Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: As all the other reviews, note this book is not much of a departure from Parker's Spenser series. That said, it is a fun read. Sunny is a fun new character. It is clear Sunny could easily be a Helen Hunt. The story is much like earlier Spenser books we have all loved-whether that is a good or bad thing. Parker has included the good and the bad from his earlier efforts. We see the effortless way he puts characters together with only a few words. And the way the characters interact-much like Spenser with Hawk and Susan. Sunny has her sidekick friends Spike and the lover with who she has the issues involved in all long running relationships. Nothing new here. Parker also uses his broad brush of few words with the usual character stereotypes the reader will recognize from the Spenser books. All these things aside, we are glad to get a new Robert B. Parker book. He still has what it takes.
Rating: 
Summary: This woman is a man in woman's clothing!
Review: Yes, it's an entertaining plot, but don't even begin to think that Sunny is really a woman - she is Spenser reincarnated without the personality or the wit or Hawk. The characters are not as interesting or a well developed as the Spenser novels and the plot is hauntingly familiar. I prefer even some of the weaker Spenser novels to this one.
Rating:
Summary: Parker beyond Spencer
Review: It is almost too easy to settle into Robert Parker's Spencer novels - a stolid, principled, tough and totally self sufficient PI with plenty of action and even some insight into the human condition. Not, however, particularly real. The surprisingly, pleasingly, first person feminine perspective has allowed Parker to explode the shell of imperviousness of Spencer's and seems to have liberated him to discuss the true nature of the common struggle. People live with contridictions and compromises and there is no such thing as the clear path to happiness. His protagonist "Sunny" is so much more complex and real than Spencer (tho I love Spencer and Hawk dearly). Sunny is imperfect, physically unimposing, non-self-sufficient and a completely captivating and exciting protagonist. "Life is a bitch, and you work around it." Classic Parker - but sharper, closer to home. A great read and a step forward for one of my favorite authors.
Rating:
Summary: Loved This Book
Review: What fun this book was! My only complaint is that it was too short. I loved the characters, particularly the dog. I hope there are many to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Spenser-ette, recycled plot, but still amusing
Review: Yes, Sunny is Spenser. Yes, the plot is familiar. Yes, Sunny is not much of a lady. Yes Bobby B. is capitalizing on the Woman Sleuth craze. Yes, it's a blatant attempt to get Spenser on screen again (if Helen Hunt rumors are true). But it is sufficiently different and well-written to be worth reading instead of re-reading the earlier Spenser. Especially out of the library (sorry Amazon).
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, but it made me miss Spenser
Review: Family honor was a good book. Robert Parker is one of my favorite authors, so I dug right into this book. About halfway through, I thought that I was reading Early Autumn, especiallly when I got to the "Push-up" scene. But it is fast read, and I enjoyed it. I only wish he had written a Spenser novel instead. The thought of Tony Marcus without Hawk there to heckle him, or the serious need for Millicent to see Susan made me quite wistful for good ol' Spenser.
Rating: 
Summary: A rehash of Parker's Spenser novels.
Review: Robert B. Parker writes captivating, exciting prose. Unfortunately, he has already written this one. This book is a rehash of "Early Automn", with chunks of "Ceremony" thrown in. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Parker's been paying attention
Review: When I heard that Robert B. Parker was writing a book with a new sleuth, I was excited. When I heard that the sleuth was a female I had serious doubts. I am delighted to report that he has been paying attention.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific story, as well as it's predecessor.
Review: I have yet to read one of Parker's stories and not be totally engrossed with the characters.. I like Stone and his style. I like Spencer and Hawk and their styles. Hell, like I said, kind of hard to beat for guys and aaaaaaaaaction!
Rating:
Summary: It's deja vu all over again
Review: Like a great many people, I've been a Spenser fan for some years, now. And, I suspect, also like a great many people I have quietly been mourning the gradual decline in the quality of those novels. With very few exceptions, long term series do tend to fade after a while (think Cornwell, Grafton, perhaps even Bujold) and to do him credit, Parker has taken longer to fade than many others. But fade he has, so when Jesse Stone appeared on the scene I was pleased. I like Jesse. I look forward to his next adventure. Now we have Sunny Randall. Upon starting Family Honor, and realising that this was set in Boston, my first thought was 'cool! I hope she runs into Spenser!'. But having finished it, I'm thinking 'if she runs into Spenser, it'll be like sitting a character down in front a mirror and having it talk to itself.' I am surprised and disappointed by this book. It is pretty much nothing short of Spenser in drag, and I truly expected a great deal more from Parker. Dammit, he should know better! I am not stupid, I am not blind, and if he thinks I, and all his other readers, aren't going to notice the transparency of his setting, lead and support characters and plot then he is very foolish indeed. The similarities are, indeed, so obvious that for me they got in the way of the story. I was too busy having my intelligence insulted to really enjoy it, initially. But then that wore off. I did keep reading. Parker is an excellent writer, technically. No quibbles there. And if I had never read a Spenser novel, I suspect I would have found this a truly good read. As things stand, it was deju vu all over again. My other main concern is with the actual characterisation of Sunny. If she were a man, I'd have no problem. But she's not a man ... physically. Intellecutally and psychologically, however, to me she does feel like a man. It takes something more than wearing a bra to make a woman, and whatever that something is, Sunny doesn't have it. I will be very interested to see what happens when Helen Hunt takes on the role. She is a long way from being my favourite actress, but perhaps she'll be able to imbue Sunny with that spark of 'feminine' something the character lacks on the page.
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