DWD's Reviews

Published  in 2012 by Smart Pop I discovered Robert B. Parker's Spenser about 20 years ago. In a way, that is sad because I could have been enjoying Spenser for a lot more years. But, in a way it was fantastic because I had so many Spenser books to read to catch up and there were new ones coming out regularly. For years I was able to read or listen to his books as quickly as I wanted. But, eventually I caught up and had to just wait for the new ones. Sadly, in 2010 Parker died so all of his series came to an end. In Pursuit of Spenser is an attempt to honor the long and noteworthy career of Robert B. Parker. Editor Otto Penzler has collected 14 essays by such writers as Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman and Dennis Lehane (and one work by Parker himself that explains Spenser) in a must-read for any fan. Although the focus is on Parker and Spenser, many of the other of the dozens of characters that  he created are covered as well. His role in re-invigorating the detective ...

A strong addition to the Sunny Randall series Published in 2007 by Putnam Sunny joins with her retired cop father on a serial killer case that went unsolved 20 years before. It seems the killer has come back again after a hiatus and the elder Randall is chosen to head an all-star task force to catch him. Sunny is brought in as his assistant since she's a former cop and her father trusts her instincts. Robert B. Parker  (1932-2010) As the jacket liner tells you, Sunny gets noticed by the serial killer and he starts to send her notes in the mail... Just to be clear, this is not a police procedural. The reader does not have to read through the drudgery of endless questioning of possible witnesses, etc. Sunny still acts as a private detective and the smart comments and witty dialogue prevail throughout. Sunny makes a lot of progress with her psychologist (Susan Silverman) in this book and a great portion of it is about her numerous issues and the progress s...

The Jesse Stone novels continue a rally for the legion of Parker fans - score this one a double. Published in 2007 by Putnam 304 pages To use a baseball analogy (Robert B. Parker fans would surely approve...), this one keeps the current rally of good Parker books going. If you are unsure what I am referring to then you must not get much of the baseball comments that Stone and Spenser use. Anyway, a rally is a run of good offensive plays when your team is down a few runs. Ideally, those offensive plays would be smashed out of the park home runs. However, in a pinch, a base hit beats a strike out. Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) Now, notice that I did not label this one a great book. This is not a home run. It's more of a double. It is a good book but not Parker's best. It's not even the best Jesse Stone novel. The mystery is not terribly complicated (I think I could have solved this one) but I enjoyed this quick read. In a lot of ways the mystery is s...

A quick, enjoyable read Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) I came across Blue Screen yesterday afternoon and I snapped it up immediately. I think that I have read through the entire Parker collection at this point and I immediately pick the newest one up as soon as I see it (I have been holding back on reading my last two Michener books since there will be no more ever written and once they're done...) This is really a tale of two stories. One is a mystery and one is a bit of soap opera. The mystery part is pretty good but really comes off as a bit of a hodgepodge of Parker's enthusiasm for baseball, 'Get Shorty' and the Spenser book 'Back Story'. Witty banter and familiar faces keep the story moving along. I have no idea if this story could stand alone or not. Probably not. If this might be your first foray into Sunny Randall, pick an older one first and than move to this one. The soap opera is the merging of the worlds of Sunny Randall an...

Sunny and Spenser's worlds come ever so closer together... Melancholy Baby  is probably my 40th plus Parker book. While the Jesse Stone series was much improved by its last offering, I think this was the weakest of the Sunny Randall series. The mystery part of  Melancholy Baby  was excellent, but Sunny spends forever in a day seeing Susan Silverman, expert psycholgist and also Spenser's girlfriend. The book gets bogged down with too much detail about feelings, Oedipal complexes and the like. Robert B. Parker Don't get me wrong, I like Sunny and I'll read the next Sunny Randall book. I'm just hoping that this book was a bridge to Sunny going on to bigger and better things and moving away from this self-pitying/loathing over her strange relationship with her ex-husband. One has to wonder, will Spenser and Randall bump into one another? Randall knows cops that Spenser knows, she's been to his girlfriend's house... Do I want to see that? yes and no...

A good ending to both series. Jesse Stone #9 Sunny Randall #7 Robert B. Parker couldn't have scripted a better ending to the Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall series if he had tried. Sadly, there will be no more of this series due to the death of Robert B. Parker but, happily, both end on a strong note. "Split Image" is really two books wrapped up in one. There is a small Sunny Randall mystery that is semi-independent of the main investigative line of Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone. Both are good and throw in the interactions between Randall and Stone you have the makings of a strong addition to both series. I won't go into plot details here, but I can say that I do recommend this one for followers of either series. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Split Image . Reviwed on April 26, 2010.