I just finished watching the whole Jesse Stone series of shows. They are pretty good. I'm a big fan of Tom Selleck. They are great for the 1911 lovers, since he predominantly uses one in every episode but what I was impressed with was how adept he appeared when using it. His technique and control appeared to be very well practiced. Anyway, if you haven't seen them, you definitely should. My only gripe...he should switch to a wheel gun!!

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

I have seen a few of them and they are pretty good. He can't use a wheel gun as he always had a 1911 in Magnum PI

What's he gonna use in his new show coming up. Chief of Police or something.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I thought he used a wheel gun in one of the Stone movies when he supposedly injured his right hand . . . .

Yeah, I think he switched to a revolver temporarily. IIRC someone suggested an ambidextrous safety for his 1911 but he didn't trust it.

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

One of my favorite series, too.
The latest one will be on Netflix very soon.


wyo-man

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Live free or die

I like them also.

Could somebody please list the titles of the Jesse Stone movies?

I've seen 2 on TV, both were VERY good.

And I'm a BIG Tom Sellek fan; I'd love to see more of them.

Also who wrote the books they are based on?

Many thanks!

The late Robert B. Parker wrote the series.

I'd like to see a list of the movies also. Have a couple DVDs, like to get more.

1. Stone Cold 2005
2. Jesse Stone: Night Passage 2006
3. Jesse Stone: Death In Paradise 2006
4. Jesse Stone: Sea Change 2007
5. Jesse Stone: Thin Ice 2009
6. Jesse Stone: No Remorse 2010
7. Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost 2010

Great series.

My wife and I like the series too. We just watched "Night Passage" again last night.

Selleck is good and the supporting cast of the movies are generally good actors too.

Stephen McHattie, who plays a head honcho from the State Police in several of the films, has a great face for a cop or a crook IMO. I first noticed him in a Canadian cop show, "Cold Squad" that is on one of our local channels.

I agree with the statements that I've read. The Jesse Stone series is outstanding! From the supporting cast to the settings...the Master Actor Selleck is simply TOPS!
I'm not sure who does the music score...haven't seen an episode in a while, but it is fantastic also!
Now that Mr. Robert B. Parker has passed on, does anyone have any idea how many more books are in the series? This is a series I'd watch anytime it airs, how bout you guys?
Regards,
dakasat

Tom Selleck is one of my favorite actors also. As far as gun handling goes he's on the Board of Directors for NRA. Plus he's a great trap shooter. He should know how to handle a gun.

Amazon doesn't list any more novels with publication dates. I suspect that is all there is.

The final movie left us with a cliff hanger, a series is not possible with Selleck committed to a different project, previews say it's a rehash of an old idea that has failed at least twice before, so it will be about 11 weeks before Selleck is available again. But I don't know if Jessie Stone could be made into a good weekly series.

Geoff
Who would not bet on anything.

Many thanks for the information!

I had no idea there were that many; I've only seen two of them. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of them.

My wife has bought the first six. Thanks for that listings. Now she is looking for the seventh.
Is it just me? I think I said this on another thread on this or another site. That background music: It along with the mostly filmed in the dark scenes personaly make me feel like I am liveing in a dream, or sort of like I have experianced when I have been knocked out and fighting to regain conciousness.

feralmerrill, you said it! All the folks that worked on this series really had it down, didn't they!?! I wanna see if there is a soundtrack (for sale) to this series...
dakasat

I got all but the last one on ebay for under $50

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

Sound track SOLD OUT

Varese Sarabande Product Details


two on ebay $189-229

Just joining the prevailing opinion on both Selleck -- good in anything he does -- and the Jesse Stone series. I haven't seen them all, but have liked the ones I did. I will catch the rest as time goes by. Selleck would do better to make one or two Stone movies a year and let the series commitment slide.

A standalone Selleck movie I liked a lot is Reversible Errors, where he plays a cop who years earlier arrested the wrong guy for the central crime in the story and can't believe it until late in the game. Lots of other first rate actors, too, in a tale about people who make bad professional choices and then have to come to terms with them. The book it's based on was also good -- by Scott Turow, who does legal procedurals as well as anybody and way better than most.

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David Wilson

In the books, Stone used a snub S&W .38. I just finished reading the last, Split Image.

I hope to see one last Spenser book. Don't know what the publisher had on hand when Parker died earlier this year.

T-Star

Amazon.com: jesse stone series: Books

At least I have two more books to read.

Geoff
Who needs authors younger than himself.

As I recall, the 6th and 7th Stone films, both done in 2010, were shot together with the 6th released earlier this year and the last one some time late this year or early next year.

All of them were shot near Vancouver, BC.

The 6th one was cowritten by Selleck and was the only one thus far not based on a Parker book but rather just the Stone character.

Has the "Innocents Lost" movie been aired? I have all of them except that one, and I agree that they are a good way to spend time watching them.

I'm a big fan as well...I think I have them all (at least those released) on DVD...if you have a Menard's nearby, they go on sale there from time to time for about $9.99 or less...
Bill

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Fast is Fine Accuracy is Final

...hopefully there will be at least a few more...
Bill

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Fast is Fine Accuracy is Final

To answer some of the questions...

The music score in all of the Jesse Stone movies is done by American composer, Jeff Beal. He also did the music in another Robert B. Parker novel turned movie, Appaloosa starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. Awesome movie.

I doubt if RBP wrote another Jesse Stone novel after Split Image. I wish he did, but chances are, he didn't. He did write one more Spenser novel, Painted Ladies which is due out in early October.

In the books, Jesse Stone does carry a Smith & Wesson short barreled .38. That's all Parker describes it as. He doesn't say what model exactly, but I'm thinking that he does mention "Chief's Special" once or twice.

In the movies, Tom Selleck carries a Smith & Wesson Gunsite edition 1911 in a Galco Yaqui slide holster as well as a Galco "MFP" mag/flashlight combo pouch, holding a spare mag and a Surefire 6P flashlight. I carry the same pouch and I gotta say, it's the best Galco product I have ever owned.

Yeah...I've read every single RBP novel at least once. Most of them several times. I own the entire Jesse Stone library. Having never read a book (without pictures ) entirely from cover to cover, this says alot.

When I watched Stone Cold for the very first time, I was so taken by it, that when I found out it was based on a book, I went to my local library and read it. I've been hooked on Mr. Parker's stuff ever since.

While the Jesse Stone novels are excellent, like the Spenser novels, you guys really owe it to yourselves to check out some more of RBP's stuff like the Sunny Randall series. He also wrote All Our Yesterdays. It's about three generations of crooked Irish cops in Boston.

He also wrote Double Play which is a story about a WWII Marine veteran who gets shot up at Guadalcanal and returns home. While he was in the hospital, his wife left him so he takes a job as a bodyguard for Jackie Robinson. Incredible book!

For more info about my beloved RBP, go to www.robertbparker.net

The Sunny books are good, and I was glad to see Sunny finally wind up with Stone in the final Stone novel, which I just read. Stone finally shook his attachment to his ex-wife, who apparently left him for good. It was high time that both moved on; same with Sunny Randall, from her ex.

T-Star

I wonder if RBP planned on it ending thataway, or (if he would have lived) if he would have broke Jesse and Sunny up again and sent them back to their respective ex's?

Sad that it all ended and we'll never know.

Wow! Thanks for all the great information!

I have put in requests for several RBP books with my library.

While I normally read Sci Fi, I have been reading more mystery of late, simply because I cannot find Sci Fi that I really like. I have found that I really like mystery novels, if they are well written.

It's nice to have Selleck's character fixed in my mind for Jesse Stone: when I read the books, I'll be picturing Tom Selleck saying and doing what's in the books!

I have a special place in my heart for Robert Parker. It was his Spenser books that got me in to reading for pleasure. An uncle of mine introduced me to it. Before that I just read what I had to.

I've read everything he has written and was saddened to hear of his passing. I also like the Stone, Randall and also the old west series of books, one of which was made in to a movie, Appaloosa.

I have to say, though, that every book he writes has the same character with the same set of moral codes. That's fine and all but it did get a little tiring.

I have not seen any of the Stone movies but will eventually. I like Selleck and think he was perfectly cast for the role, though he is quite a bit older than the character. The only bit of one of the movies I saw was a bit disappointing. They changed the race of Molly, his assistant and front desk officer. I guess they felt they needed to for the movie but if you read that character, it just didn't fit. Don't know if they kept that up all the way through the rest of the movies.

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All Rights Reserved

RBP literally taught me how to read. Like I said before, I never read a book (without pictures ) in my entire life until I picked up one of Parker's. To me, they are a simple read. Kinda like The Cat In The Hat or something. A good 70% of his writing is a conversation between two or more people. His dialogue is outstanding and he can describe a person in a single sentence.

I was also taken back by Molly's character in the movies, played by Viola Davis. While she is a charming woman and a very gifted actress, she's no white, blonde Irish Catholic mother of four.

Oh well. She only stars in Stone Cold, Night Passage and a small cameo in Sea Change which introduces us to "Rose" who is played by award winning actress Kathy Baker. What's funny is that there is never a character by the name of "Rose" in any of the Jesse Stone books. However, Sunny Randall has a miniture bull terrier named "Rosie" which was based on Joan Parker's (RBP'S widow) own miniture bull terrier. In the books, Rosie gets referred to as a possum or an aardvark several times.

Sadly, Rosie passed on last year and RBP made a point in Split Image to also write that Sunny's Rosie passed as well.

I think that this thread is proff that we Gun guys share alot more than just an interest in Iron. Wonder if RBP was a gun guy?
I sure hope that this series continues!
RIP RBP...

I understand that Parker did have a Mass. carry permit, and as time went by, he gave Spenser more likely guns. Those used by Hawk were largely large and flashy, in keeping with his disgusting employment of intmidating people when he wasn't helping Spenser. I never cared for Hawk, and thought that Susan was a prissy woman a little too full of herself.

But the books clicked, anyway, although I felt that there was too much psychoanalysis needed by some characters.
The guns were always real types, valid in their roles.

Those who liked the various Parker series may enjoy the books by C.J. Box, about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. Joe has evolved a little since the first books, and is now pretty believable, and I like his family. www.cjbox.net

I also like the Jade del Cameron books by Suzanne Arrruda, who I know. Actually, she has been kind enough to credit me in the Acknowledgements of the last two Jade books as being her firearms advisor. I like the gun choices in her new book (out this month) "The Crocodile's Last Embrace." I gave her a spare copy of John Taylor's, "African Rifles and Cartridges", which she seems to have found very useful. However, I suggested that Jade carry a .275 Rigby, and Mrs. Arruda insisted on a Winchester, to emphasize that Jade is American. I wanted enough power to be reasonably useful, without the limitations of the .405. And the ammo had to be easily available in Nairobi in the 1920's. We settled on a M-95 in .303 British.

Jade carries a hunting knife in her boot, and I suggested a Marble's Ideal, but the author wanted it to be handmade on Jade's father's ranch in New Mexico. That's plausible, too. If anyone is curious, I'll tell you which rifles other characters carry. Jade's boyfriend Sam has a Colt New Service .45.

Jade is a friend of a couple of British nobles, Lord and Lady Dunbury, who invited her to live with them in colonial Kenya after WW I, in which she and Bev Dunbury, her best friend, drove ambulances in France. She solves mysteries, including poaching and murders. These are good books. I suspect that most of her readers are female, but she writes well enough to retain interest by men who like the African setting in those days, and she does a lot of research.

Here's her site, which will also discuss the new book. In fact, there's an excerpt from the first chapter there. www.suzannearruda.com Her husband Joe did the site design. The Arrudas are college professors, but Suzanne got intrigued with the Tarzan books at an early age, worked in a zoo, and likes animals. Her books are well worth seeking out. Barnes & Noble carries them, as do many independent booksellers who specialize in mystery titles. In the Dallas area, Legacy Books in Plano has them, as well as B&N stores. (I met the Arrudas at Legacy Books, during a signing last year, although we had already corresponded.)

And I loved the Modesty Blaise books. If you can find any, they're terrific. Modesty has sort of a cult following in the US, and fans tend to snap up the books if they're found in used book stores. No new ones have appeared since 1996, when the author retired. If you Search for Modesty, you'll find plenty on her. A comic strip also featured her, in about 54 countries. Only one US newspaper ran the strips, which were considered too racy for most US households. And the foreign settings probably didn't appeal to the average US comics fan.
The guns in the novels were probably the best assortment for the circumstances and characters that I've ever seen in a mystery series. Ask me, if you want details, but we probably should begin a new thread for that. I hope that I haven't overstepped by putting all of this stuff in the present topic.

T-Star

Living in Massachusetts, it's probably a little tougher to be a gun guy than in other parts of the world, but he must have been, because he sure knew his weapons.

Some of the types of weapons that appeared in his books on a regular basis are as follows. And this is just off the top of my head; guns I remember seeing in print over the last 5 years of reading basically nothing but RBP novels.

A short barreled Smith & Wesson .38. This revolver shows up in Mr. Parker's writings more than any other. It is the weapon of choice favorored by ALL THREE of his most famous characters; Spenser, Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall. All three of them tote the infamous short barreled .38. While RBP never really gives us a model of the snubbie, I do recall reading a refference to a "Chief's Special" a time or two.

Browning Hi-Power. Occasionally Spenser (never call him "Spence") will tote one of these in lieu of his .38 Special. Jesse Stone also carried one and shot Macklin with it in Trouble In Paradise.

Glock 9mm. Again, we don't know if it's a model 17 or 19 or even the model 34 or 18. If it was the model 18, I'm sure he would say something about it being full auto. I'm guessing it's usually a model 19 when he mentions it. It's usually a bad guy who carries the Glock 9mm. Gus Sheridan (All Our Yesterdays) was a cop...albeit a cop on the take, but he favors one. Big time bad guy Wilson "Crow" Cromartie (Trouble In Paradise/Stranger In Paradise) along with Terry Nee (Family Honor) and a few other nameless bad guys carried Glock 9mms as well.

Army issue .45. Again, spenser has been known to carry one of these every now and then, but he claims they are too heavy. Spike (Sunny Randall's buddy and confidant) likes ol' slabsides and so does Joseph Burke (Double Play).

.44 Magnum. Spenser's right hand man Hawk lugs one of these around (a six incher) in damn near every one of the novels he appears in. He also favors a short, double barreled scattergun for when things really heat up.

10 gauge double barreled sawed off shotgun. Sunny Randall uses one of these to kill an intruder and protect her and Milicent Patton from the other one until the cops show up in Family Honor. She keeps it in the closet by the front door. Her dad, Phil Randall, retired Boston PD, took it off a bad guy back in the day and gave it to her.

8 gauge shotgun. Everett Hitch (Appaloosa/Resolution/Brimstone/Blue-eyed Devil) carries this massive scattergun that he got when he rode for Wells Fargo with him everywhere. It's almost like a seperate character what with all the recognition it gets in the books. RBP also mentions Colts and Winchesters aplenty, in use by both friend and foe.

.40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol. Jesse Stone is on the range shooting one of these in Stranger In Paradise at the Paradise gun club. I'm guessing it's a model 4006, but RBP never says. Wilson "Crow" Cromartie approaches him and is invited by Jesse to shoot with him if he wants to. Crow gives Jesse some spill about how it's illegal to possess a gun without a permit and he asks if he can borrow one from Jesse. Jesse remarks "you would have a gun with you in the shower" and tells him he has his permission to shoot with him. They shoot together, neither one of them completely emptying their weapons, not trusting each other.

Mr. Parker also writes about a host of other various weaponry in all of his novels. So yeah, I'd say he definitely knew his ordinance.

Uh, that's "ordnance", not "ordinance", which is a law. And I think that Hawk had a Python sometimes, a long-barrelled nickel one. I'm almost sure that he did in the TV show, too, "Spenser For Hire", where Robert Urich as Spenser had a 9mm Beretta. But I don't recall the Beretta in the books. You know how TV is...

That was a really good summary. Oh: in the first books, Spenser had a snub .32 revolver. I doubt that Parker knew much about guns at that time. And he hunted with a S&W 12 gauge pump in a book or two, I think.

T-Star

I could see Hawk with a Python. I don't think RBP ever mentions a brand, he just says a big .44 Magnum in a shoulder holster.

In some of the earlier books (I'm reading Looking For Rachael Wallace as we speak) Spenser carries a Smith & Wesson .38 Police Special with a four inch barrel. I'm guessing a model 10.