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Sunny Randall #10
Robert B. Parker's Revenge Tour
Robert B. Parker's PI Sunny Randall's newest case hits close to home in ways she never expected in her latest thrilling investigation.PI Sunny Randall owes a favor. Her landlord and former client, famous novelist Melanie Joan Hall, is being threatened and blackmailed, and it is up to Sunny and her best friend Spike to ensure her protection. But as Sunny looks into the identity of Melanie Joan’s stalker, she learns that much of the author’s past is a product of her amazing imagination, and her loyalty to her old friend is challenged as she searches for the truth. At the same time, Sunny springs into action when her aging ex-cop father, Phil, is threatened by a shady lawyer with a desire to settle an old score. Fighting crimes on two fronts, Sunny must use all of her savvy, and the help of her friends, in order to protect those she loves. And one thing is for sure with both of these this time, it’s personal.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2022
424 people are currently reading
450 people want to read
About the author
Mike Lupica
114 books1,220 followersMichael Lupica is an author and American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
March 18, 2022
Robert B. Parker created some fantastic characters and some of them lives on through various authors. Sunny Randall in Revange Tour exists thanks to Mike Lupica. We are back in Boston and this time we get to meet almost everyone, the only ones that doesn't apear is Jesse Stone and Rita Fiore but they are mentioned. First of all there's Sunny herself and Spike and Rosie, her ex of course. But we also get Susan Silverman, Hawk and Spenser. What a great cast of individuals. It starts with a case of Plagiarism and then a couple of death threats and Sunny all of a sudden has at least two cases to work, or is it? I love these books. I really must thank @penguinrandomhouse and @PutnamBooks #GPPutnamsSons and @this_is_edelweiss @edelweiss_squad for granting me the opportunity to read this advance copy of #RevengeTour by #MikeLupica
May 9, 2022
Always a joy for me to read about the characters that Robert B. Parker created: Spenser, Jesse Stone, western duo Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch, and Sunny Randall. Although Parker died in 2010, his estate has hired several writers to continue with all the above mentioned series. If you don't like these characters, I don't think you will like the books.
This story features private investigator Sunny Randall. Sunny's landlord is bestselling author Melanie Joan Hall who is being accused of literary theft. Melanie turns to Sunny for help. Also, Sunny's father is a retired cop who is being threatened by a lawyer whose son was shanked in prison. Guess who put the son there.
One of the things I like most about Sunny is her sarcastic wit. She's a pretty good PI too. I adore her wingman Spike. If you follow any of the Parker series, you will know what I'm talking about next, otherwise you won't -- There's a cameo by both Vinnie Morris and Spenser. Jesse Stone is mentioned a number of times but he never materializes. Lo and behold - Hawk has a role helping Sunny. Yahoo!
This story features private investigator Sunny Randall. Sunny's landlord is bestselling author Melanie Joan Hall who is being accused of literary theft. Melanie turns to Sunny for help. Also, Sunny's father is a retired cop who is being threatened by a lawyer whose son was shanked in prison. Guess who put the son there.
One of the things I like most about Sunny is her sarcastic wit. She's a pretty good PI too. I adore her wingman Spike. If you follow any of the Parker series, you will know what I'm talking about next, otherwise you won't -- There's a cameo by both Vinnie Morris and Spenser. Jesse Stone is mentioned a number of times but he never materializes. Lo and behold - Hawk has a role helping Sunny. Yahoo!
May 17, 2022
I laughed at the last Sunny Randall book, but finished reading it. Mike Lupica simply cannot write a female,character very well. Sunny Randall would not describe a cosmo as “yummy”. She would not refer to another woman as a smart cookie. Sunny would not immediately assess a beautiful woman as someone she might need to hate. And don’t insult country music by comparing a sigh to a mournful country song. All of this within the first 20 pages tells me that I should not read further. Skip it! Please leave Robert Parker’s characters Rest In Peace now.
May 5, 2022
Sunny Randall is a great character, with her buddy, Spike. Adding Parker’s Hawk to the story enhanced it. But the Parker/Lupica humor was lacking in the dialogue. The mystery was ok. But it is a Parker character which makes it a have to read!
June 4, 2022
I have been reading Robert B. Parker’s “Spenser” mystery series since the 1980’s when my English professor introduced the first book in the series “The Godwulf Manuscript” to me and invited me to write a paper comparing and contrasting Spenser with some classic character that I can no longer remember.
I never forgot Spenser, who became the PI role model that I compared all fiction detectives and investigators to. I grew to love him over the years and looked forward every spring to a new outing with my private investigator hero. Then Parker introduced the “Jesse Stone” followed by “Sunny Randall”, which was the result of a request from the actress, Helen Hunt, a fan of “Spenser” and friend of Parker’s who was trying to create a serious role which could be built into a franchise, and she wanted him to write it. Parker agreed but struggled with writing a script, and instead produced “Family Honor”, the first Sunny Randall novel. Parker hoped that if he wrote the books, Hollywood could use them as a resource to create scripts. However, that never came to fruition, and with Parker’s passing. Sunny Randall was left on the sidelines while other writers continued the stories of “Spenser” and “Jesse Stone”.
Finally, it was announced in 2019 that the PI adventures of Sunny Randall would continue. The Parker estate put her in the hands of Mike Lupica, a well established and proven sports writer, columnist, and commentator, as well as a longtime personal friend of Parker. Lupica debuted his first outing with resurrecting Sunny in “Blood Feud”, followed-up with “Grudge Match” (2020), and “Payback” (2021). Now, in 2021, Lupica has published his last Sunny Randall novel “Revenge Tour” (at least for now) since he is taking over the “Spenser” series following Ace Atkins exit and handing Sunny Randall over to female author, Allison Gaylin, to continue.
Sunny, independent private investigator, is a former cop in her late thirties with definite authority issues, and at the someone a little less certain of herself. She has a very complicated relationship with her ex-husband Richie Burke, who is Mafia connected. She’s never stopped loving him nor really ever let him go emotionally. She also had a relationship with Jesse Stone, Police Chief of the small town of Paradise, located outside of Boston. Now she’s more interested in moving on and finding someone new.
In “Revenge Tour” Sunny has two cases thrust upon her, both personal.
The first involves her landlord and previous client, Melanie Joan Hall, from one of her previous outings “Shrink Wrap”. Melanie is a very successful and well-known romance writer who confesses to Sunny that she is being blackmailed by some unknown person who claims she plagiarized her work. Melanie insists that is not true and needs Sunny’s help to catch the person threatening her. Sunny pulls in her best friend and restaurant owner, Spike, to help provide protection while she investigates to find out who the threats are coming from.
As if that wasn’t enough, Sunny gets pulled into helping her father, Phil, a retired cop who has long list of enemies built up over the years. One of those is Boston’s more feared criminal defense attorney, Joe Doyle, whose son Phil busted for drug related criminal conspiracy years earlier. While serving twenty-five-to-life in at MCI-Concord, Joe Doyle Jr. was recently shanked in the prison yard and died. Father Doyle is now quoting the twenty-fourth chapter of Leviticus to Phil and letting him know that Phil needs to pay for his son’s death by giving up his own life. Now Sunny needs to protect her father and mother from the spiteful lawyer Doyle who seeks the ultimate revenge. The worst part is he doesn’t care who knows about it.
Sunny tries her best to bring in help from those she can rely on and then divide and conquer what needs to get done. In searching for Melanie Joan’s stalker, Sunny finds herself receiving portions of an old manuscript that mirrors the author’s most well-known heroine. Her investigation takes in Melanie Joan’s past history, in which she discovers doesn’t match the current press biography, and challenges her belief in what the truth really is. At the same time, Sunny is forced to use her friends to protect her father and keep him from being killed while she tries to figure a way out for him, one that may even require her to ask for the biggest favor from the one person her father tried the hardest to arrest during his entire career. But will it be enough?
There were things that I really enjoyed about this book. Lupica’s found his groove with reimagining Sunny Randall, her supporting cast, and the beloved historical city of Boston. He sprinkles an extensive cast of all-star characters in, some for brief scenes, and some for more time on the stage. They included appearances from Lee Farrell, Frank Belson, our favorite mobster shooter – Vinnie Morris, Dr. Susan Silverman (Spenser’s better half), and yes, even the great ones – Spenser and Hawk. And, of course, from a family perspective, there was also Richie and his mobster father, Desmond Burke. Each of them brings their own conflict that contrasts with Sunny’s stubborn and sarcastic personality, providing some shining moments for the reader.
Lupica continues Robert B. Parker’s style of short rhythmic chapters, plot movement, and strong conversations that his mentor previously established for his literary world. It has edge, intrigue, and interesting conflict. The two plots work well together, running parallel, then intersecting, while creating tension and conflict on several layers. Lupica uses longtime established Parker characters like police detectives Lee Farrell and Frank Belson, as well as mobster history from Spenser to bring Boston noir to life in creative and nostalgic ways that are also new and fresh. Surprisingly, what started off as two not so uncommon plotlines, became interesting and more complex than I expected. Lupica definitely spent some time planning and laying a more involved mystery than normal, and for the most part it paid off for the reader.
That didn’t mean that there were some aspects that could have been better. I had a few personal things that bugged me a it. As much as I liked the all-star cast, but sometimes it felt like their placement in the storylines were more focused on giving Sunny opportunities to interact with them rather than focusing on the propelling the story forward. And there was one thing that really bugged me (and I need to be careful to not give away any spoilers). So, to dance around it a bit so that only those who have read the book will get the reference, let’s just say that as much as I love Hawk’s character (and I do) I am not so excited about how his and Sunny’s confrontation with the killer at the end turned out. It felt more like a whimper than a bang. But, maybe that’s just me. You can decide for yourself on that one. For me, it left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.
Overall, the good things outweighed my constructive feedback. Even though Lupica only published four Sunny Randall novels before turning over the creative rights to Allison Gaylin so that he can take over the Spenser series from Ace Atkins, he deserves kudos and respect for his work. Lupica took Parker’s third favorite character behind Spenser and Jesse Stone, breathed new life and creative energy into her, and successfully integrated her into Parker’s world of key Bostonian characters.
This is my personal thank you, Mr. Lupica for helping me revisit another classic Robert B. Parker character once a year. You made her real, Mike. You did a superb job. Best of wishes in taking over Spenser. That’s a tough role to take on, but based on your work with Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone, I find myself being overly optimistic… Good luck and best wishes.
I never forgot Spenser, who became the PI role model that I compared all fiction detectives and investigators to. I grew to love him over the years and looked forward every spring to a new outing with my private investigator hero. Then Parker introduced the “Jesse Stone” followed by “Sunny Randall”, which was the result of a request from the actress, Helen Hunt, a fan of “Spenser” and friend of Parker’s who was trying to create a serious role which could be built into a franchise, and she wanted him to write it. Parker agreed but struggled with writing a script, and instead produced “Family Honor”, the first Sunny Randall novel. Parker hoped that if he wrote the books, Hollywood could use them as a resource to create scripts. However, that never came to fruition, and with Parker’s passing. Sunny Randall was left on the sidelines while other writers continued the stories of “Spenser” and “Jesse Stone”.
Finally, it was announced in 2019 that the PI adventures of Sunny Randall would continue. The Parker estate put her in the hands of Mike Lupica, a well established and proven sports writer, columnist, and commentator, as well as a longtime personal friend of Parker. Lupica debuted his first outing with resurrecting Sunny in “Blood Feud”, followed-up with “Grudge Match” (2020), and “Payback” (2021). Now, in 2021, Lupica has published his last Sunny Randall novel “Revenge Tour” (at least for now) since he is taking over the “Spenser” series following Ace Atkins exit and handing Sunny Randall over to female author, Allison Gaylin, to continue.
Sunny, independent private investigator, is a former cop in her late thirties with definite authority issues, and at the someone a little less certain of herself. She has a very complicated relationship with her ex-husband Richie Burke, who is Mafia connected. She’s never stopped loving him nor really ever let him go emotionally. She also had a relationship with Jesse Stone, Police Chief of the small town of Paradise, located outside of Boston. Now she’s more interested in moving on and finding someone new.
In “Revenge Tour” Sunny has two cases thrust upon her, both personal.
The first involves her landlord and previous client, Melanie Joan Hall, from one of her previous outings “Shrink Wrap”. Melanie is a very successful and well-known romance writer who confesses to Sunny that she is being blackmailed by some unknown person who claims she plagiarized her work. Melanie insists that is not true and needs Sunny’s help to catch the person threatening her. Sunny pulls in her best friend and restaurant owner, Spike, to help provide protection while she investigates to find out who the threats are coming from.
As if that wasn’t enough, Sunny gets pulled into helping her father, Phil, a retired cop who has long list of enemies built up over the years. One of those is Boston’s more feared criminal defense attorney, Joe Doyle, whose son Phil busted for drug related criminal conspiracy years earlier. While serving twenty-five-to-life in at MCI-Concord, Joe Doyle Jr. was recently shanked in the prison yard and died. Father Doyle is now quoting the twenty-fourth chapter of Leviticus to Phil and letting him know that Phil needs to pay for his son’s death by giving up his own life. Now Sunny needs to protect her father and mother from the spiteful lawyer Doyle who seeks the ultimate revenge. The worst part is he doesn’t care who knows about it.
Sunny tries her best to bring in help from those she can rely on and then divide and conquer what needs to get done. In searching for Melanie Joan’s stalker, Sunny finds herself receiving portions of an old manuscript that mirrors the author’s most well-known heroine. Her investigation takes in Melanie Joan’s past history, in which she discovers doesn’t match the current press biography, and challenges her belief in what the truth really is. At the same time, Sunny is forced to use her friends to protect her father and keep him from being killed while she tries to figure a way out for him, one that may even require her to ask for the biggest favor from the one person her father tried the hardest to arrest during his entire career. But will it be enough?
There were things that I really enjoyed about this book. Lupica’s found his groove with reimagining Sunny Randall, her supporting cast, and the beloved historical city of Boston. He sprinkles an extensive cast of all-star characters in, some for brief scenes, and some for more time on the stage. They included appearances from Lee Farrell, Frank Belson, our favorite mobster shooter – Vinnie Morris, Dr. Susan Silverman (Spenser’s better half), and yes, even the great ones – Spenser and Hawk. And, of course, from a family perspective, there was also Richie and his mobster father, Desmond Burke. Each of them brings their own conflict that contrasts with Sunny’s stubborn and sarcastic personality, providing some shining moments for the reader.
Lupica continues Robert B. Parker’s style of short rhythmic chapters, plot movement, and strong conversations that his mentor previously established for his literary world. It has edge, intrigue, and interesting conflict. The two plots work well together, running parallel, then intersecting, while creating tension and conflict on several layers. Lupica uses longtime established Parker characters like police detectives Lee Farrell and Frank Belson, as well as mobster history from Spenser to bring Boston noir to life in creative and nostalgic ways that are also new and fresh. Surprisingly, what started off as two not so uncommon plotlines, became interesting and more complex than I expected. Lupica definitely spent some time planning and laying a more involved mystery than normal, and for the most part it paid off for the reader.
That didn’t mean that there were some aspects that could have been better. I had a few personal things that bugged me a it. As much as I liked the all-star cast, but sometimes it felt like their placement in the storylines were more focused on giving Sunny opportunities to interact with them rather than focusing on the propelling the story forward. And there was one thing that really bugged me (and I need to be careful to not give away any spoilers). So, to dance around it a bit so that only those who have read the book will get the reference, let’s just say that as much as I love Hawk’s character (and I do) I am not so excited about how his and Sunny’s confrontation with the killer at the end turned out. It felt more like a whimper than a bang. But, maybe that’s just me. You can decide for yourself on that one. For me, it left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.
Overall, the good things outweighed my constructive feedback. Even though Lupica only published four Sunny Randall novels before turning over the creative rights to Allison Gaylin so that he can take over the Spenser series from Ace Atkins, he deserves kudos and respect for his work. Lupica took Parker’s third favorite character behind Spenser and Jesse Stone, breathed new life and creative energy into her, and successfully integrated her into Parker’s world of key Bostonian characters.
This is my personal thank you, Mr. Lupica for helping me revisit another classic Robert B. Parker character once a year. You made her real, Mike. You did a superb job. Best of wishes in taking over Spenser. That’s a tough role to take on, but based on your work with Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone, I find myself being overly optimistic… Good luck and best wishes.
May 17, 2022
This book is a hot mess
There is a plot to this book and in fact it was an interesting story. The problem was that it was buried in so much irrelevant dialogue and full of so many unnecessary characters, that i found myself skipping pages to get back to the story. There was no need to drag Spencer and Hawk or Jesse Stone into the story. It was name dropping for no good reason. I suspect the author had a great short story that he needed to make into book length. His editor should have talked him out of it.
There is a plot to this book and in fact it was an interesting story. The problem was that it was buried in so much irrelevant dialogue and full of so many unnecessary characters, that i found myself skipping pages to get back to the story. There was no need to drag Spencer and Hawk or Jesse Stone into the story. It was name dropping for no good reason. I suspect the author had a great short story that he needed to make into book length. His editor should have talked him out of it.
July 25, 2022
I stopped reading this story less than half way through. Plot was not interesting.
March 23, 2022
ARC - I loved this newest in the Sunny Randall and how the charchters from the other series overlap.
May 13, 2023
This was so damn good! Mike Lupica has done an excellent job in snagging the essence of RBP. The snarky humor had me laughing out loud. Just a wonderful continuation of this series. Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for review
September 17, 2022
Very weak 2 stars. Wow what a come down from previous novels. The more Lupica writes the further away he seems to go from the original writings of Parker. Another example of a great writer dying and someone else tying to continue the series but just not up to the job; or, decided to make writing changes that drastically go too far from the norm. Regarding this particular novel; I almost marked this DNF but around Chapter 23 it picked up a bit after the arrest of Randall and the plot became more interesting but I found myself doing a lot, and I mean a lot, of skimming due to on-going and unnecessary dialogue. I also thought the story brought in far too many characters that were here one page and gone the next - - too much filler. Sunny seemed rather boring compared to past novels. Not likely to read further books in this series.
October 29, 2022
Sunny received a call from Melanie Joan asking for her help. Someone has claimed that Melanie plagiarized her very first novel, the one that skyrocketed up the charts and made her a best-selling author.
Sunny goes to visit Melanie’s ex-husband, John Melvin in prison. He toys with her and she cannot tell if he is behind the accusation against Melanie.
Phil Randall is threatened by the father of a man he arrested who was eventually convicted and shanked in prison. Sonny goes to meet with Joe Doyle and is threatened herself.
Then Melanie’s agent and current boyfriend is killed, followed by other people who were close to her.
Susan Silverman arranges for Sunny to meet Spenser and Hawk. And get some help from them considering the multiple threats.
Sunny goes to Melanie’s college to interview anyone who was still around from that time. She goes to visit Melanie’s first husband and former professor, but he is lost in his dementia.
Then someone takes a run at Joe Doyle and Phil Randall saves his life, but is shot himself.
Finally, someone shanks Melvin in prison and he dies.
Sunny learns of a woman who had dated Melanie’s professor before she had entered college.
Sunny is kidnapped along with Melanie. Then Hawk arrives.
Towards the end the book gets a bit grim.
Sunny goes to visit Melanie’s ex-husband, John Melvin in prison. He toys with her and she cannot tell if he is behind the accusation against Melanie.
Phil Randall is threatened by the father of a man he arrested who was eventually convicted and shanked in prison. Sonny goes to meet with Joe Doyle and is threatened herself.
Then Melanie’s agent and current boyfriend is killed, followed by other people who were close to her.
Susan Silverman arranges for Sunny to meet Spenser and Hawk. And get some help from them considering the multiple threats.
Sunny goes to Melanie’s college to interview anyone who was still around from that time. She goes to visit Melanie’s first husband and former professor, but he is lost in his dementia.
Then someone takes a run at Joe Doyle and Phil Randall saves his life, but is shot himself.
Finally, someone shanks Melvin in prison and he dies.
Sunny learns of a woman who had dated Melanie’s professor before she had entered college.
Sunny is kidnapped along with Melanie. Then Hawk arrives.
Towards the end the book gets a bit grim.
May 16, 2022
Consistent CH and Boston environment details combine with a twisty, intriguing Plot in the latest visit with Sunny Randall. As I wrote regarding last year's Pay Back, the PI procedural aspects are great and the dialogue-heavy and CH-driven Plot adds to the Pace. Once again it is Sunny's relationships from best friend Spike to ex-husband Richie and her father that make me return to this series and Lupica gives them enough depth for them to be distinct. Dr. Susan Silverman, Frank Belson, and Lee Farrell also add layers to the cast of CHs, as does the panoply of revolving bad guys. Melanie Joan, a client from previous books re-appears with a new threat that Sunny investigates as she also tangles with one of her father's old enemies. Not as crazy about the ending because I think it was more convoluted than it had to be and too easy for me to guess some of it. But as I have written before, I find the formula of this series rigid enough to soothe me while also allowing for a surprising twist here and there. There is a great mixing of other Parker CHs (without giving anything away because fans will want to experience for themselves. I hooted and yelled out loud in great amusement.) and Lupica draws them admirably. Yeah, I'll visit again when Sunny returns for her next adventure.
September 4, 2022
Sunny Randall returns in Mike Lupica’s Revenge Tour. This novel was a fun day’s distraction-nothing super heavy, more like a fun day out with friends, drinking and solving crimes. The current trend seems to be towards cross pollination, so all of Robert B Parker’s modern stable of characters are apparently going to continue to cameo in each other’s books. Should we call this the Parkerverse? Please no. This novel features multiple mysteries, not all of which get wrapped up. I think we can live with that for the sake of some light entertainment. Plus I feel certain Mike Lupica will address those soon. Four stars.
May 18, 2022
Mike Lupica continues his wonderful adaptations of Robert B. Parker's series...Loved all the original Parker stuff and I really like Lupica's efforts of catching the substance and style of the originals...Pretty much the whole cast of characters show up as in this Lupica sequel to Parker's original "Shrink Wrap."...Bodice ripper author Melanie Joan Hall is back and needs Sunny's protection of bother her physically and her reputation as her circle is under attack by an unknown force...Good Stuff!!!
May 27, 2022
Always enjoy reading the Sunny Randall series and they are pretty fast reads as well.
Liked the crossover with Spencer & Hawk on the case of the plaigarized novel and murders. The only drawback to this book is that Sunny seems to have no emotions at all in this novel. All the drama lies with Melanie Joan.
Liked the crossover with Spencer & Hawk on the case of the plaigarized novel and murders. The only drawback to this book is that Sunny seems to have no emotions at all in this novel. All the drama lies with Melanie Joan.
July 9, 2022
Mike Lupica has taken over for the late Robert B. Parker as the author of the Sunny Randall series and he doesn't miss a beat. In this latest installment the story is tight, the characters spot on, the dialog snappy and there is even a few surprise cameo appearances from another famous series by Parker. If you enjoy Robert B. Parker, you'll like this book. Lupica gets it just right.
September 13, 2022
Yet another example of an opportunistic writer using another (deceased) author's style and characters to write a book of his own. The story is average, readable but all the way through it seems phony somehow.
May 21, 2022
I'm very pleased that the Sunny Randall series has another entry, though this wasn't as snappy as Lupica's usual. It reads as if his thoughts were distracted but the plot is clever and absorbing enough to carry the reader to the surprising (somewhat surprising) and satisfying conclusion.
October 25, 2022
This was a really fun read and I guessed the killer, which never happens!
February 2, 2025
Great addition, old school christi-esque mystery along with guest appearances and the usual cool banter
Read
July 1, 2023Good characters with deep backstories, familiar characters from classic series, and plenty of twists and turns. I had my suspicions about the villain, but I wasn't sure until the conclusion!
June 23, 2022
I found this book started out interesting but got bogged down about half way through. I haven’t read the others in the series.
March 2, 2023
A fun and easy to read murder/mystery with lots of dialogue and smart talk.
June 18, 2023
Though the presence of Hawk is a welcome change to the series, there are too many distractions and too many moving parts to make this book a little better than mediocre. To add to that, the character of Melanie Joan Hall isn't very likeable either.
May 31, 2022
admittedly, I'm stuck on Richie.
I like the series but Sunny is 32% irritating me. She was fierce and funny.
Sunny has spent years on therapy, growing and getting to know herself. And let me guess, if Richie were to tell her "I'm going on". then suddenly he is the one for her. but when he says "I want to be with you", then no, she can't commit.
And she talks too much about aging and getting old. It is going to happen, so beat it back and/or accept it but stop whining about it.
I like the series but Sunny is 32% irritating me. She was fierce and funny.
Sunny has spent years on therapy, growing and getting to know herself. And let me guess, if Richie were to tell her "I'm going on". then suddenly he is the one for her. but when he says "I want to be with you", then no, she can't commit.
And she talks too much about aging and getting old. It is going to happen, so beat it back and/or accept it but stop whining about it.
November 28, 2022
Sunny Randall is a great character, with her buddy, Spike. Adding Parker’s Hawk to the story enhanced it. But the Parker/Lupica humor was lacking in the dialogue. I have been finishing off my re-reading of the Parker body of work, with about 10 more to go. Parker never meant for the Sunny Randall character to live beyond his own demise, but his Estate has deemed otherwise. A poor choice. Get a job, kids.
I have been reading Robert B. Parker’s “Spenser” mystery series since the 1980’s and the first book in the series “The Godwulf Manuscript,” which in my opinion is the best thing Parker ever wrote.
I never forgot Spenser, who became the PI role model that I compared all fiction detectives and investigators to. I grew to love him over the years and looked forward every spring to a new outing with my private investigator hero. Then Parker introduced the “Jesse Stone” followed by “Sunny Randall”, which was the result of a request from the actress, Helen Hunt, a fan of “Spenser” and friend of Parker’s who was trying to create a serious role which could be built into a franchise, and she wanted him to write it. Parker agreed but struggled with writing a script, and instead produced “Family Honor”, the first Sunny Randall novel. Parker hoped that if he wrote the books, Hollywood could use them as a resource to create scripts. However, that never came to fruition, and with Parker’s passing. Sunny Randall was left on the sidelines while other writers continued the stories of “Spenser” and “Jesse Stone”. Helen Hunt has aged out of playing Sunny. Sunny is too old to be playing Sunny.
It was announced in 2019 that the PI adventures of Sunny Randall would continue. The Parker estate put her in the hands of Mike Lupica, a well established and proven sports writer, columnist, and commentator, as well as a longtime personal friend of Parker. Lupica debuted his first outing with resurrecting Sunny in “Blood Feud”, followed-up with “Grudge Match” (2020), and “Payback” (2021). It was drudgery wading through this mess.
Sunny, independent private investigator, is a former cop in her late thirties with definite authority issues, and at the someone a little less certain of herself. She has a very complicated relationship with her ex-husband Richie Burke, who is Mafia connected. She’s never stopped loving him nor really ever let him go emotionally. She also had a relationship with Jesse Stone, Police Chief of the small town of Paradise, located outside of Boston. Now she’s more interested in moving on and finding someone new.
In “Revenge Tour” Sunny has two cases thrust upon her, both personal.
The first involves her landlord and previous client, Melanie Joan Hall, from one of her previous outings “Shrink Wrap”. Melanie is a very successful and well-known romance writer who confesses to Sunny that she is being blackmailed by some unknown person who claims she plagiarized her work. Melanie insists that is not true and needs Sunny’s help to catch the person threatening her. Sunny pulls in her best friend and restaurant owner, Spike, to help provide protection while she investigates to find out who the threats are coming from.
As if that wasn’t enough, Sunny gets pulled into helping her father, Phil, a retired cop who has long list of enemies built up over the years. One of those is Boston’s more feared criminal defense attorney, Joe Doyle, whose son Phil busted for drug related criminal conspiracy years earlier. While serving twenty-five-to-life in at MCI-Concord, Joe Doyle Jr. was recently shanked in the prison yard and died. Father Doyle is now quoting the twenty-fourth chapter of Leviticus to Phil and letting him know that Phil needs to pay for his son’s death by giving up his own life. Now Sunny needs to protect her father and mother from the spiteful lawyer Doyle who seeks the ultimate revenge. The worst part is he doesn’t care who knows about it.
Sunny tries her best to bring in help from those she can rely on and then divide and conquer what needs to get done. In searching for Melanie Joan’s stalker, Sunny finds herself receiving portions of an old manuscript that mirrors the author’s most well-known heroine. Her investigation takes in Melanie Joan’s past history, in which she discovers doesn’t match the current press biography, and challenges her belief in what the truth really is. At the same time, Sunny is forced to use her friends to protect her father and keep him from being killed while she tries to figure a way out for him, one that may even require her to ask for the biggest favor from the one person her father tried the hardest to arrest during his entire career. But will it be enough?
There were things that I really enjoyed about this book. Lupica’s found his groove with reimagining Sunny Randall, her supporting cast, and the beloved historical city of Boston. He sprinkles an extensive cast of all-star characters in, some for brief scenes, and some for more time on the stage. They included appearances from Lee Farrell, Frank Belson, our favorite mobster shooter – Vinnie Morris, Dr. Susan Silverman (Spenser’s better half), and yes, even the great ones – Spenser and Hawk. And, of course, from a family perspective, there was also Richie and his mobster father, Desmond Burke. Each of them brings their own conflict that contrasts with Sunny’s stubborn and sarcastic personality.
Lupica continues Robert B. Parker’s style of short rhythmic chapters, plot movement, and strong conversations that his mentor previously established for his literary world. Lupica uses longtime established Parker characters like police detectives Lee Farrell and Frank Belson, as well as mobster history from Spenser to bring Boston noir to life in creative and nostalgic ways that are also new and fresh. Surprisingly, what started off as two not so uncommon plotlines, became interesting and more complex than I expected. Lupica definitely spent some time planning and laying a more involved mystery than normal, and for the most part it paid off for the reader.
That didn’t mean that there were some aspects that could have been better. I had a few personal things that bugged me a it. As much as I liked the all-star cast, sometimes it felt like their placement in the storylines were more focused on giving Sunny opportunities to interact with them rather than focusing on the propelling the story forward. And there was one thing that really bugged me (and I need to be careful to not give away any spoilers). So, to dance around it a bit so that only those who have read the book will get the reference, let’s just say that as much as I love Hawk’s character (and I do) I am not so excited about how his and Sunny’s confrontation with the killer at the end turned out. It felt more like a whimper than a bang. But, maybe that’s just me. You can decide for yourself on that one. For me, it left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.
Overall, the good things outweighed my constructive feedback. Even though Lupica only published four Sunny Randall novels before turning over the creative rights to Allison Gaylin so that he can take over the Spenser series from Ace Atkins, he deserves kudos and respect for his work. Lupica took Parker’s third favorite character behind Spenser and Jesse Stone, breathed new life and creative energy into her, and successfully integrated her into Parker’s world of key Bostonian characters. Ace Atkins was doing a good job with the Spenser carry-overs. I don't think I care for Lupica's writing style in these books. You do not hear Parker's "voice."
June 25, 2022
Difficult to slog through this one.
Only character I liked was Rosie, the dog..oh and the jaunts around Beacon Hill
Sunny thinks she’s badass because she slaps a couple of women..
Who didn’t see it coming that she would wind up tied up and menaced by psycho killer?
Sunny was more interesting when she was dating Jesse Stone.
I didn’t care who really came up with the idea for famous author’s first book.. yawn
There is so much more to writing good engaging stories that people care to read
Like this boring tome.. yes some characters who were brought in I liked from other stories, but some of the many..I had to keep pressing xray to remember who they all were
Only character I liked was Rosie, the dog..oh and the jaunts around Beacon Hill
Sunny thinks she’s badass because she slaps a couple of women..
Who didn’t see it coming that she would wind up tied up and menaced by psycho killer?
Sunny was more interesting when she was dating Jesse Stone.
I didn’t care who really came up with the idea for famous author’s first book.. yawn
There is so much more to writing good engaging stories that people care to read
Like this boring tome.. yes some characters who were brought in I liked from other stories, but some of the many..I had to keep pressing xray to remember who they all were
May 12, 2022
Very simple plot. I read it on a kindle and I figured out who the villain was at the 30% read mark. Maybe sports and mystery should have different writers.
August 26, 2022
Too bad, this is Mike Lupica's last Sunny novel but good to hear he's taking over Spenser from Ace Atkins. I think he can do them both right.
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