Robert B. Parker died in 2010, but his characters Spenser, Jesse Stone and Virgil Cole have lived on in new books by other authors. Ace Atkins pulled off a miracle by writing two Spenser novels that could have been mistaken for the work of Parker himself…and in his prime. Michael Brandman’s three Jesse Stone novels were awful, not just bad attempts at imitating Parker, but horribly-written books by any measure. Robert Knott’s first Virgil Cole book, Ironhorse, was a decent western, but unremarkable and certainly not up to Parker’s level (his second Cole book, Bull River, was a definite step up and, wisely, a few steps away from attempting to imitate Parker). And the less said about Helen Brann’s Silent Night, a misguided attempt to finish the book Parker was writing when he died, the better.
Now along comes Reed Farrel Coleman’s Blind Spot, a new Jesse Stone novel. I should admit a personal bias right off — Reed is a friend of mine and I am a fan of his work. When I heard he was taking over for Brandman, I was thrilled. I had high hopes for what a writer of Reed’s skill would bring to the series and those hopes have not just been met, they have been exceeded. I am sure I am not going to be the first, or the only, person to say that he has saved Jesse Stone. His book is not only better than Brandman’s three Stone books (which isn’t setting a very high bar) but even better than the last few Stones written by Parker himself.
Reed has saved Jesse Stone by embracing the character, not by imitating Parker’s writing style. He’s done it by making Stone his own. He has fleshed out Stone’s world, and his inner life, in so many ways. His first smart move was making the crime story personal, one that goes to the root of Stone’s character, and that allows Reed to reboot the series, to reintroduce the character, his past, and his relationships and tweak them a bit along the way. He leaves the Stone series in much better the shape than Parker left it (and let’s just pretend the Brandman novels were a bad dream, okay?)
The story begins at a reunion of players from Stone’s short-lived time in professional baseball. The reunion occurs at the same time as a murder in Paradise, the small town where Jesse is Chief of Police. I won’t go into a summary of the plot, except to say it gives Reed ample opportunity to explore Jesse’s character in interesting ways.
There are many references in the story to past Stone tales, a gift for long-time fans, but Reed is not pandering to them. He’s anchoring his new Stone in the old, paying his respects but saying “we’re moving on.” Those references to past events and characters are the only nods he makes to Parker. You won’t find any imitations of Parker’s distinctive writing style and banter, something only Ace has dared, and brilliantly succeeded, in copying. Reed wisely writes in his own voice, one tweaked a bit to suit Jesse Stone but close enough to Parker’s sensibilities that it feels comfortable, familiar, and just right.
My favorite part of Blind Spot is how Reed makes everyone human, especially the bad guys, which is not something Parker ever did. The bad guys were often punching bags for either his supremely confident heroes’ fists or their wit, but they were not living, breathing people.
For Jesse Stone fans, Blind Spot is cause for celebration and, based on the final pages, perhaps some apprehension, too…at least until Reed’s next Stone novel.
This is great news. I look forward to reading Blind Spot. I love the characters in the Jesse stone series. Now, if we could only get the movies made again….
I am a huge Parker fan. JS in particular. Actually, I liked the Brandman novels and will look forward to this new one eagerly.
Excellent review!
What ever happened to the Sunny Randall character?
I’m about 2/3 through myself, and the only problem I have with this review is that you’ve covered a lot of what I was going to in mine. I’m going to have to work harder now.
Try reading the William W. Johnstone’s Westerns , or the Marcus Galloway Westerns written for Ralph Compton and you’ll never complain about RBP’s writing, Brachman’s or Knott’s again.
Just pre-ordered the ebook. Have read every Spenser book but only saw the Stone movies so this should be a kick.
You state “embracing the character, not by imitating Parker’s writing style.” and that is EXACTLY why I do not like Coleman’s Stone. Its nowhere near Parker’s Stone. Not even in the same galaxy. Brandman’s Stone was not as good as Parker’s but it was close and he adhered to the true Jesse Stone character the way Parker did. I guess you just don’t get it. I buy the books because I want to continue reading Bob Parker and since he’s dead and apparently has no known hidden manuscripts, I’ll take something reasonably close, which Brandman was. Coleman should just change the name from Jesse Stone into Bob Anderson because that’s really what it is.
I agree. I barely recognized Jesse Stone and the other characters I used to enjoy so much. I’m not interested in this version of Jesse Stone.
I loved all of Parkers books with Spencer and Stone but do not care at all for Colemans Blind Spot story…would not have gotten it if it hadn’t said Robert Parker and Jess Stone on the cover. Dislike it very much.
I agree. I just read Debt to Pay. Jesse Stone has had a complete personality change and it’s not for the better.
A suggestion to Michael brand man and tom selleck…hard to reach. My husband and I own all the Jesse Stone movies and we watch them over and over because of the quality of the movies, the wonderful cast of characters, and we have had others watch them and they have gone out and bought the movies. Now thanks to Hallmark channel they picked up the Jesse Stone movies. But this latest is not up to the quality nor the interest of the others. the previous movie had the police chief and the deputy blown up in their car….so naturally we all felt that this new one would have a continuous story as to what had happened…it not only left that out but most of the characters were not in this latest one…very slow moving and not much story. hope they can get this and write stories to continue one of the best series .
You have it completely backwards. Brandmans Stone novels are good reads and follow the personalities embodied in Parker’s own work and that of the TV movies. Coleman by comparison writes tedious stories that might as well be some other character altogether. I had to force myself to read Coleman, and immediately went back to reread Brandmans first Stone novel for comparison. What a refreshing difference. Sorry to say but if Coleman continues as the replacement author for this series, I won’t buy them
I loved Bradman’s interpretations. As a Robert B. Parker fan for over 30 years, I’m disappointed by the changes Reed Farrell made in both Blind Spot and The Devil Wins. Since Bradman was Parker’s personal friend and collaborator, you will forgive me if I take his word for it, not yours.
I absolutely loved Robert Parker’s works and I agree with those reviews above that say they loved Michael Brandman’s writing. His 3 books were great and I was eagerly awaiting his next book. They were “lighthearted” (as a police story could get) like Parker’s and not blood and gore. Coleman’s work is just terrible. It is gory and violent and not even close to being in the spirit that Robert Parker envisioned his characters to have. We read Debt to Pay, and I caution anyone who enjoyed being uplifted by Parker’s books, this book will leave you very depressed and keep you from sleeping. Just an awful book. If Coleman wants to write torture, blood and gore do it with some other character — don’t ruin Jesse Stone/Robert Parker. What got into the Estate of Robert Parker to turn one of his character’s books into blood and gore?