High Profile

By: Robert B. Parker

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

When the body of controversial talk-show host Walton Weeks is discovered hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Paradise, police chief Jesse Stone finds himself at the center of a highly public case. When another dead body, that of a young woman, is discovered just a few days later, the pressure to solve the crimes becomes almost unbearable.

Two victims in less than a week should provide a host of clues, but all Jesse runs into are dead ends. But what may be the most disturbing aspect of these murders is the fact that no one seems to care: not a single one of Weeks' ex-wives, not the family of the girl. And when the medical examiner reveals a heartbreaking link between the two departed souls, the mystery only deepens. Forced to delve into a world of stormy relationships, Jesse soon comes to realize that knowing whom to trust is indeed a matter of life and death.

©2007 Robert B. Parker (P)2007 Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

“Crisply etched characters…smooth, lean prose. There is a level of narrative tension - and plain polished professionalism - below which Parker is incapable of descending. High Profile will repay a quick read with…the wit, suspense, and psychological sophistication readers who know Parker's work happily associate with him.” (The Boston Globe)

“It’s easy to overlook how fine the writing is because Parker’s style rarely calls attention to itself, going down so easy that you can forget you are reading. His books are not so much read as inhaled.” (Associated Press)

"Parker's most complex, ambitious novel in years....Great reading from an old hand who hasn't lost his touch." (Booklist, starred review)

Great story, not so great narration

I enjoy Robert Parker's mysteries, and the Jesse Stone series, and this one is as good as I expect. But the reader is distracting - the phony, excessive Boston accent and the annoying emphasis on 'he said' (a frequent phrase in Parker's writing) makes it difficult to enjoy the story. I am from the Boston area, and so am qualified to critique the accent!

high Profile

Mr. Parker did an excellant job blending this book with his past books. I like the all 3 of his Boston Area detectives. keep up the good work

More of the same old same old

I was hopeful. After all Booklist said it was great. They must be reviewing a different book. Mr. Parker has a real gift for characters but after a while goes down this psychological blackhole of love, loss and martyrdom. Yuck.

Taming a Seahorse this is not.

Made worse is that Mr. Parker tells his stories via dialogue not buckets of imagery, so the whole he said, she said, he said thing on Audiobooks passes annoying and moves to turn this crap off after about thirty minutes.

May be better in print, lousy and repetitive in audio

great book

Just like all the others in series very good all the way to the end

Hard to listen to..........

To many "he saids...she saids...Jesse said...etc"
we know who is talking , they don't have to keep telling us. It makes the story very hard to listen to. A good story but.............

Detective story with bizarre parallel love stories

You're going to witness the depth of character development that we are used to by Mr. Parker! As Jesse investigates falls in love with another woman and trains his adorable love connection to his ex-wife, Jen. Best if listened in doses. When your scene slows, take a break. Do your task or chores. Then come back in a reasonable time and listen to the next scene. (Just don't wait 'til you forget where you are!) It is a long investigation but Suit and Mollie add comedic and critical commentary to help ease the way. A skilled tome worth the read!

Jesse's Been Better; Much Better

Let me begin by praising Scott Sower's narration. He may not be as good as James Naughton but he's close and after suffering through previous readings by Richard Masur he sounded great. The weaknesses in this Jesse Stone audiobook lie completely with the author. Parker has an unfortunate tendency to equate obsession and a sick dependency with love, but in this book he really takes it over the top. Then there is the constant repetition of the word 'love' plus continual questions of everyone in a bad relationship "do you love him or her."Add the bombardment of the word promiscuous; a word practically extinct since the 1960's, to any/all questions regarding any female's sexuality and Parker's writing seems even more outdated.
On the positive side the author seems to know police investigation techniques really well; none of those obvious bonehead misses that populate so many wannabe police procedurals. If you're fifty or over (and you're male) you may enjoy this book; otherwise I don't recommend it.

read Parker's Blue Screen first

If you're reading the Jesse Stone books in order, read Blue Screen (part of the Randall series) first to know what happened in Paradise between the last book and this one. Also, this book cements Stone as what some describe as a "deeply flawed character." He seems oblivious to everyone but himself. His inexplicable obsession with his ex-wife hits a new height in this book, and he can't stop hitting on women he is interviewing in his job--including the grieving ex-wife of a murder victim. I will finish the series... but I don't like these characters anymore.

Book - Very Good: Narration - Very Bad

Is there anything you would change about this book?

There would be, as usual, nothing I would change about the book as I truly enjoy the Jesse Stone novel.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Scott Sowers?

ANYONE!! I could not finish the audio book due to his narration. He did not have the flow or the vocal effect some of your other narrators have. He was so annoying to listen to I had to buy the book just to finish it.

Could you see High Profile being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I would like to see All of the Jesse Stone novel be made into a TV series.

He said, she said, they said, said said said

What did you like best about High Profile? What did you like least?

The word "said" was used at least a thousand times in this story - completely distracting, I had to force myself to listen to the last 5 hours, 13 minutes of this 5hr 28min book.