Product Description

Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone confronts a town’s darkest secrets in the shocking new novel from the New York Times–bestselling author and “America’s greatest mystery writer” (The New York Sun).

Things are getting strange in Paradise, Massachusetts. Police Chief Jesse Stone is called to the junior high school when reports of lewd conduct by the school’s principal, Betsy Ingersoll, filter into the station. Ingersoll claims she was protecting the propriety of her students when she inspected each girl’s undergarments in the locker room. Jesse would like nothing more than to see Ingersoll punished, but her high-powered attorney husband stands in the way. At the same time, the women of Paradise are faced with a threat to their sense of security with the emergence of a tormented voyeur, dubbed “The Night Hawk.” Initially, he’s content to peer through windows, but as times goes on, he becomes more reckless, forcing his victims to strip at gunpoint, then photographing them at their most vulnerable. And according to the notes he’s sending to Jesse, he’s not satisfied to stop there. It’s up to Jesse to catch the Night Hawk, before it’s too late.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10900 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 289 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780399155413
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Parker's fluffy eighth Jesse Stone novel (after Stranger in Paradise), the Paradise, Mass., police chief almost effortlessly performs his laconic magic to restore order and right wrongs. When Betsy Ingersoll, the junior high school principal, decides to conduct a check of girls' undies before an eighth-grade dance, it may or may not have been a crime, but it certainly provokes a firestorm of protests. Then there's a Peeping Tom calling himself the Night Hawk, whose activities escalate from watching to home invasions. In addition, the legal activities of a group of adults calling themselves the Paradise Free Swingers are badly affecting two children. Jesse's ex-wife, Jenn, and his deputies, Molly Crane and Suit Simpson, lend support. With a few bold strokes, Parker sketches characters and plot, then uses long stretches of his trademark pithy dialogue to carry the story briskly forward. The result may not provide much of a meal, but it's certainly an enjoyable snack. (Feb.)
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From Booklist
Paradise, Massachusetts, has seen its share of crime since Jesse Stone became the police chief, and as officer Molly Crane observes, it seems more like Sodom and Gomorrah every day. This time trouble erupts when middle-school principal Betsy Ingersoll does a panty check of her female students before an after-school dance—she was checking “suitability,” according to the unrepentant Mrs. Ingersoll. After Jesse and Molly have dispersed the irate parents, the questions of motive and potential charges remain at issue. It doesn’t help that Mr. Ingersoll is the managing partner of Boston’s most influential legal firm. There’s also the matter of a peeping tom—calling himself the Night Hawk in letters to Stone—who has escalated from just looking to home invasion and photographing his nude victims. The key to the Night Hawk’s identity may lie somewhere within Paradise’s wife-swapping, swinging-couples scene. Stone, who continues to struggle with his drinking and his obsession with his manipulative ex-wife, is the most engaging of Parker’s post-Spenser contemporary protagonists—Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole from the author’s two recent westerns are equally appealing. This is a solid, though lightly plotted mystery, but the dialogue is spot on, and the professional chemistry between Stone and his small force is its own reason to read the series. --Wes Lukowsky

About the Author
Robert B. Parker is the author of more than fifty books.

Customer Reviews

RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "PARKER NEEDS TO GET RID OF JENN... OR READERS NEED TO LOWER THEIR STANDARDS"
This is the eighth installment in the "Jesse Stone" novel series and the reader can't even get past the first paragraph without the author referencing Jesse's bothersome (to readers) ex-wife Jenn. Fans of the previous "Jesse Stone" novels have long since pulled their hair out with Jesse's on going on-and-off relationship with the unfaithful... sleeps with whoever can benefit her career at the moment... Jenn. Even with Jesse's own character deficiencies... no one in even half their right mind would believe that such a righteous... logical... beacon... of small town law enforcement... like Jesse... would put up with Jenn's treatment. This Stone episode has multiple plots, ranging from a school principal who makes thirteen-year-old female students line up in a room so she can lift their dresses up to check their underwear before a school dance... to a Peeping Tom... who dubs himself... "The Night Hawk"... whose voyeuristic peccadillos... are escalating to the point that Jesse is afraid where they may lead to... and to a local wife-swapping-club that is affecting the well being of two children.

For loyal Jesse Stone fans... the endangered children... allows Jesse to once again show that despite his minimalistic dialogue... that a big caring heart... beats within. In addition to all these criminal activities that Jesse must deal with simultaneously... Jenn moves to New York for a TV opportunity... and lo-and-behold... she moves in with the TV producer. As a by-product of all these concurrent issues... the reader gets to spend many nights with Jesse in his home... meticulously mixing his scotch... sharing intimate conversations with the poster on his wall of his baseball idol... Hall Of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith... and of course... there is endless gazing out of his French doors... to the sounds and views in the harbor.

Parker threads the story with many of his characters that loyal Spenser/Randall readers have become acquainted with over the years... Rita Fiore... Sunny Randall... and the mentioning of the one and only... Susan Silverman... who luckily is only mentioned... and not involved in her normal "baby-bunny-like-nibbling-on-a-piece-of-lettuce". Price conscious potential readers may want to wait till the paperback is released or go to the library, since there really is not that much to actually read. Though the book is two-hundred-eighty-nine pages long, most of the seventy-four-chapters are four pages... and the last page is almost always 1/3 to 2/3's blank... and the first page of each chapter is ½ blank... and most of the sentences in the book are extremely short.

Here is an example of SEVENTEEN "full" lines of writing:

"And his wife," Jesse said.
"yeah, and me, for crissakes."
"Insufferable," Jesse said.
"Doesn't it make you mad?"
"I was thinking about other stuff," Jesse said.
"Like what?"
"What do you think of her story?"
Molly paused in mid-anger.
"Her story," she said.
"Yep."
Molly sat back a little and thought about it.
"He hit her," Molly said.
Jesse nodded.
"He fondled her," Molly said.
"Uh-huh."
"And"--Molly began to speak fast--"he tied her up."
"Uh-huh."

This is really a short story with probably one-hundred-twenty-five pages of complete writing. It's an enjoyable little tale (minus Jenn) that gets the reader in and out quickly. It may not get you through a one-way cross country flight.

Parker delivers a solid story
This was just the type of detective story I was looking for, although I didn't realize that until I found it. I was hooked on this novel after the first chapter. The action starts right away, and I read the whole book in a few hours. Although it isn't quite an action packed thriller, it held my interest to the last page.
Parker writes in an easy, straightforward style. There is a lot of humor in his dialogue, which was enjoyable. I like the way he tells the story without adding unnecessary details. He creates several very likeable characters, who are a bit jaded by life, but still care enough to keep trying. The setting and the situation are mostly realistic. There are no super heroes or supernatural powers. That would be completely out of place in Parker's novels.
Paradise reminded me of my own hometown in Massachusetts, although it could be anywhere in the U.S. There are a whole host of local characters, and of course the usual suspects. As another reviewer noted, the crimes seem to be mostly sexual in nature, and the people in this town talk a lot about sex. Nevertheless, as a movie this could probably get a PG-13 rating, if certain elements were described rather than shown. The book is written from a male perspective, and I suspect that men will enjoy this more than women, although there are strong male and female characters. It would be a good choice for an airplane ride, or a vacation escape. I recommend it.

Behind Closed Doors In Paradise, Massachusetts
Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series has consistently built upon the world he created within the books. New readers are encouraged, especially with this new book, to begin reading with the first one in this series. The characters change and grow, not just Jesse, but Suit, Molly, and the others that live in Paradise, Massachusetts. Stone, and Parker, have settled into the role of small town police chief in what now feels like a natural fit. The police procedural parts are good, steeped in observation and patience, two of a police officer's greatest assets. Forensics doesn't play a major role in these books.

One of the best things I have enjoyed about this series, and I've come to truly appreciate, is the fact that most of the cases seems to revolve around sex and gender. And yes, those are two very separate things. Parker keeps them separate as well. Sex is a physical act, and gender is a physical and emotional state of being.

The Jesse Stone novels have become more and more an examination of how people deal with each other on a sexual level as well as emotional expectations. Of course, that has been the main crux of Jesse's personal problems. He has an ex wife that he loves, Jenn, but can't get over her even though she cheats on him again and again.

In this book, Jesse Stone deals with a peeping Tom that breaks into people's homes while the wife is alone. He forces the women strip, then takes pictures of them. Stone begins wondering why men are wired to relish a woman's nudity while women don't maintain the same interests. His questions and his views are informative and engaging without being professorial. I hadn't thought about this male trait that much myself. After having spent 50 years as a male, I just accepted it. Upon reading the book, I found myself talking to my wife and friends, male as well as female, about this predilection of the male of the species.

In addition to delivering thought provoking material, Parker also delivers a fast paced tale of investigation and deduction. As usual, the dialogue is crisp and dead on. No one writes dialogue as pared down to the bone as Parker. This is excellent in the prose form, but I have noticed that it's somewhat detrimental when listening to the stories on audio book. I really recommend reading these books and enjoying them as audio books on a second go around.

The opening pages of the book are rather shocking. I know our generation has become overly protective of our children, but I couldn't imagine my daughter going through a panty check while in high school. I would've had someone's head. I don't recall the story like this in the news lately, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that I had missed one.

Parker handles all of this well, but it's just enough to make you think deeply about both sides of the issues. As he mentions of the book, schools are being expected to raise children more and more as parents duck those responsibilities. My wife is a fourth grade schoolteacher so I'm very familiar with the problems out there. This is just a small point that Parker touches on the book, but it's one that needs more discussion.

I have to admit, that over the last few books I've gotten thoroughly irritated at Jenn and her whining ways. And I've got irritated with Jesse for putting up with them. A new crisis dawns in this arena again, which is no surprise, but things are different somewhat and I'm more interested than ever in seeing the next book. Also, Sunny Randall, Parker's female private eye, returns to the series for cameos in this book. She brings along her best friend Spike for another heartwarming cameo.

Tom Selleck plays Jesse Stone in made-for-television movies on CBS. The latest movie, JESSE STONE: THIN ICE, debuts this Sunday, March 1. This is an original story, not based on one of the novels.

I had a great time with this novel, but like with all of Parker's works, I was finished much too soon. But there will be at least three more Parker books the rest of this year, so I have a lot of good reading to look forward to.