Set in the shimmering heat of the desert Southwest, Short Straw marks the return of the six-foot-seven-inch take-no-prisoners Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle, in a complex thriller that delivers the kind of sexy, fast-paced suspense that readers have come to expect from Stuart Woods.
Ed Eagle, Santa Fe's preeminent trial lawyer, first introduced in Woods's Santa Fe Rules, finds himself in extreme domestic difficulties. On the morning of his fiftieth birthday, as he is about to open his elegant new law offices, Eagle learns that he is in the sort of trouble usually reserved for his unluckiest clients. Quickly marshaling his resources, which include two private detectives, an accused murderer, and an ace ex-IRS agent, he begins a campaign to save his law practice, his wealth, his reputation, and his self-respect from the astonishing machinations of the person closest to him.
The action takes Eagle's team across the Southwest-through the lush southern California world of the very, very wealthy, with the delights of exclusive spas and secluded hotels; to the U.S.Mexico border, and its ever-present dangers; and deep into parts of Mexico where no one can be trusted, least of all the police-always pitted against a wily and completely ruthless adversary.
Full of double-crosses and unexpected twists, Ed Eagle's life is one of heightened risks-and pleasures. Witty, action-packed, and compulsively readable, Short Straw is the kind of story that only Stuart Woods could tell.