Blue Screen

May 22, 2006
Bestseller Parker's two non-Spenser leads, Boston PI Sunny Randall, and Paradise, Mass., police chief Jesse Stone, join forces in this breezy, fast-paced whodunit. Buddy Bollen, a sleazy Hollywood producer, hires Sunny to protect his girlfriend, Erin Flint, a stunning action star who's trying to become major league baseball's first female player, for Buddy's franchise, the Connecticut Nutmegs. When one of Erin's entourage turns up dead, Sunny discovers that the deceased was Erin's younger sister, Misty, and that the two share a sordid past. Since the murder takes place on Jesse's quiet turf, the detective and the police chief, both of whom are on the rebound from failed marriages, must take each other's measure and are soon sizing each other up romantically. While the mystery's resolution may be fairly predictable, the witty byplay between the principals and the convincing portrayal of their burgeoning relationship will leave Parker fans eager for the next book to feature Sunny and Jesse as sleuthing and romantic partners.

May 1, 2006
Erin Flint is on all the magazine covers, and her last movie--lotta body, acting not so much--was boffo box office. Her lover-manager, Buddy Bollen, who also owns a major-league baseball team, wants Flint to play for his team--a cameo, but timed to coincide with the release of her next movie. But Erin fears there may be an attempt on her life, so Boston investigator Sunny Randall is hired to be her bodyguard. While working on her batting skills in the resort town of Paradise, one of Erin's entourage is murdered. Sunny, with the blessing of Paradise police chief Jesse Stone--another Parker series regular--sets off to find the killer. Parker has never been big on plots. He's all about character, characters, and snappy dialogue, and all are present here in spades. What makes this special is the dalliance between Stone and Randall. Both are smart, clever, witty, brave, burdened with the weight of past loves, and, well, downright horny. This isn't Parker's best work, but it may be his most lighthearted.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)