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Short Straw

By: Stuart Woods
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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Publisher's summary

Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle fell in love with the seductive Barbara Kennerly, and married her, against his better judgment.

He should have listened to his intuition. Ed awakens on the morning after his 40th birthday to find that Barbara has vanished, and Ed's money from his business, his bank, and his brokerage accounts has been wired to the Cayman Islands. Barbara, it appears, drugged his birthday wine, neatly cleaned him out, and then fled to Mexico, from where she can't be extradited. And as if that weren't bad enough, when Ed arrives at work that morning, he discovers he's been assigned a new client who looks like nothing but trouble: Joe Big Bear, a part-time mechanic charged with a triple homicide.

Ed hires two slightly shady investigators to search for his wife. But when they track Barbara down in Puerto Vallarta, they discover that Joe Big Bear may also be embroiled in Barbara's plot. Ed soon finds himself caught in a scheme much more far reaching and deadly than anyone could have expected.

©2006 Stuart Woods (P)2006 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved.
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Critic reviews

“This fast-moving tale has more than its share of twists, turns and double-crosses...a fine romp.” (The Roanoke Times, Virginia)

“Woods keeps [his characters] moving smartly around the playing board like so many checkers.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

“A taut tale of a very bad woman out to fleece a very good man…Scarcely an excess word gets in the way of the briskly moving plot.” (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Short Straw

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    141
  • 4 Stars
    111
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    118
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    107
  • 4 Stars
    40
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Short Straw

The book was very entertaining. I enjoyed listening to it while traveling. The narration is good as well.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Too much sex

I started to enjoy a well-written and well-narrated story with lots of surprises in the plot but was disappointed by the degree of graphic sex that showed up in the second half.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

am a new fan

really good story- I read the sequel first and couldn't wait to get to the prequel!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Ed Eagle fan

Liked the story and performance. Hope the Ed Eagle series continues. Stuart Woods is excellent in weaving a story line. Anyone who likes mysteries will like this one.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Woods fans won't be disappointed

Fast moving book with a well laid out plot full of unexpected twists. Fun read. If you like Stuart Woods, you'll like this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Book 2 the best in the series

Have listened to this many times. The twists and turns very interesting. Keeps your interest. Barbara a fabulous villainess.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story

I like the Ed Eagle characters and Victorio. Good story, good writing. Good narration. Good stuff.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Don't Waste Your Time

Couldn't even finish listening to this one. It dragged on and on and on.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good story. Horrible ptrformance

The performance was read like Shadow radio program. Which made the slow story slower and not enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

2.

This is book 2 of the short lived Ed Eagle series.
It is the same narrator but lacking the
dead pan delivery that I so enjoyed in Book 1. This appears to be the Bad
Barbara book, interesting but just a muck pile by book's end. Skip it.

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1 person found this helpful