Showing posts with label Michael Brandman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Brandman. Show all posts
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Reviews Elsewhere
Awhile back I reviewed Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do by Michael Brandman here. Author Dennis Palumbo weighs in on the book here in his column for the Los Angeles Review Of Books.
I have reviewed A Diet of Treacle by Lawrence Block before here and I wasn't at all positive. I think this very well might be one of those books that I didn't appreciate at the time I read it because I simply wasn't old enough or mature enough to get it. I know I am a far different person and by extension reviewer now than I was five years ago. It just got reviewed again and you can read that here.
Yesterday was Ross Macdonald day for Friday's Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott. The reviews and links are here along with reviews/links to other titles by other authors. You could spend many lifetimes just reading the books that are suggested for FFB. You should get to work.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Review: "Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel" by Michael Brandman
Paradise Police Chief Jesse
has a feeling he knows the dead woman from somewhere. Found in a bungalow at
the Surf and Sand motel the dead woman might be 20 or a little younger. Whether
the name she used on the motel register is correct or not is any one's guess. Naked
and dead with no identification makes things hard with identifying her. Then there
is the compounding fact she drove a car with stolen plates. Finding out who she was is going to be a huge
problem and a definite hindrance to the homicide investigation.
What is clear from the get
go that based on where she had been found and her recent short stays at the run
down motel Jesse Stone has quickly determined that she was making money the old
fashioned way. Apparently she was an independent contractor, despite the serious
efforts of two different pimps, who both wanted her in their respective
stables. She was a young and attractive pawn in their turf battle for power and
her death has escalated the tensions involved in that situation. Jesse will
deal with that later---right now he wants to identify her for her parents and
then find her killer.
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You
Do: A Jesse Stone Novel written by Michael Brandman continues the
series in a good way. Both the primary storyline of the above homicide case as
well as a secondary one involving possible abuse of the elderly at a local
retirement home move forward at a rapid pace. Along the way there are plenty of
opportunities for Jesse to crack wise, chat with Dix his therapist, and do what
he does best to irritate those in power and seek justice.
Scheduled to be released in
September this latest in the series is another good one. It breaks no new
ground in terms of the continuing characters and none is expected by faithful
readers. It continues the late Robert B. Parker's writing style of short
chapters, very little description of settings, and snappy dialogue used to move
the action forward. The book comes together well and provides another
entertaining fast read with Jesse Stone.
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You
Do: A Jesse Stone Novel
Michael
Brandman
G.
P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Group USA)
September
10, 2013
ISBN#978-0-399-15950-3
Hardback
(also available in e-book and audio formats)
288
Pages
$26.95
I received an ARC of this title due to my participation
in the “LibraryThing Early Reviewers” group for my use in an objective
review. As such, my above review
appeared there first last Saturday before appearing here on the blog.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Review: "Robert B. Parker’s Fool Me Twice: A Jesse Stone Novel" by Michael Brandman
After the death of author Robert B. Parker, Michael
Brandman took over the Jesse Stone series. The first one, Robert B. Parker’s Killing The
Blues was a fairly good book. It certainly was not Robert B. Parker, but
the book was good and there was the suggestion that Michael Brandman had plans
to push the boundaries a little bit. Unfortunately, this novel is simply nowhere
as near as good while it reads like discarded pieces of a movie script due to
the lack of depth to characters or scenes. The book features three equally weak
storylines that are way too predictable for any mystery reader.
The primary storyline is about threats against
actress, Marisol Hinton, who is in town to film a movie. Her marriage to another
actor is collapsing due to his ego, his lack of movie roles, and his heavy drug
use.
The two secondary storylines involve water usage and
rates and the spoiled teen of a rich family who is acting out.
In a sense, all three storylines in this latest Jesse
Stone novel are about folks acting out in one way or another. In all cases,
those involved get dealt with in easily predictable fashion over the course of
the 278 page novel. A novel that features very little scene description,
nothing new in the Jesse Stone character, and weak storylines that seem to have
come straight from a discarded movie script of the now cancelled series. On a positive
note, the mentions of Jesse’s ex-wife, Jenn, are kept to a bare minimum giving
the impression that Jesse is slowly moving on.
Going back on the promise of a slightly edgier Jesse
Stone, Robert B. Parker’s Fool Me Twice: A Jesse Stone Novel is saccharine
even for this series. One knew that it would be all but impossible for anyone
to continue the Jesse Stone series as written by Robert B. Parker. One hoped that Mr. Brandman would not make it
the series even lighter in terms of storylines, plots, settings, etc. Thanks to
an absolute minimum of scene setting, limited dialogue that often reads forced,
and three storylines where the resolution is obvious from early on, this read
is a very disappointing step backwards and not anywhere near the level of the
last book.
Robert B. Parker’s Fool Me Twice: A Jesse Stone Novel
Michael
Brandman
G.
P. Putnam’s Son (Penguin Group)
2012
ISBN#
978-0-399-15949-7
Hardback
276
Pages
$25.99
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano,
Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2012
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Review: "Robert B. Parker’s Killing The Blues: A Jesse Stone Novel" by Michael Brandman
“Robert B. Parker’s “Killing the Blues” is the latest in the Jesse Stone series. With the sudden death of author Robert B. Parker in January 2010, this franchise now rest in the hands of Michael Brandman. Since Mr. Brandman has been the executive producer, among other duties, for the CBS movies it is hard to imagine who else would be better suited to pick up the series.
It is spring in Paradise, Massachusetts and at least some of the board of selectmen are still far more worried about the coming summer season with tourism and public appearances then actually providing constructive support and resources. It is an old situation to Jesse and one that he tolerates as folks do have to make their public positions known. Instead of power points and detailed speeches in public, Jesse Stone prefers to let his actions do the talking.
Behind the scenes, though he does not want to detail it out for the board of selectman, Police Chief Jesse Stone is at work investigating a string of auto thefts. It is a problem when tourists have their cars stolen. Not only does it provide a problem from the tourism angle and the life blood those dollars give the small community of Paradise, Massachusetts the recent thefts signal a far bigger problem with organized crime once again trying to move into the area. Not to mention the latest case of bullying over at one of the schools. If that was not enough, a career criminal recently released from prison is coming to Paradise bent on revenge against Jesse Stone and ultimately killing him. Of course, like any crazed convict of TV show or book, he first must make Jesse and his town suffers through various escalating acts of violence.
The 276 page book serves as a fitting tribute to the series and the style of Robert B. Parker. The Parker tradition of short chapters, the use of very few dialogue tags, very little description and plenty of action continues in this latest novel. This is a slightly harder edged Jesse, somewhat less reflective while more prone to unorthodox and possible illegal actions, as he works to keep his town of Paradise safe. How the series continues from here should be very interesting.
Robert B. Parker’s Killing The Blues: A Jesse Stone Novel
Michael Brandman
G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Group, USA)
2011
ISBN# 978-0-399-15784-4
Hardback
275 Pages
$25.95
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2012
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