Until Bay of Souls, I've only read Dog Soldiers by Stone, but keep meaning to read other things. The bulk of his books are about characters involved in political situations from the the news today. With the exception of the book about the guy who goes sailing I think... Stone is a decent writer who still has his chops, but this book seems like it was lacking inspiration. Also, some of the plot seems unreal, ie he basically leaves his wife to travel to another country because another professor has the hots for him. Ok but while he's in that country he doesn't once phone in to speak with his wife or seem to worried about it. Poor editing. I finished the book, and most of the scenes came alive and the characters were interesting, but it lacked that special something. Autopilot. A 4 is generous.