Family Honor (Sunny Randall) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "One of the good things about being a woman in my profession is that there's not many of us, so there's a lot of work..." (more)
Key Phrases: Betty Patton, Cathal Kragan, Sunny Randall (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Let's get this settled right away: Sunny Randall is nothing like Spenser. True, she's a private eye in Boston with good connections to the cops, and she also knows a lot of bad guys. And yes, she happens to have a trusty sidekick named Spike, and a close friend who could easily be related to Susan Silverman, (Spenser's long-term companion). Oh, did I mention the cute dog? Aside from that, though, there's absolutely no similarity between this new series from Robert B. Parker and his long-running Spenser books. Just because the case Sunny is working on--finding a missing 15-year-old girl who has run away from her very rich parents--sounds similar to the Spenser favorite Thin Air doesn't mean Parker is repeating himself here. Think of it as more like a homage, the kind of thing the author took on when he agreed to finish Raymond Chandler's Poodle Springs. Only in this case it's a homage to himself--but what the hell.

Written specifically with Parker's good friend actress Helen Hunt in mind, Family Honor is all in good fun. At one point, a no-nonsense nun looks down at Sunny's bull terrier, who is lying on her back begging for a tummy rub. "What's wrong with this dog?" Sister said. "It is a dog, isn't it?"

Parker is so good that with one hand tied behind his back he can create characters that are more memorable than most writers can even when pounding away with both fists. In just a few short pages, he tells us all about Sunny's career as a painter--and about the complicated relationship between her cool policeman father and her irritating pseudo-feminist mother. Parker even makes a direct dig at Spenser (who, before turning to private investigating, had a short and fairly unsuccessful career in the boxing world). When the runaway girl questions Sunny's ability to protect her from dangerous criminals--"you're a girl like me, for crissake, what are you going to do?"--Sunny replies, "It would be nice if I weighed two hundred pounds and used to be a boxer. But I'm not, so we find other ways." Exactly. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

After 33 novelsAincluding more than two dozen Spenser mysteriesAbackboned by heros concerned with distinctly male codes of behavior, Parker presents his first female protagonist. She's Sunny Randall, and she's a keeper. In some ways, Sunny is a female Spenser. Like him, she's a former cop, now a Boston PI, quick with a pistol and a quip. She teams with an odd sidekick, Spike, as Spenser teams with Hawk, and she has a significant other, an ex-husband to Spenser's Susan. But Sunny is female, and as she explains in this wonderfully involving and moving novel, that means that she can't rely on the compass of "Be a man" to orient toward life. How to live correctly is this novel's theme, as it is in the best Spenser novels, and to explore that theme Parker borrows situations from those novels. Sunny is hired by a powerful family to find their runaway daughter, Millicent, who, it transpires, is hooking and needs rescuingAlike the girl in Taming a Sea-Horse. Once saved from the streets, Sunny trains Millicent in responsible adult waysAcooking, exerciseAas Spenser trained Paul in Early Autumn. But it's only a minor knock that Parker uses here elements honed in 30 years of writing, for he uses them with consummate skill. Millicent, it happens, witnessed a conspiracy to murder arising from her cold, ambitious parentsAher father aims to be governorAand the Italian mobsters who control them. The mobsters now want her dead, and Sunny, too, if need be. Sunny's fight to save Millicent and herself moves through a wide swath of Boston and its denizens, all etched in Parker's lean and exquisitely cadenced prose. The high suspense is equaled by the emotional power of Sunny's bonding with the damaged girl. A bravura performance, this novel launches what promises to be a series for the ages. BOMC main selection; film rights to Helen Hunt. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; First Thus edition (November 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425177068
• ISBN-13: 978-0425177068
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,658 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Sunny Randall Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaning, fast reading, witty, lots of fun, October 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Family Honor (Sunny Randall) (Hardcover)

While I am a die hard Spenser fan, I can grow to very much appreciate Sunny Randall and her crew (Richie & Spike). I found the book to be written in the typical Parker style - witty and funny one liners and great character build ups, and of course having the plot take place in and around the Boston area is just icing on the cake. I appreciated learning more about who Tony Marcus is and what makes him tick. While this book reminded me of Thin Air, it was just different enough to have kept me turning the pages (I read it in one day). The only bad thing about Family Honor (as I find with all Parker books) is when I'm finished - and it usually takes me no more than two days to read his books, is I have now got to wait XXX months before a new one comes out. Please keep writing the Spenser novels and if it not asking too much, come out with at least two books (Spenser, Jesse or Sunny) a year.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Not Bad First Outing for PI Sunny Randall, November 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Family Honor (Sunny Randall) (Hardcover)

As a long time fan of Parker's Spenser novels I was curious to see how he would handle writing with the voice of a female protagonist. I found this book to be quite entertaining with the trademark Parker dialogue which always make his books such an easy read. Let's face it, Parker's books are wonderful brain candy not The Name of the Rose or The Celestine Prophecy and I'm about to commit heresy on Amazon by saying I was hesitant to buy this book in hardcover so I got it out of the library. I think Parker books are always best savored in paper back because you're talking about a mere 2-3 day commitment. I think we're in the Getting to Know Sunny Randall stage of the game in terms of this character as well as her sidekicks. I'm hoping that Parker has plans to flesh out these characters in subsequent outings. I thought Parker scored with Sunny's dilemmas over whether or not to ask for male assistance in some of her confrontations. I thought that a very realistic touch but are we going to be treated to Felicity-like agonizing over Richie vs. Brian vs. God Knows Who in the next book? With a so-so movie you wait for the video, with a so-so book you wait for the paperback. Wait for the paperback or visit your library on this one but once you get it in your hands sit back and escape, you'll enjoy it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can Spenser Fly As A Woman?, November 6, 1999

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Family Honor (Sunny Randall) (Hardcover)

Robert Parker has done something that no mystery writer has ever done before, to my knowledge: He has turned his hero into a heroine. Sunny is clearly Spenser and vice versa. You can change the characters, but you cannot change the authors. For those who are enjoying the powerful trend toward female detectives, this is particularly interesting because it sheds light on perceptions about women. How would a woman go about accomplishing what a man would in a violent, tough world? I found the contrast to be interesting and stimulating. On the other hand, I am not sure I want to read two series about Spenser. More troubling is that Parker has Sunny rely on her mob connections through her ex-husband a lot. It seemed to me that he crossed an ethical line along the way that was unnecessary, and sets a bad example. Parker seems to suggest that the female Spenser can only make it if men help a lot, including the most corrupt men on the planet. Frankly, that is offensive to me. After all, much detection these days can use modern methods to search out answers, such as computer-based research. Why not create a real female detective for his next book? I think it would sell better and be more rewarding for readers like me. I also thought the plot was a little thin for Parker. At one point he assumes that the mob has gone so public that you can look them up like anyone else to find out exactly what they are doing. I doubt if that is, has been, or ever will be the case. Read this one for curiosity value if you are a Spenser fan, not because it is a mystery you would have otherwise picked up.