In general, I like the newer Prey books better than the more violent older one.

BUT Sudden Prey (1996) is fascinating.

For months, Lucas Davenport’s men have been tracking a vicious woman bank robber named Candy, and when they finally catch up with her, she does not go quietly.

In the ensuing shoot-out, she dies — and Davenport’s nightmare starts.

Her associates are even worse than she was, particularly her husband, a deeply violent man who swears an appropriate revenge: first he will find the names of those responsible; then he will kill those nearest and dearest to them, just the way they did Candy.

So it begins. The husband of one officer is shot and killed. The wife of another is ambushed at work. When a third attack is thwarted, the pattern becomes clear to Davenport, and with an urgency born of rage and terror, he presses the hunt, desperately trying to track down the killers before they can strike again, before they can reach out for Davenport’s own loved ones. But in this effort, he may already be too late.

Dirt (1996) is the 2nd novel in the Stone Barrington series. 

Quite good. As was the first, New York Dead.

When poison-pen columnist Amanda Dart herself becomes the victim of an anonymous gossipmonger, she enlists the help of New York P.I. Stone Barrington to uncover the culprit, someone out to expose the peccadilloes of other influential gossip columnists, as well.

Dirt is the title of a faxed newsletter focused on dishing the dirty secrets of gossip columnists. An interesting premise.

Plenty of sex in this book, as there was in the first.

Quite good. 1st in a series of 64 books! … Hmm …

Stuart Woods published multiple books every year over his career.

New York Dead (1991) is the first novel in the Stone Barrington series. 

Barrington is a detective forced to retire from the sexist, racist, corrupt N.Y. Police force because of a cover-up. He decides to become a lawyer/private investigator.

An intriguing premise. ➙ Barrington happens to see a woman jump / fall (?) from a 12 story balcony. Shockingly, she’s still alive when put into the ambulance.

BUT the ambulance has an accident a few blocks distant — and the woman disappears.

Kidnapped? Killed?

SOMEBODY doesn’t want Barrington to find out.

There is a lot of sex in this novel.