Stranger In Paradise (Jesse Stone Novels Book 7)

I've been a fan of Robert B. Parker's novels since 1978, which might be part of the problem with his latest offering STRANGER IN PARADISE. I love the author's writing style, his usual commentary on society and the individual, and his one-liners. All of those are present in the latest book, but in some ways too many of the same plots are revisited in this one.This is the seventh Jesse Stone novel. Stone is a former Los Angeles policeman turned drunk turned small town Paradise, Massachusetts police chief. He's also struggling through working out a relationship with his ex-wife Jennifer, which has been one of the on-going subplots of the series. That particular subplot has gotten a little irritating at times because it doesn't seem to be going anywhere but constantly looms over every book.The book had a lot of potential. Wilson Cromartie, a villain from an earlier book, puts in an appearance to tell Jesse he's going to be around town for a while. Ten years ago, Crow - the name he's called throughout the book - was part of an armed robbery gang. At the end of that, Crow chose not to harm the women hostages the gang had but managed to escape with ten million dollars.This time around, Crow is in town working on a case, looking for the daughter of a big-time Mafia guy in Florida. I really enjoyed the way Crow and Jesse got a feel for each other and acknowledged how dangerous the other could be. When it comes to pared-down prose and tough guys, nobody delivers the goods the way Parker does.As it turns out, Amber Francisco is a fourteen-year old mess being raised by her white trash mother. I didn't quite see how the mother went from living the high lifestyle in Florida to living a life barely getting by in Paradise, but I went with it. In addition to living the poor lifestyle, Amber has also hooked up with a young, violent Latino gang in the area.Parker plays fast and loose with the plotting. Several things are going on throughout the novel. The past encounter with Crow threads throughout, but I'm not quite sure I'm willing to buy everything Parker promotes this time. One of the things that most jarred me was the attraction to Crow by one of the former hostages from that armed robbery ten years ago. Parker sets Crow up to be this sexual fantasy figure for that woman and they have a "one-time deal" encounter.Not only that, but Crow's sexual magnetism wins over the one character in this series that I thought would never stray outside her marriage. Parker has explored the nature of sex and attraction throughout this series, and I've gone along with it. But, to me, this encounter really cheapened what I thought was a fantastically solid character. This decision really bothered me, which is a good thing on one level because it shows how realistically the author has created his characters.But the sexual theme seems to hit a high note in STRANGER IN PARADISE. Especially the topic of cheating and how people didn't have to feel guilty about it. That jarred. Usually Parker ties his explorations of the subject to the plot, but this time I don't think that existing criteria was met.Furthermore, when Crow makes the decision to save Amber and free her from her father rather than kidnap her and take her back home as he's been hired to do, the book started resonating themes from earlier Parker books. In EARLY AUTUMN, Parker's iconic private eye hero Spenser chooses to rescue a young boy from parents that only use him as a pawn in their on-going battle. In CEREMONY, Spenser rescues young April Kyle from parents that don't care about her by moving her from street hooker to high class call girl. The story with Amber smacks of both those books but doesn't dig into the plot as deeply as either of those did.Truthfully, Crow echoed Parker's earlier creation of Spenser's friend, Hawk. Both of those characters have the same animal magnetism, skewed senses of honor, and no remorse over killing people or doing what they want to do in spite of the law.STRANGER IN PARADISE is a fun romp. I sat down and read it straight through. I always save Parker books till a day on the weekend so I can read them without interruption. In that respect, the book was fantastic as always. I love the repartee and the familiar characters. But with all the build-up regarding Amber Francisco, I don't know whether to expect her return in future novels in the Jesse Stone series, or never hear from her again. And I don't honestly know which I'd prefer.Parker is my favorite author, though, and I look forward to subsequent books in this series as well as others. He's still delivering straight-forward tales of crime, detective, and tough guys. It's a combination I just can't stay away from.

If for no other reason having Crow back in town makes this book one of my favorites in the Jesse Stone series - so far anyway!

Jesse Stone is so real, you can see him in the dialog. Crow is a really good guy who comes off as a bad guy. He is the hero of the book. I'm glad to see Jesse and Jenn together again too. The action is good too.

The plot involves a complicated trap for not just one, but two different groups of Bad Guys, with Crow as the victim in a seemingly indefensible location at the midpoint of a causeway. The trap is so complicated I can't even understand it, let alone believe it. Parker acknowledges that the plan is unlikely, to say the least, and covers it up with lot of rhetoric--Crow is enthusiastic about it because as a warrior he only feels alive when his life is in danger or something like that.The character Amber, a cynical and disillusioned 14-year-old girl somewhat reminiscent of Paul DeGiacomin in "Early Autumn," is engaging. Honestly, I was hoping/expecting a reprise of "Early Autumn." She is briefly taken under the wings of Stone and Moll. The whole plot revolves around securing her enough money for financial independence in the hope that she can recover from the life she's had. The novel has a Happy Ending in which all the bad guys, including her parents, are disposed of and she is financially secure and under adult supervision--which, the characters acknowledge, may not be enough for her to turn her life around.I can no longer keep track of the degrees of Good and Bad in Parker's characters. The clear "hero" of this novel is "Crow" or Cromartie. Jesse Stone, like Spenser, is a Good Guy with central flaws, who breaks laws but only for good. Cromartie, like Hawk, is a Bad Guy but worse than Hawk, but with a weird core of integrity. Parker's novels are too full of Bad Guys whose word is good. Cromartie is mostly Bad, but with weird core of integrity having to do with following some kind of warrior's code. It seems to involve not killing women--at least unnecessarily. Perhaps because of that, he is irresistibly attractive to women in general, and Molly in particular.One of the cringier parts of the book is Molly's one-night stand with Crow. The key to understanding the plot is that it is just a normal male wish: one-time sex, no commitment, all fun, and what the spouse doesn't know hurt the spouse--except that he reverses the sexes and assigns Molly the traditional male attitude. Here's Crow's offer:'“You and me, once, no strings,” Crow said. Molly met his gaze. They were silent for a moment. Then Molly said, “Why?” “We both want to,” Crow said. “You’re so sure of me?” Molly said. “Yes.” “How can you know?” Crow grinned at her. “It’s an Apache thing,” he said. “And my husband?” “You’ll continue to love him, and the kids,” Crow said.'Sure she will. What could possibly go wrong?

Full disclosure - I'm a retired Police Chief, and I have loved the Jesse Stone novels since I first stumbled across them years ago. Until this one. My problem is not with the plot or the pacing; my problem is with the lack of integrity displayed by Stone and his two primary officers. Stone freely participates in a completely corrupt police practice with no hesitation or reservations. His two primary officers indulge in infidelity with completely inappropriate (in terms of legal ethics) parties, of which Stone is aware, and he simply doesn't care as long as they don't get caught. All of that is not consistent with the ethical foundation that Parker had established with Stone's character. Of course he is a flawed character - that's what makes him human - but he always had an ethical core when it came to law enforcement. Not in this novel. As a former LEO, it angered me. As a former fan of the Stone series, it made me very sad.

Icy, sizzling repartee. Killer comebacks. Haute Parker dialogue and descriptions. You will spend the whole book with your brain saying “Wait for it…wait for it…” and smiling at the delivery.Just…delicious reading.

Stone is true to his character, RBP adds a it more !murder and mayhem than most of his book. Seems he's still alive when you read one of his.

Parker is usually excellent, and this one keeps up the standard. It helps if you know the characters already from previous novels in the series, but even if you don't it's always a great read.This is a Jesse Stone novel, one of a short series, some of which were made into TV movies featuring Tom Selleck in the lead role.There is a cast of characters which overlaps slightly with Parker's best-known detective novels featuring Boston private investigator, Spenser, and once you're into the 'family' of characters he has created you feel at home with them and more absorbed in their world.I also love the author's direct and simple writing style, which makes other writers seem over-dramatic and wordy by comparison. In this respect he's almost "spoiled" me for reading other people like David Baldacci, Lee Child and others. Almost.Dive in, get hooked, and become a massive Robert B. Parker fan like me!

Robert Parker seems to be going through the motions once again writing this Jesse Stone novel following the disappointment of High Profile, the previous book. Once again the author strangely puts a lot of focus on Jesse and his ex-wife's (yes, ex-wife) absurd relationship. The cringey Jesse vs. Jenn story had actually become tiresome by the 3rd or 4th book, now it has reached the stage it makes you want to give up reading. It really goes against Jesse's strong character for him to be just cast by her spell, especially the Jesse portrayed on screen and Jenn is probably one of the most dislikeable characters I have ever come across. With most hate figures in books and film we are at least drawn to them in some way and can respect them but Jenn really serves no great purpose, which is probably why she rarely featured in the films with Tom Selleck.The plot in this one is cringey and ludicrous. Formerly one of the heavies from Trouble in Paradise, the 2nd book, the 'Crow' character returns but just to search for a young girl. His character has definitely lost momentum, such a shame given that it's usually nice to see when previous characters return.Parker's Stone novels have by and large been on a downward spiral after the superb first two; Night Passage and Trouble in Paradise. The series finally lost its magic after Sea Change. Credit must go to Michael Brandman et al who stripped down the stories and made them into very good movies. He cut out most of the deadwood from the books, such as Jenn, and developed some of the better characters (Dr Dix, Healy) instead, quite successfully, and created more interesting plots. Selleck's portrayal of Jesse is strong and memorable, with some added humour and idiosyncrasies which really brought him to life, at times making Jesse in the books seem boring.It's safe to say that after reading Stranger in Paradise, I will now be looking to the big screen for more of Jesse, or re-reading books 1-5.

There are shootings, mysterious characteIs and a great deal of (implicit) sex. Jesses Stone is still seeing as much of his shrink as he is of his ex wife. Reconciliation is tantalisingly elusive. On the crime front there is a villain who may not be a villain, a native Indian who may not be a native Indian. In short, Parker is stirring the brew with his sure touch.Of course, the events and some of the participants occupy the outer fringes of credibility but the pages keep turning, the pace doesn't slacken, and there is, for this reader anyway, a genuinely moving moment. Many more ambitious books off less.

One wonders how Robert B Parker managed to continually write books as good as this because the Jesse Stone series was only one of many series involving major characters. All of Parkers books (that I have read) are characterised by a wonderful economy of text that manages to be both vividly descriptive and richly evocative. This is no exception. I was delighted to be able to read the first book of the Jesse Stone series; having read others but out of sequence. I make no secret of my admiration for the novels of the late Robert B Parker.

I really do enjoy this series of books, and have read 1-6 previously. This one didn't quite work for me in the resolution at the end. It was all a bit too rushed and busy which is not in keeping with the pace of the other books. Not sure now whether to bother with 8&9 let alone the other 6 by different authors.