Behind the Scenes of Stuart Woods’ Finders Keepers: A Q&A with Author Brett Battles and Narrator Jason Culp
Fans of Stuart Woods’s Stone Barrington novels have long flocked to the series for a mega dose of action and intrigue, and author Brett Battles has kept a foot firmly on the gas since Stuart Woods’ passing in 2022. And when beloved series audiobook narrator Tony Roberts passed away earlier this year, stage, screen, and voice actor Jason Culp stepped into his formiddable shoes. Which means that Stone Barrington is back with a vengeance, on all fronts!
We sat down with both Brett Battles and Jason Culp to talk about Finders Keepers—the newest book in the series—and go behind both the page and the mic to get their insights on what makes Stone Barrington tick.
PRH Audio: Hi Brett and Jason! Thank you for joining us to talk about Finders Keepers. Before we dive in, Brett, could you please tell us a little about the Stone Barrington series, and what returning fans and newcomers can expect from Finders Keepers (book #66!)?
Brett: Happy to! Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington series features Stone Barrington, a former police officer turned mega-successful lawyer, who has gone from almost having to sell his house to survive in Book One to owning several homes on two continents (so far) and a Gulfstream jet. Stone, usually with his police commissioner buddy Dino, gets pulled into events surrounding clients, friends, and people who cross his path, often involving money, death threats, and murder. In other words, he has quite the exciting life! The books are suspenseful and humorous and a whole lot of fun.
In Finders Keepers, Stone is asked by his client, Jack Coulter, to help Jack’s niece get settled in New York. It should be an easy task, but things don’t go as planned, and both Jack’s past and that of his niece’s threaten to destroy their new lives and the lives of those close to them, such as Stone.
PRH Audio: Ah, the plot thickens! Jason, this is your first time stepping into the world of Stone Barrington as the series narrator, after beloved long-time narrator Tony Roberts passed away. Could you tell us a little about your connection to the series, what the audition process was like (a little bird told us it involved the character Dino!), and how you prepared to take over in Tony’s footsteps?
Jason: Firstly, I should mention that it is a singular honor to be asked to take over Mr. Roberts’s work. I have loved his work since I was a teenager, starting with “Play It Again, Sam” and then in all of Woody’s subsequent movies. In fact, I used to hear stories about him because my stepmother Sheila was in the original cast of “Play It Again, Sam” on Broadway and remembered him warmly.
But I was unfamiliar with the Stone Barrington books before Diane McKiernan, audiobook producer extraordinaire at Pengiun Random House, asked me to audition, saying that she felt my voice was a close match for Tony’s, and that they wanted to make sure “Dino” sounded the same. It turns out Dino was a voice type I had done before (the gravelly-voiced New Yorker) and so I felt I had a handle on it, and apparently Mr. Wood’s estate felt so, too! Of course, I say this knowing that fans of a series might have a hard time hearing a new voice telling their stories, and that there can be “growing pains” as they get accustomed to hearing someone new.
PRH Audio: We can’t wait to hear your “Dino”! Brett, could you share a little about your writing process? How do you get into the head of Stone Barrington, and what’s your favorite part about returning to this world and these characters with each new story?
Brett: Here’s something I haven’t actually told many people, but prior to writing each Stone novel, I’ll listen to the audiobooks of prior Stone stories. For Finders Keepers, I actually relistened to the entire series. It helps get me back into the rhythm of the prose and the minds of the characters. It’s so much fun to play in Stone’s world, largely because it’s so different than mine. Hard to believe, but I don’t own multiple homes or a jet, but I sure have fun writing about someone who does! I also enjoy connecting the stories I’m writing to previous novels that Stuart wrote. For instance, Finders Keepers is not the first book in which Jack Coulter appears. He was also in Carnal Curiosity and Class Act. But don’t worry. It’s not necessary to read either of them before Finders Keepers.
PRH Audio: We love hearing how audiobooks are a central part of your process, Brett! Jason, you’ve narrated audiobooks in every genre in your career. Is there any special preparation you do before narrating a thriller like Finders Keepers? Related, is there a scene in Finders Keepers that you’re especially excited for audiobook listeners to hear, or that was exceptionally fun to record in the studio?
Jason: Well, as always, it’s important to scour the manuscript to pick up any clues the author may give as to what the characters sound like, and in this case, to take a listen to the last book in the series that Tony narrated for any further nuances of character voices. You don’t want to get to the end of a book and be surprised when the author writes, “he said, in his Irish brogue…”
I always like doing scenes where there are multiple characters present and talking to each other—the challenge of having them sound distinct from each other and believable is something I always relish. There are a few of those in this one!
PRH Audio: Brett, what do you hope listeners experience as they listen to the Stone Barrington audiobooks, and particularly Finders Keepers?
Brett: I hope they have as much fun listening to the Stone books as I do. And for Finders Keepers, I hope they enjoy the story and laugh when it strikes them, and come out at the end smiling.
PRH Audio: This last question is for both of you to answer. Since we’re all big fans of listening over here, what is the last great thing you listened to? (It can be an audiobook, a podcast, an album, a song, anything that made for a great listening experience).
Brett: Tough question, as I do nearly all my reading via audiobooks these days. Last year I think I listened to over 150 books, and this year I’m already at 76. There are two books that immediately come to mind. They aren’t necessarily the last great things, but are definitely on my great things list. One is the first in a great (so far) series, and the other is a standalone. The latter is The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North and narrated by Peter Kenny. I actually read this a few years ago and I still think about it a lot. It’s about a man who relives his life every time he dies, but recalls all the previous lives, so he does different things each time. My description is probably not doing it justice, but it’s so good. And the series book I’d recommend is Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. This one caught me totally by surprise. I only checked it out because I kept getting recommendations for it, and had no idea what to expect. I loved it! I don’t even want to try describing it. If you like sci-fi, and enjoy a little crazy/weirdness, you might want to check it out. Jeff Hayes is the narrator and does an excellent job, too.
Jason: I listen to audiobooks when I hike, and I think the last great program I listened to was Barbra Streisand’s memoir My Name Is Barbra, which she, especially as a first-time narrator, completely knocked out of the park. I loved all 50 hours of it—it made the hiking go easier!
Listen to a clip from Finders Keepers:
