Mike Lupica

I have said this before but I really can't say it enough, Mike Lupica does an excellent job of challenging Robert B. Parker and yet making Sunny Randall new and fresh and Lupica-ish!  Grudge Match is Sunny Randall #8 and I hope there are many more.  I love the connections with the whole Parker universe!  

NOTHING against Mike Lupica

I just don't like Sunny Randall.  Blood Feud is the first Sunny Randall to be written after the death of Robert B. Parker.  So now all of his popular series are being continued.  I had wondered by Sunny wasn't among them from the beginning.  At times I did wish that she was, but now that I have reacquainted myself with her snarky ways, I think it might have been okay to leave Sunny where she was.  I never even liked it when she and Jesse got together. 
Mike Lupica was previously known to me as a YA writer, with a focus on sports so I was excited to see what he might do with Sunny.  And he did a great job of making Sunny Sunny.  So this is NOTHING against him.  I think he is a great writer.  I just don't like her!
Which makes me wonder...am I just like someone who judges a woman politician in a different way from the way in which I judge a man?  Do I not like Sunny for the same reasons why I love Spenser? 
Ashamedly, I THINK SO!  So I will continue to read the Sunny Randall books.  Because Lupica is a great writer and because RBP was, and always will be the Great RBP and I need to figure out why a man can be snarky and arrogant and annoying and I can LOVE him but when a woman is, I can hardly listen through the whole book!

Bottom line:  If you like Sunny, you will like this.  Lupica has done a great job of bringing her back to life.  If you didn't like Sunny, you will have the same issues and if you think you are having those issues because she is a woman, you might want to think about that a little more. 

While I Didn't LOVE

Robert B. Parker's Colorblind, I had to give it the five stars because I am just so darn proud of Jesse Stone.  I just love that he went to rehab and I just love that Jen is no more.  I just really, really love that.  And that made all the difference.  Yes, Reed Farrel Coleman writes a different Jesse from Parker's Jesse, but Jesse is still a great guy.  This one just didn't grab me like some have.  But still, you go, Jesse.  I love you. Long may you run. 

Ace is Ace

Yes, Ace Atkins has done it again.  Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic is the forty-sixth Spenser book and I am again very thankful that Parker's family found Mr. Atkins and that Mr. Atkins agreed to carry on the Spenser stories.  My only sadness about this one was that Hawk wasn't there!  Other than that, this was perfection! 

Spoilers!

Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet written by Reed Farrel Coleman is Jesse #16.  I gave it a 4 of 5 stars but maybe it is 4.5 because (SPOILER) Jesse goes to rehab at the end!  I was so happy!  And also very happy that Jen seems to finally be gone!  Jesse's decision to try to give up alcohol just made me so happy.  I loved Jesse in this book and the characters and town of Paradise, of course, it was just that the mystery itself didn't thrill me so I didn't give it 5 stars.  But it is still a great addition!  Great cover!  And a cameo from Spenser, but I didn't like the voice for him!  Haha! 

Another All True Kinda Deal!

Robert B. Parker's Little White Lies by Ace Atkins has a message that is all too true, sadly.  In this case the "bad guy" is a big time fraud and yet has been on countless news shows as an expert, faking his way through it all.  Claiming to be a former Navy SEAL or special forces, serious military hero, all kinds of things.  And one of the reasons he is easily able to defraud the woman who hires Spenser is that the guy has really been on these news shows- the media having never checked his background!   There are a lot of creeps who do this.  Great book, as usual.  Atkins, as I have said before, does a really terrific job with Spenser!  

Edge of Seat Ending

ALL of Robert B. Parker's Revelation, the ninth Virgil and Everett book, written by Robert Knott is excellent.  But I found the ending to be especially wow wow wow wow!  Excellent.

WOW

The 15th Jesse Stone book, Debt to Pay is just incredible.  Incredible.  Reed Farrel Coleman has done incredible things with Jesse.  And I would bet that Robert B. Parker is proud.  And just as blown away as Jesse fans must be.
This book is a must-read for Jesse fans.  If you have not read the others, you will want to do that first, but man, you need to get to this one.  Wow.

Burn Baby Burn

Fire is super scary.
I am not a fan of fire.
Of course only nut jobs and criminals are fans of the kinds of fires that are highlighted in Slow Burn, the 44th Spenser installment by Ace Atkins, carrying on the wow, wow, wow of Robert B. Parker in an eerie dude-is-Atkins-channeling-Parker-from-the-grave kind of way.
Spenser is so lovable.  And this book has Hawk and Quirk and Susan, too. And I am really loving the Susan and Spenser parts.  I think they have the best relationship in any book.
I learned what "jakes" are!  And I learned about the Sparks, too!

#8 and Still Great!

Robert Knott is a really good writer.  He is the perfect person to carry on Robert B. Parker's stories of Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch.  Blackjack is one of the best.  Marshall Cole and Deputy Marshall Hitch ride on!  Again, I urge everyone to read this series.  Fans of westerns, fans of Parker, fans of Spenser, fans of Jesse Stone, fans of Sunny Randall.

Perfect in Every Way

I flew through The Bridge.  Robert Knott is incredible.  It is like Robert B. Parker is alive and well and writing.  So funny, so Virgil, so Everett.  If you haven't read this series, start it now, while it's only on the seventh book.  There are so many Spensers, it is hard to catch up but man, man, man, this is just so good.

A New Direction

As I was reading Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot I noticed that there was no longer the usual:
Jesse said.
Jenn said.
Jesse said.
But I didn't think too much of it.  I was listening to it, so I didn't even notice that it wasn't written by Michael Brandman, who had penned the three books after Parker's death.  I found this here.   The latest book is written by Reed Farrel Colemen.  And it has gotten great views.  I found this all out after I read the book and gave it a 4 of 5 stars.  Now that I have this new information, it has made me re-think the book.  Especially this part, "Unlike Atkins, Coleman hasn’t attempted to mimic Parker. Instead, Coleman is continuing the Stone saga in his own crisp prose style. For one thing, Coleman says, he doubts that he could reproduce Parker’s distinctive voice. For another, Spenser is the late author’s most iconic character; Parker wrote only nine Stone novels. That, Coleman says, gives him the freedom to continue the series in his own style -- and room to explore fresh aspects of the character."
Now I have changed by rating to 5 of 5 stars.  Because, what was I really expecting?  Robert B. Parker to come back from Heaven and write more books?  Would ANYONE come back from Heaven?  Na, I don't think so!
But you know what I mean.  Coleman has something good going on here.  And I am excited about the change.

Virgil and Everett, together again

Ah...this was just wonderful.  Wonderful.  Wonderful.  Wonderful.  Bull Run is the sixth book in the Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch series and I have to say that it was just like RBP was back from the dead.  It has been said by many fans that of those who are carrying on Parker's characters, Ace Atkins, Michael Brandman and Knott, Knott does the best job.  As I always say about this series, if you love westerns, you will love it, if you don't love westerns you will love it!

Boxing

When I read a book, it is a full-emersion kind of experience for me.  If it's a book about parkour, I'm reading all about parkour.  If it's about Mormonism, I'm reading all about Mormonism.  If it's about Zora Neal Hurston, I'm all over Zora Neal Hurston.  Even though Spenser and Hawk did their share of boxing, I never really got into learning more about it until I read The Boxer and the Spy.  The Boxer and the Spy is supposed to be a YA book, but it is another one that is great for adult fans of Parker, too.  Boxing plays a huge part in this murder mystery.  Terry Novak and his almost-girlfriend, Abby are set on figuring it out.  Great stuff.  Why?  Because nobody writes like the Dean of American Crime Fiction.

I think young Spenser and The Boy would have been great friends.

In fact, when I was reading Chasing the Bear, I sort of forgot that it wasn't a Paulsen story, given, yes, that I have read so many Paulsen this month, but also because Robert B. Parker and Gary Paulsen seem to be men cut from the same cloth.  Men of honor.  That's what their writing suggests, anyway.  They might be, or have been, as in Parker's case, big weenies, but you won't convince me.
In any case, I can say for sure that if you like Paulsen, you will like Parker and vise versa.
This is a Young Spenser Novel, as it says on the cover, but I don't know if there are others.  No.  I just looked.  No more.  Who knows if there would have been though, as Parker died in 2011 and this was written in 2009.  It really is a retelling of some incidents in Spenser's teen years, as Spenser and Susan sit talking.  I love the dialogue, as always.  I've read all of Parker's stuff but this one and the one I am reading now, The Boxer and the Spy and Edenville Owls which I will certainly read as well.  I had forgotten about these titles and man, it is like finding money in the couch or in a pair of pants.  This treasure that was lost and now is found.  How I miss RBP.

Maybe I'm Wrong...

But as I have been saying, I don't think Jesse Stone was as mean and lawless when Parker gave him voice.  It is just so odd.  Maybe I need to go back and reread the originals.  Everyone else tells me I am just remembering him wrong. 

Robert B. Parker's Wonderland...

Wonderland isn't Parker, but it is still Wonderful.  Spenser is back, but Hawk is away, and so things are dangerous.  Aren't they always!  This book had a lot of political intrigue, which really isn't my thing, but it was very well done and very true to Spenser.  Sixkill is featured a lot in this book, Spenser is training him and Sixkill is a very likable character.  Great dialog, moments with Pearl and Susan.  If you love Spenser, you won't be disappointed.  Ace Atkins is doing a great job!

Back in the Saddle

It was so great to see that Virgil and Everett are still alive and well, even though Robert B. Parker is gone.  Ironhorse was written by the guy who wrote the screen play for Appaloosa, Robert Knott.   You can tell that it isn't written totally by Parker, it is kinda wordy, but I really enjoyed it.  Especially the dialog between friends, now Marshall Virgil Cole and Deputy Marshall Everett Hitch. When they talk about Allie, it is hilarious!  My friend Karen and I, are of course, Virgil and Everett and she is reading it now, too.  About half of the book takes place on a train.  The train is robbed by some old enemies of our duo and the Governor of Texas finds his family is jeopardy.  But don't worry, Virgil and Everett are on it!

Dead Men Don't Tell Tales

And they don't write books and so maybe I should just say goodbye to Jesse Stone.  Robert B. Parker is gone and while I think that   Ace Atkins has done a great job with Spenser, Michael Brandman is a tv guy and he really doesn't get Jesse at all.  Fool Me Twice was disappointing.  Jesse has become a Stone Barrington Wanna Be or something.  And it just doesn't do it for me.

Spenser Eternal

Robert B. Parker's Lullaby was extremely satisfying.  Ace Atkins has done a wonderful job of keeping Spenser, Hawk, Vinnie Morris, Susan and all of the RBP folks alive.  I couldn't be more thankful for the witty dialog between Spenser and well, everyone, but especially Hawk.  Dino and Stone used to be that way before Stuart Woods quit trying. 
In this Spenser story, a fourteen year old girl from Southie, Mattie Sullivan, asks Spenser to take down the men she believes murdered her mother four years ago. 
I loved Mattie and wonder if she'll be back around, and I hope so.
Thank you Mr. Atkins.  And as always, thank you Mr. Parker.