Rating: 
Summary: brain thorn
Review: As far as I know, T. Jefferson Parker is the first one to use "brain thorn" to describe a condition we all suffer when something is right on the tip of our toungue. Detective McMichael manages to extract the important clues right on time.
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Summary: Parker is the new Ross MacDonald
Review: Back when I was a kid, I first discovered private eye novels by reading those of the Canadian trasplant named Ken Millar, who wrote the Lew Archer novels under the pen name Ross MacDonald. Millar had a wonderful understanding of Southern California's landscape and atmosphere, as much as the other transplant private eye novelist, Raymond Chandler, and was much more prolific in addition. When I read T. Jefferson Parker's first novel, Laguna Heat, I was immediately convinced that here was the heir of MacDonald, and by extension Chandler: someone with a wonderful sense of the atmosphere of California, the people and their motivations, the landscape and the politics. Frankly, in the intervening two decades or so, he's only gotten better. Several of his recent books (most notably Silent Joe) have the possibility of turning into classics. Cold Pursuit, his latest, is another very very good book.
Tom McMichael is a San Diego P.D. homicide detective, and he's on call when Pete Braga, an elderly businessman and local politician. However, McMichael's supervisor calls him, he gives McMichael the option to pass on the case. It soon develops that Braga, back half a century ago, shot McMichael's grandfather to death, and when Braga's oldest son was beaten senseless, McMichael's father was the odds-on favorite suspect, though his best friend gave him an alibi. All of this bad blood didn't keep McMichael from having an affair with a Braga when he was a teenager, in spite of the danger from both sides of the family.
Despite all of this, McMichael takes on the case, and commences his investigation with the pretty nurse who was getting large and valuable gifts from the old guy. Things widen from there, and McMichael and his partners must follow the various suspects through a number of venues, even crossing the border to Mexico following suspected smugglers.
I enjoyed this book a great deal, and these days I look forward to the next Parker novel about as much as any other. I highly recommend this book, and echo the sentiment of other reviewers that Parker ought to be better known than he is.
Rating:
Summary: Strong Characters Make This A Winner
Review: Homicide detective, Tom McMichael is charged with investigating the brutal murder of 84 year old Pete Braga. Complicating the case is the fact that the McMichael and Braga families have a long standing feud, that includes violence on both sides. Parker does a wonderful job of introducing his characters to the reader without a lot of tedious details. I've read many of Parker's previous novels and it's his writing style that keeps me coming back. He tells a good story and keeps the pace moving at a good clip. His characters stay with me long after I've finished a book of his. I can still remember Silent Joe...one of my favorites. Tom McMichael will stay with me too. A decent guy trying to do a good job under difficult circumstances. A very enjoyable read.
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Summary: One of my Favorite Authors
Review: I agree with the reviewer who says T. Jefferson Parker should be more popular than he is. He ranks right up there with the best! Cold Pursuit is yet another great read. The plot has already been discussed so I won't repeat it, but I highly recommend any book by Mr. Parker. I also just finished reading California Girl and I'd also rate it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A Genuine Page Turner
Review: I have read many T. Jefferson Parker books and this is one of the best. You see the term "page turner" used a lot but this is one book that really grabs you and keeps you reading until the end. There is murder, a little romance and a dedicated cop who is tracking down a killer while dealing with his own demons. I dare anyone to start this mystery and not finish it in one sitting. It is really quite riveting.
Rating: 
Summary: Left me cold
Review: Not up to the level of earlier works. At about the 3/4 of the way in flipped to the end to confirm suspicion and gratefully ended the effort. Characters could not hold our interest and the mystery was TV grade.
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Summary: An Excellent Whodunit
Review: San Diego homicide cop Tom McMichael is investigating the murder of eighty-four-year-old city patriarch Pete Braga who was found bludgeoned to death. In a long ago past Braga shot McMichael's grandfather in a fight over a paycheck, then right after the shooting Braga's son was found badly beaten. Was it revenge? The investigation leads to many suspects, including members of both the McMichael and Braga families in this whodunit that will keep you up all night long as it did me.
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Summary: In a word---spectacular!
Review: T. Jefferson Parker's "Cold Pursuit" is a classic crime story...a complicated tale that unfolds effortlessly. He is a most visual writer.Unanswered questions from the past frame the narrative. No one is quite what he or she appears as Detective Tom McMichael and his partner Hector Paz endeavor to unravel the truth about the murder of eighty-four year old San Diego patriarch Pete Braga. There are three generations of bad blood between the Portuguese Bragas and the Irish McMichaels. McMichael's basic decency and personal code eliminate any chance of a clouded judgement. There is no shortage of suspects: City Council members, the Catholic Diocese, a smuggling ring, the police force, members of either family---any of them could have done it. As McMichael exhumes the past to explain the current crime, you can never anticipate what is coming next. Each and every clue seems conflicting...altering newfound clarity into opaqueness in the turn of a page. Wonderful misdirection. To paraphrase Inspector Clouseau: "I suspected everyone and I suspected no one." A powerful ending. Do not miss this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Hot not Cold
Review: This is the first book I have read by this author, but it won't be the last. This is the first time I have read the reviews and only found one negative one. T. Jefferson Parker is a winner and so was Tom McMichael. A sensitive man with a lot of regrets.
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Summary: Authentic Cop Story
Review: This was the first Parker book I had read, and I was pleasantly surprised. He has a very real, unpretentious style. Many current thrillers read like ridiculous summer-blockbuster screenplays, replete with outlandish chases and hackneyed cop jargon. But this book is solid, authentic, and engrossing. The plot is balanced but exciting, and the characters are compelling. And in the climax, Parker doesn't go for the cheap, unlikely uber-twist -- but he does suprise. I highly recommend this book. It might be worth waiting for in paperback, but you won't be disappointed shelling out for the hardcover.
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