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![Night Passage (Jesse Stone Novels Book 1) by [Robert B. Parker]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51rEpyjw79L._SY346_.jpg)
Night Passage (Jesse Stone Novels Book 1) Kindle Edition
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After a busted marriage kicks his drinking problem into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dumps him, thirty-five-year-old Jesse Stone’s future looks bleak. So he’s shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise recruits him as police chief. He can’t help wondering if this job is a genuine chance to start over, the kind of offer he can’t refuse.
Once on board, Jesse doesn’t have to look for trouble in Paradise: it comes to him. For what is on the surface a quiet New England community quickly proves to be a crucible of political and moral corruption—replete with triple homicide, tight Boston mob ties, flamboyantly errant spouses, maddened militiamen and a psychopath-about-town who has fixed his violent sights on the new lawman. Against all this, Jesse stands utterly alone, with no one to trust—even he and the woman he’s seeing are like ships passing in the night. He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero—or the deadest of dupes.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherG.P. Putnam's Sons
- Publication dateJuly 1, 2001
- Reading age18 years and up
- File size1316 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Parker’s sentences flow with as much wit, grace and assurance as ever, and Stone is a complex and consistently interesting new protagonist.”—Newsday
“Parker has always been a master of razor-sharp and witty dialogue, hard-driving suspense and memorable characterization. His Jesse Stone series promises to match if not excel the Spenser novels. Night Passage is a stunning debut.”—Houston Chronicle
“Vintage Parker.”—The Denver Post
“A page-turner...the protagonist is a believable, full-blooded man of Hemingwayesque dimensions. Full of action, spiced with fast-moving introspection.”—Forbes
“A winner.”—The Boston Globe
“You can always rely on Parker for some great talk and great scenes.”—Kirkus Reviews
More Praise for Robert B. Parker
“If weight is to be given to prolific output as well as to literary excellence, it would be no stretch to claim that America’s greatest mystery writer is Robert B. Parker.”—The New York Sun
About the Author
Amazon.com Review
But Paradise isn't as placid as it seems--in fact, it's a festering mass of petty corruption, right-wing militia, sexual scandal, and bad guys who favor strong-arm tactics. Night Passage boasts a delicious, classic setup: the lone lawman, new in town, must make his stand to clean the place up. Stone has been picked for the job because the town fathers figured he'd be weak and malleable; as he gradually pulls himself together, it turns out they have a surprise in store. Stone's qualities may remind you of Spenser's--he's taciturn, fearless, good-looking, and compassionate--and in the end the plot's pleasing complexities get resolved a bit simply. But Robert B. Parker is in fine form in Night Passage, with his smart-aleck wit under control and his prose at its economical best. Spenser fans and Parker neophytes alike will find plenty to enjoy here. And the setting is, after all, not far from Boston--dare we hope for a Spenser-Stone meeting in future books?
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.From Booklist
From Kirkus Reviews
From the Inside Flap
After a busted marriage kicks his drinking problem into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dumps him, the thirty-five-year-old Stone's future looks bleak. So he's shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise recruits him as police chief. He can't help wondering if this job is a genuine chance to start over, the kind of offer he can't refuse.
Once on board, Jesse doesn't have to look for trouble in Paradise: it comes to him. For what is on the surface a quiet New England commun --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From Library Journal
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From AudioFile
Product details
- ASIN : B005F4CCYS
- Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons (July 1, 2001)
- Publication date : July 1, 2001
- Language : English
- File size : 1316 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 434 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0425183963
- Best Sellers Rank: #9,545 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #339 in Police Procedurals (Books)
- #353 in Police Procedurals (Kindle Store)
- #438 in Crime Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) has long been acknowledged as the dean of American crime fiction. His novel featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye Spenser earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim, typified by R.W.B. Lewis' comment, "We are witnessing one of the great series in the history of the American detective story" (The New York Times Book Review). In June and October of 2005, Parker had national bestsellers with APPALOOSA and SCHOOL DAYS, and continued his winning streak in February of 2006 with his latest Jesse Stone novel, SEA CHANGE.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Parker attended Colby College in Maine, served with the Army in Korea, and then completed a Ph.D. in English at Boston University. He married his wife Joan in 1956; they raised two sons, David and Daniel. Together the Parkers founded Pearl Productions, a Boston-based independent film company named after their short-haired pointer, Pearl, who has also been featured in many of Parker's novels.
Parker began writing his Spenser novels in 1971 while teaching at Boston's Northeastern University. Little did he suspect then that his witty, literate prose and psychological insights would make him keeper-of-the-flame of America's rich tradition of detective fiction. Parker's fictional Spenser inspired the ABC-TV series Spenser: For Hire. In February 2005, CBS-TV broadcast its highly-rated adaptation of the Jesse Stone novel Stone Cold, which featured Tom Selleck in the lead role as Parker's small-town police chief. The second CBS movie, Night Passage, also scored high ratings, and the third, Death in Paradise, aired on April 30, 2006.
Parker was named Grand Master of the 2002 Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America, an honor shared with earlier masters such as Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen.
Parker died on January 19, 2010, at the age of 77.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2023
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The problem I had with the novel is its portrayal of a militia group as large, well -organized, obedient to its leader and willing to engage in violence to pursue a rather silly, unrealistic goal. I have no experience with militia groups but I do know a bit about the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1960's - early 1970's. Most members of one of the more active Klaverns in central Mississippi back in the bad old days didn't even bother to show up for regular meetings or pay their dues. If I remember correctly there were less than a dozen regulars at the weekly meetings. Of those only a handful were willing to engage in violence or any serious lawbreaking. I find it hard to believe that a militia group in Paradise, Massachusetts would be much different. But that probably will not bother most readers who can enjoy the book without skepticism.
One however, can not continue to compare the two any further at this stage as Spenser is infinitely more advanced than Stone. We are just getting to know the man, his weaknesses, his strengths, his morals, personal beliefs etc. And we are just getting to know the town of Paradise. Which, as it turns out, is not quite the innocent little haven town that its name might suggest.
Jesse Stone the cop, or the man, is not witty, or literate. He is not romantic. He is flawed. He is a drunk. He is, however, man enough to know this, and admit to it. He is also deeply committed to the office of town sheriff and everything that it represents. Which is good for the townsfolk of Paradise, and bad news for the troublemakers.
It turns out that the men in control of the town of Paradise are corrupt and led by one who is borderline delusional and not afraid to hurt people (or even worse) to get what they want. Jesse arrives in town and his experienced eyes see Paradise for the bent place that it is. He sees his new job, however, as a chance for redemption, and is determined to fix the mess the town is in, or die trying.
The book is a wonderful introduction to the Jesse Stone series of novels. A classic whodunit which contains sub mysteries, with one or two that are admittedly a little easy to solve. By the end, however, Stone saves the day, and the town, and finds himself on the path to self salvation as well.
I give only four stars because of some firearms info that doesn't seem realistic to me. I'm a gun geek, and I cannot believe that a "great detective" from the downtown precinct of the LA Robbery/Homicide Div would carry a j-frame snub as a primary weapon, even in 2001. It would have been unlikely enough in 1991. In Mayberry or Paradise, okay, no problem. But not in LA Metro. Selleck changed this for the movies and carries a commander-sized 1911. That I could see I think. But these days big-city detectives get in too many shoot-outs to not carry heavier primary firearms. Even Jim Cirillo carried two DA revolvers as a primary, and that was about 1975 I think. But most readers won't care about this, so no problem.
For me, I enjoy the character's complexity. And even the bad guys are interesting. Hasty Hathaway seems very childlike in some ways, in his idealizing his world and in over simplifying his wife. Gino Fish, who apparently is gay (I never picked up on this in the movies--perhaps William Sadler has been in too many bad ass roles for me to see him as gay???) is wonderfully complex, although we only get an intro in this novel. From the movie, I thought he was a linear personality. Not so in the book. Lots of info about Jo Jo in the novel that wasn't in the movie. And his was perhaps the most simple character in the novel. Although even his "epithet" is a curious choice, given the circumstances in the novel. One wonders about his mommy issues, maybe a Madonna/Whore complex or something...
All in all, a terrific novel, competent writing, and some of my favorite detective characters ever!
Top reviews from other countries

P R Matthews

I don't think that this is really a woman's novel but it was a good read. I expect that readership is mostly male. If you like a police story with great characters and creepy bad guys, then this is great for you.


I'm afraid that imho the film wins hands down.
I only finished reading it because I was comparing it with the film, to see how faithful that was to the original - I probably wouldn't have finished it, if it had been a stand alone purchase. Which tells you how good the writing seemed to me.
In the film, Selleck is physically much bigger and older than the book character and his portrayal is much better for it - he brings gravitas and experience absent in the book. Thankfully, the mob hitman Jo Jo Genest becomes Jo Genest in the film, and although a musclebound thug in the book his film portrayal as a psycopath of normal size by Stephen Baldwin is far more nuanced and interesting. I wondered why the Irishwoman Molly Crane in the book, was portrayed as a black woman in the film - this was a change I didn't think was for the better.
