The Short Forever was published in 2002 and is a Stone Barrington novel. If you’re not familiar with Stone’s background, the summer before his senior year in law school he spent riding around the city in police cars; part of a law school program to give students a look at real life. He liked the work, so joined the NYPD. He spent 14 years there, finishing up as a homicide detective. After being injured and forced to retire, he took the bar exam and went to work for Woodman and Weld doing cases they don’t want to handle themselves.
The Short Forever begins with Stone being hired by a mysterious John Bartholomew sent over by one the managing partner of Woodman & Weld. The job is to entice Mr. Bartholomew’s niece back to New York and away from one Lance Cabot, a nefarious character with whom she is now living with in London. Stone starts the wheels turning to find out just WHO Mr. Bartholomew is as well as if there is anything on either his niece or the man she’s living with in the short time he has before his flight to London leaves.
Upon arriving in London, Stone quickly finds his quarry and begins his investigations. He soon turns up that Erica Burroughs has no uncles and when he spots John Burroughs going into the American Embassy in London, begins to doubt the truth of any of the story told to him by the man.
The story takes several twists and turns on the main plot and then also has a couple of subplots that in no way detract from the main telling. Stone has a penchant for the understatement that at times seems almost “roll your eyes” droll.
Stone has a best friend, Dino Bachetti who is still on the NYPD and who often helps Stone out in his cases. Despite the fact that this one is taking place in London England, Dino shows up in the nick of time to extract Stone from a murder charge and get his investigation back on track.
The Short Forever by Stuart Woods
Published by GP Putnam’s Sons 2002
ISBN: 0-399-14868-X
