Night Passage

The First Jesse Stone MysteryAfter a busted marriage kicks his drinking problems into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dump him, 35-year-old Jesse Stone''s future looks bleak.So he''s shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise hires him as their police chief.Once on board he 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.He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero - or the deadest of dupes.''as richly novelistic as anything Parker has ever written ...light, shade, texture, and complexity''Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe''The spare style of Parker''s third-person narrative cleans the air'' Marilyn Stasio, New York Times''A novel as fresh as it is bold ... 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