Santa Fe Dead (Ed Eagle Novel)

Once upon a time, Stuart Woods could put together a readable, if lightweight story, just something adequate to pass the time with. Maybe a flght or a lazy day on the beach. Not any more. His last few Stone Barrington novels have been unbearable for me and now Woods destroys his Ed Eagle character.

I don't like divulging a lot of the plot of any book because someone else might find "Santa Fe Dead" enjoyable and I don't want to ruin for them.

To make a long story short, Ed Eagle is supposedly the top trial attorney in New Mexico. The story opens as a continuation of the last Eagle book, where his wife took off with some of his money and ultimately tried to kill him. Now she is on trial for the murder of two strangers she mistook for Eagle and his girlfriend. Barbara Eagle escapes from the courthouse in a scene that, like so many others in the book, is simply unbelievable under any circumstances. The trial narrative, what little there is, is also unbelievable as is the jury acquitting her. There is, in fact, nothing believable in the entire book. Not a single bit of the plot; not a single character.

The book is filled with gratuitous sex scenes that serve no purpose except perhaps to titillate any teenage boys who might pick the book up - which wouldn't be a wise idea because, as in the Stone Barrington series, all the characters are never more than a few paragraphs away from consuming still more alcohol.

Eagle is just so well connected. For example, though he lives in New Mexico, he has a concealed carry permit for California. The LA chief of police is his pal, which helps Woods avoid the burden of actually creating a story. Every time Eagle needs something, he just calls his pal, the chief or some other soul. Eagle never does anything - and Woods never has to actually resort to inventiveness.

Eagle's girlfriend isn't even well developed enough to be a stereotype, much less a character. But she does manage to kill a couple of people with absolutely no troublesome involvement with the law.

Eagle flies about in his airplane, which helps avoid all kinds of plot complications and little things like toting guns from place to place.

As soon as Eagle's ex-wife goes on the lam, a lawyer gets charges for escaping lifted. And the former Mrs. Eagle meets a newly minted billionaire. Within days, she marries him, but continues on her murderous ways. Yeah, truly believable.

In the meantime, Woods introduces what at first appears to be an unrelated sub-plot when a movie producer phones Eagle from Rome with a story that his wife and stepson may have been kidnapped. The guy doesn't call the police, he calls Eagle, a total stranger. Eagle finds that the wife and stepson have been murdered and is now the lawyer for Don Wells, a husband and father who doesn't appear to grieve over his loss. Perhaps it is because his dead wife is a centi-millionaire by inheritance and he stands to get it all?

Woods is a decent writer and he turns out good, if often hacknyed, dialog. But the editing is awful in this book. In the first few pages, there were errors from the merely sloppy ("lead" for "led") to the ridiculous: one of the innumerable drinks consumed starts off as bourbon, becomes scotch and than transformed into bourbon again. Later in the book, you can see where Woods or his supposed editor became so sloppy that an even that occurred two pages earlier is denied, like it never happened.

There is no real story here. Every thing is patched together by the merest coincidence instead of being the product of actual plotting and story development. There is no suspense and the characters are totally unbelievable.

As I said, Woods does write well, so if you are facing a long flight or are trapped in an airport waiting for a delayed flight or simply want to kiss a few hours goodbye forever, it is possible that you might enjoy "Santa Fe Dead". I read every page myself, more in awe of how low Woods had sunk, rather than the quality of the story.

Jerry

"Santa Fe Dead" could easily have been named "The Boring Return of the Evil B-word Barbara." That might have been more honest and would have better reflected the disappointingly weak quality of Stuart Wood's latest effort. It would have also worked naming it "Santa Fe STUPID."

It is time once again to hang out with Ed Eagle, Santa Fe lawyer and all around older stud. Someday, we may finally find out that Ed Eagle is actually Stone Barrington's father as they seem to share the same concepts about the law, making money, bedding beautiful women, etc. When Ed Eagle isn't romping in bed with the gorgeous actress Susannah Wilde (yes, he romps by his own admission and does it very well with no unsatisfied customers or golden arches), or wheeling and dealing, is testifying in court about how his ex-wife Barbara tried to take his money, kill Ed's private investigators, have Ed killed, and generally cause mayhem in both Mexico and the U. S. Despite his testimony, as well as the fact that she flees the courthouse while the jury is deliberating her verdict, the jury in San Diego, California finds her not guilty.

Barbara begins to set her sights on the next husband to be whose biggest asset is his money while Ed Eagle begins to try to move on with his life. Part of his stated attempt to move on is to warn the next husband to be that Barbara is evil. That doesn't help create separation, closure, or whatever the shrinks call it this week and before long Barbara is mad as a hatter and going after him everyway possible. That is fine with Ed because he isn't through with her either.

Featuring stereotypical characters, gratuitous sex scenes inserted for no plot reason whatsoever, and plenty of action as well as references to money and designer goods, this is an incredible weak read. Barbara is the complete evil B word, Ed is an unflappable stud, and the bad guys are amazingly stupid. Finding good help is hard to do and in this case one really wonders how the bad guys lived long enough to be the stupid help in this novel. Apparently, they never were forced to get out of wet paper bags at any time of their lives and therefore have managed to live long enough to get here where they can fly planes and do all sorts of things but can't kill worth anything and leave clues behind that a sixth grader wouldn't. The result is a book typical of Wood's write it fast and sell it philosophy of the last few years and on that many of his fans will mindlessly continue to snap up and enjoy.

Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2008

When we last saw Santa Fe Lawyer Ed Eagle (Short Straw, 2006) he was finally rid of his insane wife, Barbara. Now, this book picks up a year later. Ed has just been a witness in the trial against his ex and is awaiting the verdict. Barbara, fearing she will be found guilty, slips out a window and escapes (as strangely unplausible that is, but I'll go with it). This of course disturbs Ed, as she has tried to kill him before.

So begins a book of backstabbing and cat & mouse antics. Barbara remarries and uncannily her new husband dies (natural causes). Meanwhile, Ed takes a strange case where his clients family has been murdered. The man calls him on the phone to tell him about a ransom. Not the police, Ed.

Everything leads back to L.A. where we once again get the backdrop of Centurion Studios. With some interesting twists and turns right to the end, this isn't Woods' best effort but it is a non-stop thrill ride from the beginning.

Lately, at least with the last half dozen Stuart Woods efforts, things seem to be uneven, going from terrific to mediocre and back again. "Santa Fe Dead" pace feels rushed. The plot is strong but unfolds too fast with the author simply "telling" instead of the more entertaining "showing." Dialogue is so flat it is predictable and weak as it telegraphs the unfolding plot with cliches and an over abundance over triteness and overwriting in places.

I wouldn't usually recommend that an author write more in order to make a better story but I feel that the pace would have worked much better if things unfolded slowly and that not all the red herrings end up being exactly what they are presented as. there are few if any real surprises to keep a reader guessing. I truly feel that this manuscript went to the editor too soon and didn't receive the work it needed to be a great Stuart Woods. When Woods was writing one very good well thought out effort every year to year and a half they were much better, but now it seems that there are two or three every ten to twelve months and the speed shows and the results are very disappointing. That such a good plot, and interesting resurrected characters are used in the way they are in "Santa Fe Dead" is a shame. My suggestion is for Stuart Woods to take more time and explore more fully realized plots, settings, characters and action. For those introduced to Woods with such a great book as "Chiefs" this is even more of a disappointment for long time fans.

DISappointing to say the least. I struggled with whether or not to write a review and whether to be kind. Stuart Woods has written over 30 books, so there should be no excuse for writing a novel this boring. It's full of incongruities and lacks a cohesive story. One character buys a bottle of bourbon, but then she drinks Scotch in the same scene. Much of the information used to build up a scene or character is wasted. Woods has Eagle and Barbara fly to California, sets up a scene...but when Eagle answers the phone for the umpteenth time, he's miraculously back in Santa Fe. Huh? The characters are very thinly drawn. I liked Eagle in previous books, but could have cared less about what he did or didn't do in Santa Fe Dead. A lot of the abundance of dialog takes place over the phone in this book. It seems as though Woods phoned in the writing too. Maybe there was pressure to get this book to market, but between the writing and the editing, this seems like not much more than a rough draft. It almost feels as if the reader were cheated out of $25 and a good story.

[[VIDEOID:1ad976ad034ca9961a4cc7801fe234aa]] WHAT is the Best Use of the Book, "Santa Fe Dead"? I'll give you a useful idea and some alternative suggestions in this video. I do not re-hash the plot or give away the story line in this review. Instead, I tell you who would enjoy this book (or not). The video is a quick and easy way to see if you would enjoy Santa Fe Dead.

Maybe this would make a good beach book. You don't have to pay much attention as there is no character development, no mystery to figure out and no thrills to mention. The characters aren't particularly likable, not even Ed Eagle who I think is supposed to be the hero. I haven't read any other Stuart Woods books, as the other reviewers have, and based on this one I won't be reading any more. This book could have been so much more with the picturesque settings, quirkier characters and a more involved author.

The story starts out with Ed Eagle a famous Santa Fe trial lawyer in a hotel suite at the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles watching the end of his ex-wife Barbara Eagle's double murder trial on TV. Sharing Ed's room is his current girl friend and Hollywood star Susannah Wilde. For the curious potential reader, let's go back in time to see how Ed and Barbara had originally met. Ed met the future Ms. Eagle when she was serving a prison sentence in New York for armed robbery and as an accessory to the killing of her first husband during that robbery. When she was released on parole she moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she renewed her acquaintance with Mr. Eagle, and they got married a year later. From there Mrs. Eagle displayed what has since, indeed been proven to be a proclivity for crime and murder. One night during the Eagle's marriage Barbara drugged Ed with Ambien in his wine, and when Ed woke up, missing along with Barbara was more than a million dollars of his money, and an attempt to also take more than five million more from his brokerage accounts, something Ed was able to prevent. Ed hired two private investigators who found Barbara in Mexico, where she shot one of the investigators and pushed the other one overboard from a ferry in the Sea of Cortez. Mrs. Eagle came back to the United States to a hotel that Ed and a companion were staying in. She then entered the wrong room and mistakenly killed another couple. This is what Ms. Eagle was currently on trial for. While awaiting the jury's verdict Ms. Eagle escapes from the courthouse and while she's on the lam the jury amazingly comes back with an innocent verdict.

After Barbara's lawyer negotiates a dismissal of the "escape" charges, the murder and mayhem that involve Barbara, Ed's girlfriend Susannah, Ed's new client, Hollywood producer Don Wells, who is accused of killing-or having hired someone to kill, his billionaire wife and autistic son, along with hit men killing almost every other non-police character is beyond comprehension. But, in the midst of this Barbara finds time to seduce and marry, under an assumed name, a recently widowed billionaire. The billionaire, within a couple of weeks of meeting "BARBARA EAGLE/ELEANOR WRIGHT/KEELER" buys a famous winery and a multi-million dollar apartment for his new bride. If this isn't "OVER-THE-TOP" enough for you, let me share some "FLASH-BACK-INFO" regarding Barbara and her late sister Julia. Julia tried to set up her husband for a triple murder and killed a psychiatrist's brother. Not to be left out of the family tradition an older sister murdered three people, one of them her youngest sister

I trust a potential reader would not disagree with this being considered "OVER-THE-TOP", but just in case you're not convinced I should also mention that Barbara and her deceased sister Julia were being sought by the Mexican police on a charge of having cut off the "MANHOOD" of a man they said was trying to rape them. Believe it or not, I have not given away the ending. Too many things happen too matter-of-factly, and the author forces the pieces of the literary puzzle together regardless of the effect of being logical or not.

It grabbed me on page one and I couldn't put it down. The author has a super way of recapping the events of the story as as the plot continued.
I couldn't help but try to cast which star would be best if I were directing it as a movie.

I LOVE HIS BOOKS