THE BITTEREST PILL by Reed Farrel Coleman (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, September 2019) Hardcover, 353 pages. ISBN #0399574972 / 9780399574979 (Jesse Stone series #18, Coleman’s Jesse Stone #6)
Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .
The opioid epidemic has reached Paradise, and Police Chief Jesse Stone must rush to stop the devastation in the latest thriller in Robert B. Parker's New York Times-bestselling series.
When a popular high school cheerleader dies of a suspected heroin overdose, it becomes clear that the opioid epidemic has spread even to the idyllic town of Paradise. It will be up to police chief Jesse Stone to unravel the supply chain and unmask the criminals behind it, and the investigation has a clear epicenter: Paradise High School. Home of the town's best and brightest future leaders and its most vulnerable down-and-out teens, it's a rich and bottomless market for dealers out of Boston looking to expand into the suburbs.
But when it comes to drugs, the very people Jesse is trying to protect are often those with the most to lose. As he digs deeper into the case, he finds himself battling self-interested administrators, reluctant teachers, distrustful schoolkids, and overprotective parents . . . and at the end of the line are the true bad guys, the ones with a lucrative business they'd kill to protect.
My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
I have not read any of the late Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone novels, so I can't compare Reed Farrel Coleman's version of the character and evaluate how true to the original it is or isn't. However, there's enough to appreciate here to encourage me to read more of Coleman's work with this character.
The novel moves quickly in short chapters that shift in points-of-view, something that I've come to like. The Bitterest Pill reads like a straight police procedural in some ways. Yet, Farrel's characterization and insights into these characters are what makes it hum, including the engaging dialogue.
The events seem extremely realistic, and help shine a spotlight on an incredibly damaging drug problem that no community is immune to. High schools in particular seem vulnerable, with the number of sports injuries and doctors all too willing to prescribe opioids to soothe the pain - - the beginning of the problem.
I would rate this five stars if not for one particular situation where I believe Coleman has cheated the readers. While it appears obvious that a particular character had a role in the spread of drugs throughout the high school, the guilty party seems to emerge out of left field. I can't remember any prior scenes with that character - - so readers were never given a chance to evaluate their complicity or innocence.
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