Night Passage

Rating:
Summary: Well Done
Review: "Night Passage" and its sequel "Trouble in Paradise" start the Robert B. Parker fan down another road, as enjoyable as the one we have been on for so long following Spenser's career.

Jesse Stone is a real person whose battles to discover how he feels about his separated wife, struggles to control his drinking, and efforts to settle in to a small New England town which could not be more different to L.A., keep surfacing as he deals with his (initially) inadequate police force and the criminal undercurrents in his town, set in motion by some of the town's leaders.

Great character and great story - and the sequel is even better!

Rating:
Summary: Pass the night away
Review: ...I enjoyed 'Night Passage' it was a modern day western with a very likeable hero.

Rating:
Summary: Nice try, but the jury is still out.
Review: After doing Spenser for so long it is time Parker tried something different even if it is in his own back yard. But he hasn't managed yet to break entirely free. In spite of everything he still has to borrow a character or two from the Spenser novels. Boo. Even so, Parker has taken the tentative first step towards creating an entirely new series. This book may not be Parker's best but it is still a good read. Try it, you may get hooked.

Rating:
Summary: Not nearly as good as the Spenser novels
Review: After the first thirty pages, I was ready to put this book down. Parker can write, there's no doubt about that, but I didn't like how he handled third-person POV or the fact that he shifts POV from character to character. The storyline is pretty predictable, which is okay usually if the characters are engaging but I just couldn't get close to them. This book doesn't even come close to The Godwulf Manuscript (the first Spenser novel). I own all of Parker's Spenser books in hardcover but I wouldn't spend my money on even the paperback version of this one. Why two stars? Because, as I said earlier, Parker can write. He just should pick better characters to use his talent on.

Rating:
Summary: Parker brings in a new lawman to clean up Paradise
Review: As you read Robert B. Parker's "Night Passage" you are always thinking in the back of your mind how this book and its hero Jesse Stone are different from his Spenser novels. "Night Passage" is written in third person rather than first person, although there were a few Spenser novels (most notably "Crimson Joy") that had third person sections reflecting the ramblings and doings of the villain. Consequently we get ahead of the hero in terms of knowing what is going on with the bad guys. In terms of the hero, Jesse Stone is the new Chief of Police rather than a detective, talks very little rather than always having a clever quip, is carrying a torch for the wife he recently divorced instead of having a fulfilling relationship with the love of his life, tends to buy store wrapped food rather than cook his own, drinks too much scotch instead of having a taste for imported beer, and does not know who in town or even on his own police force he can trust instead of having a small circle of trustworthy friends. However, the basic elements that make Spenser such an enduring character are present in Parker's new hero as well. Stone takes his job seriously, knows how to pick up on what's happening in town, and is just as concerned with helping people as he is in following the letter of the law. Also, "Night Passage" is set in the Massachusetts of the Spenser novels, as evidenced by the fact that four familiar supporting characters pop up in the course of the book. So, certainly, Parker is still on familiar ground. But do not think that this novel is going to be as quick a read as his Spenser novels.

The plot finds Stone leaving L.A., having lost his job as a homicide detective after he turned to the bottle in the wake of his divorce. Stone has been hired to be the Chief of Police in the town of Paradise and it quickly becomes clear to us that he was hired not in spite of being drunk but because of it. The powers that be want a lush in that key position. But Stone wants to get his life in order and the police officers and citizens of Paradise eventually learn there is more to their new Chief than meets the eye. "Night Passage," despite its time and place, is a good old-fashioned western. There is a new "sheriff" in town to bring law and order to the good folks of Paradise. In that regard the ultimate showdown is a bit over the top, but very must in the vein of the classic western. It will be interesting to see how Parker plays out this hand in future novels in this series.

Rating:
Summary: Parker brings in a new lawman to clean up Paradise
Review: As you read Robert B. Parker's "Night Passage" you are always thinking in the back of your mind how this book and its hero Jesse Stone are different from his Spenser novels. "Night Passage" is written in third person rather than first person, although there were a few Spenser novels (most notably "Crimson Joy") that had third person sections reflecting the ramblings and doings of the villain. Consequently we get ahead of the hero in terms of knowing what is going on with the bad guys. In terms of the hero, Jesse Stone is the new Chief of Police rather than a detective, talks very little rather than always having a clever quip, is carrying a torch for the wife he recently divorced instead of having a fulfilling relationship with the love of his life, tends to buy store wrapped food rather than cook his own, drinks too much scotch instead of having a taste for imported beer, and does not know who in town or even on his own police force he can trust instead of having a small circle of trustworthy friends. However, the basic elements that make Spenser such an enduring character are present in Parker's new hero as well. Stone takes his job seriously, knows how to pick up on what's happening in town, and is just as concerned with helping people as he is in following the letter of the law. Also, "Night Passage" is set in the Massachusetts of the Spenser novels, as evidenced by the fact that four familiar supporting characters pop up in the course of the book. So, certainly, Parker is still on familiar ground. But do not think that this novel is going to be as quick a read as his Spenser novels.

The plot finds Stone leaving L.A., having lost his job as a homicide detective after he turned to the bottle in the wake of his divorce. Stone has been hired to be the Chief of Police in the town of Paradise and it quickly becomes clear to us that he was hired not in spite of being drunk but because of it. The powers that be want a lush in that key position. But Stone wants to get his life in order and the police officers and citizens of Paradise eventually learn there is more to their new Chief than meets the eye. "Night Passage," despite its time and place, is a good old-fashioned western. There is a new "sheriff" in town to bring law and order to the good folks of Paradise. In that regard the ultimate showdown is a bit over the top, but very must in the vein of the classic western. It will be interesting to see how Parker plays out this hand in future novels in this series.

Rating:
Summary: Parker brings in a new lawman to clean up Paradise
Review: As you read Robert B. Parker's "Night Passage" you are always thinking in the back of your mind how this book and its hero Jesse Stone are different from his Spenser novels. "Night Passage" is written in third person rather than first person, although there were a few Spenser novels (most notably "Crimson Joy") that had third person sections reflecting the ramblings and doings of the villain. Consequently we get ahead of the hero in terms of knowing what is going on with the bad guys. In terms of the hero, Jesse Stone is the new Chief of Police rather than a detective, talks very little rather than always having a clever quip, is carrying a torch for the wife he recently divorced instead of having a fulfilling relationship with the love of his life, tends to buy store wrapped food rather than cook his own, drinks too much scotch instead of having a taste for imported beer, and does not know who in town or even on his own police force he can trust instead of having a small circle of trustworthy friends. However, the basic elements that make Spenser such an enduring character are present in Parker's new hero as well. Stone takes his job seriously, knows how to pick up on what's happening in town, and is just as concerned with helping people as he is in following the letter of the law. Also, "Night Passage" is set in the Massachusetts of the Spenser novels, as evidenced by the fact that four familiar supporting characters pop up in the course of the book. So, certainly, Parker is still on familiar ground. But do not think that this novel is going to be as quick a read as his Spenser novels.

The plot finds Stone leaving L.A., having lost his job as a homicide detective after he turned to the bottle in the wake of his divorce. Stone has been hired to be the Chief of Police in the town of Paradise and it quickly becomes clear to us that he was hired not in spite of being drunk but because of it. The powers that be want a lush in that key position. But Stone wants to get his life in order and the police officers and citizens of Paradise eventually learn there is more to their new Chief than meets the eye. "Night Passage," despite its time and place, is a good old-fashioned western. There is a new "sheriff" in town to bring law and order to the good folks of Paradise. In that regard the ultimate showdown is a bit over the top, but very must in the vein of the classic western. It will be interesting to see how Parker plays out this hand in future novels in this series.

Rating:
Summary: Let's have more of this
Review: Great new character.

Danger! Danger! The girl follows him east. Don't let her turn into Susan Silverman!

Rating:
Summary: Back in the style of the best Spensers
Review: Having read all the Spenser books at least a dozen times each, I thought that Night Passage was actually closer to the best of the Spensers than most of the recent Spensers have been. The depth of character and novelty of the tone of the book was great. Both Night Passage and the most recent Spenser novel, Small Vices, are moving back in the spirit of Parker's best.

How many Spenser readers picked up all four characters from the old series that appear in Night Passage?

Rating:
Summary: Spenser minus the smart mouth.
Review: I have read every Spenser novel Robert Parker has written, so I am delighted to see a new character emerge. Jesse Stone is cast from a mold just different enough from Spenser to be interesting, yet he still retains the typical Parker tough guy core. Now, if he just had another Pearl, the Wonder Dog, and perhaps a Suitable sidekick??