Blue Screen (Sunny Randall Series #5) by Robert B. Parker

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Private eye Sunny Randall and police chief Jesse Stone mesh skills to track down a killer in this rippling new Robert B. Parker thriller. Sunny has been hired to babysit Erin Flint, a sexy budding starlet whose rampant ego far exceeds her worth. The assignment takes a tragic turn for worse when Erin's sister, Misty, is found dead in their imperial digs. Investigations by new informal partners Randall and Stone turn up more dirty laundry than you'll find in an NFL locker room. Sorting it all out could get somebody killed.

From the Publisher

Sunny Randall, the Boston P.I. with a personal life as tangled as that of her clients, is hired on as a bodyguard to an up-and-coming starlet, and discovers some ugly truths behind her glossy façade.

Buddy Bollen is a C-list movie mogul who made his fortune producing films of questionable artistic merit. When Buddy hires Sunny Randall to protect his rising star and girlfriend, Erin Flint, Sunny knows from the start that the prickly, spoiled beauty won't make her job easy. And when Erin's sister, Misty, is found dead in the lavish home they share with sugar daddy Bollen, there doesn't seem to be a single lead worth pursuing.

But then Sunny meets Jesse Stone, chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts, under whose jurisdiction the case falls.

Tracking Misty's murderer reveals a host of seedy complications behind Erin's glamorous lifestyle as well as Buddy Bollen's entertainment empire, made up of shady film deals and mobsters out for revenge. But in a world where there's little difference between the good guys and the bad, exposing the killer could prove to be Sunny's undoing.

Publishers Weekly

Parker's latest mystery brings two of his series characters, Boston PI Sunny Randall and Paradise, Mass., chief of police Jesse Stone together for the first time. Zillionaire Buddy Bollen hires Randall as bodyguard to his live-in girlfriend, the minimally talented but beautiful and athletic Erin Flint, who has starred in several movies Bollen's produced. As the owner of a baseball team, he wants Flint to be the first female major league player. Flint's fear of physical reprisal against her as she attempts to break the baseball gender barrier leads to the hiring of Randall. When Flint's assistant is found dead, Stone joins Randall, professionally and romantically, to solve the murder. Parker, as usual, delivers a fine novel, whose serviceable plot exists primarily to showcase his well-drawn characters. Although she may upon occasion lose track of whose voice is whose, Burton does an admirable job of delivering Parker's dialogue, which is as stylistically unique as a David Mamet play. Her first-person narration from Randall's point of view and expository passages are nicely performed, bringing just the right amount of world-weariness to her characterization. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, May 22). (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In the fifth title in Parker's Sunny Randall series, Sunny is hired as bodyguard for Erin Flint, star of "woman warrior" films. When one of Erin's retinue is murdered, Erin changes Sunny's status to investigating detective. However, Erin and her sleazy boyfriend are angry when Sunny investigates them and learns about their unsavory pasts. Characters from other Parker series appear: Jesse Stone, chief of police in Paradise, MA, where the murder occurs, is also on the case; and Susan Silverman is Sunny's shrink and helps her understand her developing romantic relationship with Jesse. The plot twists and multiple characters are entertaining and expressively read by talented actress Kate Burton. She individualizes each character with her remarkable range of accents and her variety of voices. Recommended.-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Colonial Williamsburg Fdn., VA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Boston shamus Sunny Randall's fifth case takes her out to Hollywood, but her most fateful meeting is a lot closer to home. Trillionaire producer Buddy Bollen, of Paradise, Mass., may be a mogul of doubtful tastes, but the five popcorn movies he's made with Amazonian star Erin Flint have netted him a handsome profit. Now he sees a way to parlay his ownership of an underperforming baseball team into major synergy with his most recognizable property. Under intensive tutelage, he's grooming Erin to become the first female major-leaguer-if only he can protect her from unnamed hostile interests and the possibility of her own missteps. That's where Sunny (Shrink Rap, 2002, etc.) comes in-as bodyguard, watchdog and role model. It's a mystery why Sunny signs on for the gig. Maybe she knows that she'll be pulled off guard duty and assigned to detecting seconds after Misty Tyler, Erin's longtime personal trainer, is found dead of a broken neck. In truth, Sunny isn't much better at sleuthing than Erin is at acting. But fans will hardly notice the slack mystery-mongering here because they'll be agog when Sunny hooks up with Paradise police chief Jesse Stone (Sea Change, 2006, etc.), and their professional partnership quickly develops an undercover dimension. Does Spenser's creator plan to tie up both his second- and third-string series in a single knot of domestic bliss? The riddle is one more reminder that his heroes have always been more important than their cases.

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