Rating: 
Summary: The Adventures of Young Spenser
Review: This book is Parker-paced, with all of the stoicism we've come to love in spenser and hawk. Jesse Stone seems to be Spenser in his "Wonder Years", and the new villain, Crow, is a poor-man's Hawk. Bet we'll be seeing him again! But you know what? I like the book! Stone isn't as perfect as Spenser, and he actually makes mistakes, and dubious moral choices. His main squeeze also seems to be an intelligent, independant woman, not a neurotic, paralysis-by-analysis that Susan Silverman is. The plot is easy to figure, and the main villain somewhat simplistic. But the villain's girlfriend is another great character! richly drawn, and compelling (hope she shows up again too!). It's also great to hear from Frank Belson in the story, as it was to hear from State Cop Healy in the first Jesse Stone novel. The story is fun, without being preachy, and does have some tense moments. Jesse's sidekick, Suitcase, seems like a heckuva guy--hope he gets some real play soon. Definately buy this book, if you need a good book for a weekend. Get into this series from the beginning, so that 5-10 years from now, when Spenser is retired, Jesse Stone will seem like an old friend.
Rating:
Summary: The Adventures of Young Spenser
Review: This book is Parker-paced, with all of the stoicism we've come to love in spenser and hawk. Jesse Stone seems to be Spenser in his "Wonder Years", and the new villain, Crow, is a poor-man's Hawk. Bet we'll be seeing him again! But you know what? I like the book! Stone isn't as perfect as Spenser, and he actually makes mistakes, and dubious moral choices. His main squeeze also seems to be an intelligent, independant woman, not a neurotic, paralysis-by-analysis that Susan Silverman is. The plot is easy to figure, and the main villain somewhat simplistic. But the villain's girlfriend is another great character! richly drawn, and compelling (hope she shows up again too!). It's also great to hear from Frank Belson in the story, as it was to hear from State Cop Healy in the first Jesse Stone novel. The story is fun, without being preachy, and does have some tense moments. Jesse's sidekick, Suitcase, seems like a heckuva guy--hope he gets some real play soon. Definately buy this book, if you need a good book for a weekend. Get into this series from the beginning, so that 5-10 years from now, when Spenser is retired, Jesse Stone will seem like an old friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Trouble with Booze!
Review: This book was a fast read,the main character an alcoholic police chief who beds all the women in the town of Paradise,MA and stops crime! The story line is Ok,but the outcome leaves little doubt of what happens.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining but tiresome at times
Review: This is a good book to wile away an evening with. The plot was intriguing and Jesse Stone is an interesting character, but I had trouble with his approach to sex. He sleeps with 3 different women during the course of the book which I believe is only a few weeks. Doesn't he know about AIDS? Unplanned pregnancy? Sexually transmitted diseases? Or does he just not care? It got a little tiresome. The women are all beautiful, with perfect bodies, who drink like fish but eat like birds. This got a little tiresome too. In one of the last scenes, when 2 of his lovers get together to talk over lunch, I think they should have bagged the salads and had hot fudge sundaes. They deserved them.
Rating:
Summary: Police Chief Jesse Stone, coming into his own....
Review: This is the second of Parker's new series, and Jesse Stone is being well developed. He definitely isn't a Spenser clone. He's more serious and more fallible. Actually, he's more human and easier to identify with.This particular book pits him against a gang of five, two of which are indeed formidable, along with a woman who's formidable because of her love for one of the bad guys. The 3rd person narrative allows us to get a better picture of the bad guys and exactly what they're doing than we get in Spenser's 1st person narratives. Jesse Stone isn't as fast with the wise cracks and snappy dialogue as Spenser is, but the two main crooks give us a lot of snappy dialogue. In fact, one restaurant conversation between Macklin and Crow could've easily been between Spenser and Hawk. Lots to notice in the book. Jenn is going to a Cambridge shrink. Could that shrink be somebody we Spenser fans know well? A base of characters is being built up here, and I'm sure we'll see some of them in future books. Tony Marcus shows up, but notice that Stone doesn't meet him, so they're unaware of each other. A lot of readers are concerned about Sloan's drinking and his sex habits. It seems to me that he's not truly an alcoholic and is keeping his drinking under control. As far as whether he's practicing safe sex or not...well, Parker doesn't really tell us whether he's taking precautions or not. Important thing is that this is a fun read. The short chapters are hooks though...like salted peanuts, one always needs one more. And I disagree with anyone who implies these books are quickly forgotten. I'm surprised when I come across references to the previous book as to how much I do remember. If Parker is indeed easing Spenser out the door, Sloan may well be the more interesting of Parker's new series heroes.
Rating:
Summary: Police Chief Jesse Stone, coming into his own....
Review: This is the second of Parker's new series, and Jesse Stone is being well developed. He definitely isn't a Spenser clone. He's more serious and more fallible. Actually, he's more human and easier to identify with. This particular book pits him against a gang of five, two of which are indeed formidable, along with a woman who's formidable because of her love for one of the bad guys. The 3rd person narrative allows us to get a better picture of the bad guys and exactly what they're doing than we get in Spenser's 1st person narratives. Jesse Stone isn't as fast with the wise cracks and snappy dialogue as Spenser is, but the two main crooks give us a lot of snappy dialogue. In fact, one restaurant conversation between Macklin and Crow could've easily been between Spenser and Hawk. Lots to notice in the book. Jenn is going to a Cambridge shrink. Could that shrink be somebody we Spenser fans know well? A base of characters is being built up here, and I'm sure we'll see some of them in future books. Tony Marcus shows up, but notice that Stone doesn't meet him, so they're unaware of each other. A lot of readers are concerned about Sloan's drinking and his sex habits. It seems to me that he's not truly an alcoholic and is keeping his drinking under control. As far as whether he's practicing safe sex or not...well, Parker doesn't really tell us whether he's taking precautions or not. Important thing is that this is a fun read. The short chapters are hooks though...like salted peanuts, one always needs one more. And I disagree with anyone who implies these books are quickly forgotten. I'm surprised when I come across references to the previous book as to how much I do remember. If Parker is indeed easing Spenser out the door, Sloan may well be the more interesting of Parker's new series heroes.
Rating:
Summary: Not Spenser and can't stand the wife
Review: This isn't Spenser tho' faint echoes of possible links through shared characters (Tony Marcus and 'a shrink in Cambridge' could this be Susan?)appear. The strange on-off nature of the main character's marital relationship is intrusive to the story and serves no purpose but to irritate. Otherwise the usual excellent dialogue and spare writing but I think Mr Parker should divert his time onto more Spenser
Rating:
Summary: Two Page Chapters Don't Cut It!
Review: This little Parker novel was very thin, both on plot and number of pages. The average chapter length had to be two pages, and with blanks pages in between to fatten it up, it was an embarassment. Plot was pretty good and it was nice to see a new Parker character, but, puleese, spend more than a weekend writting the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not great
Review: This rather humorous but hard to believe book is generally entertaining but not great.
Rating:
Summary: Very shallow compared to Spenser
Review: Truthfully, I was disappointed. I have read and re-read all the Spenser books and have hailed Parker for being so "even" in his rendition, but here he sinks to the level of the common thriller writer. The plot in itself is great, and there appear some interesting characters - alas, Mr. Jesse Stone, the main man, is not one of them. If you are looking for a way to pass a dull evening this book will surely suffice, as will ever so many others, but it is not something that will rest on your nightstand with you taking a peek at a sentence or a passage just before you drift of to sleep.
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