SUMMER SLUMP? Will Smith’s ‘MIB3′ Slows … 
Oscilloscope Takes U.S. Rights To ‘Reality’ 
‘Mud’: Did Cannes Save One Of The Best For … 
Cannes Podcast: Pete Hammond On ‘Lawless’, … 
Over-Achievers Of This Year’s Upfront 
Aussie Pay-TV Shakeup Impacts Hollywood 
USA: ‘Rebounding’ & ‘Modern … 
Interview: Philip Kaufman At Cannes With ‘Hemingway … 
R.I.P. Television Mogul Lee Rich 
Cannes Biz Shines Despite Wind & Rain 
Full 2011-2012 TV Season Series Rankings 
2011-12 Season Network Rankings: Fox Still On Top But Down, … 
HLN Set To Air Daytime Emmy Awards 
Grant Bowler Cast As Richard Burton Opposite Lindsay Lohan … 
UPDATE: Dish Network And Broadcasters Ask Courts To Decide … 
Cannes Surprise Screening: Change Of Plans On Juan Antonio … 
Kevin Hart In Talks To Join Kevin James In ‘Valet … 
Anthony Hopkins Up For ‘Red 2′ Villain; Can … 
Cannes Conflicted Over ‘The Paperboy’ As … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘American Idol’ Posts … 
Ghost Of 2004 Hovers Over L.A. Screenings As Int’l … 
Late author Robert B. Parker’s estate has announced that his signature Spenser and Jesse Stone mystery novel series will continue. Parker died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., on Jan. 18, 2010 at age 77. Michael Brandman, who has co-written and produced the CBS TV movies that feature Tom Selleck as the tortured alcoholic detective Stone, will write the first Stone novel. Titled Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues, it will be published Sept. 13, 2011.
Brandman goes way back with Parker, and aside from the Stone telepics, he also produced three Spenser novel adaptations for A&E. Parker’s earlier Spenser novels formed the basis for the Spenser For Hire series that starred Robert Urich, and his Western series was turned into the Ed Harris-Viggo Mortensen pic Appaloosa. The new Spenser novels will be written by Ace Atkins, who has written such novels as White Shadow, Infamous and Wicked City. His first Spenser novel will be releases spring of 2012. Parker’s 39th and final Spenser novel, Sixkill, will be released by GP Putnam in May. It looks like Parker’s lone female detective series based on Sunny Randall might be done. Parker created that series with the intention of it being turned into a feature film series at Sony Pictures, with Helen Hunt right after that actress won the Oscar in 1997 for As Good As It Gets. The film series never got off the ground, but Parker kept writing the books.
Parker was one of my favorite authors, and though you never felt that Spenser, Hawk, Susan Silverman or Jesse Stone were ever in any real danger they couldn’t handle, his sparse prose and his hardened heroes went down as comforting and familiar as chicken soup. Not sure how I’ll feel about continuing with either series done by another author: I stopped being interested in Journey when Steve Perry left the band and haven’t read another Jason Bourne mystery since Robert Ludlum died or 007 since Ian Fleming died. I’ve always found it hard to latch onto successors who didn’t put in the sweat and struggle to create the characters or the songs that made for the original successes, and that has always turned me off. But this is big business, and it’s worth it for the estate and Putnam to try keeping Parker’s distinctive brands alive. I just don’t think anybody else can write them like he did.
Loading ...
Ya lost me at the Journey/Steve Perry reference…
Read “Killing the Blues” last week & while it was good & the format was the same as Parker’s, something was lacking. It sort of reads more like a screenplay than a novel I think. Parker apparently never decided ahead of time when he sat down to write what was going to happen. This one seemed to have a “planned direction” to it for want of a better term. The dialogue just didn’t have the Parker crackle.
Killing the Blues was indeed a ‘script’ for a screen play. All conversation….no meat. Not at all how Parker wrote. Would rather re-read an old real Parker than a faux new Parker.
Just finished Killing The Blues. Thought I had been blessed to be part of the resurrection of Mr. Parker. Robert B. Parker’s Spencer, Jesse Stone, Sunny Randall and their escapades have been part of my life for most of my 64 years it seems. Thanks to Mr. Brandman for his ability to bring this enjoyment back.
It will be interesting to see if the new writers will try to write in the same style; I agree that no one can write like Parker. His characters are very real and they are the heart of the stories. While the romantic part of me wants to hope that someone can pull it off and keep the characters alive, the rational part of me sees it as a grave insult to the memory of a unique man.
I am reading ” Killing the Blues” about Jessie Stone and written by Brandman. I have read every book Robert b.Parker wrote and loved them. I am very impressed with Brandman’s writing. If I didn’t know someone other than Parker wrote this I would think it was him. It is really good and in perfect Parker style. Hopefully he will continue and keep writing the Spenser series like Parker would.
Feels like Robert is still alive.
Susan
Don’t forget, wasn’t it Parker who finished The legendary Raymond Chandler’s work in Poodle Springs (the sequel to The Big Sleep). I couldn’t tell wher Chandler stopped and Parker began. Maybe the guy taking on the legacy of Parker will be as good.
I have to disagree with you. I read Poodle Springs (Chandler’s unfinished novel finished by Parker), as well as Perchance to Dream (Parker’s sequel to the Big Sleep) and they were awful. Chandler is my favorite author and the spark that made Marlowe live was missing from Parker’s work. The James Bond books were the same way (I have read the follow up works by Amis, Gardner, Benson and Faulks). They also lack something that Fleming brought to the character. If the estate is desperate for money, even after all the books Parker did write, that’s fine, but they won’t be getting any of my money. If these continuation authors are so great, why can’t they create their own characters and start their own series?
Absolutely true. “Poodle Springs” and “Perchance to Dream” just weren’t up to snuff (in my opinion). My knee-jerk response is that this series should die. In comics, in movies, in video games, different writers have succeeded with continuing characters. There’s a reason that it so seldom works in books as it’s all about the nitty-gritty, a completely different series of demands put on the writer from the reader.
But hey, it seems like Brandman is doing this out of complete and total respect to the original, so hey, maybe that one in a million exception a’la when Edward Stratemeyer ghosted Horatio Alger or something.
I’ve read Robert B Parker’s novels for over 25 years. They were light, fun reads with the plot varying in complexity from simple to moderately complex. The strength of the books, though, is dialogue. Parker was amazing at writing dialogue. So much so, that when you started reading a new novel, it was like hanging out with some old friends for a few hours. I just don’t see how a new author can find those same rhythms that Parker did. I’ll try them out, but I’m not holding my breath.
Anyone looking for an good, easy read – check out a Spenser novel from the library. The books are geared towards men, but many women like them, too.
I loved watching ‘Spenser For Hire’ when I was a kid. Wish someone would re-air it.
Last time I tried a new writer for an established series it was when Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe continued. It was a bad idea then – I fear its a bad idea now.
I have no problem with movie adaptations taking the characters forward, but no matter how good the new book authors are – Spenser’s ‘voice’ will be different. And I ‘m just not interested in that.
Absolutely!! For years I’ve adored Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin & co., but the BOZO who tried to continue in Mr. Stout’s footsteps was a complete failure.
I love Robert Parker’s writing and will reread his books for as long as I can read. NO substitues for this gal!!
The television series Nero Wolfe was so perfect, I’ve never seen characters I loved come to life like that and I’m a very critical person (just ask my husband!). A book you might like is Laurie R. King’s “Beekeeper’s Apprentice”. It’s the only “spinoff” I’ve ever liked and it’s a super story in its own right, and wonderful writing. The “Gone With the Wind” sequel was as bad as it gets.
I really doubt they would be doing this if Parker didn’t sign off on it before his death. The books are never so much about the plots, but about spending time with characters you enjoy – glad to see the books will go on.
I interviewed Dr. Parker back in ’85 and asked if Spesner would continue if he passed away. His simple answer was no. The only rason he would sign off was for the family to have the revenue stream. It is my thought he was no consulted at all. I think you will see a Spenser TV sereis on cable like Burn Notice or Justified. Leonard nd Parker has a similar style.
I was a big fan of Parker’s Spenser for awhile but I thought the continuing emphasis on the insufferable Susan Silverman killed the series. I can’t even read the books where Susan has a major role, and even her minor apearances are just dead space. If the new author is willing to shake the series up and de-emphasize Susan (or dare I hope, write her out entirely?) I’ll give it a shot, but if he’s just going to churn out Spenser by numbers, I’ll pass. At the very least, maybe he’ll give the “Spenser cooks a gourmet meal” chapters a rest.
SHould not do it. Just let them end.
It’s great that the Parker estate is keeping Spenser and Stone alive. While it does indeed seem unlikely that anyone else can perfectly mimic Parker’s terse, propulsive, smart-ass writing style, it’s sure worth a try. Even if the new books aren’t perfect, I still like knowing that Spenser and Hawk and the insufferable Susan Silverman will have many more adventures.
Ah, more graverobbing! More Zombie Books. Suck at that money teat, you greedy estate. Choke on its milk.
agreed, Nikki. i don’t think anybody can match what Parker did with Spenser, Hawk, Susan and the unforgettable band of recurring characters that populate the Boston area crime scene. I’ve read all the Spensers, all the Stones, and all the Sonny Randalls, so I too am a bit of a fan. Must say I was never fond of the Stone TV movies (a little TOO dark & monotone for my taste), but they certainly got it right the first time around with “Spencer for Hire” and the ultimate Spencer- Robert Urich (RIP). But a continuation is certainly preferrable to losing them
(though I always questioned how long Parker could believably keep spencer as tough as he is given his “book” age!
Well, somebody had to say it, and you did. I adored Spenser, but Susan Silverman has become increasingly unbearable. Seriously, didn’t we all just want to smack her upside her perfectly coiffed head? Please please make her go away.
Mixed emotions on the news, but I agree with most that it’s like getting together with old friends. But, Parker is a hard act to follow. I too read all three series, and am willing to give them a try.
BTW, re: the Spenser TV series. If they could’ve merged the two. Never saw Urich as Spenser, and the kid who played Hawk in the Canadian one was too young and not ominous enough. Mantegna and Avery Brooks might have been magic.
And Mike, yes, Steve Perry is gone, but saw the kid from the Phillipines in concert with them last year, and if you close your eyes, he’s Steve Perry. And for a geezer band, he sure gives them some new energy.
Are there any plans to continue the Sunny Randall series. She’s been idle for a few years and I miss her.
Parker brought Sunny Randall into the Jesse Stone series, starting with ‘Blue Screen’ ( a Sunny book) and continuing though ‘Night and Day’ and ‘Split Image.’ Sunny and Jesse seem to be getting together.
Nobody writes like Robert B. Parker; he will be dearly missed. Whenever I read one of his novels, it feels like traveling back home to a place that I feel love. It’s hard to accept loss, but everyone is not replaceable; no matter how talented the replacement. May he rest in peace and I “thank him” for the hours of pleasure his novels have provided to us all.
Amen to that
Mantegna is a great actor but he was not nearly big enough, nor athletic enough, to do Spenser. I know that Parker did not like Urich in the role but I see him more than Joe. And Avery Brooks IS Hawk. I have mixed feelings; it will never be the same and they should not continue, but I will probably read them. Parker dieing was as bad as a close relative dieing.
I have Sixkill wait-listed at my library. I expected this to be my final goodbye. To hear that others will attempt to carry on the series is, frankly, a shock. I’m curious enough that I probably won’t be able to resist trying the “new” offers, but I can’t believe Parker’s voice will be there. It’s not so much Spencer for me, it’s what Parker made him. Spencer is Robert Parkers’s perfect fantasy man made real, and springs from his mind, heart and stones. That’s a deeply personal thing. I don’t see how it can be duplicated.
Vision impaired, I just pray that the Spencer series in particular continues to be published in audio – I’m so grateful for Parker having done so for each of the Spencer novels, making Spencer, Susan, Hawke and Peral the Wonder Dog like members of my immediate circle of friends.
There was only 1 Robert B. Parker. I have read and enjoyed his novels for the last 25 years. Let other artists create their own works. Trying to clone Parker after his death is absurd and insulting, both to his memory, his talent, and his readers.
The Spsenser series could continue in a retro way…. The story is Spenser was first a boxer, where he met Hawk, then a cop, then the DA’s office…why not novels set then? and there is the thing about his age….he fought in Korea, over 50 years ago… he should be in his 70′s by now
I would like very much for Brandman, if the new Jesse Stone book is successful, to think seriously about trying his hand at the Hitch and Cole western series. That is far too excellent a series to abandon.
Couldn’t agree more about the continuation of these series. Great characters, good reading. I would also love to see the Virgil Cole series go on.
Robert B Parker was the first writer that I kept up with when he started the Spenser novels. I hope that everyone who is a follower of the the Spenser novel gives Ace Atkins a chance to continue the series; however, it will take probably a couple years if he is any good to learn how to write in the voice that Robert B Parker gave the Spenser novels. I believe that Ace Atkins will research and learn by re-reading all the novels in order to be able to write in the Spenser voice like Robert B Parker did. Robert B Parker will be sorely missed be nice to inclued Robert B Parker in one of the Spenser novels as a tribute to the man.
I just finished ‘Sixkill’ and thought it was quite good. I’ve been readin Spenser novels for 38 years and it’s hard to say goodbye to a writer who has given one hundreds of hours of pleasure. But everything must end. It’s kind of an American thing, the idea that something good has to be run into the ground…which is what I feel having Atkins (or anyone else) try to continue the Spenser series will be. It’s over…Mr. Parker is gone and nobody can take his place.