Night Passage

By: Robert B. Parker

Narrated by: Richard Masur

After a busted marriage kicks his drinking problem into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dumps him, 35-year-old Jesse Stone's future looks bleak. So he's shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise recruits him as police chief. He can't help wondering if this job is a genuine chance to start over, the kind of offer he can't refuse.

Once on board, Jesse doesn't have to look for trouble in Paradise: it comes to him. For what is on the surface a quiet New England community quickly proves to be a crucible of political and moral corruption - replete with triple homicide, tight Boston mob ties, flamboyantly errant spouses, maddened militiamen, and a psychopath-about-town who has fixed his violent sights on the new lawman. Against all this, Jesse stands utterly alone, with no one to trust; even he and the woman he's seeing are like ships that pass in the night. He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero - or the deadest of dupes.©1998 Robert B. Parker;(P)1998 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

Critic reviews

Praise for Night Passage

“Parker’s sentences flow with as much wit, grace and assurance as ever, and Stone is a complex and consistently interesting new protagonist.”—Newsday

“Parker has always been a master of razor-sharp and witty dialogue, hard-driving suspense and memorable characterization. His Jesse Stone series promises to match if not excel the Spenser novels. Night Passage is a stunning debut.”—Houston Chronicle

“Vintage Parker.”—The Denver Post

“A page-turner...the protagonist is a believable, full-blooded man of Hemingwayesque dimensions. Full of action, spiced with fast-moving introspection.”—Forbes

“A winner.”—The Boston Globe

“You can always rely on Parker for some great talk and great scenes.”—Kirkus Reviews

More Praise for Robert B. Parker

“If weight is to be given to prolific output as well as to literary excellence, it would be no stretch to claim that America’s greatest mystery writer is Robert B. Parker.”—The New York Sun

poor reader. older or poor recording. good story.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

no, the story was ruined by the recording and the reader.

What did you like best about this story?

Typical Jesse Stone novel and a good start to the series. Read the paperback unless this
is redone.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Richard Masur?

No character to his voice. Monotone.

Do you think Night Passage needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

stupid question for this context. It's the first of a series.

Great Narration

This is an excellent debut for the Jesse Stone series, well written in true Robert B. Parker style.
Richard Masur's excellent narration however is dimmed by the recording of this particular title

As always another great story!

I’ve always enjoyed mr parkers writings and until that last year I’ve done the reading myself. It’s quite different being read to, but I must say I do enjoy it. The only downside is the audio on this story isn’t that great. It’s kinda hard at points to hear and there’s white noise pretty much through the entire story. Still great if played through speakers loud enough though, but tough with earbuds which is usually the opposite.

Good read

Fast paced, well written. Good read. I will look for more from this author

Poor sound quality

Good story, sounds like the narrator called in the recording over the phone. Would have been a good narration otherwise