Night Passage

Robert B. Parker

Jul 2001 · A Jesse Stone Novel Book 1 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

Robert B. Parker introduces readers to police chief Jesse Stone in the first novel in the beloved mystery series—a New York Times bestseller.

After a busted marriage kicks his drinking problem into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dumps him, thirty-five-year-old Jesse Stone’s future looks bleak. So he’s shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise recruits him as police chief. He can’t help wondering if this job is a genuine chance to start over, the kind of offer he can’t refuse.

Once on board, Jesse doesn’t have to look for trouble in Paradise: it comes to him. For what is on the surface a quiet New England community quickly proves to be a crucible of political and moral corruption—replete with triple homicide, tight Boston mob ties, flamboyantly errant spouses, maddened militiamen and a psychopath-about-town who has fixed his violent sights on the new lawman. Against all this, Jesse stands utterly alone, with no one to trust—even he and the woman he’s seeing are like ships passing in the night. He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero—or the deadest of dupes.

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: Decent start to a new Parker series . PLOT OR PREMISE: This is the first one in the Jesse Stone series. Jesse is a washed-up homicide detective from L.A. who climbed into a bottle and lost his wife to a L.A. player. But a small town in Massachusetts called Paradise recruits him as their new police chief...and Jesse jumps at it to save his own life. . WHAT I LIKED: Things are not as they appear in Paradise because the town leader has started his own little militia designed to fight back when the eventual downfall of America occurs. The previous chief of police has been sent packing and the town council wants someone they can control. Unfortunately, Jesse isn't it. The focus of this first story is on Jesse getting sober, finding out what really happened to the last chief, finding out what is going on in Paradise with the town leader, and when he has time, figuring out what's going on in his personal life. A refreshing change from the Spenser series because there is no Hawk and there is no Susan to back him up, there's just him. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Vinnie and Joe from the Spenser series show up, but are more for comic relief than anything. Stone's ex-wife and new girlfriend are more co-dependant than helpful. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, nor did I follow him on social media.

I enjoyed this book. At first I didn't like any of the characters so I found it difficult to read but it got much better after a few chapters. It's worth reading.

I was introduced to Robert Parker's Jesse Stone series quite by accident, when a friend passed on some paperback mysteries to me, which included Stranger in Paradise. I was immediately hooked, and am now going back to read all the books in order. I am in love with Parker's sparse, elegantly simple prose. It puts me in mind of Hemingway.

About the author

Robert B. Parker was the author of more than fifty books. He died in January 2010.