Family Honor

Rating:
Summary: Is Robert Parker Recycling Old Stories?
Review: I am a great fan of Robert Parker's work but was disappointed by Family Honor. The story is similar to Early Autumn which Parker wrote in 1981. In Early Autumn Spenser is the detective and the child in trouble is Paul. The female detective in Family Honor is almost exactly like Spenser and the child in trouble is very much like Paul. It was an interesting story, but I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read Early Autumn. If you read Family Honor and like it then read Early Autumn. You will love it.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome, Spike!
Review: Why did Robert Parker give Sunny Randall (a daintier version of Spenser) her own book, other than to give Helen Hunt a job? The best character in this book by far is Spike, the gay restaurateur/tough guy. You have to love a man so comfortable with himself that when he's asked how he can bench-press 225 pounds, he nonchalantly replies, "Fag power." Parker could do amazing things with this character, but instead he relegates Spike to Hawk status. Don't get me wrong--Sunny's okay, but Spike's the reason I'll continue reading this series.

Rating:
Summary: refreshing with excellent dialog
Review: I just finished reading this and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Parker did a good job writing about a female detective. I know there are similarities with Spencer but big deal. At times Parker got a gut reaction out of me dealing with certain feminine issues. Sunny Randall is a smart, sexy and capable private eye with normal trepidations and anxieties. I enjoyed this book.

Rating:
Summary: I knew Spenser; Sunny Randall is no Spenser
Review: Something to pass the time if there's nothing else around to read, otherwise ... dear Mr. Parker, please go back to being yourself. Sunny Randall is a bore.

Rating:
Summary: Trouble in Paradise
Review: Wouldn't it be great fun for Jesse Stone and Spenser to meet, and perhaps work a case together? Any chance of that happening? Hope so.

Rating:
Summary: If you like Spenser...
Review: ...then read the Spenser books. Don't bother with this book. It was a good book (hence the 3 stars), but there were just too many similarities between this book and the Spenser books; with one exception: her personality is nothing like his. As you get into the book, you really start to miss Spenser and everything that makes him who he is. You miss the egotism, sarcasm, and wit. It's like reading a Spenser book without Spenser and Hawk; it just doesn't work. Sunny is no substitute for Spenser and Spike is absolutely no substitute for Hawk. Read "Hush Money" or any other Spenser book instead.

Rating:
Summary: Rather have Spenser back
Review: I did not care that much for Sunny Randall. It strikes me that she would like to be just like Spenser when she grows up, but will probably never get there. The story line falls to closely to some of Parker's other novels. Were I not a die hard Spenser fan, I might have liked it better. If James Bond does not have to get old, neither does Spenser. I would also welcome another Jesse Stone book with more development of that character.

Rating:
Summary: Spenser in Drag
Review: First, I want to state I love Parker's books, most of the time. I've read just about everything he's written. However, the similarities between Sunny Randall and Spenser are just too numerous to make this enjoyable. This could have just as easily been a Spenser novel and it probably would have been better if it was. Parker wants to make Randall as competent as Spenser but when the going gets tough she has to turn to her male friends to help her out of jams. I'll probably pass on the next Sunny Randall novel if there is one. I think Parker has few peers when writing from the male point of view but when he turns to the female I think he could take some lessons from Sue Grafton.

Rating:
Summary: Andrea Thompson was terrific!
Review: The Book was okay. Sunny Randall very likeable and human. The characters were developed well and I really enjoyed the effort to "humanize" a teenager. To me it really wouldn't matter what the content was, because the unabridged performance by Andrea Thompson was the best I've heard...and I listen to 30 unabrideged audio books a year! She was so real - she wasn't reading, she was acting, but not overacting - merely conversational as one would be. I looked all through Amazon.com for other books read by Andrea Thompson and can't find any. Hopefully, this will inspire her for more!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, slightly below-average Parker
Review: Sunny Randall is Spenser in drag, with the exception that when things get rough, she calls on her male friends to come in and provide the machismo. Despite one good scene when she goes up against a tough pimp, she's still too heavily dependent upon her ex for this to be truly enjoyable; Parker's sexism is too glaring. Nonetheless, it is about as enjoyable as any Parker novel: it's mental popcorn, meant to be consumed & forgotten.