Trouble in Paradise

After reading all the John Sandford books - and reading other lesser authors - I finally landed on Robert B. Parker. I've watched the "Jesse Stone" mini-series and enjoyed them so thought I'd try his books. I've read all the Jesse Stone and loved them. The banter between characters keeps the books moving along very quickly, although his interaction with his ex-wife makes you yearn for a bus to smack her. None the less, they are great books and well worth the read.

Jesse Stone is a great character and this book is a strong second showing for him. "Trouble in Paradise" begins with Jesse on one of his midnight insomniac rambles. When a homosexual couple has their house burned down, he discovers that some teenaged trouble-makers had a hand in it. Determined to set things right, he uses some less-than-honest tactics to get them to confess. While it seems to set one of the boys on the right track, a pair of brothers from a rich family have their parents threaten first to sue for wrongful arrest and when that doesn't work, their mother tries to have Jesse removed from his position. Also, a career crook named Macklin and his girlfriend have come to town and are planning the heist to end all heists - they plan to clean out Stiles Island, a rich community connected to Paradise by a bridge over the harbor. Never one to plan small, Macklin decides to isolate the island and rob all the homes, businesses and the bank. Can Jesse find out what is happening in time to stop it? Well-plotted, intricate and engaging, this book is what a police procedural/thriller is all about. Don't miss it!

But most of all I love Jesse Stone; a man of few words who is soooo deep. I admire Mr. Parker's ability to describe his characters so that they are actually in your mind as if you were watching a TV movie. And, as a female mystery freak, I can also understand Jesse's relationships with all the woman in his life and his respect for woman. Mr. Parker gets to the true inner feelings of women - all kinds of women. Jesse also brings out the best in people. I do hope there is more written about "Crow" -- what a character.Mr. Parker - I like your style.

I've read every book that Robert Parker has written and I think this is his best to date: a fast-moving plot that won't let you stop reading, further development of his most interesting character(Chief Stone)since Hawk, as well as a wonderful villain and well developed secondary characters, and great dialogue. Best of all, no annoying Susan Silverman and that damn wonder dog!

Is it me, or are the Spenser novels getting a little stale? Parker seems to have started telling the same story over and over again, from Crimson Joy on up to the present. Spenser always knows what to do to make things come out perfectly. Does anyone remember the early Spenser, who didn't always know what to do? The Spenser of "Mortal Stakes" (a brilliant detective novel) who ambushed and murdered the villian and his cohort so that his clients could get out from beneath their shadow? I miss the Spenser who who committed morally suspect acts in order to fulfull his own personal code. And then came Jesse Stone, Parker's alternate protagonist. He's troubled, he's flawed, he's an incomplete human being trying to find a new place for himself. He doesn't always know what to do, and he has potential to mess up. Parker was on the verge of rediscovering depth of character in "Night Passage" and he's found it with "Trouble In Paradise." In the villain Macklin (among others...all the criminals in this book are amazing) we see a character who makes sense because his motivations are in place: he's greedy, he wants money, and he downright enjoys being a criminal. Further, Parker shows his incredible understanding of small town Massachusetts dynamics, politics, and corruption in the Jesse Stone books. He truly is on the verge of becoming great again as author. Give him a chance.