Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel
Unavailable
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel
Unavailable
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel
Audiobook4 hours

Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel

Written by Michael Brandman

Narrated by James Naughton

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The woman on the bed was barely out of her teens. She wasn't exactly beautiful, but she'd tried to make the most of her looks. And now, alone in a seedy beachfront motel, she was dead.

Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone doesn't know her name. Whoever she is, she didn't deserve to die. Jesse starts digging, only to find himself caught in the crosshairs of a bitter turf war between two ruthless pimps. And more blood will spill before it's over.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 10, 2013
ISBN9780449808009
Unavailable
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel
Author

Michael Brandman

Michael Brandman has produced more than forty motion pictures, including works by Tom Stoppard, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, David Mamet, Elmore Leonard, Louis L'Amour, Stephen Sondheim, Horton Foote, Eugene O'Neill and Wendy Wasserstein. He co-wrote and/or supervised the writing on eight Jesse Stone movies, each starring Tom Selleck.

Related to Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do

Related audiobooks

Police Procedural For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do

Rating: 3.7298849954022986 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

87 ratings22 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I never put this down after I started reading. The author has got Parker's style and characters down to the very littlest detail. It wasn't the most unusual story I've ever read, but it was so well written I just couldn't put it down.A real Jesse Stone story. I recommend it to all Robert Parker fans.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An absolutely 'spot-on' Jessie Stone! What more can I say? Everyone you know and love (or hate) is there - Gino Fish, Molly & Suitcase. As I read, I was thinking that Jessie has changed bit by bit since he came to Paradise Cove. His drinking seems to be under control, he seems to have dealt with the issues about his ex-wife, and he is even recommending 'talking-to-someone". While these are big changes they have happened slowly and we've been involved every step of the way.Would it be sacrilegious to say that I enjoy Brandman's Stone even more than Parker's? Parker had "he said" after every spoken phrase. You could sort of overlook it if you were reading, but to hear it in an audio version it was like fingernails on a blackboard. Brandman has managed to tone that down and I find it more enjoyable to read.Four big bright shiny stars for this one!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This Stone book was one of the best ones. The new author did a better job with this book. I will recommend Jesse Stone books to everyone I know/
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I don't know where they get these titles? Has nothing to do with anything of course. A Jesse Stone story by Brandman who dearly likes his nasty language. A quick read that I stuck with although I found Stone's love affair with the nasty, rotten underworld characters a bit much.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have always enjoyed Parker's work. The tradition has been continued well in this novel. If you are already a Parker fan you must give this one a try.

    Received as an ARC
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The protagonist, Jesse Stone, is a very likable guy. As Paradise Police Chief, he has to meet up with a lot of dicey characters. He instinctively knows which and how much to trust, and which are just plain bad. Right and wrong aren't always clear, but Stone make those judgements everyday.I could not put this book down. Never a dull moment and the characters and story line are very believable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Robert B. Parker's Damned if You Do (A Jesse Stone Novel)A jesse stone novel-love these crime stories especially the movies on TV starring Tom Selleck. Paradise is a country town, beach tourist town where life is slow. His friend, an accountant is being abused at the nursing home. Love what he discovers about this and what he does, in his own way...Jesse Stone is also gathering clues as to why a prostitute is found dead and 2 pimps have some answers.Glad this series is continuing on although the author has passed away but Michael is the one who collaborated with him on the screen plays.Story doesn't quite go as I thought it would, so many twists that really add to the plot!I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a typical Parker-esque novel. Light, enjoyable, easy to read. I thought it was a bit predictable, and the ending lagged on a little too long for me. But, if you're a Parker fan, I still recommend this one, and you'll likely enjoy it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed very much this latest Jesse Stone book. The author, Michael Brandman, is carrying forward the late Robert B Parker's series. I have not read all of books in the original Stone series, but the character in this book was exactly as I expected him to be. His moods, actions, and interactions with the characters are all as I envisioned Jesse to be. The only problem I had was the portrayal of Jesse as a cat person instead of a dog person! I especially enjoyed the interaction with Jesse and his friend in the nursing home and it was absolutely in character for Jesse. Although a little different, it is still a great addition to the story of Jesse Stone.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    These novels read like a movie script which is ok, cause I already have the movie playing in my head. Though they are short I enjoy them. It's always like visiting an old friend.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fast easy read. Jesse Stone is caught in the middle of a prostitution turf war while protecting an old friend who's suffering from alzheimers in a poorly run and abusive nursing home. Jesse sort of makes friends with the new young pimp who's bringing 21 st century ways to the oldest profession. Is Fat Nellie going to be Jessie's Hawk?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have always enjoyed Parker's work. The tradition has been continued well in this novel. If you are already a Parker fan you must give this one a try.

    Received as an ARC
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Police chief Jesse Stone needs to solve a murder of a Jane Doe and prove the inadequacies of Golden Horizons retirement community.The narrative, which some may call minimalistic, is crisp and easy to read. Fast flowing action is present throughout. Brisk and authentic help to define the characters. Aside from a few questions, involving regarding chief Stone's secretary, the plot is well explained.Overall, a quick fun read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Once again, Jesse Stone mounts his trusty steed, dons his white hat, and rides into the fray, determined to make right what's wrong, without regard to personal consequences. He ignores threats, won't be bribed, cajoled or reasoned with. In this case, he's on the trail of the killer of a young prostitute who seems vaguely familiar to him, and he's drawing down on the corporate bastards who are running a rotten nursing home where the patients receive very little care other than sedation and restraint. For the first 50 or 60 pages of Damned if You Do, I couldn't hear Jesse's voice in his dialog, and despite having read every one of the preceding books in the series, I felt a bit like I had been plopped down in the middle of the game without a program. I feared the worst. But I found my bearings, or Brandman found his, and the rest of the book tore right along as I expect these novels to do. This is definitely not a book for anyone who isn't already familiar with the characters, and devoted followers may be puzzled to find Jesse easing off on the coffee AND the scotch, with nary a mention of his ex-wife, and seemingly on the same side of things as the Paradise town selectmen for a change. There's a brilliant take-off on "Who's on First" between Captain Healey and Jesse, obligatory appearances by Gino Fish and his current pretty-boy doorkeeper, and some fairly intense action scenes. All in all, a fine way to spend another couple hours in Paradise.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've been missing members of the "Parker family" so I was pleasantly surprised to find the latest Jesse Stonebook, Damned If You Do, on my porch Saturday and dug right into it. I finished it in one sitting. I was not disappointed. Jesse ruffles a lot of feathers and gets a scary dude out to kill him while trying to solve the murder of a young prostitute. It's a typical Jesse Stone story, with appearances by Inspector Healy, Gino Fish, and his therapist Dix. I think Michael Brandman has a good handle on Jesse, and he should since he's been involved in the tv movies. The only problem I had with this one is that it seemed like Jesse was a little moretalkative than normal, but a small problem at that. All in all another good Jesse Stone tale and one I'd highly recommend if you're a Parker and/or Jesse Stone fan.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It is always a concern when a new writer takes on a known (and beloved) series. Although I didn't read all of the Robert B. Parker Jesse Stone novels, I was a huge fan of the Spenser series. I was therefore happy that Michael Brandman's take on Jesse Stone was quite a smooth transition. In some ways, it seemed too simplistic -- I feel like I zipped through two entirely different story lines. And yet that was part of Parker's gift, wasn't it? So even though it wasn't the weightiest of novels, it was more than enough to hold my attention. And I didn't feel that I was shortchanged in any way. The characters were intriguing, there were complex emotions involved, and the dialogue was, I would say, trademark Parker, humor and all. There was one false note for me -- I couldn't entirely see Jesse Stone turning a blind eye entirely to something that happened at the very end of the book, but it didn't detract enough from my enjoyment of the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very enjoyable. Michael Brandman does an excellent job taking over for Robert Parker. Brandman and Ace Atkins (Spencer) are keeping 2 great series alive.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have enjoyed the Jesse Stone novels since Mr. Parker started the series. Have also enjoyed the movies, love the way Jesse Stone is played by Tom Selleck. Reading the latest installment, :Damned if You Do", I could almost feel Robert B. Parker writing the novel, and I could see Tom Selleck playing Jesse Stone!Great read, don't want to miss this one. I know it is almost the end of summer, but this is a great beach read!!!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    When I read Michael Brandman’s first attempt to continue the late Robert B. Parker’s series about Jesse Stone and the Paradise Police Department, I felt like the characters had been possessed by aliens, and the dialogue was as subtly “wrong” as a red ace of spades. Damned If You Do, the third Brandman-as-Parker outing, feels exactly the same way. Then, I was willing to believe that Brandman might just need time to “get” Parker’s unique, deceptively simple rhythms. Now, I have to conclude that he’s never going to get them. Damned If You Do also, however, fails at an even more basic level: It offers two intertwined plotlines, and neither one of them works well. “Justice for a dead girl,” which drives Jesse’s search for the murderer of a young prostitute, is an evergreen mystery-story plot, but everything about this iteration of it feels perfunctory and forced. Jesse has no connection to the victim (and only an arbitrary one to her mother); other characters tell him, for no apparent reason, nearly everything he needs to know to solve the mystery; and – in a thoroughly unbelievable climax – they, not he, bring closure to the case. Jesse is more active in, and more plausibly connected to, a second case involving a local nursing home whose profit-hungry corporate masters allow patients (including one of Jesse’s friends) to suffer. Brandman earns his emotional responses here, Jesse’s rage is both palpable and believable, and his actual solution is satisfying. The emotional impact of the story is constantly dissipated, however, by extended info-dumps and unmotivated eruptions of violence.When the violence in a mystery novel seems to have been inserted because the author felt like his hero ought to get a chance to hit somebody before the book ends, something’s off. Damned if You Do is, in the end, “off” far more than it’s on. Accordingly, I’m done with the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have always preferred the Jesse Stone series over Spenser and was sad that the series never blossomed into many more books. The relationship between Jesse, the town council, and Suitcase and Molly was fun and often led to humorous exchanges between them. After Parker died the series was taken over by Michael Brandman who had been a writer and producer of the eponymous TV series. (Tom Selleck was really good, and I wish they would make more.) Brandman’s first venture into recreating Stone was not successful. This one is.Jesse investigates the murder of a young prostitute in a local motel while simultaneously looking into conditions at the local assisted living facility, Golden Horizons where his friend and former accountant is living.Increasingly, Baby Boomers are reaching the age where they need geriatric services such as alzheimer support and assisted living facilities. For those who have the traditional family with children and a spouse, there is usually someone to care, or, at least, look out for them. Unfortunately, those who opted to stay single or who have no relatives, often find themselves at the mercy of unscrupulous nursing home operators who have no problem bilking their savings and insurance while providing the bare minimum of services and no one is around to protest. Brandman has done a service by raising the issue in the context of a good mystery.The main plot turns on a war between two major crime groups for control of the prostitution business and the dead girl got caught in the crossfire enabling Jesse to unravel the scheme.Nicely read by James Naughton.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jesse Stone is a great character and I have read a few of the Robert B. Parker’s books. It is always difficult when another writer takes over a character made popular by another, and if one can get past picturing Tom Selleck (I’ve seen all the TV movies), then you will find this to be a pleasant fast-paced story. It is somewhat short and the mystery is not so mysterious but still entertaining.There are actually two stories; a murdered prostitute that Jesse thinks he knows and one about a nursing home that seems to be abusing their patients (one who is a friend of Jesses’). There isn’t character development as much as the reader should know the people of Paradise from previous novels. An easy and fun read.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Actual rating is 1.5 out of 5 stars.This baby was part of the “Fortunate Finds” section of the library. Which apparently means, they anticipate so many people wanting to read it that you aren’t allowed to renew it. Totally understandable, except that the book is not worth the paper it’s written on.This is the 12th book in the Jesse Stone series (I haven’t read any of the others) and Robert Parker was the original author. After he died, Michael Brandman wrote 3 books as part of the series going in a sort of, but not really ghost writing way. The writing was extremely juvenile, especially for the subject matter (prostitution, murder, etc.). I was not at all impressed. Damned If You Do actually turned me off of ever picking up another Jesse Stone novel, regardless of whether Brandman or Parker wrote it.The main character, Jesse Stone, was an idiot. He’s essentially Barney Fife, except he’s also a bully. He’s supposed to be the good guy, the one you’re rooting for, but all I could think whenever he was doing or saying anything is, “what a schmuck!” Threatening (mostly innocent) people for information on their guilty acquaintances is not something the actual police would do. Granted this takes place in a small town, but it’s still a butthead move.Some of the other characters probably would’ve been fine given more to do within the story. As it was, they were useless and a few were unnecessary altogether. At one point, Stone gets information from a nun (I honestly don’t remember her name — shocker!) and basically asks her out to dinner. Nothing is ever mentioned again about the dinner or the nun. Seriously?! I don’t need any romance in an action story, but don’t add unnecessary bits to the story and then never bring them up again.Speaking of action, this was seriously lacking from the story. There was no real build up to “action” sequences in the book. Then where you’re expecting action, there’s no change in pace from the rest of the book. I was actually bored through the climax and wrap up. Frankly, the only reason I finished Robert B. Parker’s Damned If You Do is because it fervently bothers me when I don’t finish a book.In case you’re still unsure of where I stand in this review (you shouldn’t be), I would not recommend Robert B. Parker’s Damned If You Do to anyone. It would be an absolute waste of your time. I already wasted mine; there’s no reason anyone else should.For more reviews, check out reviewsinapinch.wordpress.com today!