Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot

October 27, 2014
The Jesse Stone novels, about perhaps Robert B. Parker’s most complex character, are now being channeled by Reed Farrel Coleman. In this well-plotted tale, police chief Jesse Stone, a former minor league baseball player with big league possibilities before suffering a debilitating shoulder injury, reluctantly attends a reunion of his old Triple-A team, bringing back memories of his lost career and former love interest. Before he falls too deeply into the doldrums of what might have been, he’s called back to Paradise, Mass., to investigate the murder of a young girl and the disappearance of her boyfriend. As Jesse and his team find themselves trying to untangle a web of lies, extortion, coverups, kidnapping, and murder, it may be that they all tie back to the reunion and Jesse’s past. Reader Naughton hits the mark in his straightforward, no-frills narration. His characterizations are well delineated but subtle, with natural-sounding dialogue and just the right touch of regional accents. But Naughton shines with Jesse Stone, fully inhabiting the flawed but compelling character. Between Coleman and Naughton, Parker’s protagonist is in good hands. A Putnam hardcover.

July 7, 2014
Shamus Award winner Coleman, best known for his Moe Prager series (The Hollow Girl, etc.), successfully emulates the tone and style of the late Robert B. Parker’s nine Jesse Stone novels, though readers should be prepared for a cookie-cutter crime thriller with some additional backstory. Stone once hoped to play major league baseball until an accident ended his dream. Now Vic Prado, the Triple-A teammate whose throw led to Stone’s injuries, has convened a team reunion in New York City. Stone is disturbed to hear that Prado may have made the throw on purpose, but before he can probe the truth of that claim, he must rush home to Paradise, Mass., where a gunman has abducted Benjamin Salter, a wealthy college kid, and shot the boy’s girlfriend. Stone takes the law into his own hands as necessary, but is surprisingly blasé when a bad decision leads to a serious assault. Agent: Helen Brann, Helen Brann Agency.