Stuart Woods is the author of over 60 books most are with the Stone Barrington character. Every so often he branches out and writes stand alone or continuing series with some of the characters from the Stone books. One of them is Teddy Fay, who has helped Stone out on many occasions. His latest The Money Shot, out Tuesday, August 7th, from Putnam, features Teddy aka Mark Weldon stuntman for Centurion Studios which has Stone and Dino sons running it.
Things seem to be going good for Teddy Fay. He is a producer for Centurion under the name of Billy Barnett. He is also a stuntman using a disguise named Mark Weldon for the studio. He is working on the their latest movie. One of the extras, a woman who went by Bambi, when she worked in Vegas. She discovers who she is and calls her old Vegas boss, who had a grudge against Teddy. He is over Teddy as he has his own problems with a new mob guy in town opening a casino next to him and causing him grief.
Ben Bacchetti (son of Dino) is running the studio and his wife Tessa is an actress working on the film. She gets a picture sent to her from an old sex tape she didn’t know she was in with an ex. He had promised he had destroyed it. Now she is being blackmailed over it. Someone is buying up Centurion stock with the plan of a hostile takeover and getting their hands on Tessa’s percentage. She’s freaked out and goes to Teddy for help. He is on the case and soon figures out who is blackmailing her. He’s also been approached to help out in Vegas, which he declines.
Soon word gets out he may be coming, even though he isn’t, and attempts are made on his life. Using all his CIA training and a few other tricks, he manages to stay alive when a hit-man is after him. He comes up with one final plan that will hopefully take out the bad guys once and for all.
This was a really enjoyable second novel featuring Teddy. As an added bonus Stone makes an appearance and it’s a good look at the making of a movie. Stuart Woods novels are always enjoyable and this one continues the pattern. There’s a reason they keep coming out every three months or so. So jump in now, no time like the present. And don’t worry if you haven’t read any previous ones. He explains enough to understand who is who and what is going on.
