What do you think?
Rate this book
Silent Joe
With the horrible remnants of a childhood tragedy forever visible across his otherwise handsome face, Joe Trona is scarred in more ways than one. Rescued from an orphanage by Will Trona, a charismatic Orange County politician who sensed his dark potential, Joe is swept into the maelstrom of power and intimidation that surrounds his adoptive father's illustrious career. Serving as Will's right hand man, Joe is trained to protect and defend his father's territory - but he can't save the powerful man from his enemies. Will Trona is murdered, and Joe will stop at nothing to find out who did it.
Looking for clues as he sifts through the remains of his father's life - his girlfriends, acquaintances, deals, and enemies - Joe comes to realize how many secrets Will Trona possessed, and how many people he had the power to harm. But two leads keep rising to the surface: a little girl who was kidnapped by her mentally disturbed brother, and two rival gangs who seem to have joined forces. As Joe deepens his investigation - and as he is forced to confront painful events of his troubled childhood - these two seemingly disconnected threads will intersect. Just how and why form the crux of this intricate, intelligent mystery that satisfies the mind as well as the heart - and reveals yet again the impeccable detail, vivid characterization, and emotional complexity that make a T. Jefferson Parker novel impossible to resist.
Looking for clues as he sifts through the remains of his father's life - his girlfriends, acquaintances, deals, and enemies - Joe comes to realize how many secrets Will Trona possessed, and how many people he had the power to harm. But two leads keep rising to the surface: a little girl who was kidnapped by her mentally disturbed brother, and two rival gangs who seem to have joined forces. As Joe deepens his investigation - and as he is forced to confront painful events of his troubled childhood - these two seemingly disconnected threads will intersect. Just how and why form the crux of this intricate, intelligent mystery that satisfies the mind as well as the heart - and reveals yet again the impeccable detail, vivid characterization, and emotional complexity that make a T. Jefferson Parker novel impossible to resist.
341 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2001
273 people are currently reading
1241 people want to read
About the author
T. Jefferson Parker
99 books852 followersT. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of 26 crime novels, including Edgar Award-winners SILENT JOE and CALIFORNIA GIRL. Parker's next work is coming-of-age thriller, A THOUSAND STEPS, set for January of 2022. He lives with his family in a small town in north San Diego County, and enjoys fishing, hiking and beachcombing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
December 4, 2022
I’ve had this book on my Kindle for almost exactly eight years, and for some reason I just haven’t gotten around to reading it. I can’t recall who recommended it to me – someone must have – and I’m unable to identify a discernible reason for having left it to linger unread for so long. But finally rescued from the TBR pile, I was immediately captivated by the title character, ‘Silent Joe’ Trona. His father had poured acid on his face when he was just nine months old, causing hideous injuries. Dubbed the Acid Baby, he’d subsequently found himself cooped up in a children’s home until he was adopted, at age five.
We pick up the story when Joe, in his mid twenties, has chosen a career with the police and is approaching the end of a five year stint on the right side of the bars at a local jail. This, we are led to believe, was a standard a entry requirements for all new police recruits in Orange County, California at the beginning of the 21st Century. Joe doesn’t mind, he enjoys the formality, the routine and even his interaction with the prisoners, despite the many taunts he gets regarding his extraordinary disfigurement.
Joe’s step-father, Will, is a county supervisor and therefore locally an important political figure. A wheeler-dealer, Will often has Joe tagging along with him when out in the evenings doing his rounds. Joe reveres Will, he’s the most important figure in his life: his mentor, his teacher and the man who rescued him when he was young, frail and desperate. But then there’s a death, a significant death. Joe is witness to it but it’s foggy and dark and all he gets is a voice. It’s a second life changing event, and now he’s determined that he must, he will, track down the ‘voice’.
In truth, I found the narrative a little jerky at the start but once it settled, after the death, a picture of the events leading up to the fateful night started to come together – a tangled web of secrets, lies and deception if ever I’ve seen one. This all took a while but I was fine with that because now, predominantly, it was really all about Joe. Told (as I belatedly realised – I know, I can be a little slow sometimes) as a first person narrative, it now grabbed me hard and didn’t let me go. I loved Joe, he’s determined, has no ego and has the moral compass we all wish we had. In addition there are other elements to Joe’s story that I won’t delve into here, but suffice to say these enriched the whole thing significantly.
As a footnote, one thing that really annoyed me about the e-copy I read – which had received at least one update in the years it sat on my devise – was the sheer volume of mistakes: missing punctuation aplenty and words randomly and incorrectly injected. Maybe I’m a bit fussy, but these things somehow remove me from the imaginary world I’ve been swept into with a ‘what the hell is that’ moment of reality. I hate it. It costs the book a star in my eyes, so four stars overall.
We pick up the story when Joe, in his mid twenties, has chosen a career with the police and is approaching the end of a five year stint on the right side of the bars at a local jail. This, we are led to believe, was a standard a entry requirements for all new police recruits in Orange County, California at the beginning of the 21st Century. Joe doesn’t mind, he enjoys the formality, the routine and even his interaction with the prisoners, despite the many taunts he gets regarding his extraordinary disfigurement.
Joe’s step-father, Will, is a county supervisor and therefore locally an important political figure. A wheeler-dealer, Will often has Joe tagging along with him when out in the evenings doing his rounds. Joe reveres Will, he’s the most important figure in his life: his mentor, his teacher and the man who rescued him when he was young, frail and desperate. But then there’s a death, a significant death. Joe is witness to it but it’s foggy and dark and all he gets is a voice. It’s a second life changing event, and now he’s determined that he must, he will, track down the ‘voice’.
In truth, I found the narrative a little jerky at the start but once it settled, after the death, a picture of the events leading up to the fateful night started to come together – a tangled web of secrets, lies and deception if ever I’ve seen one. This all took a while but I was fine with that because now, predominantly, it was really all about Joe. Told (as I belatedly realised – I know, I can be a little slow sometimes) as a first person narrative, it now grabbed me hard and didn’t let me go. I loved Joe, he’s determined, has no ego and has the moral compass we all wish we had. In addition there are other elements to Joe’s story that I won’t delve into here, but suffice to say these enriched the whole thing significantly.
As a footnote, one thing that really annoyed me about the e-copy I read – which had received at least one update in the years it sat on my devise – was the sheer volume of mistakes: missing punctuation aplenty and words randomly and incorrectly injected. Maybe I’m a bit fussy, but these things somehow remove me from the imaginary world I’ve been swept into with a ‘what the hell is that’ moment of reality. I hate it. It costs the book a star in my eyes, so four stars overall.
March 21, 2020
Silent Joe is a 2001 mystery thriller set in Orange County, California, about a young sheriff’s deputy investigating the murder of his wealthy adoptive father. I hadn’t heard of this author before and got this from my book (swap) club. The blurb on the back describes it as a “thinking man’s thriller” - a piece of casual sexism that they would never get away with today. While it took a little while to get into, I enjoyed it and felt it stood the test of time pretty well.
Joe Trona has a hideously scarred face as a result of the acid attack by his original father when he was a baby, which led to him being adopted from an orphanage at age five by deputy turned politician Will Trona. Joe’s intense gratitude and loyalty have led to him working in a prison by day, and as Will’s driver and bodyguard out of hours, so he is devastated when he is unable to prevent Will being shot to death during a mysterious assignment late one night. Admired by all for his stoic patience and politeness, Joe is allowed into the investigation and discovers that Will was involved in trying to rescue the kidnapped young daughter of a billionaire, but this was not the only secret that Will was keeping - and one of them got him killed.
I don’t disagree with this being a thinking reader’s thriller - Parker takes his time drip-feeding us information and clues, and you have to pay attention - Joe May have an eidetic memory but most of us do not. I certainly missed the search feature on my kindle when trying to recall who all the various minor characters were, but it all gradually made sense and the plot, while complicated, was well crafted and the gathering pace had me glued to the book for the last third or so. This doesn’t rely on shock twists or implausible coincidence and still delivers a satisfying resolution. Joe’s scarring and consequent obsession with physical beauty made him an interesting character to read about too. I’d be happy to try more from this author.
Joe Trona has a hideously scarred face as a result of the acid attack by his original father when he was a baby, which led to him being adopted from an orphanage at age five by deputy turned politician Will Trona. Joe’s intense gratitude and loyalty have led to him working in a prison by day, and as Will’s driver and bodyguard out of hours, so he is devastated when he is unable to prevent Will being shot to death during a mysterious assignment late one night. Admired by all for his stoic patience and politeness, Joe is allowed into the investigation and discovers that Will was involved in trying to rescue the kidnapped young daughter of a billionaire, but this was not the only secret that Will was keeping - and one of them got him killed.
I don’t disagree with this being a thinking reader’s thriller - Parker takes his time drip-feeding us information and clues, and you have to pay attention - Joe May have an eidetic memory but most of us do not. I certainly missed the search feature on my kindle when trying to recall who all the various minor characters were, but it all gradually made sense and the plot, while complicated, was well crafted and the gathering pace had me glued to the book for the last third or so. This doesn’t rely on shock twists or implausible coincidence and still delivers a satisfying resolution. Joe’s scarring and consequent obsession with physical beauty made him an interesting character to read about too. I’d be happy to try more from this author.
Want to read
June 20, 2018This hardcover edition is signed by T. Jefferson Parker.
December 31, 2009
t. jefferson parker has a style i like very much. i like the way he constructs his sentences, but i like even better the way he constructs his paragraphs and his pages. i like that he doesn't tell us too much, and if that means that we don't understand everything that goes on at any given time, so be it. i like that the scenes are well constructed and that they are sustained by an inner (aesthetic?) necessity. i like that they give a sense of the characters (or at least the protagonist/s – TJP is not a large-canvas writer) without spending almost any time telling us what those characters are like. i like that the weather is such a presence, because i lived in so. ca. for 5 years and even though at this point i have lived in miami longer, so. ca. feels more home to me than miami will ever do (this is not the only reason why i like to be given a sense of the weather and the landscape: you’ve got to see where your characters move.)
joe trona, the protagonist of this novel, is a lovely character. his main physical feature is that half of his face is reconstructed scar tissue as a consequence of an acid burn he sustained when he was 5, but – and this is what i mean – TJP doesn't actually explain this to us until much later in the novel, and by then we have figured it out by ourselves.
there is something really strange about joe trona but that, again, is something you get to understand on your own, as you would a real person no one has told you anything about. for a long while i thought he was mildly autistic, but ultimately i rejected that. the silentness of the title appears in the text only once and in a totally – again – not-explanatory way, yet it captures joe's character well. there's silence at the heart of him, a sort of disconnection from the mundanity of life, an inward focus and single-minded determination to understand life on his own, and i think this is what the novel pivots on.
Silent Joe is a psychological novel as much as it is a mystery, which is probably why i liked it so much. i also like the kind of writing i tried to describe above. what i like most about TJP's novels, though, is the almost preternatural moral fiber of their heroes. maybe this is a genre that lends itself more than others to this feat, but, still, i admire TJP for making his characters good, complex, and interesting at the same time. also, i am very much drawn to stories in which a pure (as in clean and moral and pristine) order is restored to dirty (as in bad and corrupted) chaos. i think (it's not easy to figure these things about oneself) that i dislike the chaos less than i dislike the dirt. i am someone who spends a lot of her time rectifying things, making bad things good again. this seems very important to me. sometimes i do this actively, by intervening in one way or another, but often i do it by taking an event, a person, or a set of circumstances apart in my head and putting it back together with fresh glue, so to speak, so that what holds it is good instead of bad. often you can attribute good but misguided intentions to bad actions. equally as often, you can attribute badness to pain – make badness a consequence of hurt. either way, you get cleanliness out instead of dirt.
in this novel, the main object of joe's disassembling and re-gluing is joe's father, a very good but deeply flawed man. one of the first things you learn in the novel is that joe loves his father absolutely. as the novel develops you think that what will happen is that joe will realize that his father was not the man he thought he was and either come to love him less or come to realize that no one is perfect. either way, he will lose his seemingly naive moral purity.
neither of these things happens. i won't give away plot elements, but if you don't want to know anything at all about the novel you might consider stopping here.
what in fact happens is that we realize that joe knew all along who his father was, and his love for him doesn't change one jot, even though joe's choices are very different from his father's. to reprise my metaphor, joe's disassembling and re-gluing takes place before the novel even starts. so, as the plot thickens and gains in complexity and intrigue, so does our understanding of joe. this parallelism -- between joe's understanding of the events that constitute the novel's plot and our understanding of joe -- strikes me as very skillful and deep on TJP's part.
still, i could not have enjoyed this book this much if the writing had not carried it so well. at the same time, i am not sure one can have complexity without good writing. it's not like writing is simply a vehicle. or maybe it is, it's a vehicle, but the vehicle is just about everything when you are trying to get somewhere difficult.
joe trona, the protagonist of this novel, is a lovely character. his main physical feature is that half of his face is reconstructed scar tissue as a consequence of an acid burn he sustained when he was 5, but – and this is what i mean – TJP doesn't actually explain this to us until much later in the novel, and by then we have figured it out by ourselves.
there is something really strange about joe trona but that, again, is something you get to understand on your own, as you would a real person no one has told you anything about. for a long while i thought he was mildly autistic, but ultimately i rejected that. the silentness of the title appears in the text only once and in a totally – again – not-explanatory way, yet it captures joe's character well. there's silence at the heart of him, a sort of disconnection from the mundanity of life, an inward focus and single-minded determination to understand life on his own, and i think this is what the novel pivots on.
Silent Joe is a psychological novel as much as it is a mystery, which is probably why i liked it so much. i also like the kind of writing i tried to describe above. what i like most about TJP's novels, though, is the almost preternatural moral fiber of their heroes. maybe this is a genre that lends itself more than others to this feat, but, still, i admire TJP for making his characters good, complex, and interesting at the same time. also, i am very much drawn to stories in which a pure (as in clean and moral and pristine) order is restored to dirty (as in bad and corrupted) chaos. i think (it's not easy to figure these things about oneself) that i dislike the chaos less than i dislike the dirt. i am someone who spends a lot of her time rectifying things, making bad things good again. this seems very important to me. sometimes i do this actively, by intervening in one way or another, but often i do it by taking an event, a person, or a set of circumstances apart in my head and putting it back together with fresh glue, so to speak, so that what holds it is good instead of bad. often you can attribute good but misguided intentions to bad actions. equally as often, you can attribute badness to pain – make badness a consequence of hurt. either way, you get cleanliness out instead of dirt.
in this novel, the main object of joe's disassembling and re-gluing is joe's father, a very good but deeply flawed man. one of the first things you learn in the novel is that joe loves his father absolutely. as the novel develops you think that what will happen is that joe will realize that his father was not the man he thought he was and either come to love him less or come to realize that no one is perfect. either way, he will lose his seemingly naive moral purity.
neither of these things happens. i won't give away plot elements, but if you don't want to know anything at all about the novel you might consider stopping here.
what in fact happens is that we realize that joe knew all along who his father was, and his love for him doesn't change one jot, even though joe's choices are very different from his father's. to reprise my metaphor, joe's disassembling and re-gluing takes place before the novel even starts. so, as the plot thickens and gains in complexity and intrigue, so does our understanding of joe. this parallelism -- between joe's understanding of the events that constitute the novel's plot and our understanding of joe -- strikes me as very skillful and deep on TJP's part.
still, i could not have enjoyed this book this much if the writing had not carried it so well. at the same time, i am not sure one can have complexity without good writing. it's not like writing is simply a vehicle. or maybe it is, it's a vehicle, but the vehicle is just about everything when you are trying to get somewhere difficult.
August 13, 2016
This is my third T. Jefferson Parker and it’s his best so far. Silent Joe is that type of novel, a mystery/thriller driven by the depth of the writing and the originality of characterization that doesn't take away from the fast-paced nature of the plot. It’s that fabulously complex blending of psychological suspense with a private investigative tale that works because of the main character. I have to admit that Joe Trona is a unique character. I enjoyed his reflective moods, his intelligence and good heartedness. He’s only 24, he’s extremely polite and mild-mannered: Gosh, he remained so calm even when people insulted him. You see, Joe has a disfigured face. When he was nine months old, his father poured acid on his face, scarring Joe for life. For the next four years, Joe lived in an orphanage until Will and Mary Ann Trona adopted him at the age of five. Will Trona is an influential local politician, who trained Joe in all aspects of life, particularly in awareness of self and respect of others. Twenty years later, Joe works as a jailer for the Orange County prisons system and as a driver-bodyguard for his beloved father Will, now a county supervisor.
One night, Will and Joe are out on one of their “political” missions, this one involving dropping off ransom money for the safe return of a rich man's daughter and continuing on to another location to pick up the little girl. Joe is an expert sharpshooter and skilled in martial arts but that isn't enough and Will is killed right before Joe's eyes. Now Joe must find his father’s killer and he sets out to put the pieces together. How does this kidnapping tie in with rival LA gangs, a charismatic minister, and death of two immigrant workers? On his quest Joe will uncover many of the secrets and political schemes that his father kept hidden, and he also will be forced to face the painful memories of his childhood.
T. Jefferson Parker made everything work: plot, setting, rhythm, vocabulary, characterization, theme, descriptions, dialogue, -- all of it was superb, and I look forward to more interesting reads by this author.
One night, Will and Joe are out on one of their “political” missions, this one involving dropping off ransom money for the safe return of a rich man's daughter and continuing on to another location to pick up the little girl. Joe is an expert sharpshooter and skilled in martial arts but that isn't enough and Will is killed right before Joe's eyes. Now Joe must find his father’s killer and he sets out to put the pieces together. How does this kidnapping tie in with rival LA gangs, a charismatic minister, and death of two immigrant workers? On his quest Joe will uncover many of the secrets and political schemes that his father kept hidden, and he also will be forced to face the painful memories of his childhood.
T. Jefferson Parker made everything work: plot, setting, rhythm, vocabulary, characterization, theme, descriptions, dialogue, -- all of it was superb, and I look forward to more interesting reads by this author.
April 30, 2011
I had somehow missed hearing of T. Jefferson Parker until I saw that he had won the Edgar for Best Novel not once, but twice. The first, in 2002, was for Silent Joe. It's a standalone novel of Orange County, California, and one thing that came immediately to mind as I read it was "No wonder they went bankrupt!" The Orange County of Parker's book (and evidently this is his preferred setting) is rife with political corruption, greedy developers, racial tension, gang violence, and people with secrets.
In a way, this is a coming-of-age novel -- a genre I've grown to dislike immensely. But in Parker's hands, with the added attraction of a mystery to solve, it's more than just bearable. Silent Joe Trona, the narrator and protagonist, is a young man who grew up burdened with a horribly disfigured face, the result of his father throwing acid at him when he was a baby. After spending the first five years of his life in a very nice orphanage, Joe is adopted by Will and Mary Ann Trona and learns what a happy childhood can be. Will was originally a sheriff's deputy (with a wealthy wife) and later becomes a county supervisor. Joe has followed in his footsteps and works in the county jail by day, but nearly every night he acts as a combination chauffeur and bodyguard for his father. There is a lot of moral ambiguity involved here as Joe sees money changing hands, evidence that Will is cheating on Mary Ann, and other odd things -- and yet he still hero-worships his father. One night they are trying to retrieve a kidnapped child and things go horribly wrong; Joe spends the rest of the book trying to solve his father's murder and makes some surprising discoveries along the way.
Plot, setting, and character - this book has it all and was richly deserving of its award. It won't be long in my project to read all the Edgar Best Novel winners till I'll be reading Parker's second winner, California Girl and I am looking forward to it. But I must say that, based on this novel, Parker's Orange County is a place I will visit every now and then, but I wouldn't want to read several of his books in quick succession.
In a way, this is a coming-of-age novel -- a genre I've grown to dislike immensely. But in Parker's hands, with the added attraction of a mystery to solve, it's more than just bearable. Silent Joe Trona, the narrator and protagonist, is a young man who grew up burdened with a horribly disfigured face, the result of his father throwing acid at him when he was a baby. After spending the first five years of his life in a very nice orphanage, Joe is adopted by Will and Mary Ann Trona and learns what a happy childhood can be. Will was originally a sheriff's deputy (with a wealthy wife) and later becomes a county supervisor. Joe has followed in his footsteps and works in the county jail by day, but nearly every night he acts as a combination chauffeur and bodyguard for his father. There is a lot of moral ambiguity involved here as Joe sees money changing hands, evidence that Will is cheating on Mary Ann, and other odd things -- and yet he still hero-worships his father. One night they are trying to retrieve a kidnapped child and things go horribly wrong; Joe spends the rest of the book trying to solve his father's murder and makes some surprising discoveries along the way.
Plot, setting, and character - this book has it all and was richly deserving of its award. It won't be long in my project to read all the Edgar Best Novel winners till I'll be reading Parker's second winner, California Girl and I am looking forward to it. But I must say that, based on this novel, Parker's Orange County is a place I will visit every now and then, but I wouldn't want to read several of his books in quick succession.
October 6, 2011
Silent Joe is an intense novel. Joe really isn't all that silent, but he is one of the most interesting characters I've read in a long, long time.
As an infant, Joe's biological father threw acid on his face and his mother deserted him. Joe is scarred for life. He is adopted by an Orange County sheriff's deputy who eventually becomes a county supervisor. As an adult, Joe becomes his driver whenever his adopted father needs some protection. And, early in the book, Joe is present when his adopted father is murdered. He quickly uncovers a number of dirty deals, blackmail, and other schemes.
Here's where the novel gets GOOD-- not so much in the mystery, some of which is predictable-- but in the characterization. Joe uncovers the dirt his father was into, but continues to worship the memory of the man. Meanwhile, he struggles with daily humiliation over his appearance, wears a hat with the brim pulled down over his face as much as possible, and always speaks with impeccable manners. He doesn't say a lot, but what he does say has impact. While he investigates the murder, seeking justice, the reader is treated to in-depth insight into the emotions of this tormented, scarred man, who by all rights should have been bitter-- but instead becomes a man with a kind heart. He deals with meeting his biological dad who wants forgiveness, and here the author deals with forgiveness on a human level with genuine pathos.
The mystery is still pretty good, though. A few twist and turns and Joe is clever enough to put together a splash of clues, some bluff and bluster, until he builds a case against the responsible party for his father's death.. All of this while finding a kidnapped girl that is strongly connnected.
First class story telling-- careful plotting, and intense emotion make this a classy book that was well worth the time it took to read!
As an infant, Joe's biological father threw acid on his face and his mother deserted him. Joe is scarred for life. He is adopted by an Orange County sheriff's deputy who eventually becomes a county supervisor. As an adult, Joe becomes his driver whenever his adopted father needs some protection. And, early in the book, Joe is present when his adopted father is murdered. He quickly uncovers a number of dirty deals, blackmail, and other schemes.
Here's where the novel gets GOOD-- not so much in the mystery, some of which is predictable-- but in the characterization. Joe uncovers the dirt his father was into, but continues to worship the memory of the man. Meanwhile, he struggles with daily humiliation over his appearance, wears a hat with the brim pulled down over his face as much as possible, and always speaks with impeccable manners. He doesn't say a lot, but what he does say has impact. While he investigates the murder, seeking justice, the reader is treated to in-depth insight into the emotions of this tormented, scarred man, who by all rights should have been bitter-- but instead becomes a man with a kind heart. He deals with meeting his biological dad who wants forgiveness, and here the author deals with forgiveness on a human level with genuine pathos.
The mystery is still pretty good, though. A few twist and turns and Joe is clever enough to put together a splash of clues, some bluff and bluster, until he builds a case against the responsible party for his father's death.. All of this while finding a kidnapped girl that is strongly connnected.
First class story telling-- careful plotting, and intense emotion make this a classy book that was well worth the time it took to read!
January 25, 2011
Bittersweet thriller about a man's anguished search for his father's killer. Joe Trona is a dutiful son, but horrible facial scars have made him an outcast. He lived in an orphanage until he was adopted at five by Will Trona, a powerful politician in Southern California's Orange County. As a hulking teenager and later as a young man, Joe became Will's right-hand man running errands, extracting revenge on enemies all the while living a lonely life because of his scars. One night, Joe drops his guard for a moment, and Will is gunned down. Joe then seeks vengeance. He starts sifting through his father's life and gradually discovers that Will brokered secret deals, blackmailed enemies, had extramarital affairs and in his final days appeared to be involved in the kidnapping of an 11-year-old girl. Joe's investigation becomes a personal voyage, casting light on the dark corners of his own past and allowing him to start overcoming the crushing indignity that his injury has forced him to endure. The plot is loaded with familiar Parker themes such as a faithless government, the heavy hand of big business and the corruption of the wealthy. Louanne
http://chile.las-cruces.org/search/t?...
http://chile.las-cruces.org/search/t?...
February 15, 2019
I do not get all the awards for this book. The twist at then end I saw a mile away. The whole "acid baby" story didn't ring true, and the character didn't hold together: he's supposed to be super straight-laced and somewhat naive, but he's breaking the law, endangering the public and lying left and right every day. The angle of corruption in Orange County wasn't bad but that got bogged down in messy soap opera stuff. The narration of the audio book was nothing special.
August 7, 2008
I was disappointed - Parker is a highly regarded crime writer. Yes, he writes better than your average crime scribe but I hesitate to say brilliant. He populates his books with stock characters that plague American crime novels and resorts to out-sized retribution that seems requisite of the genre. This book is thoroughly mediocre.
November 14, 2011
I won’t bore you with a synopsis of the plot because it was boring, the main character was boring, his love interest was boring. There is also a lot that is just unbelievable. Having driven the toll road 241 in Orange County many times, I just cannot believe that you can drive it at 135 mph unimpeded. I finished the book because it had won an Edgar and I thought it would get better. It didn’t.
August 14, 2014
I have a signed copy of Laguna Heat, T. Jefferson Parker’s first mystery novel. It was a gift from a friend. My wife and I were living not far from Laguna at the time and it was a huge treat to receive the book. Everyone in Orange County was talking about it.
A few years later I met Parker when he was a speaker at an unusual college course on forensic science. In class, Parker talked about his book, his background as a newspaper reporter and some of the details of writing a good mystery story.
Here’s Parker’s first sentence in Laguna Heat: “A perfect morning in a city of perfect mornings; an artist would have worked, a god would have rested.” On his blog he says he was proud of that sentence. But it was the next two Silent Joesentences, especially the metaphor at the end, that I remember:
“The convertible slowed as it approached the stables, then pounced from the road onto a gravel driveway. Its headlights swung left-to-right, acute angles filling with dust, while gravel popped under the tires like grease in a skillet.”
Laguna Heat was a hit. It became a TV movie starring Harry Hamlin, Jason Robards and Rip Torn. Parker’s career was set. Since that time, he’s written 20 novels and picked up three Edgar awards. Silent Joe earned Parker his first Edgar in 2000 and it does not take a detective to see why the first-person novel about “acid baby” Joe won the award. If you’re looking for a place to acquire a taste for T. Jefferson, this is a good starting point.
Joe Trona is a 24-year-old Orange County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to jail duty. Many evenings, he serves as driver and often guard for his adopted father Will, a kind-hearted but dishonest county supervisor. The extent of his dishonesty, albeit with mostly good intentions, is exposed slowly to Joe throughout the novel. One evening as Joe is escorting his father Will on an errand that includes rescuing a young girl who apparently has been kidnapped, Will is trapped and murdered in an alley while Joe looks on, unable to dispatch all of his father’s attackers.
The balance of the book is Joe’s search for Will Trona’s killers. Along the way, Joe revisits his painful past. His birth father poured acid on Joe’s face when he was a baby, forever scaring him. Five years, later Will adopted Joe from an orphanage, an act of kindness that Joe has never forgotten. When he grew up, Joe went into law enforcement.
When possible, Joe wears a hat pulled low over his face. Parker’s description of Joe’s face makes him sound somewhat like the phantom of the opera.
Double-dealing Orange County politics forms the background for the story. A rich developer and his psycho son, a county department head on the take, the county’s premier televangelist, an odd assortment of inmates and other crooks plus members of Joe’s unusual family populate the novel. But Joe is the star.
He’s a tough cop. He’s muscular and works out regularly, knows how to handle himself and is a skilled marksman. As a result, this could be a Rambo type story with a hard-ass tough-guy protagonist bent on revenge, but Joe is a complex character and the complications in his life lift this story to surprising and rewarding heights.
I marveled at Parker’s creation and wondered if other readers–or reviewers–recognized the subtle, elusive nuances I sensed in Joe. Bill Sheehan, a Barnes and Noble reviewer, said Joe was an “evolving protagonist with love and loyalty issues.” Some reviewers referred to Joe’s intelligence. He is smart and has an eidetic memory. He recalls everything he sees and hears.
But there’s more to Joe. He’s polite–not smart-alecky–and doesn’t swear. He’s slow and introspective; his scars are not just on his face. One reviewer said Joe was “hesitant.” The voice Parker gave Joe, however, is unique in a way that makes other “unique” voices in fiction sound commonplace.
Silent Joe gets more gritty and compelling as it goes along. Joe learns more about his suspects, his parents and himself. He exchanges barbs with the sadistic jail inmates and also falls in love.
Parker keeps up the pace using staccato sentences and fragments to move the action swiftly in some scenes. He doesn’t neglect metaphors, either. Explaining rush hour traffic he says, “But cars on Orange County freeways at six o’clock move about as fast as cars on showroom floors.”
The novel’s supporting cast–particularly the jail prisoners–from the crazy biker who carried the head of a victim around in a pillowcase tied to his hog for a week to a former assistant DA who planned to go to Tahiti with his family when he got out, fills the story of Joe’s life with fascinating details.
Toward the end of the book, Joe talks to one of his father’s friends, or more appropriately, acquaintances. After the meeting, Joe summarizes his situation and reviews his father’s oft-repeated advice that was possibly Joe’s nascent philosophy:
“The idea struck me that I was inheriting my father’s friends, as well as his enemies. I just wasn’t positive which was which. I wondered if Will was. You only had to be wrong once.
“Love a lot. Trust few.”
A few years later I met Parker when he was a speaker at an unusual college course on forensic science. In class, Parker talked about his book, his background as a newspaper reporter and some of the details of writing a good mystery story.
Here’s Parker’s first sentence in Laguna Heat: “A perfect morning in a city of perfect mornings; an artist would have worked, a god would have rested.” On his blog he says he was proud of that sentence. But it was the next two Silent Joesentences, especially the metaphor at the end, that I remember:
“The convertible slowed as it approached the stables, then pounced from the road onto a gravel driveway. Its headlights swung left-to-right, acute angles filling with dust, while gravel popped under the tires like grease in a skillet.”
Laguna Heat was a hit. It became a TV movie starring Harry Hamlin, Jason Robards and Rip Torn. Parker’s career was set. Since that time, he’s written 20 novels and picked up three Edgar awards. Silent Joe earned Parker his first Edgar in 2000 and it does not take a detective to see why the first-person novel about “acid baby” Joe won the award. If you’re looking for a place to acquire a taste for T. Jefferson, this is a good starting point.
Joe Trona is a 24-year-old Orange County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to jail duty. Many evenings, he serves as driver and often guard for his adopted father Will, a kind-hearted but dishonest county supervisor. The extent of his dishonesty, albeit with mostly good intentions, is exposed slowly to Joe throughout the novel. One evening as Joe is escorting his father Will on an errand that includes rescuing a young girl who apparently has been kidnapped, Will is trapped and murdered in an alley while Joe looks on, unable to dispatch all of his father’s attackers.
The balance of the book is Joe’s search for Will Trona’s killers. Along the way, Joe revisits his painful past. His birth father poured acid on Joe’s face when he was a baby, forever scaring him. Five years, later Will adopted Joe from an orphanage, an act of kindness that Joe has never forgotten. When he grew up, Joe went into law enforcement.
When possible, Joe wears a hat pulled low over his face. Parker’s description of Joe’s face makes him sound somewhat like the phantom of the opera.
Double-dealing Orange County politics forms the background for the story. A rich developer and his psycho son, a county department head on the take, the county’s premier televangelist, an odd assortment of inmates and other crooks plus members of Joe’s unusual family populate the novel. But Joe is the star.
He’s a tough cop. He’s muscular and works out regularly, knows how to handle himself and is a skilled marksman. As a result, this could be a Rambo type story with a hard-ass tough-guy protagonist bent on revenge, but Joe is a complex character and the complications in his life lift this story to surprising and rewarding heights.
I marveled at Parker’s creation and wondered if other readers–or reviewers–recognized the subtle, elusive nuances I sensed in Joe. Bill Sheehan, a Barnes and Noble reviewer, said Joe was an “evolving protagonist with love and loyalty issues.” Some reviewers referred to Joe’s intelligence. He is smart and has an eidetic memory. He recalls everything he sees and hears.
But there’s more to Joe. He’s polite–not smart-alecky–and doesn’t swear. He’s slow and introspective; his scars are not just on his face. One reviewer said Joe was “hesitant.” The voice Parker gave Joe, however, is unique in a way that makes other “unique” voices in fiction sound commonplace.
Silent Joe gets more gritty and compelling as it goes along. Joe learns more about his suspects, his parents and himself. He exchanges barbs with the sadistic jail inmates and also falls in love.
Parker keeps up the pace using staccato sentences and fragments to move the action swiftly in some scenes. He doesn’t neglect metaphors, either. Explaining rush hour traffic he says, “But cars on Orange County freeways at six o’clock move about as fast as cars on showroom floors.”
The novel’s supporting cast–particularly the jail prisoners–from the crazy biker who carried the head of a victim around in a pillowcase tied to his hog for a week to a former assistant DA who planned to go to Tahiti with his family when he got out, fills the story of Joe’s life with fascinating details.
Toward the end of the book, Joe talks to one of his father’s friends, or more appropriately, acquaintances. After the meeting, Joe summarizes his situation and reviews his father’s oft-repeated advice that was possibly Joe’s nascent philosophy:
“The idea struck me that I was inheriting my father’s friends, as well as his enemies. I just wasn’t positive which was which. I wondered if Will was. You only had to be wrong once.
“Love a lot. Trust few.”
September 7, 2025
Silent Joe was my first book by this author. It’s a crime novel. I have read a lot of crime books and found this to be one of the better ones I have read for some time. His writing style has a fresh feel to it. The MC (Joe) narrates the story. He is an unusual and intriguing MC in that he is severely disfigured. He is brought up in a children’s home. He never had a family who loved him. He is constantly ridiculed growing up and has little self esteem. He is adopted by a wealthy family who show him love for the first time in his life. He gets to live a life he would never have known otherwise. He grows into a big and strong young man who is highly trained. He works for his father (politician) as a driver, body guard and right hand man. The writing is slick, plus we see some nice action scenes and a good conclusion. Recommended reading for lovers of the crime genre looking for something a little bit different.
February 24, 2012
This book won the Edgar Award for best book of the year? Astonishing!
Storylines: Just fine. B+
Writing: Very readable. B+
Characters: Lacking. C-
The main character, the protagonist if you will (and I hate that word) didn't seem too bright although he was a black belt many times over (if that can be) and well versed with weapons, shooting with both his left and right hands.
However, his social skills were way at the bottom of the well. He attempted to make up for his facial scars by overcompensating on politeness way beyond the pall. Someone looking him in the eye saying he was going to kill him and he responds, "Yes, sir," things such as that. And he's talking to his new (and first) girlfriend ever on the phone and he wants to reach two fingers in through the phone and reach in for her, pull her out and swallow her whole. I'm paraphasing here, but it's very close to the actual words used.
For some reason, and I can't put my finger on it, I just didn't like the character all that much. Seemed like an overgrown jerk which is why I'm still dumbfounded that this book won the Edgar Award. I base much of my reading of new authors on nominees and winners of that award. Maybe I'll have to take a second look at that if this won the award.
Storylines: Just fine. B+
Writing: Very readable. B+
Characters: Lacking. C-
The main character, the protagonist if you will (and I hate that word) didn't seem too bright although he was a black belt many times over (if that can be) and well versed with weapons, shooting with both his left and right hands.
However, his social skills were way at the bottom of the well. He attempted to make up for his facial scars by overcompensating on politeness way beyond the pall. Someone looking him in the eye saying he was going to kill him and he responds, "Yes, sir," things such as that. And he's talking to his new (and first) girlfriend ever on the phone and he wants to reach two fingers in through the phone and reach in for her, pull her out and swallow her whole. I'm paraphasing here, but it's very close to the actual words used.
For some reason, and I can't put my finger on it, I just didn't like the character all that much. Seemed like an overgrown jerk which is why I'm still dumbfounded that this book won the Edgar Award. I base much of my reading of new authors on nominees and winners of that award. Maybe I'll have to take a second look at that if this won the award.
June 14, 2016
Young Joe was scarred by his father, abandoned by his mother and left in an orphanage, until Will Trona and his family adopted him. Years later, Joe, following in his adopted father's footsteps is working for the Orange County Sheriff's Dept. in California. A trained marksmen and martial-artist, Joe assists his father, now an influential politician, in his nighttime activities, some of which border on the illegal. When Joe is unable to stop the brutal murder of his father, he vows to find those responsible. In the meanwhile, he becomes embroiled in a kidnapping which he discovers his father may have known about. Are the cases connected and are some folks willing to kill Joe to keep some secrets buried?
This was the first book by Parker that I've read and I was pretty impressed. Maybe some of that had to do with the locations in the story, many of which I frequent as I live in the Orange Country area where the novel takes place. Joe and the other characters, both good and bad, are well developed and many aren't what the reader or Joe might expect at first glance. Nicely done suspense tale with a satisfying resolution.
This was the first book by Parker that I've read and I was pretty impressed. Maybe some of that had to do with the locations in the story, many of which I frequent as I live in the Orange Country area where the novel takes place. Joe and the other characters, both good and bad, are well developed and many aren't what the reader or Joe might expect at first glance. Nicely done suspense tale with a satisfying resolution.
September 18, 2010
I know of no author who writes such unique characters as does T. Jefferson Parker. Joe Trona (the protagonist in Silent Joe) is yet another in Parker's stable of main characters that I loved getting to know. He is the 23-year-old adopted son of a politician who spends his entire life thankful to the father who saved him from a family-less life--picked Joe from among all other children in the Home despite the acid burns that covered half of Joe's face. From that day forward, Trona hones his body to a level of strength that will defend him from future attacks and trains his mind to seek out danger to his father. But, early in the story, he fails and his father dies. Joe makes it his job to find the killers and bring them to justice.
Throughout the story, Parker's characterization of Joe is creative, fascinating, unique. I am entertained by his take on events and enthralled by his ability to puzzle out solutions. Joe is the only fully-fleshed character in the book, but where usually that results in a flat story, in this case, Joe's quirks are more than enough. Highly recommended to anyone doing character studies or writers working on developing their skills at portraying the actors in their own novels.
Throughout the story, Parker's characterization of Joe is creative, fascinating, unique. I am entertained by his take on events and enthralled by his ability to puzzle out solutions. Joe is the only fully-fleshed character in the book, but where usually that results in a flat story, in this case, Joe's quirks are more than enough. Highly recommended to anyone doing character studies or writers working on developing their skills at portraying the actors in their own novels.
March 24, 2009
The author seems to strive too hard to make this character's differentness a major point of the book and in the process caused this reader to lose interest in his quest to find both himself (and get the girl) and the killer of his father. The story seems too contrived for my taste -- lowly deputy somehow has the skill to track down a whole network of deception while the professionals stand by and let him take the lead. A nice effort by the author but not one of his best.
April 12, 2016
A disappointment in many aspects, with the exception of the writing, which is OK. "Silent Joe" lacks in suspense. Many times I could tell what was going to happen next and what the "twist" was going to be. The Joe character is pretty dull and a cliche, and the romantic subplot is just ridiculous and redundant. Some action could have made the book a little better. The general plot suits Noir better than this mundane "suspense".
May 5, 2013
This was an Edgar award winner with somewhat of a twist. The main character isn’t alcoholic and depressed. Instead, he had been an orphan with serious facial scars from childhood acid burns…later adopted and raised by Will Trona, a sometimes shady but powerful politician. I like mysteries and suspenseful books. This novel won so many awards that I expected more. I downloaded an audio.
December 23, 2013
Another of my favorite books of Parker's. Really wonderful...layered....poignant.
February 23, 2015
One of my all time favorite characters. I love Silent Joe and his story. Have read through this a couple of times.
May 28, 2024
Great read, full of plots, action and passion. A real page turner. Definitely a recommended read.
June 14, 2011
WARMHEARTED HERO IMMERSED IN A FEEBLE PLOT
This is not a cops suspenseful tale, this book is all about Joe Trona's life, the twenty something weapons master, martial arts expert police deputy with a partly disfigured face, product of the work of a vengeful dissapointed empty-headed father that thrown him acid when he was in his crib after he learned that he was not his seed.
Years later, Will Trona, stepfather of Joe Trona a politician with clout and shady deals, is murdered before Joe Trona's eyes after that big blow, Joe Trona commits himself to discover the perpetrator and make justice.
After Will Trona murder, the author instead of developing the intrigue with alluring elements to grab the reader as it is expected in a story like this one, decides instead to delve deeper into Joe Trona's character, how he projects his feelings over the psychological wounds left by the acid thrown to his face by his father when he was a baby and some lovemaking details about a not credible affair with a starlette who anchors a TV program that interviews people like him, those who have undergone one of a kind awful tragedy in their lifes
As I said, the weak point is that the mystery of the plot is left aside in the background and not developed as it should, all we can get as readers halfway, is a strong character in the foreground immersed in a very confusing plot full of secondary one dimensional characters and shallow circumstances that pop up chapter after chapter turning everything more and more blurred, (Where this name comes from ? Have I noticed him/her before ?)
Do not expect deceitful twists and turns either as you may find in novels of this sort, just something crafted to give meaning to an ending.
This is not a cops suspenseful tale, this book is all about Joe Trona's life, the twenty something weapons master, martial arts expert police deputy with a partly disfigured face, product of the work of a vengeful dissapointed empty-headed father that thrown him acid when he was in his crib after he learned that he was not his seed.
Years later, Will Trona, stepfather of Joe Trona a politician with clout and shady deals, is murdered before Joe Trona's eyes after that big blow, Joe Trona commits himself to discover the perpetrator and make justice.
After Will Trona murder, the author instead of developing the intrigue with alluring elements to grab the reader as it is expected in a story like this one, decides instead to delve deeper into Joe Trona's character, how he projects his feelings over the psychological wounds left by the acid thrown to his face by his father when he was a baby and some lovemaking details about a not credible affair with a starlette who anchors a TV program that interviews people like him, those who have undergone one of a kind awful tragedy in their lifes
As I said, the weak point is that the mystery of the plot is left aside in the background and not developed as it should, all we can get as readers halfway, is a strong character in the foreground immersed in a very confusing plot full of secondary one dimensional characters and shallow circumstances that pop up chapter after chapter turning everything more and more blurred, (Where this name comes from ? Have I noticed him/her before ?)
Do not expect deceitful twists and turns either as you may find in novels of this sort, just something crafted to give meaning to an ending.
September 15, 2019
24-year-old Joe Trona carries multiple scars, the most glaring of which is half of his face. When he was just a baby his father threw acid in Joe's face leaving deep, red furrows of skin that would eventually heal but not fade. His father was put in prison and his mother abandoned him to an orphanage where he was eventually adopted by charming Orange County politician Will Trona and his beautiful wife Maryanne. Joe works at the jail as a guard, putting in his 5 years until he is able to be promoted to the regular police force. But Joe's main job is to protect Will from the many enemies he has made throughout the years in his political career. One foggy night Joe is unable to keep Will safe from a group of men who have been sent to kill him. Feeling guilty about his failure Joe sets out to avenge Will's life. Complicating matters is the case of a kidnapped 11-year-old girl who was taken by her mentally unstable brother to extort money from his wealthy but hated father. Will was acting as a go-between when he was murdered and now the young girl is missing.
I enjoyed this novel and the intricately woven plot. It was clear from the outset of the murder scene that Joe knew exactly who killed his adoptive father but he just needed to find the person behind the scenes. Joe is likable, unfailingly polite, and vulnerable, but he carries a dark side that he can barely contain at times. It was a good thriller.
I enjoyed this novel and the intricately woven plot. It was clear from the outset of the murder scene that Joe knew exactly who killed his adoptive father but he just needed to find the person behind the scenes. Joe is likable, unfailingly polite, and vulnerable, but he carries a dark side that he can barely contain at times. It was a good thriller.
March 1, 2013
Yunno. This was a compelling read. Joe's a special guy and you can't help but root for him.
Orange County California is a weird, wacky and wonderful place. Sometimes, I actually miss it -- especially Sunset Beach.
Unfortunately, this text was not copy-edited (or it was a poor job). I can't imagine why Parker would put it out like this. There're typos all over the place. Missing quote marks. Goofy words. Try to over-look this stuff -- even laugh at the flops. Concentrate on Joe. He's a piece of work and a stand-up guy, for sure.
I like Parker's writing, and his imagery of SOCAL is always enchanting. The characters are totally believable. Some character name choices are beyond coincidental. At least, from having lived there, I'd say that . . . Dana!
Check out the Kindle edition. The price is right!
Orange County California is a weird, wacky and wonderful place. Sometimes, I actually miss it -- especially Sunset Beach.
Unfortunately, this text was not copy-edited (or it was a poor job). I can't imagine why Parker would put it out like this. There're typos all over the place. Missing quote marks. Goofy words. Try to over-look this stuff -- even laugh at the flops. Concentrate on Joe. He's a piece of work and a stand-up guy, for sure.
I like Parker's writing, and his imagery of SOCAL is always enchanting. The characters are totally believable. Some character name choices are beyond coincidental. At least, from having lived there, I'd say that . . . Dana!
Check out the Kindle edition. The price is right!
September 10, 2012
I DON'T HIDE MY REVIEWS FOR SPOILERS, BUT I DON'T PUT THEM OUT ANY FEED.
Terrific.
Though I love all that I've ready by T. Jefferson Parker, I feel the writing in "Silent Joe" is of literary quality, somehow beyond the level of his other popular titles (at least the ones I've read.)
The silent Joe, protagonist Joe Trona Jr., is well developed from the inside out. We know his quirks, his fears, his on-target assessments of other people,even those he leaves.
I saw coming, from a long distance off, the revelation that his adoptive dad would turn out to be his biological dad, too.
And yet, I intensely enjoyed the whole book.
Joe Jr. sometimes views himself as a beast -- at least as someone ugly, but he's actually a prince.
Terrific.
Though I love all that I've ready by T. Jefferson Parker, I feel the writing in "Silent Joe" is of literary quality, somehow beyond the level of his other popular titles (at least the ones I've read.)
The silent Joe, protagonist Joe Trona Jr., is well developed from the inside out. We know his quirks, his fears, his on-target assessments of other people,even those he leaves.
I saw coming, from a long distance off, the revelation that his adoptive dad would turn out to be his biological dad, too.
And yet, I intensely enjoyed the whole book.
Joe Jr. sometimes views himself as a beast -- at least as someone ugly, but he's actually a prince.
February 13, 2011
I had never read anything by Parker before, so I didn't know quite what to expect other than this novel in particular garnered a lot of awards. If you like Stephen White or Robert B Parker, chances are you'll like this. His style is is fast-paced but insightful. Lots of dialogue helped keep the plot moving quickly. I guessed the ending way ahead of time, but it didn't take away from the last pages. I plan on adding him to my list of keeper authors.
September 2, 2008
This is next, chronologically, in Mr. Parker's mystery novels, and not one of his best. The narrator, Joe, a deputy sheriff, is the son of an Orange County supervisor, who is murdered before his son's eyes. Joe goes about trying to find and apprehend the killer(s) and on the way finds out things about his forbears and himself. There are too many "coincidences" to be realistic.
May 17, 2018
I don't want to say this story of a disfigured cop trying to solve the murder of his stepfather city councilman was disappointing -- it's perfectly fine, to use a phrase that my wife hates -- but considering that it won an Edgar for best mystery in 2002, I expected a little more. Parker's other Edgar winner, "California Girl," was better.
June 26, 2012
This was an odd book with a very unusual major character. It was an interesting mystery and even more interesting to see how the character develops. But it wouldn't rank in the top 100 books on anyone's list.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews