Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Sunny Randall, struggling artist and Boston P.I., finds herself in an unusual situation in Perish Twice. She's hired to protect militant feminist, Mary Lou Goddard, who's being stalked and harrassed. The stalker turns out to be Lawrence Reeves, a man Mary Lou has "dated", even though she's a lesbian. Within days, one of her co-workers, Gretchen Crane, is found shot in Mary Lou's office and Reeves has committed suicide, leaving a note that says he killed Gretchen, in a case of mistaken identity and can't live with himself. Mary Lou and the police are satisfied and both cases are closed. But Sunny isn't. Things just don't look right to her. So even though she has no client, Sunny decides to continue investigating. On top of that, in a second story line, both her sister and best friend are having all kinds of marital problems and need Sunny's advice, day and night. Robert Parker has written a book without much substance. The stalker case doesn't have much meat to it and it seems ridiculous that Sunny would continue the investigation. And the book could do without the marital problems altogether, as they add nothing to the story. It becomes really tedious to continue listening to these women whine and Sunny play amateur psychatrist, especially since it doesn't move the story along. But the biggest problem with this novel is that it has no ending. We find out the who and the what, but there's no satisfying why. You're just left there, hanging. Robert Parker is a good writer, known for his smart crisp dialogue and great characters. But all that is lost here. Sunny is just Spenser in a dress. She talks like him and acts like him. Parker needs to give her a voice of her own. It's best to skip this one and wait for the next Spenser.
Rating: 
Summary: The Reincarnation of Rachel Wallace
Review: Sunny Randall is back for a rewrite of yet another Spenser book (see Looking for Rachel Wallace). This time Parker really misses the mark, and creates a female character that is simply not in any way believable. The dialogue is witty (as always) but very un-estrogen inspired. The plot and subplots are neither very amusing nor sympathetic - which basically leaves a tough Meg Ryan type and a cute dog. The pursuit of the case is illogical since Sunny has no other paying job; the interplay with the ex-husband is self-absorbed and a little weird. Parker tries to weave in a bit of Robert Frost (thus the title) which does not really make any sense. The conclusion is rushed and ends with what is rather a desperate cliff hanger, supposed to keep the reader hooked on this series? Not me!
Rating:
Summary: Sunny May Perish
Review: As a Robert Parker fan, I look forward to each new book and the good read that they promise. This is the second Sunny Randall book and I was looking forward to him building and definning Sunny and her Boston world. The book starts out with much promise with a good plot line, which then seems to "stall" while we involved with Sunny's sister, and a host of characters, that seem to be having maritial problems. During all of this the familiar Parker banter is their for all of us to enjoy, but something is missing. The book is absorbed with Sunny trying to figure out her sisters problem's then another character's maritial problems, and despense advice with cute one liners.Some characters such as Tony Marcus we are familiar with from the Spencer novels, but not much time is devoted to Tony so that he is but a ship passing in the night. As you get to the end of the novel nothing is happening, until the very end, and then as an after thought, Mr. Parker brings some of it together. Some of the story line is left hanging. For Parker fans the book is a good read, but something is missing and Sunny and her world need to be developed a little more. She is a former "cop", but not much of that comes through. Her former husband is still a shadow, as is his family. I am still a Parker fan, but for the next Sunny novel, I may wait and buy the paperback. The hardcover price of Perish Twice was not worth the novel inside.
Rating: 
Summary: I love Sunny
Review: Robert Parker has created a strong, capable woman with a brain and heart. She's tough and can handle rough situations but also doesn't take stupid chances. The mystery in the plot was a little weak. This book was more about getting to know a new character and all of her friends than figuring out whodunit and why. Overall an enjoyable, light read.
Rating:
Summary: Parker definitely forgot the ending!
Review: I was willing to give Sunny another chance in this second outing. After all, if Mr. Parker wants to digress from the Spenser series (not that he does by much), he should be allowed to do that. After all, the characters are really quite similar right down to Rosie, the miniature bull terrier, to Pearl, the wonder dog Lab- just with different names. The dialog is wonderfully Parker - humorous, intelligent, flamboyant, interesting. However, what I cannot forgive is the lack of an ending. I truly thought that the pages had somehow been ripped from my book. Alas, not to be. Others have found the ending to be missing as well - and it's not even a clever miss with a promise of a future. I feel cheated, Mr. Parker, and I find it hard to give you absolution for that.
Rating:
Summary: I love Robert B. Paker...but...
Review: I really really wish he'd stick to just writing Spenser. Sunny is OK. To be honest, if anyone other than Parker had written this book, I'd be happy with it. However, I've come to expect more from Parker. Sunny truly is Spenser in a dress, other than a few crying jags from Sunny, there's very little difference. They have the same asides, the same thoughts, the same obsession with clothes. He cooks, she paints. He has a wonderful girlfriend, she has a wonderful ex-husband. And so on and so on. I wish Sunny could find her own voice.
Rating:
Summary: I think he forgot to write the ending
Review: As I was reading this book, I was thinking that I did like the Sunny Randall character. There is a lot to enjoy about her. The plot had so many possibilities - several murders, attempts on Sunny, her sister's problems, her best friend's problems, criminal ex-inlaws, and lesbians activists. Quite a mix. As I was getting to the end of the book, I peeked ahead a little just to make sure how many pages were left. There were only 3 pages with writing on them and that is when I started to worry. There was no way all (or maybe any) of these plot lines could be wrapped up in just a few pages. The book had so much promise, but all of a sudden it had ended. A most unsatisfing finish. A few things were explained, but there was no real conclusion to most of the plot lines. I understand that authors leave parts of the story a little up in the air so that things can resume with the next book, but this was a very bad way to end this novel. I really felt let down. I had spent all this time getting into the story and then it ended without much explanation. That is not what I want from a mystery novel. Tell me about the mystery and then also tell me how it was solved. Tell me about all the problems with marriages of sisters and friends and then tell me what happened to them. Let me get interested in the main character and then give me a good reason to read the next book. Right now I would probably not buy the next Sunny Randall book.
Rating:
Summary: Parker just doesn't get Females
Review: I *love* the Spenser series and love Parker's writing style in general. That makes it very difficult for me to understand how he can fail in his two Sunny Randall stories. The first one was pretty bad. If possible, this one is even worse. Sunny is a short blonde PI whose ex-hubby's family are into crime. She has a female shrink pal (a la Susan), a tough male friend (a la Hawk) and just about the same contacts as Spenser does. I could forgive all that. It's the way Parker writes female characters that really irks me, and the inane plots he puts her through. Let's see. In the first chapter Sunny's sister is berating crazy Jew shrinks (hmmmmmm) and she manages to catch the sis' hubby cheating the very first day, the very first time. Not only that, but plot flaws give her omniscient powers at times. We can forgive those, perhaps they were sly comments on womanhood and the Spenser history. Sunny finds it strange that a woman who is researching prostitutes would talk to a vice cop. We have the whole "Oh, I love you but I can't live with you, isn't this perfect" situation. We have the old "I caught you and now must decide what is morally correct to do about it" situation. This starts to get tedious. Two of the women she deals with need men in different ways - one to take care of her and one for pleasure. Another doesn't like her home situation and decides to run around with men instead. Sunny doesn't want to turn to men, but in the end ends up completely turning to men to both get to talk to someone and then to fall in their arms and cry afterwards! For a book that you would hope promotes a female's ability to be an individual, it falls flat on its face. The plot had so much potential. There were mixed sexualities, mixed races, mixed relationships, you name it. I kept hoping for something to shine through, but it didn't. Sunny kept telling everyone that they were in a 'crazy time' and that they shouldn't do anything permanent until they got through it. I can only hope that Parker will concentrate on Spenser from now on, and give us the fantastic writing he is so well known for.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn....
Review: This lastest novel from Robert Parker just doesn't live up to his standards. In a departure from his previous books, Parker uses a female P.I. named Sunny Randall. It's a case of stick with what you know, and Parker clearly doesn't know how to be a woman. You can never quite shake the idea that Sunny sees the world through a man's (Parker's?) perspective. You never get that feeling with the Spenser novels. Spenser always came across in a believable way. Sunny does not. In this story, Sunny has a collection of bumbling relatives and friends. Parker interweaves their stories with a murder case that Sunny decides to pursue even though she isn't getting paid. All in all, nothing too unexpected happens. The bumbling relatives and friends never really resolve their little problems, and their stories contribute little or nothing to the main plot. The only good thing about this novel is that it's quick and easy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Parish Twice, Parker finally fails.
Review: I own 23 hardbound Robert Parker books, and I rate 22 of them 5 star, however, he failed in his latest attempt when he wrote Parish Twice. He introduces a new private detective, Sunny Randall, a female detective. She seems to be a very poor remake of Spencer, and she fails at that. In the novel we meet two other main characters, a good friend and her sister, both of which you cannot stand. They are flat not likeable in any way. The conclusion of the book is also unsatisfactory in that nothing really is resolved. The bad guys get away with it and the good guy (Sunny) is also unhappy. Over all this book does not leave a good taste in your mouth. I enjoy female detective novels, but Mr. Parker needs to stay with Spencer and keep his fans happy.
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