Review of “Robert B. Parker’s The Bitterest Pill” by Reed Farrel Coleman

Note: This review is by my husband Jim.

The late Robert B. Parker was the author of nearly 70 books, most of which were of the “crime fiction” genre, featuring either private detective Spenser (with an “s”) or Jesse Stone, the redoubtable police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts. Since his death in 2010, several authors have tried to keep his legacy going by producing additional novels with Parker’s most popular characters. The latest such attempt is Reed Farrel Coleman’s The Bitterest Pill, featuring Jesse Stone and his coterie of staff on the Paradise PD.

The real Robert B. Parker was witty, sassy, snarky, and above all, entertaining. His forte was snappy dialog and caustic descriptions rather than cleverly constructed plots or heart pounding suspense. Coleman, like Parker, avoids clever plots and climactic suspense. Unfortunately, he also avoids Parker’s irreverent dialog and impertinent descriptions. The result is a modestly plodding tale of Jesse Stone’s taking down a drug peddling ring that had preyed upon the high school students of Paradise.

Coleman seems more interested in creating a polemic against drug use than an exciting or amusing crime story. Accordingly, his tone is more preachy than snarky or whimsical. Thus, even though the characters are the same, any Parker fan can tell this book was not written by the master. That is not meant to be an insult. After all, though Parker was not a Shakespeare nor a Faulkner, he was sui generis.

Coleman employed a trope that really annoyed me. He introduced an important character (the female teacher who recruits students to peddle drugs) as “she” or “her” without further identification. The identified female then temporarily became the narrator of the story. I would guess this technique was supposed to create suspense. Instead, it induced annoyance, at least in me. Faulkner used it occasionally, but Coleman is no Faulkner.

Evaluation: I would recommend revisiting the original oeuvre of Robert B. Parker rather than turning to other authors seeking to channel his appeal.

Rating: 2.5/5

Published in hardcover by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2019

A Few Notes on the Audio Production:

I listened to the audio version of the book, very capably read by James Naughton, who facilely switched voices and accents (Boston, Slavic, Armenian) among the characters.

Published unabridged on 8 CDs (approximately 9 1/2 listening hours) by Random House Audio, 2019

January 6 – Epiphany, or Twelfth Day of Christmas, a.k.a. Three Kings’ Day – Celebrate with Kings’ Cake!

Epiphany is the time the Three Kings, a.k.a. the Magi, visited Jesus. According to a web site on Christmas customs, Epiphany means “revelation” and refers to the coming of the Wise Men to Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus, when Jesus was revealed to be very important. The three Wise Men had seen a large star in the sky, and thought it portended the birth of a messiah, in accordance with prophesies. Thus, the Bible relates, Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar made their way to Bethlehem on the order of King Herod, who wanted to know if a “rival” had indeed been born.

The Adoration of the Magi by Giotto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[Today, both Balthazar and Melchior have large wine bottles named after them – 12 liters and 18 liters respectively, but alas, Gaspar is left out. Per Mental Floss, “No word on why Gaspar, the third wise man, did not get a bottle named after him.”]

In any event, Epiphany is celebrated in many countries with a special cake. In America it’s called a “Kings’ Cake.” Other languages repeat the theme: “Galette des Rois” in France; “Rosca de Reys” in Mexico; etc. It most often takes the form of a round cake filled with marzipan in which a little bean or little baby plastic doll is hidden inside to represent the idea of finding baby Jesus.

I make a version of King’s cake whenever I can, because I will use any excuse to have marzipan. (Yes, I need an excuse because almond paste is about 12,000 calories a spoonful.) Since I am lazy, however, I generally buy a box mix – yes, there is a box mix for Kings’ Cake! (I use Mam Papaul’s Mardi Gras King Cake Mix Kit. You can also order a kit from the King Arthur Flour website.)

My Kings’ Cake from last year, which doubled as a birthday cake as you can see

There are many instructions online for making the cake from scratch for the more ambitious among you.

One recipe I think sounds particularly appealing comes from an English-language Barcelona, Spain website. It is for the Catalan “Tortell de Reis” (Kings’ Cake) and uses a brioche pastry. Though this recipe includes marzipan, one can also fill it with jam, cream, chocolate, or whatever indulgence you prefer. The recipe is here.

Tortell de Reis (Kings’ Cake). Photo by Rebecca T Caro on the Barcelona recipe website

Happy Three Kings Day!!

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This post will be linked to this Saturday’s Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. where bloggers share food-related posts. Stop by her blog and see what’s cooking this week!

Kid Lit Review of “Freedom Soup” by Tami Charles

This lyrical book tells the story of a girl and her grandma, Ti Gran, fixing a stew called Freedom Soup. This dish is commonly eaten in Haitian households at celebrations for the New Year to commemorate the end of slavery. Ti-Gran tells Belle that slaves had to make the soup for their masters, but never got to eat it themselves until they were free. As the author explains in a note at the end of the story:

“My husband’s late grandmother, Ti Gran, gave me my first bowl of Freedom Soup, also known as Soup Joumou. As soon as I tasted it, I knew there had to be a story behind the flavors of pride, victory, and joy. Ti Gran was a feisty yet gentle soul who taught me the history of the soup.”

The text mostly focuses on Ti Gran and her granddaughter Belle preparing the soup, emphasizing the savoriness of the soup and the sweetness of freedom.

As they cook, Ti Gran explains how the people in Haiti were slaves until they were liberated by a revolution. Belle can visualize the history from Ti Gran’s descriptions:

“I see the colors of freedom: the tan streets of Port-au-Prince, covered in broken black chains, kettles of hot yellow soup, a sweet pumpkiny-garlic aroma filling the air.

I see Ti Gran’s people. My people.

Eating soup to celebrate the end of slavery.

Eating soup to celebrate the start of freedom.”

The story ends in a riot of color as the whole extended family comes over to share Freedom Soup, and talk, sing, and dance. Belle is proud that she helped prepare the meal, and that it turned out so well:

“We share stories of Ti Gran’s faraway island, and taste freedom again . . . and again . . . and again . . . ”

A recipe for the soup is included at the back of the book.

Illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara uses lush colors and fluid lines to depict cooking, dancing, fighting against slavery, and celebrating freedom.

Readers in the recommended age group of 5-9 won’t learn how or why slavery was imposed on Haiti, nor by whom, unless an adult fills them in; background is provided in the Author’s Note. The Note is written in a way that will be understandable to a young audience if adults care to share its contents. But even without the history of Haiti, the message that freedom is never “free” comes through loud and clear in the story.

Evaluation: It is commendable that children will learn from this book a glimmering of a counter-narrative to the usual Christopher Columbus story. In fact, when Columbus and his men came to Haiti and the nearby islands of the Caribbean they instituted astoundingly vicious policies. As an article from the Harvard Magazine “The Crimson” recounts:

“By 1515, on Hispaniola alone, war and slavery had killed 200,000 Arawaks, or 80 percent of the original population, by conservative estimates. Eventually, all of the natives were wiped out. Harvard historian Samuel Eliot Morison has written that the ‘cruel policy initiated by Columbus and pursued by his successors resulted in complete genocide.’”

[Hispaniola is one of the Caribbean islands where Columbus made landfall when he “discovered” America. Today it is divided into two separate, sovereign nations, the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic to the east and French / Haitian Creole-speaking Haiti to the west.]

Following the near decimation of the indigenous people from forced labor, disease, suicide, and war, the Spanish, under advisement of the Catholic priest Bartolomeu de las Casas and with the blessing of the Catholic Church, began importing Africans as slaves. During the French colonial period beginning in 1625, the economy of Haiti (then known as Saint-Domingue) was also based on slavery, and the practice there was regarded as the most brutal in the world.

Though this story focuses on family bonds and celebratory traditions of Afro-Caribbean culture, children of other backgrounds may be curious enough to inquire about the history of Haiti and its sad legacy. Regardless, it will be hard for non-Afro-Caribbean readers to resist sharing Belle’s joy and enthusiasm as she participates in this ritual. Readers can be prompted to compare her celebration to other holidays they know about, and will realize how similar all of them are in many ways, but with different spices and stories flavoring the festivities. One hopes this will lead readers to an appreciation for the richness and diversity of America as a nation of immigrants. We have so much to gain by focusing on what we share and how much we can learn from each other, rather than being fearful of any differences.

Evaluation: 4/5

Published by Candlewick Press, 2019

Review of “Long Road to Mercy” by David Baldacci

David Baldacci has published many mystery/thrillers, several of which have been adapted for film and television, but I had not read any of his books before now. I received this book as a gift, so it seemed like a good opportunity to see what makes this author so popular.

Long Road to Mercy is the first in a new series about FBI agent Atlee Pine, 35, whose twin sister Mercy was abducted from their bedroom window and presumably murdered when the girls were six years old. Atlee believes that a brilliant serial killer, Daniel James Tor, was the one who took her sister, but she can’t prove it. He admitted to 34 killings but not to her sister’s. She is desperate for closure, but Tor has no reason to provide her with that satisfaction. The obsession over what happened to Mercy shaped her life; it made her a loner, and motivated her to get in the best possible physical condition so she would never be taken by surprise again.

Atlee works as the sole FBI agent in a remote office in Shattered Rock, Arizona. She is asked to go to the relatively nearby Grand Canyon for a case involving a missing tourist; his mule was found cut up but there was no evidence of the rider. Atlee, along with the fit, handsome ranger Sam Kettler, tried to find out what happened but Atlee was warned by her supervisors to let it go. This meant, of course, that she won’t. Before long, she gets involved in a complicated matter that seems to involve Russia, North Korea, China, the U.S. Army, and U.S. Intelligence. All she knows for sure is that her life is in danger.

This is not a problem however, since Atlee, whose name might have been “Jackie” Reacher (referring here to the cartoonishly invulnerable hero Jack Reacher in the series by Lee Child), is solid, muscular, previously competed in MMA (mixed martial arts) and kickboxing, and “had the toughness and confidence to survive in a man’s world.” She came within one kilo of making the U.S. Olympic team as a weightlifter and “her core was iron.”

In addition to handsome Sam, Atlee is also aided immensely by her clever and resourceful office secretary, Carol Blum. Blum is in her sixties and is always meticulously and professionally dressed. But she wouldn’t be out of place in a James Bond book as a secret operative.

Atlee has to navigate some of the most treacherous parts of the Grand Canyon to solve the mystery, but of course, she is up to it, as is Sam. What they discover is rather over the top, but perhaps a good match for their over-the-top characters and skill sets.

Evaluation: This book was good reading for an airplane ride, but I wouldn’t necessarily be tempted to follow up with the series or even with the author, unless perhaps I were to make along another cross-country trip. But I commend the book for educating readers on the flora, fauna, and conditions native to the Grand Canyon; there is plenty to learn in the story.

Rating: 3.25/5

Published by Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, 2018

Happy New Year 2020!

May your year be full of good reading for you and your entire family!

Happy New Year!!

[Original artwork by Grace Ahmed via the Children’s Literacy Foundation, which has a website full of ideas about how to make reading fun for kids.]