Night Passage

I already have the DVD series. I was so excited to be able to buy the whole series of Jesse Stone books. Sorted them from the first to last. I settled down to start reading the first book. Right off the start the profanities were there. I didn't get past the first pages that were riddled. Not sure why authors feel the need to use curse words in a book. There is no need. Since I only have the DVDs and have never watched those, I'm afraid now they will be spattered with the same curse words as in the books. The Tv versions were much better. Shame on me for not investigating any of Robert Parkers' books before hand to know. Now I'm stuck with the whole series.

Jesse Stone seemed like a young Spenser maneuvering through a few less bright choices than Spenser might have made, showing how Stone's choices dimmed his path. Thankfully, Stone wasn't totally stoned, hadn't abandoned his heart. He seemed to be living on a precipice of dynamically balanced shadow and light. I liked his quiet, stately strength and self-acceptance. Possibly as Parker intended, at first I felt sad to be reading a character without Spenser's philosophy of life and inner strength, though the read baited curiosity in all the right ways and places. The plot took off and continued with a smooth, deep, almost silent style. I enjoyed the easy way Parker showed Jesse's slips into memories of Jennifer (using a simple technique of ...) as he drove across the USA on Route 66, LA to Paradise, Massachusetts. His relationships in his new setting as Police Chief developed in easy, slow ways, and sometimes I saw kaleidoscopes of past books I've reviewed in the Spenser series, shifting bold bits of color chips into NIGHT PASSAGE, this pilot for the Jesse Stone series. I attempted to place Tom Selleck into the story as Jesse, which was easy to do, even though I haven't seen any of the movies (no TV connection on the mesa in rural Colorado where we've been living temporarily for 3 years). I enjoyed the way Jesse worked into solid connections with men working for him, establishing respect with an easy flow. Reminding me of SCHOOL DAYS (# 33 Spenser, copyright 2005, which might have been an out-slip from this part of NIGHT PASSAGE), the exchange between Jesse and the teen girl, Michelle Merchant, was especially telling of his mind-set, and skills of connecting with the most stubborn of stuck. It was interesting to wonder if some scenes had Parker itching to step in Spenser to tell Jesse how to deal with various issues, especially his booze and relationships with Jenn and new women in his life. And, I enjoyed the inclusion of Spenser characters, Dr. St. Clare, Vinnie Morris, and Gino Fish. About 3/4 into the novel, when I stepped into chapter 56 with the dance at The Yacht Club, a nag which had been percolating surfaced fully. I had been conscious of it for several chapters, and when I reached The Yacht Club dance I realized how I might determine if the nag had truth in it. Even though this novel was as good as any in the Spenser series, I had begun to sense that the style difference from that series was so dramatic, and felt so youthful, beyond the fact that Jesse Stone is a younger, quieter character than Spenser... I had begun to sense that NIGHT PASSAGE may have been written close to 1970, five years prior to the Spenser pilot, THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT: One of Parker's signatures has been to incorporate a variety of "cultural icons" which were running concurrent with his early-draft writing phases, including how people dressed (for success or lack of it), talked, and thought: When did we began recommending to get shrunk; when did femin

Jesse Stone, a 34 year old cop, has spent fifteen years with the LAPD, his last assignment before his alcoholism got the best of him, a detective in the Robbery Homicide division. With his career with LAPD and his marriage with his actress wife down the tubes, Jesse accepts the job as Chief of Police in a small suburb above Boston, Massachusetts, oddly named Paradise. Soon upon his arrival he learns that names can be deceiving, when he comes across political corruption and a militia group running loose in his town. Add murder and you have a perfect day. This was the second book in the series that I read (following "Sea Change") and I have to admit I have to add Parker's Jesse Stone series to the list of my all time favorite detective series (eg the 87th Precinct by the late Evan Hunter BKA Ed McBain, and the Alex Cross series by James Patterson).

Night Passage is the first in a series starring Jesse Stone. Jesse is a Los Angeles homicide detective that was fired for drinking on the job. He has just received a divorce from a starlet and has been offered a job in Massachusetts as Police Chief. He isn't quite sure why they hired him, because he was drunk when he was interviewed, but he didn't really care. Mr. Parker writes dialogue in most of the book, but he does do that well. There is a lot going on in the book that may or may not be related and it is the story of taking the clues and putting the pieces together. This is not a whodunit. It is more about how they are caught. I am going to read the rest of this series, because I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I too am an avid fan of Robert Parker and Spenser, and was sure a book without Spenser would be a disappointment - How wrong I was!! Mr. Parker does it again and gives us a page-turner that you won't want to put down. Can't wait for his next one!

OK, I admit it. I wouldn't buy this book for a while after it came out. How could Robert B. Parker do this to me, when I've loved Spenser all these years? Don't fix it if it ain't broke, Bob, I thought. Inevitably, though, I got to the point where I had nothing to read. So I bought "Night Passage". Then I let it sit around for a few days. I didn't want to read it. I was prepared to be bored, disappointed, and lonesome for Spenser and Susan Shapiro. Finally, I picked it up...and stayed up until 4:00 in the morning to finish it. This book is every bit as good as the Spenser books, and quite different from them in scene and general tone. Jesse Stone, newly divorced and dealing with it badly, is forced to resign from the LAPD for drinking on the job. He takes a new job as chief of police in a small Massachusetts town called Paradise, only to discover that the town has hired him because they want a police chief who won't police certain things. The intricate plot is very believable, as are Jesse and the other major characters. Anyone who knows small towns will also recognize the accuracy of Parker's picture of small-town politics. The best part? The characters. I found myself wanting to call up Jesse Stone and talk to him for a while -- and almost believing that I could. It's terrific Parker. Write more, Bob, and I'm sorry I doubted you.