Customer Reviews

Perish Twice

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Robert Parker's newest character, Boston P.I. Sunny Randall, returns in "Perish Twice," but this time she's juggling the role of relationship counselor along with her usual sleuthing duties. Her snooty sister learns of her husband's mistress and plunges into bouts of self-pity mixed with revenge; her best friend, bored with her marriage, has an affair, and a lesbian feminist becomes increasingly unhelpful when it's revealed that her stalker might know her more intimately than she's willing to admit. Through it all, Sunny struggles with her own relationship with her ex-husband Richie and comes closer to danger with each new twist of her case.

It's still too early to tell where Parker will take the character of Sunny. At this point, she still seems like the female equivalent of Parker's most famous character, Spenser, albeit a bit more ladylike. The book itself is fairly typical, uninspired Parker--the plot is reminiscent of an early Spenser novel, "Looking For Rachel Wallace." Sunny's relationship with Richie echoes a similar situation with Parker's other character Jesse Stone. Parker fans will experience a lot of deja vu with "Perish Twice," but it's still a fairly enjoyable read.

No, the title I've chosen does not refer to Robert Parker creating a sort of female Spenser in Sunny Randall. Rather this, Sunny's second case, is itself more a series of studies of the varied and tortured physical relations women get into. There's the radical feminist who's a lesbian with a heterosexual itch to scratch; the former prostitute who drifted from respectable married life to lesbian promiscuity; the unhappy wife who deserts her husband and children to find herself; and the overly dependent wife who discovers her husband is cheating and strikes out on her own, a role for which she is singularly unqualified. Then there's Sunny herself, enjoying a perfectly good relationship with the man she's divorced. Somewhere along the way, three people get murdered because of the dirty little complications in the first two relationships above. That the last two confused women are Sunny's best friend and sister adds to the intrigue. But it also adds to the confusion as Sunny hops from emotional problem to emotional problem while trying to solve a well disguised mystery, knowing solving it could also be fatal. It works, well sort of, only because of Parker's genius with sparse prose and clipped, incisive dialogue. And because the heroine is so damn likeable. Still, it's not fully satisyfing and, as he did in Hugger Mugger, Mr. Parker's ending is also unsatisfyingly unresolved. Parhaps as he grows older, Mr. Parker is trying to tell us that the black and white of the young Spenser's world hardly exists. If that's the message, it doesn't quite work. Sort of like this novel.

Perish Twice is the second in Robert Parker's new series about his female private detective, Ms. Sunny Randall. No one who reads the story will miss the similarities to Spenser. Through the parallels, you can begin to see more clearly Mr. Parker's thesis about what being a good, honest person should be about. What constitutes a proper life for women and men is remarkably similar. As in the Spenser books, most people don't get it. His interpretation of the proper feminist version of goodness and a healthy mind becomes more obvious in Perish Twice than in any other book by Mr. Parker. This transparency is helped by his setting up so many alternative models of women who are either phony, hypocritical, or miserable (or perhaps a little of each). As with the previous Sunny Randall book, Family Honor, this one makes Sunny a little too dependent on her hoodlum ex-in-laws to be totally palatable.

The story has four major plot lines. The primary one revolves around a bodyguard job that Sunny does for a high profile feminist, Ms. Mary Lou Goddard. Someone is threatening Ms. Goddard. Sunny soon spots a stalker and tracks him down. The path from there takes many twists. The second one involves Sunny's sister Elizabeth who wants to know if her husband is cheating on her. Sunny quickly finds out that he is, and Sunny plays chaperone and analyst for her emotionally floundering and confused sister. The third relates to her friend, Julie, who suddenly walks away from her marriage. The fourth continues Sunny's relationship with her ex-husband, Richie. Each plot line crosses the others from time to time, providing for a rewarding set of developments.

The mystery in the book has two very interesting features. First, it develops surprising depth after what appears to be a very simple beginning and initial plot. Second, Mr. Parker leaves the ending at a place where many stories don't end. As a result, you will have many thoughts about what the story means that you would not otherwise have. That's a fine bit of writing. So you have at least two nice surprises to look forward to enjoying.

After you finish this book, you should think about why connecting to other people is so difficult and painful. Another useful question might be why we don't draw more love and support from our connections to one another. What's missing?

Put honoring your values ahead of pursuing your needs, if you want to enjoy self-respect.

It's always been my prayer that Robert Parker would live a long life and keep writing so I'd have him to look forward to twice a year even if his new PI, Sunny Randall, is just Spenser in a dress. She. like, Spenser, has attitude and a dog she shares with her ex-husband Richie, who, by the way, is a lot more likeable than the fit, trim, beautiful, brilliant and accomplished Susan Silverman. They're both tough but sensitive. Spenser cooks and Randall paints. The setting, as always, is Boston.

There are murders and Sunny solves them, like Spenser, with the help of cops and criminals, but the essence of all Parker's work is the character of Sunny/Spenser and the people they know and accept.

For those who may be new to Parker,please read his books in the order in which they were written. You'll be glad you did. There are three series, the most famous being the Spenser novels. There are many of them and that's the wonderful part. There are two books each in the Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall series.

All of Parker's books are alike because it seems the author wants to reinforce his message until he's sure we're getting it, and that is that a "normal" life is like a medicine prescribed for everyone, even those who are allergic to it, and that we have to accept the differences in the people around us while believing in ourselves and our values, and that the most useful body parts are ears that listen.

I *love* the Spenser series and love Parker's writing style in general. That makes it very difficult for me to understand how he can fail in his two Sunny Randall stories. The first one was pretty bad. If possible, this one is even worse.

Sunny is a short blonde PI whose ex-hubby's family are into crime. She has a female shrink pal (a la Susan), a tough male friend (a la Hawk) and just about the same contacts as Spenser does. I could forgive all that. It's the way Parker writes female characters that really irks me, and the inane plots he puts her through.

Let's see. In the first chapter Sunny's sister is berating crazy Jew shrinks (hmmmmmm) and she manages to catch the sis' hubby cheating the very first day, the very first time. Not only that, but plot flaws give her omniscient powers at times. We can forgive those, perhaps they were sly comments on womanhood and the Spenser history.

Sunny finds it strange that a woman who is researching prostitutes would talk to a vice cop. We have the whole "Oh, I love you but I can't live with you, isn't this perfect" situation. We have the old "I caught you and now must decide what is morally correct to do about it" situation. This starts to get tedious.

Two of the women she deals with need men in different ways - one to take care of her and one for pleasure. Another doesn't like her home situation and decides to run around with men instead. Sunny doesn't want to turn to men, but in the end ends up completely turning to men to both get to talk to someone and then to fall in their arms and cry afterwards! For a book that you would hope promotes a female's ability to be an individual, it falls flat on its face.

The plot had so much potential. There were mixed sexualities, mixed races, mixed relationships, you name it. I kept hoping for something to shine through, but it didn't. Sunny kept telling everyone that they were in a 'crazy time' and that they shouldn't do anything permanent until they got through it. I can only hope that Parker will concentrate on Spenser from now on, and give us the fantastic writing he is so well known for.

Well, even Mr.Jordan had some bad games. Mr.Parkers second novel featuring protagonist Sunny Randall is a pure air ball. I really liked "Family Honor", despite the similarities to "Early Autumn", however this is border line self plagerism.This book is so close to "Looking for Racheal Wallace" that you would be far better off going and buying a second copy of said book. The issues here, sexual harrasment, sexual identity, are right out of "Wallace". Sadly, even Mr.Parkers trademark banter wears thin. I have been a fan of almost all of this authors work, though the last two Spenser novels were not up to par, but this travesty is literary drek. Mr.Parker has been at this genre since the early 70's, with a yeoman like outpouring of work every year, but it may be time to retire his pen.

Robert B. Parker is best known for his Spenser novels. A hallmark of the Spenser stories is the sensitivity of the tough but not-so-hard-boiled private eye and the relationships among the supporting cast. Parker's new series about a female private eye closely parallels the old series. Perish Twice is the second go-around for Sunny Randall, introduced last year in Family Honor. This time she has three parallel "cases." (Like Spenser, she doesn't let little things like having paying clients affect her desire to investigate. After all, what she really wants is to know the answers.) Her paying client (for a while, at least) is a militant feminist who wants protection from whoever is making threats. But she doesn't want to call in the police because they are sexist pigs and her business is none of theirs. So Sunny is her body guard, escorting her to and from work. When Sunny quickly spots and identifies the stalker, the client does not want her to do anything, and is angry at Sunny for making the ID. Strange! Then a staffer in the client's office is murdered and Sunny is fired by her client because she, against the client's orders, identifies the stalker to the police. The stalker is then found dead with a suicide note and a pistol in his hand, so the police wrap up both cases. Murder followed by guilt-induced suicide. Sunny is not satisfied, however, and pursues the case on her own. Along the way she also has to deal with her pre-feminist-consciousness sister, who thinks her husband is cheating on her and with a mid-life crisis on the part of her best friend, who is a counselor who doesn't want to deal with her situation. Sunny's ex-husband (who shares custody of their dog and is a frequent date) and friend Spike complete the main cast. There are also assorted cops and bad guys who are typical of Parker's menagerie. The conversations are clones of those among Spenser, Hawk, and Susan - and that is a favorable recommendation. Sunny Randall is not Spenser - but then again she is in many ways. We enjoy Spenser time after time, and now we can enjoy Sunny for all of the same reasons.

I regret writing this; I'm a great fan of Parker's and have everything he's written. The first Sunny Randall book was great; a nice transition to a woman protagonist, as good as John Sanford's, for instance. In Perish Twice Parker, and his publishers, are trying to cater to what they think is the female market. The result is a mish-mash with nearly no plot. The dialogue might have saved the book, but now almost everyone is cracking wise. Add to this that the dialogue takes up a LOT of the space and the book is therefore barely book length, and the cost of the hardbound adds insult to injury. Too bad; another good writer scuttled for marketing purposes.

Sunny Randall is back for a rewrite of yet another Spenser book (see Looking for Rachel Wallace). This time Parker really misses the mark, and creates a female character that is simply not in any way believable. The dialogue is witty (as always) but very un-estrogen inspired. The plot and subplots are neither very amusing nor sympathetic - which basically leaves a tough Meg Ryan type and a cute dog. The pursuit of the case is illogical since Sunny has no other paying job; the interplay with the ex-husband is self-absorbed and a little weird. Parker tries to weave in a bit of Robert Frost (thus the title) which does not really make any sense. The conclusion is rushed and ends with what is rather a desperate cliff hanger, supposed to keep the reader hooked on this series? Not me!

I'm not quite sure how to rate this book by stars, so to play it safe I'll give it 3, right in the middle. I enjoyed many things about this Sunny Randall book, and some things just drove me nuts.

Good: familiar territory, "Spenser-in-a-dress", quick and easy to read (I attacked each small chapter while quite ill, and the book went by quite painlessly).

Bad: not much of a story, frankly. Characters "sketchy", unengaging. Mr. Parker can't seem to get over the fact that a woman can be a detective and seems overly fond of having her called a "girl", over and over. ("No Gurlz Allowed"?) Also still dragging in that feminist stuff left over from the late 60's.

Neutral: a lot - A LOT - of long, loving descriptions of the antics of the cute widdle doggy. You have to like dogs in Mr. Parker's books. I thought the dog was cute, but it got wearing after a while, reading the 90th description of the dog's drinking water or sleeping cutely on the bed.

And what's the deal with the ex-husband? I'm still not sure what the problem is, something about "not needing to be together to be complete" - more dated feminist hooey! Again, the ex is there to be a safety net for the Meg Ryan/Helen Hunt heroine who might get in over her pretty little head.

I enjoy Mr. Parker's writing, but thought this particular sample was unengaging and kind of dated. It was kind of like eating a carton of generic ice cream on a hot day, it tastes OK and goes down easy; but later on, you wonder why on earth you bothered to eat it!