Hot Pursuit

At the start of Edgar-winner Woods's glossy 33rd Stone Barrington novel (after Insatiable Appetites), the bourbon-sipping lawyer and aviator takes possession of a brand-new private jet on a chilly winter's day at an airfield in Wichita, Kans. The Citation M2 comes complete with an attractive female copilot, Pat Frank, with whom widower Stone strikes up a friendship on the flight to New York. When Pat's stalker ex-boyfriend, Kevin Keyes, makes a threatening appearance, Stone and Pat promptly hightail it to London. Meanwhile, dastardly terrorists from Dahai, a fictitious sultanate sandwiched between Yemen and Oman, are making trouble on the international scene. To Woods's credit, many of his characters in high positions are women, including his friend Kate Lee, the American president. Never mind that the parallel plot lines of Kevin's revenge and the Arab terrorist plot never really mesh. Series fans will enjoy the vicarious luxury ride as usual. Author tour. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit. (Apr.)