Rating: 
Summary: Parker at his most lame
Review: I agree whole heartedly with the recent reviewer who advises us not to put Parker's works in the same league as the classics. However, just as there is good, enjoyable, challenging popular entertainment (be it in books, TV, pop music, theater or film) there is also subpar popular entertainment that wastes the consumer's time. I also agree whole heartedly with the other reviewers who thought that the plot in this book strains credibility and that the dialog and behavior of Sunny, Spike, Julie, the villainous doctor, etc., are just as difficult to accept. Just as Neil Simon isn't Shakespeare, audiences still have a right to quality entertainment from him. Fans of Parker's Jesse Stone and Spenser expect a certain level of craftsmanship from him, and this time he doesn't deliver.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Parker, not Dostoevsky!
Review: Robert B. Parker has to rank high among the demigods of Entertainment Fiction. 95% of his works are brilliant brain candy - so much fun to read that they can't be put down, and are read in a couple of hours (thus supporting Poe's claim that a work that can't be read in one sitting isn't worth reading). When you pick up a Parker book, that's all you have a right to expect. There will be no deep characterizations, no exploration of themes that stand the cold light of scrutiny, no meaningful insights into the human condition. Even the plots usually won't withstand much analysis. Oh, sure, Parker likes to pretend he's giving us all that, but we know, and he knows, that it's just a sham. All a Parker book is about is sharp dialogue and crack witticisms.And that's exactly what we get with Shrink Rap. As a novel, it is extremely flawed. As entertainment, it is incredible. Perhaps most entertaining of all is Sunny Randall herself. True, she often seems like Spenser in petticoats - the same wisecracking wit, the same moral code. Yet Sunny is more compelling than Spenser. Not only is she more introspective than Spenser (we find out about Spenser's inner psyche only by other people - Susan, mainly - talking about him as if he weren't there; we're given a direct link to Sunny's feelings), but she's better than Spenser because she cannot fall back on brawn to get her through situations. Spenser ticks people off because he knows he can beat the snot out of them if he has to. Sunny, like the vast majority of us, does not have that option. Which, all told, makes her more real than Spenser and in some ways more enjoyable. All the complaints about Shrink Rap are fair, but misguided. A Parker book is meant to be read quickly, enjoyed, and then put on the shelf for a slow afternoon at the beach. This is network television in print without the commercials; keep your expectations in line with reality and you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Who ARE these people?
Review: I love the Spenser series and enjoyed the first two Sunnys, so I feel as disappointed by this book as I would be an unfaithful lover. It contains every element that's ever annoyed me about Parker's writing, and made them even more grating! First of all, the characters. Sunny and Spike are in their 30s and listen to WWII era music and quote Fred Allen. I guess Parker is too lazy to even try to include an appropriate pop culture reference. Then there's the savvy author who is selling her book to Hollywood, who knows all about agents and movie stars and making deals. And she is SHOCKED that Spike is gay? Yes, I can see where a woman who lives in a major metropolian area and rubs elbows with show biz types would find gay men exotic and unusual. COME ON! And Sunny and Julie's conversations are always about "deep, important" male/female issues, the way Phil Donahue's TV show was. Could these two talk about the sweater sale at Filene's for a change? Or if they must ruminate about the battle of the sexes ad nauseum, could we bring the dialog out the 1970s at least? Readers of the Spenser series are used to Parker returning again and again to the issues of feminism, therapy and the way the straight world views gays. In this book, he takes the opportunity to bludgeon us with them, and the characters suffer mightily. And then there's the plot. Add me to the list of readers who found it hard to believe that the shrink didn't realize that the Sunny Randall and Sonjia Burke were one in the same. Her disguise did seem about as elaborate as Clark Kent's. Yet I enjoyed FAMILY HONOR and PERISH TWICE enough that, should Parker decide to resurrect Sunny again, I'll try to spend a little more time with her. I just wish he'd work a little harder on what were once his strengths: dialog and plot development. I prefer reading about people I can believe actually live and breathe, and none of this characters remotely came to life.
Rating: 
Summary: One more chance for Sunny Randall
Review: This is the second Sunny Randall book I've read. While there is much to like - interesting characters, good dialogue, descriptive details, I'm having trouble with Sunny. Sunny was a police officer, now a private detective, but she seems to be uncomfortable in her PI skin. Danger seems new and scary to her, and she always seems to be struggling with "doing it by myself." The first book, okay. The second book? Tiring. Sunny is, one time, competent & tough, and the next minute is caught unaware, wearing cute but inappropriate footwear. There's a little too much female angst, which doesn't hit quite the right note. I especially enjoy her interactions with her dog, Rosie. I'll give a third book a try, but unless she can start "doin' it for herself", I'm no longer interested.
Rating:
Summary: Dueling Identities
Review: Sunny Randle, Robert B. Parker's irrepressible female private eye, returns in SHRINK RAP. Still struggling with her own issues regarding her marriage and divorce to Richie Burke, who has family ties to organized crime, Sunny finds herself hired as a bodyguard. As Sunny takes care to point out in the novel, she's not a bodyguard by trade. She can do the job, but she prefers detecting. However, Melanie Joan Hall, a best-selling romantic suspense writer, draws Sunny's interest. Melanie Joan's ex-husband, John Melvin, has a career as a psychotherapist, but he also has a lot of issues he's carrying around. While bodyguarding Melanie Hall on a ten-day whirlwind book signing event, Melvin puts in an appearance, upsetting Melanie Joan horribly. At another signing event, Melvin makes threats to Sunny. At a third, Melvin wipes blood across the front windows of the bookstore. Knowing that the ex-husband is a full-blown stalker and that getting rid of him in any way that will involve Melanie Joan testifying against him and setting herself up to be a media event is impossible, Sunny sets herself to uncovering the full extent of the darkness that Melvin harbors. Under her married name, Sunny signs on as a client of Melvin's, while at the same time putting pressure on the man as Sunny Randle, PI. In the middle of balancing the dual identities, Sunny also finds herself opening up to the man more than she wants to, trying to heal herself over her own confusion about her relationship issues. Perennial NEW YORK TIMES bestseller, Robert B. Parker has written two previous novels about Sunny Randle, including PERISH TWICE and FAMILY HONOR. Parker is best known for his series of detective novels about wisecracking tough guy, Spenser. A third series that Parker writes involves Jesse Stone, the police chief of a small town, Paradise, Massachusetts. He's also written two novels featuring Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. His Spenser books served as inspiration for the ABC television series SPENSER: FOR HIRE starring Robert Urich, and a handful of A & E movies featuring Urich as well as Joe Mantegna. SHRINK RAP is Robert B. Parker near the top of his game. The plot is engaging enough, though perhaps a little light, but the dialogue sings. He has one of the best ears in the business for real people and the way they really talk. At the heart of all his novels, Parker continually delves into the relationship dynamic between couples and with self. SHRINK RAP definitely deals with those issues. Besides the rescue of Melanie Joan, Sunny also deals with her own rescue, involving a number of scenes with her ex-husband, friend, and family. Despite the ease of reading and the feeling of camaraderie with the main character, the plot lags a little. The final scenes of the book play out well, but the build-up was almost understated. John Melvin came across as a bad guy, but the reader never got the chance to really see him as a character. Also almost invisible except as threats were his two partners-in-crime. Parker books usually have more violence in them than what is presented here, as well as more of a cat-and-mouse game. Sunny Randle's latest book stands as a good beach read, or as single-sitting read that will keep the reader turning pages until the final card has been played. Fans of Kinsey Milhone, Carlotta Carlyle and V. I. Warshawski may well find a new tough, female detective to read if they try this series.
Rating:
Summary: Parker is coasting
Review: If this was the first book I had read by Robert B.Parker, it would be the last. But I keep reading each as they come out, because if the excellence of his early work. Nobody believes the silly disguise, silly plot in this one. Read it for the usual Parker sparkling dialogue. It is a very short book. Maybe Parker is tired.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent on dialogue, weak on plot
Review: I am a long time reader of Parker's work and I've noticed a disturbing trend in his most recent books. He has managed to maintain the witty and interesting dialogue however the plots have grown weak. Take "Shrink Wrap" for example. The entire premise of Sunny infiltrating the antagonist's lair in disguise and not being recognized was utterly unbelievable. There are certainly times when one can suspend disbelief, like when you're watching a Superman movie and he flies, but these books are supposed to be grounded in realism. Another major plot point that bothered me; why is the ex-husband stalking the famous writer when Sunny reveals he has more than enough rich attractive female patients to toy with? The whole gang rape scenario seemed pretty lame too. Parker has a real focus lately on naked polaroids and kinky sex scenarios that are somewhat hard to believe. He's used the polaroids in at least two books in recent years. The saving grace for this book and most of Parker's recent ones, is the characters and their interaction. Spenser has Hawk and Susan, Sunny has Richie and Spike. Reading the recent books is like revisiting old friends and its good to see them, even if their actions are a bit tired and unoriginal. If you've never read Parker, don't start with Sunny Randall. Proceed immediately to the early Spenser books and work your way through those. By the time you get to the recent books, you'll have such an affinity for the characters, the lack of plot won't bother you as much.
Rating:
Summary: Several Recognizable Alter-Egos
Review: Sunny Randall, the Spenser female alter-ego is hard at work protecting famous author Melanie Joan from a stalking ex-husband. The dialogue, as ALWAYS, is smart and terse and fun. If you know (and love) the Spenser books, you'll recognize several alter-egos along with the Boston/Cambridge setting. Parker creates a cute female character, but he still doesn't quite get into the female thing (though I think he does try). The romance is pretty rocky in the normal Parkeresque way, the bad guys really, really sick, and the reading a pure joy!
Rating:
Summary: Sunny's fun to be with
Review: So far, I can't say that any of the Sunny Randall books have hit the high point that some Spenser novels have. But I find the three of them consistently good. SHRINK RAP does differ somewhat from your basic Parker story. It's one of the few that doesn't bring in organized crime figures. The principle bad guy is believingly creepy enough that he doesn't need gangster help. He does have a couple of confederates, and again, they are sleazy enough, and somehow more menacing than any of Joe Broz' or Tony Morris' hoods. As others point out, the disguise element doesn't convince. This evil character sure isn't going to be convinced by Sunny's disguise, and I'm afraid I'm not either. However, this book delivers what one expects from Parker...a quick entertaining straight-line read which while mainly diversion still has enough thought provoking elements to satisfy the intelligent reader.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at Best
Review: I really cannot recommend Shrink Rap, for a number of reasons. There is not much to the story, the narrative voice is an unconvincing female and the plot gets ridiculous toward the end. The only positive thing I have to say is it is certainly a quick read.
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