Rating: 
Summary: Spenser without the spice
Review: Sunny Randall is a Boston PI with guns in the closet, an ex who isn't really an ex who has bad connections, a pit bull named Rosie who ranks only slightly higher than world peace on the scale of importance, and, in fine Parker style, a bodybuilding gay hunk for a sidekick. In, SHRINK RAP, Sunny has been hired as bodyguard by a novelist who's being stalked by her ex, Dr. John Melvin, a psychiatrist. In order to discover more about the good doctor, Sunny assumes a disguise and shows up as a supposed patient seeking advice about her ex ... not so far off point. In the process of bagging the bad guy, Sunny learns some interesting truths about herself. Supposedly, anyway.The really good thing I have to say for SHRINK RAP is you can read it in one sitting without eyestrain, since the pages are filled with so much of Parker's characteristic dialogue that one doesn't need to worry about stumbling into any description along the way. The really bad thing I have to say is that Parker seems to have discovered a wonderful new technique whereby all his characters are interchangeable. Simply alter the name and slap them into different books. Sunny talked so much like Spenser that at times I forgot she wasn't Spenser. And as for the dog ... when the dog starts getting whole chapters of her own in which to fetch balls and take walks, you know the plot has foundered. Sunny did have a couple of good scenes with the shrink, but after she has explained to her friends and cohorts six or seven times why it is she doesn't need their help, my eyes start rolling. If you love Parker no matter what, SHRINK RAP will give you a good dose of more of the same. But otherwise, I suggest you reread the early Spenser novels and leave Sunny on the shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Mildly amusing
Review: Sunny Randall must spend her time reading Stephanie Plum mysteries. There is no whacky grandmother in this story, but other than that it is pretty much a Janet Evanovich [clone]. Parker's novel read like a movie script in that they are almost all diologue. They also have more white space than a serious writer should be willing to foist on the public. There is really no mystery in this novel just a story of bringing a known stalker to a form of justice by your basically neurotic woman private detective.
Rating: 
Summary: Another I Just Couldn't Put Down
Review: Sunny Randall, Parker's female detective, is no Spenser or even Jesse Stone (the former being his famous private eye who with his sidekick Hawk has been successful in both books and a television series, the latter is a small town police chief of considerable personality). Yet Parker's ability to tell stories and his inventiveness in having those stories evolve in unpredictable ways always makes me buy the latest book as soon as it hits the shelves. Once I start I find a Parker novel impossible to put down. In Shrink Rap Sunny is hired to protect a famous novelist whose ex husband is stalking her. The stalking gets more bizarre and the novelist's psychological problems causes Sunny to seek a psychologist to help with the case. However, the conversations seem to keep coming back to Sunny and her former husband, but of course only in the line of helping her client because she would not go to a 'shrink'herself. The plot thickens, the dialogue is unfailingly interesting and you can't help but become engrossed in the personalities. If you read Parker you know what I mean. If you haven't read Parker now is the time to start.
Rating: 
Summary: a stinker
Review: at approx 50 words per page,and very few pages. However,the large print made for a fast read
Rating:
Summary: Hard to Believe
Review: With this latest in the Sunny Randall series, Mr. Parker has acheived something nearly impossible: a book written by a fine author that is so bad, on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin criticizing it. Let's start with the mystery. There isn't one. Dr. John Melvin, a psychiatrist, is stalking his ex-wife and abusing his exclusively sexy, exclusively female patients. We know that almost from the beginning of the book. The only tension in the plot (which reads more like an hour of bad cop television than a novel) is that Sunny can't prove he's doing it, to a court of law. So she must use her own sexy body as bait to trap him. Throughout the book, everyone she knows tries to talk her out of doing the work she does without help from her male friends and attachments. EVERYONE. This is what, the third or fourth book in the series? So presumably Sunny has been doing this kind of work for a while, and her friends and family ought to be used to it. The argument was old the first time around. Does this writer have such a problem with independent women that he must continually justify Sunny's decisions? Next we have the old can't-live-with-him, can't-live-without-him relationship that permeates every one of Robert B. Parker's books. For Spenser and Susan, it kind of makes sense. But Jesse Stone from the "Paradise" series is still in love with his ex-wife and Sunny is still in love with Ritchie, even though they've been divorced since before the first book, and even though Ritchie is getting married to someone else. Or at least thinking about it. Maybe. I think this plot line started out being a way to keep some tension going, but it is now its own cliche. Can't anyone in a Parker book manage to grow up enough to really be married? I especially hated how proud Sunny's ex-husband was of her at the end, for being so tough and brave. As far as I could see, all she did was allow herself to be victimized and then yell for him to rescue her. The set-up was repulsive and the congratulations patronizing. Parker's contempt for women really shows and he should not try to write about strong ones - with the exception of Susan Silverman, who evolved over the years, he can't do it. Freudian psychology is laced all through this novel, which probably tells us more about Parker than we need to know. The only good thing about the book is, it reads quick. I finished it in one evening, but I felt a little nauseous.
Rating:
Summary: Sunny Randall is not really in theraphy, but it helps
Review: On one level there is the case: Sunny Randall has been hired to be a body guard for best-selling author Melanie Joan Hall who is being stalked by her ex-husband, a psychiatrist who is clearly used to having his way with every woman he meets, whether they are a patient or not. On another level there is Sunny's relationship with her ex-husband Richie, which is very much of the can't live with him, can't live without him variety. The more she learns about Melanie Joan's relation with her ex-husband the more Sunny finds herself questioning her own relationships with all of the men in her life, from Richie and her father to Tony Gault, the Hollywood agent she meets out in L.A. Of course the only way you can read only of Robert B. Parker's Sunny Randall novels and not see it as a juggling around of the elements of his Spenser for Hire series is that you never read any of the Spenser for Hire novels. Yes, the main character is a female rather than a male, was actually married to their obvious sole mate, and the two of them share a good looking bull terrier that is in much better shape that Pearl the beloved wonder dog. But given how long it took Spencer and Susan to figure out their relationship things do not portend well for Sunny and Richie. However, that remains the secondary consideration in this novel to the case Sunny is working and by now it is clear that whatever the case she is working the climax has to be so her willingness (or rather her unwillingness) to have anybody provide help in the big showdown. In that regard, "Shrink Rap" turns out to be rather different from the previous novels in the series, "Perish Twice" and "Family Honor." Ultimately, the secondary considerations outweigh the case at hand in this novel. The showdown actually ends up being less than fulfilling given everything that sets it up and what becomes more interesting are Sunny's ruminations on her life in the book's several therapy sessions (not that Sunny is in therapy, mind you, just pretending to be in therapy and talking about the pretend therapy). Consequently, her character actually seems to be making some progress with her troubled life. As always, Parker provides a quick read; these are novels where the only real way to avoid reading it in one day is to start it late at night. However, such books are perfect for the commuter lifestyle. The dialogue is typical Parker, where the one-liners are always driven by character and context. At least now we know if there is any chance for Sunny and Richie to end up happily ever after, it is going to happen this century...
Rating:
Summary: Sunny Randall is a winning heroine...
Review: I enjoyed this third installment of Parker's "Sunny Randall" series. She is a good successor to aging P.I. Spenser. The change of gender and the substitution of a gay protector, Spike, in place of Hawk, offer interesting variants on the "Spenser" world that Parker's fans have loved for 29 novels featuring that character. Of course, there is a romantic entanglement with complications here, like Spenser and his Susan, and of course, of course, a beloved dog. I withheld a "five star" rating only because the bad guys in this one were a little less credible than in the other books. Perhaps I enjoyed this more than some other reviewers because I do a kind of counseling/therapy in my own work life, and a large part of this novel involves psychotherapy. I think Sunny and her ex-husband Richie are great characters who could have a long run, if Parker doesn't decide to retire anytime soon. If you have not yet read any of the Sunny Randall thrillers, start with the first and catch up!
Rating:
Summary: Hat's off to Parker once again...
Review: First off I want to go on record saying I love the Spenser series. And even if the stories seem similar I don't care, I am reading them because I love the characters and the oh so witty repartee. I cannot seem to comprehend, for the life of me, why is doesn't happen in my daily dialogues quite like that! Perhaps this is just one of the reasons why I so enjoy reading it. Shrink Rap is not a Spencer novel, it is a Sunny Randall novel, his female, Spenser-like character. I do not mind a bit all these comparisons between him and her - Sunny Randall is a wonderful character. Enough defending and onto the story: Boston PI Sunny Randall, while coping with whether to be with ex-husband Ritchie who's family is mob connected or to be able to finally let go and move on with her life and this does not mean just jumping into bed with other men, it means letting them in emotionally as well. It seems neither she nor Richie has found a way to do this, but he is willing to try with another woman and makes Sunny aware of his intentions, creating more internal turmoil and maybe a time to look at the why of their bonding with a professional clarity. Against this emotional back drop, Sunny takes on a new case, becoming a bodyguard to a romance writer ready to go on tour, and who's ex-husband, a psychiatrist has taken to stalking her, reducing her to an almost catatonic state at times. I do not want to give too much away, or turn this column into a long description of the story, but all the wonderful dialogue is worth the read. Parker, the grand master, shows he still is The Grand Master!
Rating:
Summary: Not the usual Parker line on psychology
Review: Well, if you're gonna write about shrinks all the time in your thrillers, you might as well have one where they're central to the plot. That's what Mr. Parker does here, and the result is actually pretty entertaining. I especially liked the fact that the featured shrink is memorably evil. It really kept the pages turning!
Rating: 
Summary: Good stuff--sympathetic character damaged but dealing
Review: Romance author Melanie Joan Hall hires Private Investigator Sunny Randall to help guard her against the the author's stalking ex-husband. Sunny wants to do more than guard--but as she begins to investigate the ex-husband, psychiatrist John Melvin, she begins to discover hints that Melvin is doing more than stalking. A psychiatrist whose practice seems to consist solely of beautiful women has plenty of opportunities to do evil. Sunny's investigations soon lead her to trouble--and danger. Sunny's personal problems form a reverse image of Melanie Joan's. Like Melanie Joan, Sunny can't get over her ex-husband and, as she investigates Melvin, she starts to work on her own issues. Author Robert B. Parker delivers an enjoyable mystery. Fans of Parker will be familiar with the issues of being unable to live with, or without, a particular relationship, but here Sunny's problems and their mirror image problems with Melanie Jone add rather than detract from the story. Parker does a good job showing the positive as well as dangers of psychiatry, avoiding a fall into cliche. Sunny's dialogue doesn't pack the impact of Parker's more famous Spenser series but this character remains fresh and interesting. Her mix of toughness and vulnerability makes Sunny sympathetic even when she doesn't make the most logical decisions.
| 
