By: Robert B. Parker

Review (Kirkus, 07/01/1997): "You can always rely on Parker for some great talk and great scenes."
Review by Maureen Corrigan (Washington Post Book World, 08/31/1997): "Parker here is attempting to create a rougher, more alienated world than Spenser's Boston. In addition, Jesse's relative youth and personal instability make him a more flawed and fluid character than Spenser, so it will be interesting to see how Parker develops him in succeeding novels."
Review by Marilyn Stasio (New York Times Book Review, 09/21/1997): "The spare style of Parker's third-person narrative cleans the air and sharpens Jesse's sense of alienation in Paradise, a pretty place with an ugly secret that the corrupt civil leaders assume will not be noticed by a lush like Jesse....Indeed, with his strength of character and clarity of mind miraculously restored, Jesse begins to exercise the kind of moral convictions that could get him killed--or compared to Spenser."
Review by Tom Nolan (Wall Street Journal, 10/03/1997): "A couple of well-timed surprises, some deft nature writing and a dash of social satire add zest to this adroitly handled entry."