Stranger in Paradise (Jesse Stone Novels) by Robert B. Parker Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Stranger in Paradise (Jesse Stone Novels)
Book Review: Dissapointing and hopefully not a trend
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been a life long reader of Parkers work, and find "Stranger in Paradise" to be very disappointing, and hope this is not a trend. Back in the mid 90's Parker's books (referred by a Mystery Bookstore owner as "Dick and Jane books") tended to have short, snappy, funny dialogue and a very trim plot. In recent years, thankfully Parker found his writer's voice again and the books have been good to great.
Yet, I find with this book and the recent Spenser novel: "Now and Then" that the author is taking a turn. I am not sure of the cause of this, but Stranger in Paradise is one of Parker's worse (though a "bad" book by him, still earns 3 stars, in my humble opinion).
In short there are sooo many unexplained, plot/character points that make this book a nothing. We do not get a clear sense of a young runaway's problems, we see characters come in and out; some die, others mysteriously disappear and so much happens, to new, and ongoing characters that are explained in the book via "a person's got to do what a person's got to do."
LIGHT SPOILERS THIS PARAGRAPH ONLY: A woman voluntarily sleeps with a man who was part of a nightmarish situation years ago; another woman, happily married with children, sleeps with a criminal...just once; a man whose wife and child left him years ago suddenly wants one back and one killed; the reason behind these and more plot points and character motives? "A person has to do what a person has to do?"
Through this the author lazily escapes from having to come with reasons for actions, back-story and a fuller plot. Finally, my disappointment goes to the fact that like Jesse is a darker version of Spenser, I was interested to read about Crow who was a darker side of Hawk (from the Spenser books), but nothing panned out.
My advise to Mr. Parker, is finish the deal about delivering so many books by so many dates...take a year off and put the pen down, and do not write until you have a story to tell. I would rather have no more books from this author than a treasure trove of bad ones.
Book Review: Same old, same old
Summary: 2 Stars
Are you familiar with the copious works of Robert B. Parker? If so, you have already read this novel, perhaps more than once, with slightly different characters uttering precisely the same terse, snappy dialog and with a nearly identical plot.
Spenser is now Jesse Stone, formerly a minor league baseball player rather than a second string boxer, who loves Scotch whiskey the way Spenser loved donuts, and who is now a small town police chief instead of a private eye. But he thinks, acts, and talks just like the same old Spenser we have known so well for so very long.
Hawk is no longer a black man. He is now an Apache Indian (named Crow as a not-too-subtle hint) who thinks, acts and talks just like the same familiar Hawk. Susan's transformation is a bit more complex, as Parker has split her persona into two characters: the insightful Dr Dix, a male shrink, and the glamorous TV journalist, Jenn. They never meet, of course, but together they offer up the same impeccable foil for Jesse Stone as Susan did for Spenser.
Drop these familiar characters into the venerable Spenser plot machine, hire a contract editor to turn the crank, and out pops Stranger in Paradise. All 72 brief chapters in less than 300 pages, double spaced, much of it blank white paper, and thus custom tailored for network television. Were it published in the NY Times Sunday Magazine, this entire book would run to about thirty pages. With ads. If you pack it along on a flight from Boston to LA, therefore, be warned that it will only sustain you until somewhere over Cleveland. Toss in Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (pseud) and then, while crossing the Great Plains and Rockies, relish the contrast.
Why, then, do I give it two stars? Because this book is a masterpiece of fluff, so utterly perfect in form that you would not want to change a single word, and it kept me reading right through to the end. Yes, the plot is somewhat less believable than X-men. Sure, the characters are thin vertical lines when viewed from the side. Truly the spare, laconic style could never be mistaken for anyone except Robert B. Parker. That the whole exceeds the paltry sum of these parts is why they call him The Master.
Book Review: I think I've read this one before...
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a gigantic fan of Robert B. Parker. I've read all of the Spenser books, the Stone books and the Randall books. And I'm slowly "re-reading" the Spenser books as audiobooks.
It is not lightly that I give this book two stars.
The Stone novels were always different than the Spenser / Sunny Randall novels. Spenser and Sunny always have that buddy network to fall back on (especially Hawk and Spike, respectively) Jesse has always been alone, except for his on-again off-again ex-wife, who actually makes his sense of being alone even stronger.
That whole formula is thrown out. Instead, we have a combination of a re-make of Spenser's April Kyle and Paul Giacomin stories told under Jesse Stone this time around. This time around we now have Amber.
Rather than Spenser's Hawk (a mysterious, unstoppable African-American who operates on the wrong side of the law that the ladies find irresistible and shares witty racial banter with Spenser) we now have Stone's Crow (a mysterious, unstoppable Native American who operates on the wrong side of the law that the ladies find irresistible and shares witty racial banter with Stone). Hawk. Crow. C'mon!
Parker often recycles previous plots (how can he not - he's written so many books!) but this was just too much for me. The story is easy to read, interesting and enjoyable, but it has too many recycled features for my taste.
Book Review: Keeps getting stronger
Summary: 4 Stars
Can it be that a decade has passed since Robert B. Parker, the dean of American mystery authors, introduced a new series starring Jesse Stone, the police chief of a small town located on the coast of Massachusetts?
Indeed it has. And STRANGER IN PARADISE is the seventh strong entry in this series. Back in 1997 when the first Stone book, NIGHT PASSAGE, appeared, critics wondered if Parker --- who had created one of America's greatest fictional detectives of all time (Spenser) a quarter century before --- could produce a successful new series and if this would be the end of Spenser. There was much concern and gnashing of teeth among longtime Parker fans.
Well, there was no need for worry or the dental expense. Spenser is still going strong and appears in a novel each year. The Stone books and another stand-alone series Parker created featuring female private eye Sunny Randall prove again and again that he is one of the greatest mystery writers in American literature. Each title is a joy to read, including his latest.
STRANGER IN PARADISE begins with Stone receiving a visit from one of the alleged criminals who appeared in NIGHT PASSAGE, a self-proclaimed full-blooded Apache warrior named Wilson Cromartie, or Crow for short. Crow, who also labors as a hit man, is in town on a job, despite having last been seen escaping from Paradise on a boat with $20 million in ransom after a hostage scheme went bad.
Crow has been hired by a Florida mobster to find his runaway 14-year-old daughter who disappeared with her drunken mother. Crow visits Jesse to convince him to stay out of his way. As with any Parker book, the writing is lean, tight and brilliant.
"They looked at each other some more. The room felt charged, Jesse thought, as if a thunderstorm were near. Then Crow rose gracefully to his feet.
`I guess we know where we stand,' Crow said.
`Stop by anytime,' Jesse said."
This is beautiful, understated writing.
Jesse investigates to see if he can hold Crow for the earlier crime, but finds that none of the women who Crow took hostage have any interest in testifying against him. And at least one looks forward to seeing him again!
It turns out that Crow likes women --- really likes women. This complicates his current assignment as he quickly locates the runaway girl and her mother living in squalor, with the girl involved with the leader of a nearby Latino gang. The Florida mobster orders Crow to kill the mother and bring him the girl.
Crow refuses and turns to Jesse for help in protecting the girl. "`And warriors don't go to war against women and girls,' Jesse said." Crow agrees with that statement. Here we have a hit man with scruples.
But Jesse, as usual, has personal problems of his own. And this is what differentiates him from Spenser. Spenser is the detective as superhero who has it all together. He might not always have the answer, but at least he knows the question.
In STRANGER IN PARADISE, Jesse is drinking again and regularly seeing a psychologist. It was his drinking that cost him his job as an LA homicide detective and made him head east a decade before. And the cause of it is still the same: his on-again, off-again relationship with his ex-wife Jenn.
"He knew he loved her. He knew she loved him. He knew they couldn't find a way to make it work.
`Yet,' he said and drank some more."
In this story, their relationship is friendly, if not intimate. Jenn works as a weather girl turned investigative TV reporter, which somehow makes perfect sense given the current state of media. A story brings her in close contact with Jesse, much to his anguish. Again, Parker crams a book full of human emotions into just three sentences.
"Jenn came in, dressed to the nines, and gave Jesse a pleasant but passing kiss on the mouth. The thrill of excitement tightened into a knot of desire and sadness. The kiss was passionless."
Ouch! But Jesse has other things to worry about when the runaway's mother ends up murdered, and both the Latino gang and the Florida mobster decide to come to Paradise to wage war on Crow. Bodies start appearing in public places.
Crow is a killer and thief, but like Chief Stone, he is calm and self contained. Crow might be for Jesse what Hawk is for Spenser: a scary yet perfect sidekick. It will be interesting to see if Crow finds his way back to Paradise in future installments --- although it might be hard to imagine him in a deputy's uniform.
STRANGER IN PARADISE is Robert B. Parker at the height of his powers as a writer. He has accomplished with this series exactly what he did so well with the Spenser novels decades ago. We know when we pick up a new book about Jesse Stone that we are going to be entertained and spend time with characters we care about. Few writers can boast of doing that with one mystery series. Parker has done it with three --- an amazing achievement --- and he keeps getting stronger with age.
--- Reviewed by Tom Callahan
Book Review: Unusual Jesse Stone Novel
Summary: 3 Stars
This is definitely one of the oddest Jesse Stone novels that Robert Parker has written. In Stranger In Paradise, Stone is confronted by William "Crow" Cromartie who has come to town to bring the daughter of Miami gangster back to her father. The catch is, Crow has been instructed to kill the girl's mother and he doesn't kill women. Instead he solicits Stone to stay out of his way while he protects the girl and takes care of the other bad guys. Catch number two is, last time Crow was seen in Paradise he was speeding off with 10 million dollars leaving behind a string of bodies. Needless to say Jesse gets caught up in the matter and he and Crow become uneasy allies. Jen, Jesse's ex-wife is very much in this novel, are Molly Crane and Suitcase Simpson. And they all act oddly.
This novel was certainly entertaining and the situation rather messy. It wasn't one of my favorites though.