Robert Parker Lives on

My boss introduced me to the works of Robert Parker years ago. Parker was the author of the Spenser series. There was a TV show based on the character starring Robert Urich called Spenser for Hire back in the 80's. My boss is a great library user, so after I got hooked, he shared his Robert Parker books with me. Parker's books also include the Jesse Stone series (TV-movies starring Tom Selleck), and the Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch Western Series. Parker passed in 2010, but when there is a series characters can live on. Spenser lives on, with books written by Ace Atkins and Helen Brann. I'm not particularly fond of the continuation on that series. It feels as though Ace is trying to be too inventive with the character. The Jesse Stone books have been taken over by Michael Brandman. He has been the producer of the Jesse Stone TV movies, and seems to have a super good grasp on the character. (And his books read even faster than Parker's.) Robert Knott has taken over the western series. He did the screenplay for the movie based on Parker's book Appaloosa. Parker had not developed the western characters very much (only four books) and it is perhaps because of this that these are the books I feel have been transitioned most easily. A book review of Bull River, the most recent one, ishere. Looking forward to more of Virgil and Everett. And long may characters continue . . .