I used to be a big fan of Stuart Woods after reading CHIEFS, GRASS ROOTS, PALINDROME, and a few of his other early novels back in the early 1990s. Since then, I have read a handful of his other novels and recently I found several of his books in storage that have been waiting for me to read for over seven years. Among them were Woods' Ed Eagle series that I decided might be a good series to read. At first glance, I thought they would be about a Native American practicing law in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the vein of Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee novels. I started out reading SANTA FE RULES and although I did find it somewhat enjoyable, I was disappointed to find out that Eagle was not Native American and the plot really didn't take advantage of the New Mexico locale nor did it involve any Native American culture. I went on to read the next two in the series, SHORT STRAW and SANTA FE DEAD and was less and less satisfied with the storyline and the writing. So I continued with SANTA FE EDGE, the last novel in the series, to see how it would end but I was even more disappointed! This one continues with the story of Ed's ex-wife, Barbara, a black widow killer who has been trying to kill Ed for the last two books. At the start of the book, Barbara is in prison in Mexico but manages to escape and of course she puts out a hit on Ed. Ed also takes on a pro golfer as a client who is charged with his wife's murder. And also thrown into the story is a plot-line from another series, the Holly Barker series, that is evidently a followup to events that I was clueless about since I have not read the Holly Barker stories. And then, the ending of the novel is a cliffhanger with no resolution to Barbara's story. Will she ever get her just desserts? I guess we'll never know unless she pops up in another series by Woods.
Okay, this whole series ended up a big disappointment for me. I think Woods has really gone the wrong direction since his early novels. I couldn't really relate to the characters in the books since I don't have a lot of money and don't fly my own private aircraft as many of his characters do. His writing was also full of coincidences, close calls, and near misses. His dialog was somewhat juvenile and his style could have been out of a pulp novel from the 30s. I think I'm pretty much done with Woods at this point and will be leaving the other novels I have of his unread.
Woods' ability to sustain story lines from one book to the next is amazing, as the the continuing story of Ed Eagle. Woods also makes Santa Fe another character in the series, which I appreciate as a former resident of the Southwest. If you haven't read the Ed Eagle books, start them now!
I have liked Woods' Ed Eagle character from the beginning. This book is as enjoyable as the first three, but he really leaves you hanging more than usual. I can hardly wait for the next one! KJW
