After "The Hangman's Sonnet" I vowed to never read another Jesse Stone continuation novel. They just haven't carried on his story as well as the Spenser novels by Ace Atkins, however after receiving a free galley from NetGalley, I decided to give it one more try. I'm glad I did as this may be the best Jesse Stone book I've read since Robert B. Parker passed. It's the first novel that doesn't dwell on Jesse's obsession with Jenn and actually develops his character as he learns to live with his new found sobriety. The plot revolves around a white nationalist plot to infiltrate Paradise and set off a race war - given the times it's both topical and timeless in its approach. The ending, while predictable halfway through the book, added a new dimension that should be interesting for the characters to explore in future novels. If you're like me and were disappointed in the past Stone books, I urge you to give this one a shot. It's worth it.

ROBERT B. PARKER’S COLORBLIND by Reed Farrel Coleman is the latest Jesse Stone novel in the series (#17) that was originally taken over by Michael Brandman after the death of Robert B. Parker, and is now in the hands of Reed Farrel Coleman, author of “Where It Hurts” and “What You Break” in his Gus Murphy series.

Jesse returns to his duties as police chief of Paradise after ending up in rehab, and is serious about staying sober this time around; even to the point of attending A.A. meetings, something he’s never done before having only quit drinking for periods of time without any intention of making it permanent, which now is a commitment due to the loss of his love Diana recently that he blames himself for and the presence of alcohol in his life at the time.

Molly fills him in upon his return of a racially fueled confrontation at a local bar involving Alisha, his newest officer that he hired with the blessing of the mayor of Paradise.

Several crimes, including the physical assault leaving a woman near death, all seem to be racially motivated and specifically directed at interracial couples.

Jesse has several things on his radar, along with Alisha’s brush with the skinhead bikers in the bar, the racially motivated crimes in the area, and the appearance of two new faces to arrive in town.

Cole Slayton is cooling his heels in the jail when Jesse first returns, and Molly fills him in on how the young man has a huge chip on his shoulder, but the reason is unknown.
Jesse releases him and finds everything he’s been told regarding Cole’s demeanor to be true.

Leon Oskar Vandercamp, aka “the Colonel”, arrives in town which can only mean trouble for the entire Paradise community, and is sure to make Jesse and his deputies’ jobs a lot more difficult.

Vandercamp, (who’s sons go by the names of James Earl, John Wilkes, and Lee Harvey) is a nationally known white supremacist that creates racial tensions wherever he appears in public, and his arrival along with recent events would seem to be anything but coincidence.

Several prominent religious leaders become involved, and a full scale confrontation between the two sides seems inevitable unless Jesse can figure out a way to diffuse the situation by solving the hate crimes and apprehending those responsible.

Reed Farrel Coleman has found his groove in his writing of the previous Jesse Stone novel “The Hangman’s Sonnet” and this one, and I like the direction he seems to be taking with Jesse as a character and the series as a whole, as previous books in the series could at times be plodding and depressing affairs saturated with his drinking and his ex-wife Jen (good riddance!), a shallow self centered individual that only furthered his self destruction.

Jesse is still struggling as expected, but seems focused on his recovery more than ever before, and it’s nice to think that he has a chance at a better life in days to come; especially in the wake of the bombshell dropped near the end of the story.

4 stars.