Wed 25 Jan 2017
ROBERT B. PARKER – Perish Twice. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, hardcover, October 2000. Berkley, paperback, November 2001.
I think everybody reading this blog has already made up their minds, one way or the other, whether they’re ever going to read one of Parker’s Spenser novels again. He’s a controversial author and he’s a controversial character, no doubt about it, and everybody knows what side they’re on.
But for some reason, and maybe I just wasn’t paying attention, I don’t believe I’ve ever read any reviews or eve serious discussion of Parker’s series of Sunny Randall books. She’s a PI too, and also based in the Boston area. I don’t believe she and Spenser ever met, but as I understand it, some of the minor characters in the Spenser novels show up now and then in the Randall books.
For what it’s worth, this is my report on the first of the latter’s books I’ve read. If you don’t like Spenser, you can stop right here. There’s no way in the world that I can persuade you read any of the Sunny Randall books. I’m not sure how convincingly Parker was able to pull off telling the six books in the series from a female point of view, from a female perspective, but I can tell you this. There’s no mistaking the voice. The author of the Spenser books is the same fellow who wrote the Randall books.
In Perish Twice Sunny starts with two clients: First, her sister, who thinks her husband is cheating on her. (He is.) Then she’s hired by a high-powered feminist to find out who’s stalking her, which she does, but the stakes seem to suddenly go higher when an associate of her client is murdered. The cops think the dead women was killed by mistake. Sunny disagrees, and quite strongly so, and she ends up fired, without a paying client.
Does that stop her? No way, no how. There’s a lot more I’ve decided not to go into, and this includes the therapy gives her long time friend Julie whose marriage is also breaking up. Sunny’s non-extinguished love affair with Richie, her ex-husband (mob-connected), seems to make her an expert on love affairs that are going wrong.
It’s too bad that with her dedication to finding answers to questions that bother her doesn’t end up with her solving the case on her own. That she has to depend on Richie’s family for, giving her the answers but not much in the way of resolution. This is a bit troublesome, if you think about it.
January 25th, 2017 at 9:13 pm
I read and enjoyed a couple of Jesse Stone books, I’ve been warier about Sunny Randall. Seems I had some reason to be.
January 26th, 2017 at 2:36 am
I believe (but am not sure) that the paths of Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone crossed each other’s once or twice.
January 27th, 2017 at 9:20 am
I read all the early Spenser novels and enjoyed them. But sometime in the 1980s, “the relationship” and “the dog” and other annoying aspects of Spenser’s life began to annoy me. So I stopped reading Spenser novels. I read the Jesse Stone books because my wife read them and she’s a fan of the TV versions. They’re okay, but nothing great. I’ve not read the Sunny Randall books, but I probably own them.
January 27th, 2017 at 12:07 pm
I suspect you’re typical of mystery fans as I am, George. I read all of the early Spenser’s, but am hit or miss on the rest; sampled Jesse Stone; and only vaguely aware of Sunny Randall, though like you, I’m sure I own more than this one.
On the other hand, there must be readers who really like the Randall books. If so, I have a feeling — based on the lack of comments so far — that maybe they don’t read this blog.
January 27th, 2017 at 1:32 pm
I read several of the Sunny Randall books ages ago. Nothing really special about them. But still, I am a huge fan of Parker, so I read what he wrote. (Except for the cowboy stories which I’ve yet to read.)
In the last Randall book I think she and Jesse Stone got into a relationship.
But then later, she completely disappeared (with a very feeble excuse) from the next Stone book written by someone else. Very odd.
I must say, by the way, that Ace Atkins is doing a fabulous job carrying on Spenser.
I didn’t mind the dog. What I minded was Susan. Yegads, how could Spenser stand her. But that’s another story for another day. 🙂
January 27th, 2017 at 1:40 pm
I read the first of Ace Atkins’ Spenser books, and I agree, he did a good job with it. The thought came to me afterward, though, that I haven’t read all of Parker’s Spenser books. If I want to read a Spenser book, why am I not reading the real thing?