Has anyone checked out this site yet? It is great if you like to read.
Read Any Good Books Lately?
- Thread starter Joan
- Start date
Cussler: About the same with me. I read a few from the Dirk Pitt series but lost interest. I'll probably cherry pick a few more as I know some of the series have been made into big movies.
Robert B. Parker: The Spenser books were the basis for the "Spenser: For Hire" TV series with Robert Urich from the mid-80s. Spenser is a smart-alack ex-cop turned PI. Some of his wise cracks are quite funny. While the plots are all very serious, Spenser's attitude about things keeps it a bit lighter. "The Godwulf Manuscript" is the first in the series and is as good a place to start as any.
Jesse Stone has a different tone to it. Stone is a homicide detective from Los Angeles with a serious drinking problem who gets hired to be Chief of Police in a small seaside town not far north of Boston. While he has to keep a close eye on his drinking, he does mostly clean up and becomes a good Chief. A number of the stories involve criminals assuming they're way better than any small town cop could be and being very surprised when they run into a very experienced detective. While Stone is certainly not devoid of humor, he isn't the wise-cracker that Spenser is. I would definitely start this series with "Night Passage", the first in the series. It explains his whole back story and takes you through how he became Chief.
My one complaint about these series is both Spenser and Stone have extremely complicated relationships with their significant others (for lack of a better term). It gets tedious.
Sadly, Robert B. Parker died in 2010. Both series have been carried on by writers who worked with Parker before his death. I've not gotten to any of the non-Parker ones so I don't know how true to the originals they are. There are nine Parker Jesse Stone novels and thirty-nine Parker Spenser novels, so quite a bit of material from the original author.
Robert B. Parker: The Spenser books were the basis for the "Spenser: For Hire" TV series with Robert Urich from the mid-80s. Spenser is a smart-alack ex-cop turned PI. Some of his wise cracks are quite funny. While the plots are all very serious, Spenser's attitude about things keeps it a bit lighter. "The Godwulf Manuscript" is the first in the series and is as good a place to start as any.
Jesse Stone has a different tone to it. Stone is a homicide detective from Los Angeles with a serious drinking problem who gets hired to be Chief of Police in a small seaside town not far north of Boston. While he has to keep a close eye on his drinking, he does mostly clean up and becomes a good Chief. A number of the stories involve criminals assuming they're way better than any small town cop could be and being very surprised when they run into a very experienced detective. While Stone is certainly not devoid of humor, he isn't the wise-cracker that Spenser is. I would definitely start this series with "Night Passage", the first in the series. It explains his whole back story and takes you through how he became Chief.
My one complaint about these series is both Spenser and Stone have extremely complicated relationships with their significant others (for lack of a better term). It gets tedious.
Sadly, Robert B. Parker died in 2010. Both series have been carried on by writers who worked with Parker before his death. I've not gotten to any of the non-Parker ones so I don't know how true to the originals they are. There are nine Parker Jesse Stone novels and thirty-nine Parker Spenser novels, so quite a bit of material from the original author.
JSaus
TVWBB Wizard
Sadly, my library only has back to Spencer book #16 "Playmates" so I will try that.
If you like wise cracking, self deprecating mystery characters, may I suggest the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben. "Deal Breaker" is the first of the series. Always an unexpected twist in his stories. Harlan Coben has a lot of good reads out there.
Oh, another would be the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt. Fun reads too.
There are two long term story arcs in the Spenser books I've read so far -- his relationship with his girlfriend Susan and a quasi-parental relationship with a younger man named Paul that he helped extricate from a very bad situation. Neither of these are such that you'd be lost picking it up in the middle. The other recurring characters are more don't have as much critical backstory associated with them.
I'll check out the ones you recommended.
Bob Bailey
TVWBB Gold Member
Currently reading The Fermentation Kitchen: Recipes for the Craft Beer Lover’s Pantry by Gabe Toth. I do all kinds of different fermentations, but always looking for new tips and tricks. My daily bedtime reading is mostly action/adventure stuff. Gripping enough to keep me awake until I fall asleep 
James, soo very, very happy to see all those Wood books. How far have you read of the Stone Barrington series?
James J
TVWBB Pro
I’m still a few behind. Halfway through Wild Card right now. I mainly read on vacation, which hasn’t happened lately. “ Elaines, late.”
Rick P
TVWBB Pro
Yikes!Oh #49, not too far ahead of you. Wish we could meet at Elaines and discuss the books.
I'm only on #15!
Rick P
TVWBB Pro
I started them a few months ago.
They are very fun reads.
JSaus
TVWBB Wizard
Thanks to Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite and Overdrive from my library, I get to read just about anything. After getting used to a Kindle, it is hard to read a print book. My wife and I read a lot and have had to replace a couple kindles, but a real money saver overall.