Stranger in Paradise (Jesse Stone Series #7) » (Unabridged)

Featuring rapid-fire dialogue and spicy characters, Robert B. Parker's books are top-shelf reading for fans of detective crime novels. His Spenser series is several titles strong and an established classic; lately Parker has raised the stakes with two additional series (one featuring private eye Sunny Randle, the other featuring police chief Jesse Stone) that may eventually rival his beloved Boston P.I.

The last time Jesse Stone, police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts, saw Wilson "Crow" Cromartie, the Apache hit man was racing away in a speedboat after executing one of the most lucrative and deadly heists in the town's history. Crow managed to escape with a boatload of cash, never to be seen again. Until now.

When Crow shows up in Jesse's office some ten years after the crime, it's not to turn himself in. Crow is on another job, and this time he's asking for Jesse's help—by asking him to stay out of the way. Crow's mission is simple: find young Amber Francisco and bring her back to her father Louis, in Florida. It should be an easy payday for a pro like Crow, but there are complications. Amber, now living in squalor with her mother, Fiona, is mixed up with members of a Latino gang. And when Louis orders Crow to kill Fiona before heading back to Amber, he can't follow through. Crow may be a bad guy, but he doesn't kill women. It's up to Jessie to provide protection.

Meanwhile, Jesse's on-again, off-again relationship with ex-wife Jenn picks up steam as she investigates the gang problem for her TV station. As she and Jesse dig deeper, the danger escalates. The life of a teenage girl hangs in the balance, and saving Amber could be the miracle Jesse and Jenn need for themselves, too.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

Crow is Hawk, the enforcer in Parker's better-known Spenser series, before he was housebroken—which allows Jesse to be Spenser, before he got old. Jesse and Crow take target practice together…and discuss their careers…But mainly they talk the guy talk that is music to our ears.