Crime

Synopsis: 'It's been a long time since Jesse Stone left LA, and longer still since the tragic injury that ruined his chances for a major-league baseball career. When Jesse is invited to a reunion of his old triple-A team at a him New York City hotel, he is forced to grapple with his memories and regrets over what might have been.
Jesse left behind more than unresolved feelings about the play the ended his baseball career. The darkly sensuous Kayla, his former girlfriend and the current wife of an old teammate, is there in New York, too. As is Kayla's friend Dee, an otherworldly beauty with sec ret regrets of his own. But Jesse's time at the reunion is cut short when a young woman is found murdered in Paradise and her boyfriend, a son of one of the town's most prominent families is missing and presumed kidnapped.
Though seemingly coincidental, there is a connection between the reunion and the crimes back in Paradise. As Jesse hunts for the killers and for the missing son, it becomes clear that one of his old teammates in intimately involved in the crimes. There are deadly forces working below the surface and jus beyond the edge of their vision. Sometimes, that's where the danger comes from, and where real evil lurks. Not out in the light - but in your blind spot.' From the book jacket.

Review: Already don't like the guy who brings them all together and his wife. Dee, however, could be a keeper. Hope she shows up again. ( )

A murder in Paradise draws Jesse Stone into the private lives of one of the town's most prominent families – and nearer to the unnerving suspicion that one of his old friends is intimately involved in the crime.

Jesse Stone accepts an invite to a reunion of old teammates from his baseball days. Days that were cut short by an injury on the playing field. He had mixed feelings about it, but felt drawn to attend.

Jesse’s trip was cut short when he received word of a murder back in Paradise Cove. A young girl had been brutally murdered and the young man she was with was missing. Was the young man the murderer or the one who was targeted? The young man just happened to be the son of an affluent family who had a lot of clout in town.

Things turned stranger when some of the people from the reunion arrived in Paradise; old teammates, an ex-girlfriend and an interesting newcomer.

There seemed to be a tie between a couple of teammates and the affluent gent. There was also a bit of attraction between Jesse and his old flame.

The book moves along at a fair pace, but really rolls in the last 25%. There is a look into Jesse’s baseball past and how he came to leave the league. Questions about the injury and the way it happened.

I still enjoy the series for quick reading, or a book I can read a quick chapter in and still keep track of the story line. ( )

Intensely disappointing is the only way I can describe my feelings toward this Jesse Stone novel. I was really enjoying the direction the previous "ghost" writer was taking the Jesse Stone character and to me it seemed to be in the same direction that Robert B. Parker was taking the character as well. Michael Brandman put his own unique advancement on the character, but it fit. In fact, it fit extremely well.

As a continuation of the story this novel and how it depicts a completely alcoholic and unsympathetic Jesse Stone is totally unbelievable if this is supposed to be in chronological order. It simply does not fit at all. Maybe had this been the second or third book in the series where Stone just couldn't shake off the booze it might have worked. At this point it just is a complete head scratcher. It is a shame nobody in Parker's estate seems to have thrown the red flag and had the author change the characters and location and make it about another character so it doesn't stain and mar what to this point has been a very enjoyable series.

And even the other characters like Molly Crane and Suitcase Simpson are unrecognizable. This book shows no respect for the series. And it frankly made me angry reading it. It was an unenjoyable experience.

As a standalone novel, this would have been an okay story. I thought the Mr. Peepers character was so absurd as to ruin the book, even if it weren't a Jesse Stone novel. I do like to have characters that even if they are over the top, are at least somewhat believable. Mr. Peepers is not.

I have read every single one of Robert Parker's books and every single one of the continuations. I really enjoy the characters and Parker's style which other authors writing the continuations of the series mostly get. This author obviously does not.

Please do not publish the clearly set up sequel to this book. I DO NOT WANT TO READ IT. THIS IS NOT JESSE STONE. IT'S AN IMPOSTER. ( )