He admits his weaknesses and in the end, simply does the best that he can. He is reflective and intelligent so he can see what his life has become.

But Stone is refreshingly free of the wallowing and self-destructive behaviour that we see in so many novels. He is too heavy a drinker and he carries quite a lot of emotional baggage. Stone’s character is also an important element in the novel. There are other examples of irony in the novel too. On the other, he’s unable to reach out easily. On one hand, that protects him as he goes up against the town leaders and JoJo Genest. He keeps himself psychologically and emotionally distant from everyone.

Stone trusts absolutely no-one, not even himself entirely. Stone's an excellent cop and a formidable opponent, qualities that are damaging to his personal life. So he’s only too happy to make Stone’s life as miserable as possible and it’s not long before he starts to do just that. When Stone puts Genest in his place, so to speak, in front of Carole, Genest considers this a personal affront. He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero-or the deadest of dupes.Īs the flagship volume in a new series featuring a complex and engaging sleuth, Night Passage is cause for celebration.What Stone expects to be an easy job soon turns out to be anything but a “cake walk.” For one thing, he soon earns the enmity of local thug JoJo Genest when Genest’s wife Carole calls the police with a complaint that Genest violated a restraining order. Against all this, Jesse stands utterly alone, with no one to trust even he and the woman he's seeing are like ships that pass in the night. 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. Once on board, Jesse doesn't have to look for trouble in Paradise: it comes to him. He can't help wondering if this job is a genuine chance to start over, the kind of offer he can't refuse. So he's shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise recruits him as police chief. In Night Passage, Parker sets the bar even higher, with the introduction of Jesse Stone, a hero cut from different cloth.Īfter a busted marriage kicks his drinking problem into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dumps him, the thirty-five-year-old Stone's future looks bleak. With his hallmark sharp wit and taut action, Parker has created in the Spenser series the standard against which all contemporary detective novels are measured, and a character considered the paragon of private eyes. Parker is no stranger to either critical or popular acclaim. The author of two dozen Spenser novels as well as numerous other works of fiction, Robert B.

Night passage by robert b parker