Stranger in Paradise

I've read every book Robert B. Parker has written. In Jesse Stone he takes the cake. I believe I may leave Spencer and Hawk for Jesse. Stranger in Paradise is the best yet. As usual, excellent character development. You feel you know the man personally and empathise with his problems. I especially like Suit and Molly. Keep on Robert B. and I will keep on buying.

I purchased this book as an ongoing Christmas present for a friend. He's a big Robert Parker fan, and loves this book. It would have been five starts except that after reading Parker novels for a number of years (and there's more than one book released each year), he's started to see a pattern in story development. Still, he loves the books.

Robert B. Parker stretches the envelope quite a bit in this edition of the Jesse Stone series. For one thing, the original premise is a bit hard to swallow. Wilson "Crow" Cromartie shows up in Paradise, asking Jesse to look the other way while he tries to find fourteen-year-old Amber Francisco and bring her back to her father in Florida. The problem with this is that Crow is a known outlaw, who was implicated in the murder of several Paradise police officers. Jesse claims he doesn't have enough evidence to arrest Parker, but the reader isn't convinced. Robert B. Parker needs Jesse to leave Crow alone so he`ll have a plot.

The second problematic situation involves "questionable" behavior by a couple of the regular cast members. "Suitcase" Simpson has suddenly become a regular Casanova with a taste for older women, and Molly, Jesse's dispatcher and part-time deputy, has the hots for Crow, despite her husband and four children. Once again, the critical reader is a bit suspicious. Parker needs Suitcase to have an affair with Miriam Fiedler, an older woman who objects to Latinos infiltrating Paradise. Molly's situation, one would suspect has something to do with Jesse's ex-wife Jenn, who is now an investigative reporter who wants an inside source who will give her a step up in covering the murders and other outlandish goings on in Paradise. This is the first time we get to meet Jenn, outside of hearing her voice on the telephone. Jenn started out as an actress, moved up to weathergirl, and is now in journalism. Jesse's psychiatrist helps him to see that she has self-esteem issues. It's hard for a girl to live up to somebody as competent as Jesse Stone. This would appear to excuse her various infidelities over the years.

Crow appears to be Jesse's alter-ego, although they're more like twins. Crow has some good qualities, one being a convincing respect for women. Jesse has also been known to break the law in order to uphold it.

These are all very likable characters. I've read four Jesse Stones now, and I like this series better than the Spenser novels. But somehow they translate better to TV than they do to the printed page.

I always pre-order Robert Parker books and love it when they show up as a suprise.

Jesse Stone is a perfect character and Parker introduces a good "bad guy" in this edition that I know we will see again. The book is a fast read. As always the dialogue is the star and the plot is ok.

Enjoy another gem from Mr. Parker. I have go pre-order the next one.

Paul

Viewers who enjoyed X Files and midnight radio listeners will get a kick out of Dark Skies. The story line begins with the Roswell incident and proceeds into the mid 1960's very cleverly spinning a yarn around historic events and real persons swept up in a conspiracy to " hide the truth" about the threat of alien invasion. I would like to see a second season.

This message is directed more to the store than to my fellow Kindle-ers. Among the reasons I invested the big bucks on the Kindle was that I could buy books for $9.99. This is a book I would buy at $9.99 for the Kindle, OR I will do what I always did before and that is 1) check it out of my local library, or 2) wait until it comes out in paperback.

Is this the first instance of a bait and switch for those of us who took a flyer on the Kindle?? the store, we are awaiting your answer.

Continuing on my Jesse Stone-binge this winter, I read a Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker. I was happy to find a novel in this series actually written by Parker, and Stranger in Paradise is the 7th book in the series. Although this novel was good, I think that others written by Parker are much better.

Jesse Stone is the chief of police in the fictional resort town of Paradise, Massachusetts. As is usual in Parker’s novels, there is a main plot and then several subplots. The main plot involves the appearance in town of Wilson “Crow” Cromartie. Crow formerly appeared in Trouble in Paradise, where he was on the wrong side of the law and disappeared after murdering several men and making off with millions of dollars. Now the full-blooded Apache is looking for the ex-wife and daughter of a Florida mobster. His instructions are to kill the ex and bring the 14-year old daughter to Florida. But Crow has a “thing” about killing women. The situation is made worse because the daughter is involved with a local Latino gang. Stone also has to deal with town residents protesting when a high-priced property is turned into a school for disadvantaged Latino children.

Stranger in Paradise contains the usual Paradise crew including two fellow cops, Molly Crane, Suitcase Simpson and Captain Healy. Ex-wife Jennifer is now living locally and working as a reporter. She tries to use her history with Stone to get confidential information. But I thought there was just a little something about Stranger in Paradise that didn’t ring true. Maybe it was Stone and Crow working on the same team. Also, I am very tired of Jennifer. I don’t think that she adds anything to this series—she’s just totally obnoxious. But as with all Parker novels, Stranger in Paradise still has decent writing, great repartee, and it’s a quick, fun read. Sometimes that’s all you want in a book.

Parker has made a career of selling off-beat characters. With this book he's reached the point where every character is so unlife-like they are stereotypical. Here his main character is a native American Indian hunk that is irresistible to married women. Every see one like this? Stone's heart finds its purpose in helping a drugged-out 14-y/o who has her mother, less detestable than herself (barely) killed. NBot a shred of normalcy in this book. Normalcy in this novel is 100% aberrant lawlessness and double dealing. That's not reality. Neither is this novel. Chapter 36 contains a name that is found nowhere else in this book, a woman who of course beds the irresistible Indian in a sexual trance. I donated this book to a library and felt bad about it.

2.5 stars

Wilson Cromartie (Crow) - who claims to be an Apache Indian - perpetrated a huge robbery in Paradise, Massachussetts ten years ago and got away. Now that the statute of limitations has expired Crow is back in Paradise, having been hired to find the ex-wife and 14-year-old daughter of a big-time Florida criminal. As a courtesy Crow stops by the Paradise Police Department to tell Chief Jesse Stone he's in town and doesn't want any trouble with the cops. Crow finds the ladies he's seeking and learns that Amber, the teen, is involved with a 20-year-old low-life/gang banger.

As it turns out the Florida mob guy, Louis Francisco, wants his ex-wife killed and Amber sent back to Florida, but the girl absolutely doesn't want to go. Moreover, Crow has an aversion to harming women. Thus Crow makes it his mission to 'save' the girl. Due to a confluence of circumstances, Jesse decides to help Amber as well. So, oddly enough, the police chief and the criminal have a common goal in this book.

Meanwhile, a hoity-toity wealthy Paradise woman is trying to stop the opening of a pre-school for hispanic children in Paradise, claiming this will ruin property values and bring crime to town. Soon enough her fears seem to be validated when a dead body is found on the school property.

Regular characters in the series make an appearance including Jesse's psychiatrist, his ex-wife Jenn, and Paradise cops Molly and Suitcase (both of whom engage in illicit romance....not with each other). There's also a gang of young, vicious, but not-too-bright criminals. As usual Jesse is having trouble with his drinking, an ongoing theme in the series. There's some amusing repartee among some characters, which makes a nice break from the more violent scenes.

The book is an easy, quick read with a straighforward main story and a couple of side issues. The primary plot is fairly predictable, no big surprises. Also, a good number of characters in the book are not especially likable. Crow is a killer without a conscience (though apparently with plenty of sex appeal), Amber is a foul-mouthed, badly behaved teenager, the rich lady has an agenda (though her backstory isn't particularly believable), and so on. Also, Robert Parker has a sort of tic in his writing and uses the phrase "he said' or "she said" a million times (it seems like). This gets really old.

Overall, a so-so book. Best for for a plane trip or beach read where you don't want too much of a challenge.

His name is Wilson Cromartie, but he's called Crow. He claims to be an Apache warrior, and he both looks and acts the part. The last time Paradise, Massachusetts Chief of Police Jesse Stone saw him, Crow was headed out to sea aboard a boat carrying cash and loot worth millions. The ex-convict's partners in that memorable heist, the robbery of every home and every business on exclusive Stiles Island, all died in the heist or soon afterward (the boat's pilot, the last to die, was found murdered). Ten years have passed, so when Crow returns to Paradise he feels safe visiting Chief Stone. After all, the statute of limitations on theft has run out; and Jesse and Crow both know there's nowhere near enough evidence to convict the man of murder. Even though Jesse knows perfectly well Crow was responsible for some of the bodies that piled up on Stiles Island, two of which belonged to Paradise police officers.

Crow has been hired by a Florida mobster to find the man's estranged wife and 14-year-old daughter. When he succeeds, his employer orders him to kill the woman and bring the daughter to Florida. Crow does not like killing women; he claims he never does so, although Jesse Stone is certain that Crow would change his policy in a moment if it seemed necessary. In this case, though, Crow decides he will not carry out his orders. Not only does he not want to kill the estranged wife; he decides against returning the daughter to her father, too. So the mobster puts the murder contract into the hands of his daughter's local boyfriend, a Latino gang leader, and he also promises that young man handsome payment for bringing the girl - Amber Francisco - "home" to Florida any way he can.

Meanwhile, the exclusive Paradise Neck neighborhood fights against use of a deceased millionaire's estate as a preschool for children from the slums of the nearby town where gang activity is so prevalent. Jesse wonders what one member of this group, in particular, has against four and five-year-olds. When the murdered body of Amber Francisco's mother turns up on the preschool's lawn, and Crow becomes the target of another "hit" contract put out by Amber's father, Jesse find himself locked into a strange alliance, indeed.

I found women's reactions to Crow rather creepy, as the author seemed to be romanticizing a killer and trying to convince me that this made the man powerful and therefore sexually attractive. I wasn't convinced. However, the rest of the story worked well enough; and unlike some reviewers, I didn't mind the on-going conflicted relationship between Jesse and ex-wife Jenn. I'm hoping they do resolve something eventually, but in the meantime I rather enjoy their mutual bafflement.

Not the best Jesse Stone book I've read, but it was certainly good enough to finish.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"

We enjoyed our first Jesse Stone novel ("Split Image") recently, and decided to read another tale about the wise-crackin' but confident and competent Police Chief of Boston suburb Paradise Mass. In "Stranger", when a never-convicted villain of about a decade ago, Wilson "Crow" Cromartie, shows up in town and pays a "courtesy call" to Stone, they both know something's up, with Stone swearing to work on the old case some more. Despite that intention, the two create a bit of an unholy alliance to foil the attempts of a Florida mobster to extract his daughter Amber from town, killing her mother in the process if necessary. Crow seemingly has the contract to do so, but has qualms about "doing women" (except at bedtime!). So instead a local gang gets involved, offs the mom, losing a member or two in the process; and then some Florida bad guys come up to take care of business, which proves fatal to a couple of them.

Despite all these killings, an entertaining story unfolds in which justice is quite well served, even if not the way they teach it in police academy! Stone is as likable as ever, and we almost root for his temporary pard Crow in the process. Meanwhile, Stone and ex-wife Jenn, who still love each other, pursue their respective therapists; and together with Stone's right-hand officer Molly, provide some interesting insights into marital relationships. So - two enjoyable outings in a row for this 11-book Parker series - we suspect that in due time we'll read the entire set!

Since Robert B. Parker died, I've been saving the few novels of his that I hadn't read. I parcel them out to myself very slowly. Yesterday I allowed myself the pleasure of reading this Jesse Stone novel.

If you've read any of this series or have seen a TV interpretation of one, you know Jesse has a drinking problem which got him fired from the police force in California, and an ex-wife who just refuses to stay away from him so he can get over her. He is now the police chief in Paradise, MA. He sees a shrink regularly in a vain attempt to handle his problems.

In Stranger in Paradise we have a character who is much like Hawk of the Spenser series. This guy is a crook, but he has scruples. He won't kill women, for instance; he likes them. And the women are fascinated by him, including me. He claims to be an Apache Indian and goes by the single name Crow although his real name is Wilson Cromartie. To my mind he makes this novel.

Detective "Suitcase" Simpson has changed since the beginning of the series, in what was to me a very surprising way. As usual, the story is punctuated by witty dialogue, a laid back approach to detecting, and some very snobby folks who are incensed because a half dozen little children are being transported to their neighborhood Monday through Friday to a new school. The residents keep going on about "the camel's nose in the tent" as if these little kids are going to steal their silver and put graffiti on their mansions. It's very funny, and of course Jesse gives them enough rope to hang themselves.

I'm not an unbiased reviewer in this case because I've loved Robert B. Parker novels forever, but really who wouldn't like this book. I urge you to read it.

Admittedly, this is my first Jesse Stone novel, and jumping into the series at book seven is probably not the best way to introduce myself to Stone and his various sidekicks. But the novel, even with a somewhat interesting plot within which Jesse teams up with a "stone cold killer" calling himself Crow, has the feel of ballpark cotton candy because it devotes so little time to character development...more air than substance. But, like I say, perhaps I would feel differently if I had read the previous six Jesse Stone novels.

As is, I enjoyed the story without making much of an emotional attachment to any of the characters, neither the good guys nor the bad guys. Now I have to decide whether or not I want to go back and read book one of the series, "High Profile," or whether I want to call it quits with Jesse Stone.

This is a Jesse Stone novel. Crow, (Winston Cromartie), an Apache, has business in Paradise. He claims that a guy hired him to look for someone. Jesse informs Crow that he is going to try to put a case together against him. Crow is reputedly a contract killer.

Molly Crane and Suitcase Simpson, two of the officers in Jesse's police force, are given the case. A purported victim of Crow refuses to identify him and then is shocked to learn that he is present in the community and hasn't been arrested. Marcy Campbell is Jesse's girlfriend when he is having trouble with his former wife, Jenn, and she, Marcy, knows this. Jesse Stone is as laconic a speaker as Parker's other male hero, Spenser. Jesse plans to use the felony murder rule to beat the statute of limitations bar to prosecute Crow's prior criminal activity in Paradise.

Marcy was one of the hostages in the case and believes that Crow protected her from harm. A lot of people got killed in the incident, including two law officers, but the women hostages won't say anything against Crow Comartie. (The witnesses are also frightened.) Suit and Jesse surmise that Crow is looking for a woman because he is found in places women tend to be.

Jesse confesses that his job, chief of police, has narrowed the circle of his expectations. (He can't prevent crime, and sometimes can't solve crime.) Marshport, adjacent to Paradise, is inhabited mostly by Ukranians and Hispanics. Like Adrian Monk, Jesse has a therapist, Dix.

I will leave the reader to discover plot developments. Crow is a sort of mirror image of Jesse. Molly sees the parallels and similarities immediately. In usual Robert Parker fashion this is workman-like and entertaining. In this outing Jesse Stone bends some rules to achieve justice.

At this point, having read (I think) every Spenser novel, every Jesse Stone novel, and every Sunny Randall novel, I'm so used to Robert B. Parker's style that it's almost as if they're audio books, and I could read them in my sleep. This book is a good example of why. The plot's not particularly electric or revolutionary, for Parker anyway, and the characters are pretty typical of his stories. The book itself, though, sort of flows past you page by page, without you actually seeming to read anything, really.

In this installment of the Jesse Stone series, the protagonist learns that his old nemesis Crow is back in town. Crow escaped at the end of a previous book with a pile of money, having refused to kill some hostages. Thirty years ago or more, Parker sort of split his protagonist in the Spenser novels in twain, by adding a darker (character-wise and pigmentation-wise too), less morally-encumbered version of his protagonist, known as Hawk. He's spent a lot of time on the theme of right and wrong, and what it means from various points of view. Jesse Stone (til now) hasn't had an alter ego like Hawk for Spenser (and to a lesser extent Spike for Sunny Randall), but Parker seems to be veering slightly in that direction, with the arrival of Crow.

Crow has returned to Paradise, looking for a mobster's wayward ex-wife and daughter. He actually announces himself to Stone, and while Stone tries to discover criminal charges he can press against Crow, it becomes apparent that the Statute of Limitations has run out and Crow is free to do what he wants, as long as he doesn't break the law. When his employer tells him to kill the ex-wife and return with the daughter, however, he balks, because he has this rule about killing women. Everyone else he is happy to kill, but he likes females. One amusing aside: he's presented as an Apache warrior; but of course Apaches never had any compunctions about killing women, children, everyone. Nevertheless, Crow has compunctions about this, though he's happy to kill almost anyone else if he can see an advantage to himself.

I liked this book, and would recommend it to anyone who's read Parker's stuff in the past. I'm a firm believer in reading series in the order in which they were written, so I wouldn't recommend it if you haven't read the previous Stone books; then again, I suppose you could get by without having read them.

A Native American 'outside the mainstream' sidekick named Crow? Come on.What a ripoff of Hawk. What's next, an Inuit 'outside the mainstream' sidekick named Penguin?
Mysteries tend to include colorful characters that live outside conventional boundaries but gain our interest and sympathy, but the Jesse Stone series is just getting sleazy. We have Jesse's continued interest in Jenn, who sleeps around. Married police officer Molly slept with Crow, but is assured by Jenn that there is nothing wrong with that as 'nobody got hurt.' What if her husband found out? A central character, Amber is a teenaged psychopath who gleefully observes the killing of her mother, runs around with gangbangers and murderers, insults anyone who tries to help her and has a mouth like a sewer. She winds up with offers of foster parenthood by caring strangers and a trust fund, despite showing no gratitude for any of it. Gee, instead of going to college I should have set up a murder or two. Maybe I would have been funded for my efforts. Also sleeping around is another of Jesse's officers, who is dallying with a married woman involved in one of Jesse's cases.
The woman is a wealthy resident of Paradise who is protesting the establishment in her neighborhood of a school for Latino children from a neighboring town. Parker uses the controversy to hammer away that wealthy suburbanites are bad and support of liberal causes is good no matter how they are carried out. I support inclusion and education, but I would worry if someone decided to open a school for children from out of town in my neighborhood when this school required town resources to operate safely. Some logic is always nice, even in fiction.

All of Parker's detective novels, regardless of which main character they involve, are exercises in a combination of machismo, smart talk and psychological mumbo-jumbo. Even so, nearly all are tightly plotted, have interesting characters, and tie up all loose ends well enough.

Stranger in Paradise does not meet even that standard. It's disjointed, more than usually shallow, and reads like a mediocre TV script. Other than making a few really superficial political statements, the plot elements seem to serve no purpose other than demonstrating what a really good guy Jesse Stone is and justifying the main characters' extramarital sex lives. I can easily picture Parker sitting down and dashing this story off in the space of a few days and never revisiting it.

The plot involves the rescue of a 14-year old girl from her father and other assorted individuals who wish to use her. It's accompanied by a secondary plot regarding the opening of a Hispanic school in a posh neighborhood, and the snooty neighbors who oppose it. The fact that the 14-year old girl apparently assists in arranging several murder attempts seems not to be a matter of concern, or even overt mention.

The dialogue in most of Parker's books is peppy and clever, even if his main characters do have what amounts to the same conversation over and over again. In this book the characters all talk like Harvard professors, even the Hispanic gang leader. It's jarring.

In summary, while this one was mildly entertaining, it's definitely not up to Parker's usual standard.

Nice cover - now I realize why Crow is sitting on the cover. It's basically about a guy whose nickname is "Crow," who, like Jesse Stone, is representing what a perfectly cool guy is like. Only one difference from Jesse here is that he is a highly skilled criminal - professional killer, who leaves no substantial proof that can be against him. All the women, without an exception, are irresistably attracted to this relentless cool guy Crow. Even Molly Crane couldn't resist the temptation he offered. And what a ridiculous logic that justifies her "sin" - she's a proud "Irish Catholic," eh? Is this some kind of joke about "Irish Catholic" and their hipocrisy or what?

This story has been one of the most incrdulous ones I have encountered - Mr. Parker seems to be playing a game with Jesse Stone, and it didn't provide me any joy of reading - no thrill, no suspense, no humanity, and worst of all, no reality. I felt sad after reading it - all of a sudden Jesse Stone looks like a superman without any real dimension. And I couldn't like what I have realized one bit. Bitterly disappointing. It's not whodunit. It's some kind of immature super human story with a feel-good happy ending. My reading with Jesse Stone (and thereby with Robert B. Parker) is done with this. It's over. I would feel dumb or even dumber if I keep reading this Jesse Stone series. I don't have enough time to read other gazillion books that are way better than this. Farewell Jesse Stone.