Perish Twice

Rating:
Summary: Sunny's second outing has a lot of echoes
Review: Robert Parker's newest character, Boston P.I. Sunny Randall, returns in "Perish Twice," but this time she's juggling the role of relationship counselor along with her usual sleuthing duties. Her snooty sister learns of her husband's mistress and plunges into bouts of self-pity mixed with revenge; her best friend, bored with her marriage, has an affair, and a lesbian feminist becomes increasingly unhelpful when it's revealed that her stalker might know her more intimately than she's willing to admit. Through it all, Sunny struggles with her own relationship with her ex-husband Richie and comes closer to danger with each new twist of her case.

It's still too early to tell where Parker will take the character of Sunny. At this point, she still seems like the female equivalent of Parker's most famous character, Spenser, albeit a bit more ladylike. The book itself is fairly typical, uninspired Parker--the plot is reminiscent of an early Spenser novel, "Looking For Rachel Wallace." Sunny's relationship with Richie echoes a similar situation with Parker's other character Jesse Stone. Parker fans will experience a lot of deja vu with "Perish Twice," but it's still a fairly enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: WHAT A TATTERED WEB WE (OR SOMEONE) WEAVE(S)
Review: For starters I'd like to comment on the comparisons to Parker's other Ace Detective, Spenser. Yes, in many ways our heroine, Boston P. I. (Private Investigator) Sunny Randal, is similar to Spenser. Additionally, many comparisons can also be made between their respective supporting casts. Even their speech patterns are remarkably similar, but why not? After all, they are both Robert B. Parker's creations. Now that we've taken care of that, let's move on to the plot.

In _PERISH TWICE_, before we even get to the criminal stuff, we need to address several other things going on in Sunny's life. First there's her sister, Elizabeth, for whom any aspect of dealing with real life is just too overwhelming. Elizabeth's husband has been having an affair (as who wouldn't, thinks Sunny). She has left him and has begun to take her revenge by stalking him and his woman friend. Even though she resents Sunny's help, and her need for it, Elizabeth looks to Sunny to make everything okay, an impossible task, given Elizabeth's faulty coping mechanisms.

Second, there's Sunny's friend Julie, a therapist who needs to see a therapist. Julie's marriage and life are unraveling, and she looks to Sunny for emotional support until she can get her act together.

Third there's Sunny's own life in which she is still adjusting to her divorce from, but continued relationship with, her ex-husband, a man she really likes.

While these three things are going on, Sunny gets involved with some of the stuff in which Private Investigators (P.I.'s) are supposed to get involved. Here's the detecting stuff:

A lesbian employee of a firm that offers guidance counselling to women only, is murdered while the murderee's boss is being stalked by a rather repulsive male who evidently has had an affair with the boss, even though she also professes to be a man hating lesbian. This series of events sets the stage for what's to follow.

What's to follow is that said repulsive male is found dead of a bullet shot through the mouth. Alongside his body is a suicide note, signed in his own handwriting, in which he confesses that he is the murderer of the aforementioned murderee. This note conveniently clears a murder case off the books -- or does it? Our intrepid P.I. thinks not, and so continues her investigation into the murder and the convenient suicide which might not be a suicide at all, or so she believes.

As her investigation continues, a few cages are rattled, cages that some people feel shouldn't be rattled. Next, a second level prostitution ring "manager" (pimp in charge of other pimps) attempts to kill her. Being the resourceful P.I. that she is, Sunny turns the tables on him, and causes him to be sent to prison where, shortly thereafter, he is murdered by persons unknown.

Another coincidence? Not in Sunny's opinion. In fighting crime, there are no coincidences, one just needs to find the connections.

Want to know if Sunny does figure out how these murders are tied together, and how she wraps up all of these personal and whodunnit threads? If I've done my self appointed job well, you'll want to read the book and find out. Good reading!

Rating:
Summary: what a boring story !
Review: I had enjoyed the first Sunny Randall book "Family Honor", but this second novel is definetely the last one I shall read. The main character is OK, she is witty, she has a strong personality, but some people surrounding her in this story are just not convincing. That Mary Lou Goddard, a so-said feminist, lesbian, etc. who cannot even smile... i hope i never meet one like that !
And apart from Spike and Richie, the ex-husband, all other characters are not even funny. I also felt sorry i did not have a sister, well after I read this book, thank God i do not have one like Elizabeth Randall !
The entire plot could be summarized on a poststamp ! booooooooooring !

Rating:
Summary: Good things and bad, all in one book
Review: I'm not quite sure how to rate this book by stars, so to play it safe I'll give it 3, right in the middle. I enjoyed many things about this Sunny Randall book, and some things just drove me nuts.

Good: familiar territory, "Spenser-in-a-dress", quick and easy to read (I attacked each small chapter while quite ill, and the book went by quite painlessly).

Bad: not much of a story, frankly. Characters "sketchy", unengaging. Mr. Parker can't seem to get over the fact that a woman can be a detective and seems overly fond of having her called a "girl", over and over. ("No Gurlz Allowed"?) Also still dragging in that feminist stuff left over from the late 60's.

Neutral: a lot - A LOT - of long, loving descriptions of the antics of the cute widdle doggy. You have to like dogs in Mr. Parker's books. I thought the dog was cute, but it got wearing after a while, reading the 90th description of the dog's drinking water or sleeping cutely on the bed.

And what's the deal with the ex-husband? I'm still not sure what the problem is, something about "not needing to be together to be complete" - more dated feminist hooey! Again, the ex is there to be a safety net for the Meg Ryan/Helen Hunt heroine who might get in over her pretty little head.

I enjoy Mr. Parker's writing, but thought this particular sample was unengaging and kind of dated. It was kind of like eating a carton of generic ice cream on a hot day, it tastes OK and goes down easy; but later on, you wonder why on earth you bothered to eat it!

Rating:
Summary: Randall/Spenser. So alike and so good.
Review: It's always been my prayer that Robert Parker would live a long life and keep writing so I'd have him to look forward to twice a year even if his new PI, Sunny Randall, is just Spenser in a dress. She. like, Spenser, has attitude and a dog she shares with her ex-husband Richie, who, by the way, is a lot more likeable than the fit, trim, beautiful, brilliant and accomplished Susan Silverman. They're both tough but sensitive. Spenser cooks and Randall paints. The setting, as always, is Boston.

There are murders and Sunny solves them, like Spenser, with the help of cops and criminals, but the essence of all Parker's work is the character of Sunny/Spenser and the people they know and accept.

For those who may be new to Parker,please read his books in the order in which they were written. You'll be glad you did. There are three series, the most famous being the Spenser novels. There are many of them and that's the wonderful part. There are two books each in the Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall series.

All of Parker's books are alike because it seems the author wants to reinforce his message until he's sure we're getting it, and that is that a "normal" life is like a medicine prescribed for everyone, even those who are allergic to it, and that we have to accept the differences in the people around us while believing in ourselves and our values, and that the most useful body parts are ears that listen.

Rating:
Summary: what a boring story !
Review: I had enjoyed the first Sunny Randall book "Family Honor", but this second novel is definetely the last one I shall read. The main character is OK, she is witty, she has a strong personality, but some people surrounding her in this story are just not convincing. That Mary Lou Goddard, a so-said feminist, lesbian, etc. who cannot even smile... i hope i never meet one like that !
And apart from Spike and Richie, the ex-husband, all other characters are not even funny. I also felt sorry i did not have a sister, well after I read this book, thank God i do not have one like Elizabeth Randall !
The entire plot could be summarized on a poststamp ! booooooooooring !

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but too many similarities....
Review: Having just finished Robert Parker's Death in Paradise, I immediately picked up Perish Twice and thought I was reading the same book. There are just way too many similarities between Jesse Stone (Death in Paradise) and PI Sunny Randall. Both are divorced. Both are still stuck on their ex's and meet them once a week for dinner. Both are quick with a comback, although Sunny has more interesting friends than Jesse Stone. In both books, the plots are a bit lame and they resolve themselves a little too quickly. Both are quick reads with way too much paper wasted between dozens of chapters (66 chapters in Death in Paradise vs. 58 in Perish Twice). You can read each book in only 90 minutes. The only reason I gave it three stars is that Parker's dialogue is always first rate. Otherwise, I wasn't much impressed with Perish Twice.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely dull
Review: This whole book could have been written in the thousand words allotted for these Amazon reviews. It would've been less painful to read and there still would have been more than enough references to Sunny's ugly dog and friendships and relationships which still wouldn't enhance a sluggish, twisted, and thoroughly uninteresting plot.

The characters were more like sitcom characters and the real mystery here was why Parker even bothered.

Rating:
Summary: Rachel Wallace Light
Review: Even average, run-of-the-mill Parker is entertaining and a nice way to spend time. And that's what this book is: decent, highly professional Parker. I enjoyed this book more than either POTSHOT or WIDOW'S WALK.

That said, Sunny Randall is a retread of Spenser, and this book is a retread of an excellent Spenser book: LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE. There may be subtle differences, but I wonder if these delicate nuances would be so appreciated if it was a different author who borrowed so liberally from Parker's previous works. As it is, if Parker wants to plagerize Parker, who are we to quibble? I am willing to overlook and perhaps even enjoy it, but not to deny it.

The major strength of this book is the weakness of the recent Spenser stories, and that is the sleuth's age. Sunny is half Spenser's age, which makes it easier for us to accept her in this role and gives us many more years for us to enjoy her company. And I do enjoy Sunny, Rosie and even her interplay with her ex and her dysfunctional family. And even though the story is very similar to the Rachel Wallace plot, it unfolds nicely.

But as you read these books, you cannot help but see actual "lifts" from the Spenser series. For heaven's sake, Rosie even rolls on her outdoor treasures before she eats them, just like Pearl; and let's not rehash the myriad similarities between Julie and Susan or Spike/Richie and Hawk. Unless the people (and dogs) in Boston all come from exactly the same mold, Mr. Parker is recycling.

Rating:
Summary: Fun to read, even if somewhat flawed
Review: Sunny Randall is fun to read. Some readers though make too much of the similarities between her and Spenser. There are definite differences that some seem to miss.

She definitely a woman. There's one scene where she's investigating the murdered man's apartment and notes that he hadn't done a good job of cleaning the bathroom fixtures. I doubt that Spenser would've particularly noticed that.

There's a difference also in her confidence level. She rightly doesn't have Spenser's confidence when it comes to physical confrontation although that might change in time with enough visits to the gym with Spike.

And while there are partial counterparts to characters in the Spenser series, they are only partial. Spike isn't Hawk. Nor is Richie. Richie isn't a male Susan either. Julie isn't Susan Silverman.

Parker is good in his use of characters we know from the Spenser series in this series. We see a different side of Tony Marcus than Spenser sees. Lee Farrell appears in this, and Spenser fans should get a laugh out of one scene in this book...an encounter between Farrell and Sunny's client while Sunny's watching. We get a laugh because we know more about Farrell than either Sunny or the militant feminist client.

Don't expect a truly satisfying ending. Some will find it weak, but I think Parker knew what he was doing. This type of ending does make a person think.

I did have mixed reactions to this book, but it is enjoyable and if you like Parker, you should enjoy this.