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A review of Shrink Rap

by Robert B. Parker

Detective Sonya "Sunny" Randall guards a best-selling novelist from her ex-husband, who is stalking her

Reviewed by: Michael J. Griffin
About Michael J. Griffin

Shrink Rap The first time I ever read Robert B. Parker was in 1995, when my friend Duncan gave me a strong recommendation for his books. I was working at Barnes & Noble and was able to get a cover-tear of "Looking For Rachel Wallace." It was a Spenser novel, and after I finished it, I used my employee discount to buy every Parker book I could find over the next three months.

After I had gotten used to Spenser, Parker's wisecracking detective, Parker began writing books revolving around Jesse Stone, a little more laconic version of Spenser. I bought those books too.

Then came Sunny Randall. A woman? Could Parker, who usually had his characters solve things with their hands and guns, sometimes using both at the same time, write from a believable woman's point of view? Would I be picturing Spenser in a wig instead, something out of a really bad beer commercial?

I found myself very pleasantly surprised in the first two installments, "Family Honor" and "Perish Twice". Randall is a tough woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind, but she also shows her feminine side from time to time. Parker didn't disappoint in "Shrink Rap", his third Randall novel.

Randall, a detective who is divorced from her husband but both are not over each other, takes on a job being a bodyguard for Melanie Joan Hall, a best-selling romance novelist. Hall is going on a book tour, and her former husband is stalking her. Randall is supposed to deter John Melvin, the ex-husband from doing this. Of course this is not as easy as it should be.

The first problem is that Melvin is a psychotherapist, and thus can manipulate Hall into nearly passing out from hysteria at the sight of him. The second problem is that while he does this, he does it in a way that won't violate any restraining orders on him. The third problem is that Randall won't get help from Richie, who is her ex-husband that has ties to the mob, Spike, a giant bear of a man who is Randall's best friend and happens to be 'gayer than toe shoes'. Nope. Randall is determined to do it all by herself.

So she does, and decides to stick her head into the lion's mouth. She dons a disguise and goes to visit Melvin as a patient. She's convinced that Melvin sleeps with all of his patients, because that was the way things started with Hall and Melvin before they got married. Randall consults with another psychotherapist before seeing Melvin to get an idea of his mindset, and to get to the bottom of this, she may have to do the most dangerous thing...offer herself as bait.

While I enjoyed this book thoroughly, there were times that I got impatient with how Melvin would be allowed to keep harassing his former wife. I did keep imagining how things would have been if Spenser had this case. It would probably have been a slim volume, since it probably would have involved Spenser going up to Melvin and threatening to break his bones. The End.

Parker has a good character in Randall that allows him to explore his sensitive side. I hope he continues to write more Randall novels in the future. Though I wouldn't mind seeing a Spenser cameo in one.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Shrink Rap

Copyright © by Michael J. Griffin, 2002

Reviewed by Michael J. Griffin:
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