood producer with ties to the Russian mob who treads upon anyone who gets in his way. He can't go back to Russia because an outstanding warrant would be waiting for him, having been accused of killing one of his young leading ladies.

In the meantime, Stone flies his private jet to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Gala has a house. Later, they jet to other countries in his attempt to keep her safe from Boris. This proves to be a more complicated feat than Stone had anticipated; it seems that Boris turns up no matter where they go.

"Woods’ thrillers continue to be above average in their entertaining characters and ability to capture an audience, and I’m already anticipating his next bestseller."

As a movie producer, Boris has access to ingénues and "cuts a deal with Russian president Victor Petrov: in exchange for Petrov not extraditing him [from] the U.S. on [the] long-standing murder charge, Boris will ensure that Petrov has an intimate meeting with a beautiful American actress who's due to arrive in Moscow for a movie premiere." Stone is treated to a threesome with Gala and the head of a serious U.S. job. Woods does not dwell on this, but does mention it a few times throughout the narrative.

Boris decides it is time to kill Stone and buys a gun with which he practices to be three feet away. The thug who sells him the weapon suggests that he shoot through the car window. He makes up a story about seeing a therapist who insists he apologize face-to-face to all the people he has wronged. When Stone and Gala decline his invitation to lunch, Boris is furious and sends a Tiffany's box as a "gift" to Stone, who is too smart and suspicious to open it without an expert on hand. Lucky for him and Gala that he brought one of his minions to scope out the box.

Another deadly episode is set off by a tremendous rattlesnake set loose in Stone's bedroom. Not to be outdone, he calls his friend to unleash the same terror in Boris’s trailer. Despite getting bitten and shot before that, Boris remains alive.

In an interview, Stuart Woods said: "I have a fevered imagination and a rich fantasy life, which helps with the sex scenes. I've never really had any trouble coming up with ideas; they just grow, like weeding. The weeding is the hard part." Woods’ thrillers continue to be above average in their entertaining characters and ability to capture an audience, and I’m already anticipating his next bestseller.

Audiobook available, read by Tony Roberts