Review by Booklist Review
The body of an unidentified woman is found in a cove off the village of Paradise, Massachusetts, during the annual Race Week for sailing vessels. This is a particularly bad time for an unidentified body to surface, since the tiny populace is swollen with thousands of boat enthusiasts. Former LAPD cop and current Paradise police chief Jesse Stone, appearing in the Stone series' fifth entry, begins his investigation by inquiring if any boat-rental agencies have any boats missing. One rental owner comes forward, providing a driver's license of a Florida woman who never brought her boat back. After this promising lead, the case morphs from forensic identification into a disturbing morality play, as Stone digs deeper and deeper into the victim's past. This is a case that would intrigue Stone's private-eye counterpart, Spenser (who appears in a tantalizing cameo here). Parker is dead-on here when it comes to police procedure and plotting, as the seemingly simple case eddies into all kinds of ugly complications, and the story swirls from whodunit into an absorbing whydunit. On the down side, Parker's signature smart-ass dialogue is beginning to sound stale, even weak; why must all his characters talk in the same tough-guy way, heavy on the sexual innuendo? Similarly tired is the cutesy relationship between Stone and his ex-wife (punctuated by other women throwing themselves at him), which draws heavily on Spenser's relationship with Susan Silverman. Shortcomings aside, though, Parker's setting and plotting are enough to make most readers forgive the unrelenting Guy Noir style. --Connie Fletcher Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Filled with tawdry sexual shenanigans, bestseller Parker's fifth Jesse Stone novel (after 2003's Stone Cold) finds the former L.A. cop, now the police chief of Paradise, Mass., tentatively reunited with his ex-wife, Jenn, and approaching a year since his last drink. The murder of a woman aboard a sailboat leads Stone into a world of wealth and depravity centered on a couple of yacht owners from Florida and their crowd. Drugs, pornography, rape and underage sex provide a degrading framework for the murder investigation. Stone gets a valuable assist from Kelly Cruz, a Fort Lauderdale cop, as he traces the backgrounds of victims and suspects. The laconic Stone with his uncertain relationship with Jenn, his struggle with alcohol and his visits to a therapist presents a striking contrast to Parker's primary hero, Spenser. But much of the dialogue is interchangeable: witty, flirtatious, droll and sexually charged. The outcome manages to be both surprising and depressing. Stone is a work in progress whose following is likely to increase as he continues to grow. Author tour. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This time, the sea brings Paradise, MA, police chief Jesse Stone the decomposing body of a divorced heiress who had a penchant for naughty sex in front of the camera. Alas, no one seems to care that she's dead, but that doesn't stop the investigation. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A ravaged corpse that bobs to the surface of Paradise Harbor during Race Week leads Jesse Stone to a surprisingly intricate case of sex and murder. Ft. Lauderdale wasn't big enough to hold Florence Horvath, who had to come to Massachusetts to drown. Before she did, she mailed off a videotape in which she smilingly enjoyed the sexual favors of two men at once. A good, close look at the tape persuades Jesse that it was made aboard Harrison Darnell's yacht Lady Jane, out of Miami. Since Darnell is a wealthy, powerful visitor and Jesse's only an alcoholic police chief in love with his own ex, the deck seems to be stacked against the forces of good--until a fortuitous accusation of rape gives Jesse the excuse he needs to search Lady Jane and confiscate enough videos to put Darnell, along with his yachting buddy Thomas Ralston, away on a savory assortment of sex charges. But Jesse doesn't want the two bimbo collectors getting arrested and lawyering up; he wants to nail one or both of them for Florence's murder. Teaming up across the miles with Ft. Lauderdale police detective Kelly Cruz, he puts together a case whose sordid implications make those videos look tame. Though every single character has, at most, two speeds--furtive self-concealment and blustering wisecracks--Jesse's fifth case (after Stone Cold, 2003) is strong enough to rank near his best. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
