|
|
Executive Times |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2008 Book Reviews |
|||
|
|
Stranger
in Paradise by Robert B. Parker |
|||
|
Rating: |
*** |
|||
|
|
(Recommended) |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Click
on title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Uneasy Robert
Parker’s seventh novel featuring Jesse Stone is titled Stranger
in Paradise. The stranger in the title, as well as the image on the
cover, refers to Wilson Crow Cromartie, a killer who eluded Stone a decade
earlier. Crow was hired to kill one person and kidnap another. Instead, Crow
and Stone become uneasy allies, each trying to ensure that his own form of
justice is achieved. Here’s an excerpt, all of Chapter 6, pp. 20-22: Jesse poured himself his first
drink of the evening. The scotch whiskey looked silky as it slid over the
ice. He added soda, waited for the bubbles to subside, then stirred the ice
around with a fingertip. Jenn always used to say he should use a spoon, but
he liked to stir it the way he did. He took a drink, felt it ease into him.
He looked at his picture of Ozzie Smith on the wall over the bar. He wondered
if Ozzie drank. Probably not, probably hard to do that backflip if you were a
boozer. He raised his glass at the picture. "I
made the show, I'd be doing backflips, too," he said aloud. His voice
sounded odd, as it always did, in the empty room. If he hadn't hurt his
shoulder he might have made the show. He sipped again. If he didn't drink he
might be with Jenn. If Jenn didn't try to fuck her way to fulfillment. If he
were smarter he'd have let Jenn go and taken up with Sunny Randall. If Sunny wasn't preoccupied with her
ex-husband. If … Jesse walked to the French
doors that looked out over his little balcony to the harbor. He had no
illusions about Crow. Whatever his reasons for letting the women go ten years
ago, whatever his reasons for protecting Marcy, if he really had, Jesse knew
that had he needed to, Crow would have killed them all. Jesse's drink was gone. He
walked back to the bar and filled his glass with ice. He poured the
caramel-colored whiskey over the ice and added the soda. He stirred it, and
walked back to the French doors. But Molly was sort of right.
Jesse didn't know if he and Crow were alike. But there was something about
Crow that clicked in Jesse. Crow
was so entirely Crow. He belonged so totally to who and what he was. Crow
probably enjoyed a drink. Probably had no problem stopping after one or two.
Probably didn't get mad. Probably
didn't hate. Probably didn't fear. Jesse took another drink and stared at
the darkening harbor.... Probably didn't love, either. "He's not missing
much," Jesse said to no one. Even saying it, Jesse knew it
wasn't quite true. If he didn't love Jenn,
would he be happier? He wouldn't be as unhappy. But was that the same?
What would replace the sense of momentous adventure that he felt when he
thought of her, which was nearly always? Jesse
made another
drink. The evening had settled and the harbor was dark. There was little to
look at through the French doors. After he made his drink, Jesse stayed at
the bar. In a sense, loving Jenn wasn't
even about Jenn. It was about who he was by being in love with her. So why
not just let her do whatever she wanted to and love her anyway. What did he
care how many men she banged? Let her go about her business and I go about
mine and what difference does it make? He heard a low animal sound in the
room. It was, he realized, him, and it had come without volition. He looked
at his picture of Ozzie and shrugged. Okay, so it makes a difference. Was
it more about him than about her? Did he hang in there because he would miss
the high drama? He knew he loved her. He knew she loved him. He knew they
couldn't find a way to make it work. "Yet," he said, and
drank some more. As
noted in the excerpt, Stone remains troubled, especially about his ex-wife
Jenn. In Stranger
in Paradise, Parker expands his character development of Stone by showing
his ability to overcome what comes more natural to him, working alone with
resolution, to partnering with an unusual ally. This is another easy-going,
entertaining novel that brings just the right dose of pleasure. Steve
Hopkins, May 15, 2008 |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
Go to Executive Times Archives |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the June 2008 issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/Stranger in Paradise.htm For Reprint Permission, Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
