Night Passage - Softcover

Parker, Robert B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0515123498 ISBN 13: 9780515123494

Publisher: Penguin, 1998

Synopsis

Having left the LAPD in disgrace and landing the job as chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts, Jesse Stone learns that his new hometown is a lot less idyllic than its name. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

Fans often feel uneasy when the creator of a popular character ventures into new turf, and sometimes their trepidation is justified. But readers of Robert B. Parker's immensely popular Spenser series can breathe a sigh of relief: while Night Passage doesn't feature Spenser, his usual gang of associates or a Boston setting, it's vintage Parker--fast, witty, suspenseful and engaging.

Told in short, crisp chapters, it is the story of Jesse Stone, a 34-year-old who has just lost his Los Angeles policeman's job and his marriage because of a drinking problem. The book opens as Stone leaves California for his new job as chief of police in the picturesque town of Paradise, Massachusetts.

But Paradise isn't as placid as it seems--in fact, it's a festering mass of petty corruption, right-wing militia, sexual scandal and bad guys who favour strong-arm tactics. Night Passage boasts a delicious, classic setup: the lone lawman, new in town, must make his stand to clean up the place. Stone has been picked for the job because the town fathers figured he'd be weak and malleable; as he gradually pulls himself together, it turns out they have a surprise in store. Stone's qualities may remind you of Spenser's--he's taciturn, fearless, good-looking and compassionate--and in the end the plot's pleasing complexities are resolved a bit simply.

But Robert B. Parker is in fine form, with his smart-aleck wit under control and his prose at its economical best. Spenser fans and Parker neophytes alike will find plenty to enjoy here. And the setting is, after all, not far from Boston--dare we hope for a Spenser-Stone meeting in future books? --Laura Smith

Synopsis:

An otherwise washed-up LAPD cop with a drinking problem gets a job offer from small Massachusetts town that is too good to be true, and Jesse Stone finds himself with no one to trust and a town full of moral and political corrupti

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0515123498
• ISBN 13: 9780515123494
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336