Cut and Thrust

Bestseller Woods’s politically themed 30th Stone Barrington novel (after Carnal Curiosity) takes the debonair New York attorney to Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention. Stone plays host at the Arrington, his posh Beverly Hills resort, to his current lover, Ann Keaton, who’s the deputy campaign manager for presidential candidate Katharine “Kate” Lee. When Kate, the wife of current President Will Lee, asks Stone to act as her intermediary at the convention, she has no idea just how big a role he will play. Happily, Stone proves as adept at political deal making as he is at defusing physical threats and character assassinations. Lending support are such pals as Ed Eagle, a member of New Mexico’s delegation, who’s still hunted by his deadly ex-wife, Barbara, and Stone’s old NYPD partner, Dino Bachetti, now chief of detectives. This installment goes down as smoothly as a glass of Knob Creek. Author tour. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit. (July)