"Split Image" Is Two Novels In One

 

The late Robert B. Parker was one of America’s greatest mystery writers. He wrote in the tradition of Raymond Chandler, with quirky private eyes, sparkling dialogue and dry humor. In one of his last novels, “Split Image”, Parker pairs up two of his characters, Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone. They are both working on separate cases, as Sunny Randall is solving two murders at once, and Jesse Stone is trying to get a kid out of a weird cult. They both throughout the novel, report to eachother how their cases are going. They also start to see sparks fly, as they are both detectives who have things in common.

As usual, the book is fast paced with short chapters, and tons of dialogue. Parker sometimes had so much dialogue in his books that it shortens the amount of words on the page. This makes the pages fly by faster. Parker writes great sparkling dialogue, with a very dry wit. The mystery almost seems secondary to the characters and dialogue, but there is a mystery. In this case, two mysteries. Something James Patterson does a lot in his books. It can seem at times that Parker had two books that were too short, and threw them together. He saw an opportunity to not only throw these two plots together, but pair up two of his characters as well. 

The only thing that might link up the two mysteries was the weird amount of sex talk in these two cases. The two murders were linked to a pair of married twins who slept around, and the cult case was linked to a coverup of young girls being forced to sleep with the elders of the cult. At times, the sex talk in this novel got to be a bit much. Like too much. However, sometimes mysteries need a lurid detail to make them interesting. Plus, this one was a  romance between Randall and Stone, so I got it to an extent. There was also a subplot about Stone and Randall trying to figure out why their marriages didn’t work, and this is the novel’s connection to the Spencer universe, as Sunny Randall’s therapist is Susan, Spencer’s girlfriend.

All in all, “Split Image” is about what you would expect from a Robert B. Parker novel. Not bad, if a bit forgettable. The mysteries in Parker’s novels always felt secondary to his very good characters, and that’s not a bad thing. Parker was a master at the quirky dialogue and memorable characters, and used the mystery genre as a way to move his formula along. 

"365 Days to Alaska" is a Lovely Coming of Age Story

The first novel written by Cathy Carr, this story sets up a lovely coming of age story. 11 year old Rigel Herman is a girl who lives in Alaska, in a very off the grid environment. She calls her parents by their first names. She has two sisters, one older and one younger. She is very close to her father. When her parents divorce, she moves with her mom and sisters to Connecticut, setting up this fish out of water story. 

When she moves to Connecticut, she is reintroduced to the grandmother she hasn’t seen for many years. Her mother gets a new job as a house cleaner. Her older sister gets a boyfriend really fast. Her younger sister starts the first grade. Of course, all Rigel wants to do is go back to Alaska, where she can hang out with her dad as he chops wood and hunts possums. She has culture shock, and agrees with her dad that Connecticut is plastic and fake. 

Rigel is a pretty normal girl for her age. Unlike a lot of novels for younger readers these days, Carr doesn’t try to give Rigel anything out of the ordinary for the most part. However, she does add the charming element of Rigel’s love for animals, as Rigel makes friends with a crow in the parking lot of the school. She names the crow Blueberry. She feeds Blueberry apples and anything from her bagged lunch she feels would be good for a bird.

The subplot about Rigel and her love for Blueberry adds a charming element to the novel. She feels responsible for the little crow. She even goes to see Blueberry be released into the wild after he hurts his wing and goes to a wildlife rehabilitation center. As the novel goes on, Rigel makes friends with a couple other kids at the school, mostly the nerdy kids. However, she isn’t sold on Connecticut for most the book. She holds onto the promise her dad made that she could come back to Alaska if Connecticut didn't work out, but she had to give the place at least one year. 

As Rigel doesn’t want to admit it, she starts to make a life for herself in Connecticut, joining school clubs and embracing her new friends. Carr's debut novel is a good read for younger readers. It isn’t earth shattering. But enough for a young reader to relate to. Rigel is a realistic kid, which readers of a younger age group could relate to. All the things Rigel faces in this book are relatable for kid readers, as they aren’t too big but are big enough for a younger reader to relate to. I thought the point of a view of a kid from off the grid Alaska adjusting to suburban Connecticut was unique.