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Actor Richard Masur rises to the occasion and provides a well-acted and engaging reading of this involving thriller by Spenser creator Robert B. Parker. This is the start of a new series by Parker starring his latest creation, police chief Jesse Stone, and Masur provides the multitude of character voices needed to dramatize this tale of corrupt politicians, thugs for hire, an honest but troubled police chief, and superficial small-town husbands and wives. Oh yes, there are also various females who complicate our intrepid police chief's life, as well as a crazed militia group.
Parker balances all these diverse elements well, producing an entertaining story of a divorced Los Angeles cop trying to start a new life in the small New England community of Paradise, Massachusetts. The main plot revolves around the corrupt Paradise government which thinks it has hired an incompetent, alcoholic police chief --- which is exactly what it wants. All soon realizes Stone is a very good cop who only temporarily lost his bearings due to the painful break-up of his marriage.
As in many of his other books, "Night Passage" spends time examining the issues of honor --- and the unlikely places it turns up --- personal codes, and the importance of doing what one says one will do. Thus, this story features characters who are definitely "bad guys," but who the author nevertheless considers honorable and worthy of respect, as well as characters who are ostensibly "upstanding citizens," but are in reality buffoons, selfish back-stabbers, or both. Masur, who has had a varied TV, film, and stage career --- but who you probably remember as Bonnie Franklin's boyfriend on the sitcom "One Day at a Time" --- sees the complicated nature of the characters and portrays them accordingly. There's not a simple, one-note performance in the bunch. I especially liked the way Masur picked up the subtle hints in the prose and saw to it that even the many catty, superficial wives in Paradise, who are primarily concerned with "keeping up with the Joneses," are portrayed with some depth of feeling.
Though officially abridged, this audio production has made only minor edits to the original text. One essentially gets the whole novel. Also available in the audio format is the second novel featuring Jesse Stone, TROUBLE IN PARADISE. Happily, it's also read by Richard Masur.
--- Reviewed by Joe Menta, Jr.
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