Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Like Sunny!, 5 Mar 2003
Yes, there's similarity to Parker's "Early Autumn" in that the detective sort of adopts a teenager who's aimlessly floating around, and yes, bits of the dialogue are identical to Spenser dialogue, but that's not really sufficient to take away from the enjoyment of this book.
Sunny isn't really a female Spenser. She's less comfortable dealing with the gangster connections than Spenser is. While she's a good shot, she doesn't seem to be a true physical match for the bad guys.In this first outing, she's hired to find a missing 15 year old daughter, but on finding her also discovers that she'll be in considerable danger if she's returned to her family. The story goes on from there. We meet Tony Marcus who we know from Spenser books. And a flip remark is made at one point which indicates that Sunny knows of Spenser and his reputation. Parker likes to throw in little teasers. When we realize that the girl and her mother will each likely be visiting psychologists, we can't help wondering if one of them won't end up with that lady counsellor we know so well. After all, this is set in Boston. There's bound to be a bit of a tie-in with other Parker series and therefore, I recommend reading all Parker stories in sequence.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just like Spenser...............only female!, 2 Jul 2001
By A Customer
I really enjoyed the book - Robert B Parker is, after all, a brilliant writer - so it's very witty, fast moving, good plot - everything you've come to expect from a Parker novel. But all the time I just felt I was reading a Spenser novel - OK, Sunny Randall is female but she has the "odd ball" friends (for Hawk, read Spike), all the mob are still there (yes, you've guessed - Tony Marcos!) and the screwed-up 'adopted' kid (for Paul, read Millie). Even Pearl, oops sorry, Rosie, is there. Bit disappointing but hey, if it means more Parker, I can live with it!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very much a Spenser story (but very much without Spenser), 8 Jul 2005
Sunny Randall, the Boston Private Investigator of Robert B. Parker's 1999 novel "Family Honor," is a former cop, college graduate, aspiring painter, divorcee, who owns a miniature bull terrier named Rosie. Only 5'6" and 115 pounds Sunny is not, as she observes at one point, a 200 pound ex-boxer. This comment is particularly telling because why Parker makes a concerted effort to offer some key differences between the character of Sunny Randall and his more famous Boston P.I. creation, the plot of "Family Honor" is a rather blatant mixture of several Spencer novels: Sunny is looking for a Millicent Patton, a runaway who has turned to hooking (like April Kyle in "Ceremony); Sunny finds Millicent and discovers she has to be a surrogate parent that can teach the young girl how to be a human being (like Paul in "Early Autumn"); as always, there is more to the case than meets the eye, having to do with the political aspirations of Millicent's father (like in "The Widening Gyre"). Consequently, we are covering familiar territory with a new guide. It is pretty much impossible not to be aware of the differences between Sunny and Spencer: instead of Hawk she has Spike, a flamboyant and dangerous gay man; instead of an absolute commitment to a soul mate she is trying to work out her mixed feelings for her ex-husband (similar to Parker's other recent creation, Jesse Stone); instead of having no other living relatives she has a supportive father and a mother she will never impress. Just to make things interesting, Sunny's ex-husband Richie Burke is related to one of the mob families in Boston, and while he is technically "clean" he knows what is going on. One of the nicest things about the Spenser series is the way Parker, for the most part, took his time in creating the major elements and developing them. In contrast, the pieces come together much too quickly in "The Family Honor." I have to wonder if Parker has been thinking about creating a female detective for the last couple of years since Susan Silverman has been especially active in the last few Spenser novels, hitting people with bricks or warning they will be sleeping with the fishes, which now all seems like dry runs for this new character. For all the differences, Parker's readers are going to know they have been this way before. As always, this are great books to read if you are living the commuter lifestyle.
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