Product Description
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Tom Selleck returns as Paradise's anguished former Chief of
, Jesse Stone, in his most gripping mystery yet. Cindy Van
Aldan was like a daughter to Jesse. Now she's dead. Although all
signs point to a suicidal drug overdose-a checkered history
riddled with addiction, associations with homicidal mobsters and
an involvement in prostitution-Jesse knows his friend better than
that. This time it's personal, and Jesse will stop at nothing to
avenge the lost innocence and subsequent death of the young girl
he once mentored.
.com
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Though perhaps not as beloved as his Spenser novels, the series
of books Robert B. Parker wrote about Jesse Stone, the depressed,
alcoholic chief of a small Massachusetts seaside town,
earned him a similarly devoted following. CBS began adapting the
novels as a vehicle for Tom Selleck in 2005, closely following
Parker's formula and style, to the delight of many fans.
Innocents Lost is the seventh in the intermittent TV-movie series
(an eighth, Benefit of the Doubt, will appear in 2012) and the
third that features an original Jesse Stone story (cowritten by
Selleck) that is not directly based on a Parker novel. For those
just being introduced to Jesse Stone, starting out well into the
series with Innocents Lost may be slightly bewildering
considering the many multiple plot threads that have carried
through from the beginning. But the characters have a lot of
depth from the get-go, especially Selleck's Stone, who we quickly
discover has been forced out of his job as Paradise chief
and is not faring so well in the mental department. Though
the scenery of the fictional village is nothing but picturesque
(Halifax, Nova Scotia, stands in for the rocky Atlantic fishing
village of Paradise), the atmosphere is fairly gloomy throughout.
Jesse is doing his best to continue his ascent from a depression
and drinking problem that began years earlier after his divorce.
But even though he's often quick with a quip and carries the
charismatic appeal of Tom Selleck-ness wherever he goes, watching
Innocents Lost is not the way to spend an evening if you're
looking to cheer yourself up. Jesse is still friendly with his
former cop colleagues (the excellent Kathy Baker and Kohl
Sudduth), but not so much with the new chief, who's been
installed primarily based on nepotism (his her-in-law is the
president of the town council). He's also still doing some
contract work for the Massachusetts State homicide squad
and his pal Commander Healy (Stephen McHattie), is again palling
around with the shady underworld boss Gino Fish (William Sadler),
and is back talking to the grizzled psychotherapist Dr. Dix
(William Devane). All these excellent supporting character actors
add to the superb creative qualities of a story weaving two
mysteries that Jesse becomes involved with: the suspicious death
of a young girl he helped out a few years earlier, and the
questionable guilt of a Boston murder suspect that Healy believes
is being prosecuted in error. Jesse handily solves both cases,
but the successes do not make him any happier. Neither does a
casual affair with the gorgeous secretary of his pal and former
nemesis Hasty Hathaway (Gloria Reuben and Saul Rubinek, both also
first-rate). Even his loveable golden retriever Reggie can't snap
him out of his depressive fog. There's not a lot of action, but
there is a high level of dramatic integrity in the dialogue and
character interaction that will make fans eager for more
unpredictable exploits from Jesse Stone, both personally and
professionally. --Ted Fry