Turbulence

The approach of Hurricane Irma raises the tension early in bestseller Woods’s 46th novel featuring lawyer Stone Barrington (after Shoot First) as Stone and friends, including Secretary of State Holly Barker, hunker down at his house in Key West, Fla. Joe Box, the junior senator from Florida, who two months earlier tried to assault Holly after a White House dinner, briefly takes shelter with Stone. Once the storm passes and Stone is able to leave the island in his private plane, the plot centers on the efforts of American and British authorities to arrest Selwyn Owaki, a notorious arms dealer with ties to Box. When an attempt involving Stone to nab Owaki at a London restaurant goes awry, Stone becomes a target for some powerful people and must go on the run. The hunt for Owaki turns out to have surprisingly high political stakes, but, since the book’s principal villain is barely seen and has a minimal backstory, some readers may feel cheated, despite the concluding fireworks. Author tour. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit. (June)