Rating: 
Summary: (3 1/2) Not A Paradise For Jesse Stone
Review: Within the past thirteen months, author Robert Parker has accomplished the literary equivalent of hitting the trifecta by publishing a Sunny Randall novel SHRINK RAP (review 9/20/02), followed by a Spenser novel BACK STORY (review 3/16/03) and finally this Jesse Stone story. Unfortunately, while certainly enjoyable and still superior to the vast majority of other novels of this genre (the lean detective story with spare prose and even sparer dialog peopled by interesting individuals whose personal problems almost never intrude upon their professional tasks), I don't believe that STONE COLD quite lives up to the exacting standards set by Parker's other recent works.There are three separate story lines: the first two relate to cases in which Jesse is involved as the police chief of Paradise, MA and the third concerns his personal life and continuing struggle to remain sober while dealing with the ambiguity of his relationship with his ex- wife Jenn. The opening chapters introduce us to a pair of serial killers and their victims, all of whom unfortunately for Jesse Stone reside in Paradise. This is obviously a case that will strain the capabilities of a small town police department, but luckily for the town and unbeknownst to the killers, while Jesse is now a small town cop he was trained in LA and knows how to systematically pursue an investigation as difficult as the one presented by this case. Unfortunately, the killings appear to be random and with the exception of the spent shells and the evidence in the immediate area of the crimes there are very few leads for the police to pursue. Meanwhile, another case intrudes when a girl from the local high school appears at the police station with her mother to report a [physical abuse]. Jesse is stymied when the mother refuses to let the girl either identify her attackers or press charges when she learns that the incident may result in a public trial of the perpetrators and the identification of her daughter and involvement of their family. Due to the unavoidable stress inherent in pursing such a high profile case as the serial killings while simultaneously attempting to investigate the [physical abuse] allegations in an extremely sensitive manner, Jesse is in danger of losing his battle with the alcoholism and becomes even more conflicted in his relationship with Jenn. One clever element of the book is that despite the book being written in the third person we become privy to Jesse's thoughts regarding his emotional problems and their relationship to his addiction through the sessions with Dix, his therapist, in which he has to verbalize them. The investigation of the murders is written as a standard police procedural, and since the characters are only slightly interesting and truly despicable, the only question is how many victims will they kill before they are finally apprehended? (A reasonable conclusion since we know that the author has a strong sense of good and evil.) In my mind, the [physical abuse]case, though ancillary, was much more interesting. It was nuanced, the police work was cleverer, and the outcome was a far from perfect compromise. Many of the same elements that make Spenser's character so appealing were revealed to also reside in Jesse as that case progressed. Finally, the book's conclusion certainly led the reader to not only cheer for Jesse and wish him well but to expectantly await the next chapter in his and Jenn's relationship. To reiterate my conclusion, Robert Parker has lost none of his gifts for writing stories which are populated by interesting characters, easily and rapidly read, and which implicitly comment upon the triumphs and frailties of the human condition. STONE COLD is highly recommended as a fun, fast read; it's not just quite up to the quality of his best work. Tucker Andersen
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