Johnsenclan

Book eighteen in 52 books in 52 weeks

Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels are some of my favorites. They’re mystery novels with many of the same characters. The good guy always wins, and there are plenty of guns and good dialogue along the way. Trouble in Paradise is a different character in a different series, and I probably shouldn’t have strayed.

Jess Stone is the Chief of police in a small Massachusetts town. Half of the story follows him as he deals with a recent divorce, as well as punk kids and an entire island full of people being robbed. The other half, told in parallel, is the robber and his crew preparing for he big heist. There is the problem, there should be some kind of mystery along the way, but because you’re let into every detail for the protagonist and antagonist, you know everything that’s going to happen. There really isn’t much excitement.

My problem may be I’m comparing it to some of my favorite characters and favorite stories, but the book feels empty and bland compared to others by Parker.

The characters don’t have much personality, they could easily be replaced with someone else. Even Stone isn’t someone that couldn’t be any detective in any cookie-cutter novel. Maybe I’ll give another one a shot to see if it gets better, after all I need another book to hold me over until more Spenser books are released.

Rating C

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