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Title: Red Light by T. Jefferson Parker ISBN: 0786889756 Publisher: Hyperion (Adult Trd Pap) Pub. Date: April, 2001 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.97
Rating: 3
Summary: Red Light Stops the Action
Comment: I have always listed T. Jefferson Parker as one of my "must read" authors.This attempt at a creative police procedural set in Orange Co began with intrigue and promise. Merci Rayborn, talented star investigator is found trying to start a new life following the death of her partner and love interest in The Blue Hour. She is assigned to solve 2 cases of murdered prostitutes. The more recent is the point blank shooting of a young and beautiful call girl with all the evidence pointing toward Merci's current boyfriend and fellow police officer. The older case is the 35 y.o. homocide of a prostitute with known connections to the police force when Merci's father worked there. The emotional conflict and doubt in which Merci finds herself has numerous plot possibilities. The story presents a challenge to the reader to guess how the two cases are related and how the solutions to the crimes will effect Merci and those she cares deeply for. However, relating the characters in each case to each other is no simple task and I found it confusing.The story became tedious and the slowly mounting suspense seemed to drag as the story became more complicated. I wanted desperately for there to be a mind numbing surprise as the story neared its conclusion but instead Red Light ground the action to a stop.
Rating: 4
Summary: Merci Returns
Comment: Warning: Before reading this book, it is strongly advised that you have already read The Blue Hour. Without this previous experience, a lot of Red Light will be very confusing and would probably ruin your enjoyment of both books.
Red Light sees Merci Rayborn investigate two murders that were committed 30 years apart. The victims were both prostitutes, but apart from that they don't really seem to be related. Her investigation severely tests her relationship with her boyfriend, Mike McNally, and brings to light a few dirty secrets that were buried by the sheriffs department three decades ago.
Merci is not a particularly likable character, but she does have qualities that are very admirable. Her fierce determination to see justice done, no matter who gets hurt, seems to override just about every one of her emotions. The only exceptions to this are her love for her son and father, and the dominance of Hess' memory in her mind.
While I found this to be an interesting story with a well-constructed mystery to be solved, it never really reached any exciting moments as The Blue Hour had. Too often we were forced to witness Merci's self-doubts and continual dwelling over the past. For me, these moments only served to interrupt the more interesting investigative processes without really adding much value to the story.
Rating: 5
Summary: Merci Rayborn is Back!
Comment: I was surprised and not so surprised that T. Jefferson Parker brought back Merci Rayborn. After all, the ending for the book that introduced her, THE BLUE HOUR all but demanded that she return.
In this book, Merci is two years older and still mourning the loss of her partner (and father to her son) Tim Hess. She has named her little boy after his father and is now involved with another detective sergeant on the Orange County (CA) Sheriff's department, Mike McNally.
Parker provides the reader with a multi-leveled mystery and police procedure novel that uses spare but biting prose to make its point. In this story, Merci Rayborn, a single mother and crack homicide investigator is involved in two homicide investigations. One is current and may involve her fellow officer and lover, Mike McNally and the other is over thirty years old and involves the murder of a prostitute who had had connections with local political and law enforcement officials.
In the more recent of the murder cases, Merci initially investigates the death of another young prostitute, this one who also had conections, but those closer to home. Initial evidence begins to point to Merci's erstwhile lover and would-be husband. Merci, never one to shy away from pursuing justice or the truth follows the trail of evidence with a dedication bordering on fanatical. More and more, the evidence points at Mike McNally. But is he really the killer or is he being framed? And if so, by whom?
I have read almost all of Parker's previous novels and have enjoyed them all. His common denominator is the setting, Orange County, CA. However, with each new book installment, he shows that he has climbed rapidly into the ranks of true masters in this genre. He is spare with his prose and in this he makes me think of what Hemingway would have been like had he written mysteries and police stories. He gives us flawed but interesting characters. Some we come to like and have hopes for and others we don't. I have to say that I did NOT like Merci Rayborn when I read THE BLUE HOUR. But perhaps motherhood, the loss of Tim Hess and the personal and political problems she faces in the Sheriff's Department have mellowed her to the point that she has become more human and less disagreeable. In RED LIGHT, for all of her flaws and self-doubts, Parker has made her a much more agreeable and yes, a more sympathetic character.
This book has some slow points and then, the plot and the level of action pick up. I do not know if this was a deliberate device by Parker or not but either way, the book does become a page turner. When Merci must decide for herself whether Mike McNally is guilty or being framed is where the book really took off. It is where I knew that Parker had planned and timed the story line for just such a reason.
Parker's intimate knowledge of police procedures is displayed at its best in this novel. His former career as a journalist and his extensive background in the history of Orange County also serve him well in RED LIGHT. Although this is the first time that he has used a recurring character, I hope it will not be his last. Merci Rayborn still has a lot to say and I hope Mr. Parker will let her speak in upcoming works.
Thank you Mr. Parker for many hours of enjoyable reading. I hope you won't dispense with Merci Rayborn just yet. I'd like to think of her as your version of Robert B. Parker's SPENSER. And we all know how many novels he has mined from that character. I look forward with anticipation to your next novel and hope that we will all see one or more adapted for the screen.
Paul Connors
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Title: The Blue Hour by T. Jefferson Parker ISBN: 0786889691 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Black Water by T. Jefferson Parker ISBN: 078686804X Publisher: Hyperion Pub. Date: April, 2002 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Where Serpents Lie by T. Jefferson Parker ISBN: 0786889446 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: The Triggerman's Dance by T. Jefferson Parker ISBN: 0786889179 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker ISBN: 0786890037 Publisher: Hyperion (Adult Trd Pap) Pub. Date: April, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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