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Family Honor

Family Honor

List Price: $30.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Feisty female private eye makes for an enjoyable read
Review: I don't normally read airport books but this one caught my eye in LAX among all the other hyped up best-seller production line flotsam. I had never even heard of Robert B Parker,... but no matter.

The plot follows the efforts of female private eye Sunny Randall to find out why a teenage daughter disappeared from a powerful Boston family. It has enough twists to keep the pages turning eagerly, the characters may not reach Tolstoy depths but there's enough texture and flavor to hit archetypal buttons and the writing overall is professional and enjoyable. It all resolves to a believably gritty but positive conclusion, give or take a few corpses. The high-minded conflict between white hats and black hats ends up nicely smudged, just like in real life.

Above all, I found Family Honor warm-hearted and Sunny Randall a likeable and mostly credible heroine. These days, I'm steering clear of entertainments that leave me feeling bleak, however compelling they may be. I rate Family Honor as a good buy and my appetite is now whetted for some of the other Parker books that other reviewers rate even higher.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ouch this was bad
Review: I have read all of Parker's Spenser and Jesse Stone novels - I am a big fan. With reluctance I picked up Parker's first Sunny Randel novel. On the plus side I can see Helen Hunt playing Sunny in the movie, on the down side I fear the movie will stink as much as the book.
After reading "Family Honor" I asked myself is Parker biting off more than he can chew? The book was poorly researched, and appears to be quickly written. The characters were one-dimensional and in many respects unlikeable.
Nevertheless, if you are a Parker fan this will probably be a must read, hopefully this will be his last Sunny Randel novel.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Family Honor
Review: I have read all of Robert B. Parker's novels except the Sunny Randall novels. I wasn't sure that I would enjoy Parker's writing about a female P.I., so I was pleasantly surprised when I finished "Family Honor". Sunny Randall is 35, divorced from her ex-husband whom she still loves, and paints. She also owns a bull terrier named Rosie. Sunny is hired by Brock and Betty Patton to find their daughter, Millicent, who has run away from home. Sunny locates Millicent, but she refuses to return home. It seems that there are some other people who are looking for Millicent as well. Sunny hides Millicent in a friend's home while she investigates. I like the character of Sunny Randall and plan to read the next two novels while awaiting more Spenser and Jesse Stone novels from Robert B. Parker.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: NO MORE SUNNY RANDALL, PLEASE
Review: I have read every Spencer book written by Parker and both Jessie Stone books. I enjoyed them all, some more than others but as a whole I like all of them. I even keep them and read some more than once, which is rare for me. Now comes Sunny Randall. It is the worst thing I have read that Parker wrote. All about a privite eye who finds a fifteen year old for her parents and then decides to not take her home until she can find out why she ran away. Sunny uses her ex-husbands mob family to get her into places and to see people she cannot do by her self. Spike is the answer to Spencers Hawk, I guess. I had to force my self to finish the book. I understand there is another Sunny Randall out in Hardback, guess who WON'T be buying it. I know Robert Parker could care less what I think if this book, but, I wish he would stick to the Spencer books which he does so well. This is about the same as Spencer and Paul in Thin Air. The names have changed but not much else.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A female Spenser? I could only have hoped ...
Review: I love the Spenser series, so I had high hopes when I picked this up. In many ways, it's a little too similar to Spenser. A female private eye, in Boston, knows the good guys, knows the bad guys. She's got a male sidekick who works in the Hawk role, and there's even a Susan-alike too. And a dog. So what's wrong?

Well, so much for a female role model. She comments on the decorating of a room. She moans about ponies at parties. She moans about why Tony Marcus won't go take care of things for her ... she's told 80 quadrillion times that the girl is hooking and POOF of course she is. *sigh*

My boyfriend had three words: "I hate it."

I tried to be open minded. I didn't mind the Paradise novels. It's good to get a different take on things, even if everything REEKS of Spenser and is set in the same universe. But REALLY! She's always going "I'm independant. I can stand on my own. Hey, ex-hubby, can you talk to people for me? I can't seem to find a girl in one town even though I'm convinced she's hooking. Hey, Tony, why won't you just give her to me? I don't care if your employee has her and is making money. I feel it is Only Right that you hand her over just Because."

ARRRGGGHHHHH.

The writing is excellent. The characters and location are great. It's the minor plot flaws, and the huge character flaws, that bug me on this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WONDERFUL & WITTY !
Review: I loved this book! Sunny Randall is the absolute best character that I've seen in a very long time. Sunny has got it going on, as does the author who captured the essence of "today's" woman: independent, corageous, with a life-saving sense of humor. All women will love the characters of this book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A "Sunny" forecast for this new character
Review: I must be the only person in New England who never read a Spencer novel or watched the TV show, Spencer For Hire. It clearly is my loss if this book which introduces the character Sunny Randall, PI is any judge of things. I picked up the book while on vacation - literally. It was left in our room for future guests to enjoy and it may be as perfect a "beach read" as I have seen in some time. If you don't break for lunch (or maybe even if you do)you will finish the 322 pages of this book before dinner. You will enjoy the reparte between the characters, you will wonder why Meredith Patton, age 15, is so determined to run away from a home that would seem to offer wealth and security, you will fall in love with a dog named Rosie and you will quickly figure out that you should not underestimate or mess with Ms. Sunny Randall. I shall have to try out some of the Spencer novels to see if they are as enjoyable. I am very optimistic.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Spenser, Jesse, now SUNNY???
Review: I was a bit reluctant at first to pick this one up, but in the end I am glad I did. It's a quick read, some humorous moments and references to a 200lb boxer with a broken nose. The only thing wrong with the book is the lack of an original plot. If you're a fan of Robert Parker, by all means you must have this one in your library. If you're a first time Parker reader, after reading this book, pick up either "Night Passage" or if you want the same plot different main character, try "Thin Air". All in all, I look forward to see how Mr. Parker will develop Sunny Randall further.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nobbad!! Not Spencer, but a good read.
Review: I will follow the series for another novel or two at least.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Big disappointment for a Parker fan!
Review: I'm sorry, but this is the worst Robert B. Parker novel I have ever read! I am sorry that I spent the money on the paperback. I loved the Spenser novels, I even loved Night Passage with Jesse Stone, but this book was pedestrian, right from the start. The dialogue was so predictable, I could practically guess what Sunny was going to say. The characters were underdeveloped with no real depth. There was no thrill or excitement at the end of the book, like in the rest of Mr. Parker's novels. All I know is that I will be getting the next book he writes from the library!


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