Robert B Parker’s Debt to Pay (Jesse Stone) by Reed Farrel Coleman

349 Pages
Publisher: Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release Date: September 13, 2016

Fiction, Police Procedural, Criminal Activity

Jesse Stone is the Chief of Police in the small town of Paradise. There are reports of car tires being shot out all over town. Jesse has his hands full with the women in his life. His ex-wife, Jenn is getting married to a real estate tycoon in Dallas. His current relationship with former FBI agent Diana Evans does not appear to have a future. When Geno Fish and his assistant Drew are found dead in Boston, the violence seems to come to Paradise and upsets the idyllic town.

The story has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. This is the fifteenth book in the Jesse Stone series originally written by Robert B. Parker. If you like small town police stories, you will enjoy this book.

I didn't have very high expectations since this Jesse Stone book was actually written by someone other than Robert Parker. I was very pleasantly surprised. Reed Farrel Coleman really captured the Jesse Stone and surrounding characters so well. The voice of Jesse Stone spoke to me from these pages thanks to Coleman's' excellent writing.

This is a high suspense read that kept me glued to my seat. The serial killer nicknamed Peepers, was stunningly frightening. Can't say more because I surely don't want to ruin the suspense. Let's just say that I had to decompress after reading this book.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone. There is violence without being gratuitous. Ever action moves the story along. And you'll want to read this in one sitting. Very good writing, good story, and utterly satisfying.

Debt to Pay, #15 in the Jesse Stone series, resolves the cliffhanger-like ending of book #13, Blind Spot. I had a hard time putting down Debt to Pay. It is a fast read, because of the suspense created by having some sections told from the viewpoint of "Mr Peepers," the sadistic hit man first seen in #13.

Mr Peepers is determined to get even for the events that occurred in Blind Spot. It's up to Jesse to figure out the target(s) of Mr Peepers, before the hit man can extract his revenge.

I really liked Debt to Pay – four stars. The ending is not what I was hoping for, but it seemed inevitable. I am eager to read book #16, to find out what is next in store for Jesse Stone.

For a long time, I had stayed clear of Robert B. Parker's books, I simply didn't find them intriguing enough compared to so many other books that are out there. This one "Debt to Pay", however, got me interested. The plot sounded interesting, and even though, I clearly had missed out on a lot of things happening in the little police department, I didn't feel I missed out too much because the references were reasonably clear or well-explained.
The story had me excited and I found myself enjoying even though and I can't say that I was happy with how everything concluded, but that is the discretion of the author. Will I come back to Robert Parker's books (now written by someone else, in this case, Reed Farrel Coleman)? Probably. But this book I enjoyed.