Customer Reviews

Sea Change (Jesse Stone Novels)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This was my first Parker novel, my dad was reading it and when he finished it I picked it up. I am glad I did as I have a new favorite author! The hero is Jess Stone a former Los Angeles cop who is now police chief in a small Massachusetts town. The chief has some problems, a recovering alcoholic who has lost his wife Jenn. But then a badly decomposed floater washes up on the beach. The dinning crabs make identification of the body difficult, but the cops soon figure out the body is that of Florence Horvath a wealthy divorcee from Fort Lauderdale. Florence's yacht the Lady Jane is docked at the local marina. Stone is plunged into the lives of the rich jets set crowd to attempt to learn what happened to Ms. Horvath?

Stone makes for a great anti-hero. The mystery plot is balanced by Stones personal struggles, that gives the story a realistic edge. The writing is crisp and the dialog snappy yet believable. I also liked the fact that all of the action and plot devices seemed reasonable and probable, something lacking in much of this genre. Though over 300 pages it is a quick read. I now look forward to going back and reading Parker's other novels.

NOTE; THIS BOOK IS RATED 3 1/2 STARS - THE ABOVE ONE STAR IS WRONG BUT AMAZON DOESN"T ALLOW ME TO CHANGE IT.

I have been a Robert Parker fan for years and always look forward to a new book by him - whether it is another novel in my long time favorite series, Spenser, or more recently a story in the series which alternately feature Jesses Stone and Sunny Randall. Unfortunately, this new entry in the Jesse Stone series, while enjoyable and in many a typical showcase for his tough guy characters and recent themes, is not up to his usual standards and may not appeal to as broad a group of readers as his stories usually do.

Among the many positive aspects of this novel are the following:
first, the typical concise dialog and witty insights and asides which characterize Parker's work are liberally sprinkled throughout the story;
second, Jessie's interactions with the two police women working with him on the case (his associate Molly and Ft. Lauderdale Detective Kelly Cruz) and the development of their characters added both depth and a positive emotional cast to this depressing tale;
third, the fact that Healy played a significant if minor role and that we learned more about his personal life than in the Spenser series was a definite bonus;
fourth, despite some flaws this was a very good police procedural;
fifth, it is an extremely fast and easy read, and does include a few cameoappearances by Rita Fiore as well; and
sixth and last, the interaction of Jessie and his ex-wife Jenn and the progress in their relationship was reminiscent of the Spenser series when Susan and Spenser were attempting to overcome the problems in their relationship (but which of course had much different origins) and the introspection and self analysis through which they had to proceed.

The following elements, however, weighed on the negative side;
first, the depressing nature of the crime itself and the meaningless lives of quiet desperation led by all the "emotional automatons" involved in Jesse's investigation (the case is a downer for everyone who becomes involved);
second, the overtly sexual nature of the case was not offset by any hint at all of love, passion, romance or other elements which would have added some meaning to the lives of the participants as well as interest for the reader;
third, there several loose threads that are never tied up but more importantly there are a few instances of totally inconsistent facts uncovered during various phases of the investigation which were elements apparently introduced to aid the storyline at the time but were totally contradicted later in the investigation. Unfortunately, I can't discuss details without providing spoilers. (Parker does not reread or proof his work, and thus depends on his editor to correct such mistakes - either through sloppiness or under the pressure of his very tight publishing schedule these were overlooked.) While understandable, I do not think such distractions should be excused in the case of a major author and a top tier publishing house - particularly since this is not the first time that editing mistakes have occurred in his recent work.

In conclusion, if you are a Robert Parker fan, you will recognize his trademark style and several characters in this story. And if you enjoy stories of meaningless sex and voyeurism spiced up by murder and a few other crimes, then this is an adequate entry in that category. This is not just my opinion, Jesse himself states to Molly when she refers to the "victims" in a moment of pity that these are just "depraved, stupid, careless, amoral people". The aspect of the story which made the book worthwhile for me and kept me willing to wade through the depressing scenes was the fact that even more so than usual in Parker's books this was only nominally a murder investigation. In effect, that aspect of the story only provided the backdrop for the reader's ability to participate in Jesse's developing self awareness regarding the fact that the inherent problems in his previous relationship with Jenn revolved around his issues of control and how to deal with his tendency to "objectivize" her. So we see him back in his therapy sessions with Dix, gaining insights from his conversations with Molly and sharing them with Jenn, and realizing that he is as much a compulsive drinker of Coke as he used to be of alcohol when he marvels at Healy's ability to nurse a single beer. Thus, my rating is meant to convey that while I felt that the elements which I enjoyed certainly made this better than a three star novel, I couldn't justify four stars given its flaws. Read it - just don't expect the unalloyed enjoyment that often results from this author's efforts

Tucker Andersen

Five INTRIGUING Stars!! Jesse Stone, former LA cop is now chief of police in Paradise, Massachusettes. On the wagon, in analysis, and trying to get his woman back, he's carrying more baggage than a police chief should. Then a murdered "floater" plunges him, a man in therapy, into the seedy underbelly of the rich, to analyze the case and find the killer. And he gets alot of help along the way from internal and external sources, one big surprising source in particular.

The redoubtable Robert B. Parker gives us tons of detailed police procedure and forensic investigation, which is just the kickoff, then he takes Jesse down the lurid rabbit-hole to a surprising climax in a wide ranging investigation. Snappy dialogue and intriguing, disturbing characters and situations abound. In some places it was like I wanted to cover my eyes and peek through the parted fingers: we shouldn't look but can't look away. Do people really live like that? Caution: there are two disturbing scenes conjured up by Mr Parker. An amazing read by one of our most talented mystery writers. Five Big Stars!!!

(Note: Eminently readable book with short three to five page chapters that are sparely written, but chock full of information on the page and between the lines. A fascinating, engrossing approach to writing.)

As with Robert Urich playing the role of Spenser in the television series from the mid-to-late eighties, I now see Tom Selleck as our flawed hero, Jesse Stone, and Viola Davis as Molly Crane and Mimi Rogers as the beautiful and sexy Rita Fiore. And, for some strange reason this has made the "Jesse Stone" series even more fun for me to read. I have a face to put on all the recurring characters and this makes me look forward to each "Jesse Stone" novel when it comes out, enjoying a brief reunion with new and trusted friends. Though some of the books are better than others, in my opinion there are no bad "Jesse Stone" novels. I've loved all five books, and I avidly look forward to the newest one, Sea Change, being turned into a TV movie with Mr. Selleck reprising the role of Paradise, Massachusetts police chief, Jesse Stone.

In Sea Change, Jesse Stone has to solve the murder of an attractive, middle-aged woman who was found floating in the harbor of Paradise. The victim, Florence Horvath, turns out to be an out-of-towner from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Jesse will have to turn to Detective Kelly Cruz of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department for help on this one. While both of them work the case from their respective ends of the country, Jesse discovers that the victim may have come to Paradise for its annual Race Week with boaters arriving from all over the eastern seaboard to participate in and to watch the big racing event. This leads to the discovery of an amateur sex ring amongst some of the boaters, involving female teenagers from Paradise. As Jesse investigates the murder case, he must also deal with his battle to remain sober and with his ex-wife, Jenny, being back in his life once again and what that means to him emotionally. Before the book ends and the case is solved, Jesse's going to learn a lot about himself, his love for Jenny, and how people can treat others as inanimate objects for their own sexual gratification. It's not easy being a flawed hero, but Jesse does the best he can one day at a time.

Like the other novels by Robert Parker, Sea Change is a quick read. I picked it up and was finished in just a few hours. I consider that a compliment to Mr. Parker's craftsmanship as a writer. I have a number of novels on my shelf that I had to put down after only thirty pages because of outright boredom with the story line. I've never had that problem with anything Mr. Parker has written. His books are always pure fun to read with realistic dialogue that brings a true smile to one's face, characters that eventually become close friends to the reader, and a sense of style that few other writers are able to emulate. Sea Change is no different. It takes the character of Jesse Stone one step further in his life with a clearer understanding of what it means to be a human being and how to insure that justice for those who've been harmed by others is finally achieved. A very, very good read!

I'm a big fan of Robert Parker's work. I'm also a big fan of his Jesse Stone series. This is the first novel in the Stone series that disappointed me, although it's still good enough to warrant a mild recommendation.

The major problem of this book is the plot. Much of this book is devoted to a sex club run by two fifty-something men, and the vapid young women (often teenagers) who are drawn into it. We have one lurid scene after another detailing the sexual escapades of these people, which are usually caught on tape.

This sounds potentially interesting, but Parker overdoes it. After a while, the endless sex scenes (and Parker's moralizing about them) grow tiresome and depressing. It doesn't help that nearly all of the young girls in this novel are cartoonish, lolita-type characters who seem willing to sleep with anybody. If the characters were more three-dimensional, I would have cared more deeply about the outcome of the book.

SEA CHANGE is also very short (under 50,000 words) and can be read in a few hours. Like a lot of readers, I've noticed a lot of editing errors in this book. A real embarassment for Putnam -- don't their star writers deserve better?

In short, this book is decently written and has great dialogue, but it's hurt by a shaky plot. If you've never read Parker before, I would recommend an earlier Jesse Stone novel, STONE COLD, or one of the early Spenser novels, which are superb.

Long time fans of Mr. Parker will be let down by this depressing sex romp. If you want to read this book save your money and check it out from the library. Mr. Parker didn't seem to put a lot of effort in character or plot development in this book.

The Bad News: It's not a particularly good one.

However, Robert B. Parker's books remind me of those bumper stickers that say 'A Bad Day Fishing is Better Than a Good Day at Work.'

A bad Jesse Stone book is still a fun read.

In this installment, Stone's police department is investigating a woman's body found floating in the harbor. Along the way, Stone discovers lots of perversion, money, yachts and messed-up rich kids. Or, as his psychologist puts it, Stone is working on a case 'in which control and loveless sexual objectification is rampant.'

Stone comments that pornography is fun for about the first 10 seconds and then it loses most of its appeal for him (he has to wade through hours of personal videotapes of the stuff in the search for victims and suspects) because it gets so repetitive. Unfortunately, this book has the same problem. Lots of sex parties and videotape. Lots of rich boys, easy girls and videotape. The problem is that the story just gets stuck in a rut for about a hundred pages or so. The dialogue is wonderful. The observations are witty. At one point, though, I realized that I was just reading for the witty dialogue and the observations - not for the plot.

Too bad. The last Jesse Stone novel I read was one of the best novels Parker had written, in my opinion. This one goes in the lower half of that long, long list of books.

As has been the case for several books now, the book seems quite hefty when you pick it up. However, open it up and it reminds me of when a college student tries to pad the length of his paper by enlarging the margins and the font size. This book features large print, extra thick paper, lots of space between each line and full one inch margins. Each chapter also starts about 2/3 of the way down the page and there are 62 chapters, so that's a good way to stretch it out an extra 30 pages or so. Not that it makes any difference, but I wonder why they've done this. It weighs in at 296 pages and could have easily have been printed in a 200 page format without straining the eyes. This little one-day read is wider than most textbooks! This has to be more expensive, it adds to shipping costs and makes it harder for the stores to stock multiple copies...

Anyway, final grade: C+

I agree with the average review in the book edition area. However, it is one thing to read "Jesse said" after every friggin time the character says a line, but to hear it spoken by Scott Sowers' mouth over and over and over and over, it is just too much. Listen to another book where the reader at least inflects his voice differently for different characters. I almost quit hearing it on the first CD, but the story line finally caught me enough to suffer, and I use that word carefully, through the rest of the story.

After seeing some of the positive reviews about this book and the gushing praise for Parkers writing, I am beginning to wonder if I am just being too critical or if part of my problem with this book might lie in the fact that I listened to it on compact disc.

First let me say that it was very difficult to keep my mind focused on the plot because I was so annoyed by the repetitious dialogue. When it came to any lengthy verbal exchange between the characters all I heard was "Jesse said", "Molly said", "Kelly Cruz said", "Healy said", etc. I believe that most readers (as well as folks listening ) could figure out who was saying what once any given exchange between the characters began. Also, why was it necessary to keep identifying the Florida detective as " Kelly Cruz"? I knew her last name the first 20 times I heard it. Was it really necessary to keep repeating it......after all she was the ONLY Kelly in the story.

Okay, now that I have vented let me say that I did enjoy certain aspects of the story. The laid back demeanor of the Jesse Stone character is appealing, his assistant Molly is likable, but the star of this caper is the Kelly Cruz character. She is one smart cookie who could probably keep Jesse on his toes, both professionally and personally, if Jesse would just get over Jenn, his ex.

Most of the other characters that pepper the pages of Sea Change can be summed up in three words, shallow, spoiled and self-indulgent. As for the overall content and plotline.........well let's just say that in this humble reviewers opinion, Sea Change has run aground.

Speaking as someone who owns at least one copy of every one of Robert B. Parker's novels, I am seriously sick that I wasted $20 and an evening on this poorly written and edited junk.

It was so bad that there were continuity issues where Jesse came back out of the dyke girl's cafe to get whatsername (the ex-wife) and then one sentence later apologized for not coming back out to get her.

Throughout the book Jesse fell into both Spenser and Hawk's grammar, mind -set and word choice and then wandered back out.

The entire book read as if ir was thrown together quickly to generate cash or make a deadline, a serious disappointment :(