Stuart Woods’ Golden Hour

Danger, suspense, action, and glamour are combined in Stuart Woods’ Golden Hour by Brett Battles. I was happy to see the Teddy Fay series continued by this author with the seventh book in the series. Teddy is nearly ready to depart on a European press tour with Peter Barrington and others associated with the latest Centurion film when he gets a surprise visit from Lance Cabot, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director.

Several CIA agents have been killed and they all were part of a mission Teddy was involved with years ago: Golden Hour. Lance wants him to use the trip as a cover to investigate who is behind the killings. Rome, Venice, Zurich, Budapest, and Berlin are the cities for the press tour. Teddy, in his many disguises, must dodge movie fans, fascinating women, interesting men, and assassins. Can he maintain his aliases and identify the culprits or is this the end for Teddy?

Teddy is a master of disguises and aliases. He can be charming, genial, considerate, humorous, and respectful. However, he can also be deadly. The other characters have a variety of levels of depth, but it’s appropriate for their roles in this novel. There are always several new characters as well as some visits from characters from previous books giving the series even more continuity. Reconnecting with these old friends was effortless.

Battles’s writing is vivid and enabled me to easily visualize the people, the glamourous parties, photo shoots, and the lesser-known areas of several European cities. This riveting mystery kept me flying through the pages. While readers know who is ultimately behind the murders relatively early, it was exciting to see Teddy’s investigation into trying to understand who it is.

The author’s writing style hooked me immediately. The dialogue feels natural and flows well, pulling readers into the inner world of the characters. There are a few twists and turns with some unpredictable moments in the story to keep readers on their toes. Dynamic characters and fantastic world-building, along with a great plot, intense scenes, and excellent pacing kept me glued to the book. As I advanced through the story, I kept wondering what would be uncovered next.

Overall, this suspenseful, entertaining, and exciting novel gripped me from the beginning and kept me fully engaged. I’m a fan of the author and am looking forward to reading his next novel in the series. Battles has done an excellent job continuing this series started by the late Stuart Woods.

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam – G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Brett Battles provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for December 03, 2024.