Plot or Premise

This is the first one in the Jesse Stone series. Jesse is a washed-up homicide detective from L.A. who climbed into a bottle and lost his wife to a L.A. player. But a small town in Massachusetts called Paradise recruits him as their new police chief…and Jesse jumps at it to save his own life.

What I Liked

Things are not as they appear in Paradise because the town leader has started his own little militia designed to fight back when the eventual downfall of America occurs. The previous chief of police has been sent packing and the town council wants someone they can control. Unfortunately, Jesse isn’t it. The focus of this first story is on Jesse getting sober, finding out what really happened to the last chief, finding out what is going on in Paradise with the town leader, and when he has time, figuring out what’s going on in his personal life. A refreshing change from the Spenser series because there is no Hawk and there is no Susan to back him up, there’s just him.

What I Didn’t Like

Vinnie and Joe from the Spenser series show up, but are more for comic relief than anything. Stone’s ex-wife and new girlfriend are more co-dependant than helpful.

The Bottom Line

Decent start to a new Parkers series.