I have a signed copy of Laguna Heat, T. Jefferson Parker’s first mystery novel. It was a gift from a friend. My wife and I were living not far from Laguna at the time and it was a huge treat to receive the book. Everyone in Orange County was talking about it.A few years later I met Parker when he was a speaker at an unusual college course on forensic science. In class, Parker talked about his book, his background as a newspaper reporter and some of the details of writing a good mystery story.Here’s Parker’s first sentence in Laguna Heat: “A perfect morning in a city of perfect mornings; an artist would have worked, a god would have rested.” On his blog he says he was proud of that sentence. But it was the next two Silent Joesentences, especially the metaphor at the end, that I remember: “The convertible slowed as it approached the stables, then pounced from the road onto a gravel driveway. Its headlights swung left-to-right, acute angles filling with dust, while gravel popped under the tires like grease in a skillet.” Laguna Heat was a hit. It became a TV movie starring Harry Hamlin, Jason Robards and Rip Torn. Parker’s career was set. Since that time, he’s written 20 novels and picked up three Edgar awards. Silent Joe earned Parker his first Edgar in 2000 and it does not take a detective to see why the first-person novel about “acid baby” Joe won the award. If you’re looking for a place to acquire a taste for T. Jefferson, this is a good starting point.Joe Trona is a 24-year-old Orange County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to jail duty. Many evenings, he serves as driver and often guard for his adopted father Will, a kind-hearted but dishonest county supervisor. The extent of his dishonesty, albeit with mostly good intentions, is exposed slowly to Joe throughout the novel. One evening as Joe is escorting his father Will on an errand that includes rescuing a young girl who apparently has been kidnapped, Will is trapped and murdered in an alley while Joe looks on, unable to dispatch all of his father’s attackers.The balance of the book is Joe’s search for Will Trona’s killers. Along the way, Joe revisits his painful past. His birth father poured acid on Joe’s face when he was a baby, forever scaring him. Five years, later Will adopted Joe from an orphanage, an act of kindness that Joe has never forgotten. When he grew up, Joe went into law enforcement.When possible, Joe wears a hat pulled low over his face. Parker’s description of Joe’s face makes him sound somewhat like the phantom of the opera.Double-dealing Orange County politics forms the background for the story. A rich developer and his psycho son, a county department head on the take, the county’s premier televangelist, an odd assortment of inmates and other crooks plus members of Joe’s unusual family populate the novel. But Joe is the star.He’s a tough cop. He’s muscular and works out regularly, knows how to handle himself and is a skilled marksman. As a result, this could be a Rambo type story with a hard-ass tough-guy protagonist bent on revenge, but Joe is a complex character and the complications in his life lift this story to surprising and rewarding heights.I marveled at Parker’s creation and wondered if other readers–or reviewers–recognized the subtle, elusive nuances I sensed in Joe. Bill Sheehan, a Barnes and Noble reviewer, said Joe was an “evolving protagonist with love and loyalty issues.” Some reviewers referred to Joe’s intelligence. He is smart and has an eidetic memory. He recalls everything he sees and hears.But there’s more to Joe. He’s polite–not smart-alecky–and doesn’t swear. He’s slow and introspective; his scars are not just on his face. One reviewer said Joe was “hesitant.” The voice Parker gave Joe, however, is unique in a way that makes other “unique” voices in fiction sound commonplace.Silent Joe gets more gritty and compelling as it goes along. Joe learns more about his suspects, his parents and himself. He exchanges barbs with the sadistic jail inmates and also falls in love.Parker keeps up the pace using staccato sentences and fragments to move the action swiftly in some scenes. He doesn’t neglect metaphors, either. Explaining rush hour traffic he says, “But cars on Orange County freeways at six o’clock move about as fast as cars on showroom floors.”The novel’s supporting cast–particularly the jail prisoners–from the crazy biker who carried the head of a victim around in a pillowcase tied to his hog for a week to a former assistant DA who planned to go to Tahiti with his family when he got out, fills the story of Joe’s life with fascinating details.Toward the end of the book, Joe talks to one of his father’s friends, or more appropriately, acquaintances. After the meeting, Joe summarizes his situation and reviews his father’s oft-repeated advice that was possibly Joe’s nascent philosophy: “The idea struck me that I was inheriting my father’s friends, as well as his enemies. I just wasn’t positive which was which. I wondered if Will was. You only had to be wrong once. “Love a lot. Trust few.”
Silent Joe is an intense novel. Joe really isn't all that silent, but he is one of the most interesting characters I've read in a long, long time. As an infant, Joe's biological father threw acid on his face and his mother deserted him. Joe is scarred for life. He is adopted by an Orange County sheriff's deputy who eventually becomes a county supervisor. As an adult, Joe becomes his driver whenever his adopted father needs some protection. And, early in the book, Joe is present when his adopted father is murdered. He quickly uncovers a number of dirty deals, blackmail, and other schemes. Here's where the novel gets GOOD-- not so much in the mystery, some of which is predictable-- but in the characterization. Joe uncovers the dirt his father was into, but continues to worship the memory of the man. Meanwhile, he struggles with daily humiliation over his appearance, wears a hat with the brim pulled down over his face as much as possible, and always speaks with impeccable manners. He doesn't say a lot, but what he does say has impact. While he investigates the murder, seeking justice, the reader is treated to in-depth insight into the emotions of this tormented, scarred man, who by all rights should have been bitter-- but instead becomes a man with a kind heart. He deals with meeting his biological dad who wants forgiveness, and here the author deals with forgiveness on a human level with genuine pathos. The mystery is still pretty good, though. A few twist and turns and Joe is clever enough to put together a splash of clues, some bluff and bluster, until he builds a case against the responsible party for his father's death.. All of this while finding a kidnapped girl that is strongly connnected. First class story telling-- careful plotting, and intense emotion make this a classy book that was well worth the time it took to read!
What do You think about Silent Joe (2001)?
I just can't go higher than three stars here. And this was an Edgar Award winner? My first exposure to author T. Jefferson Parker and his cliched characterizations hasn't compelled me to check into any of his series, but don't let that stop you from enjoying a nice "beach read." Joe Trona (the Silent Joe of title) is quite the composite character, unbelievably possessed of awesome martial arts/grappling skills (which he never really unleashes on the badguys), high-speed/performance driving acumen, an eidetic memory, extensive firearms knowledge, and an intense respect for his adoptive father -- a man who doesn't do much to hide his bribery, extortion, and philandering from his impressionable son. Whoa. Just too much. And I think your appreciation of this book will be linked to the degree of concern you develop for Joe's ultimate meeting with his true family origin. I found all of Parker's beautiful writing that stretched this theme out to almost 400 pages merely a hindrance. It was sweet at times, but I wanted to take a shower in the blood of supreme revenge. If nothing else, the story makes a well-plotted attempt at building up to this eventuality. Alas, there's hardly a spurt.
—Kurt
I had somehow missed hearing of T. Jefferson Parker until I saw that he had won the Edgar for Best Novel not once, but twice. The first, in 2002, was for Silent Joe. It's a standalone novel of Orange County, California, and one thing that came immediately to mind as I read it was "No wonder they went bankrupt!" The Orange County of Parker's book (and evidently this is his preferred setting) is rife with political corruption, greedy developers, racial tension, gang violence, and people with secrets. In a way, this is a coming-of-age novel -- a genre I've grown to dislike immensely. But in Parker's hands, with the added attraction of a mystery to solve, it's more than just bearable. Silent Joe Trona, the narrator and protagonist, is a young man who grew up burdened with a horribly disfigured face, the result of his father throwing acid at him when he was a baby. After spending the first five years of his life in a very nice orphanage, Joe is adopted by Will and Mary Ann Trona and learns what a happy childhood can be. Will was originally a sheriff's deputy (with a wealthy wife) and later becomes a county supervisor. Joe has followed in his footsteps and works in the county jail by day, but nearly every night he acts as a combination chauffeur and bodyguard for his father. There is a lot of moral ambiguity involved here as Joe sees money changing hands, evidence that Will is cheating on Mary Ann, and other odd things -- and yet he still hero-worships his father. One night they are trying to retrieve a kidnapped child and things go horribly wrong; Joe spends the rest of the book trying to solve his father's murder and makes some surprising discoveries along the way.Plot, setting, and character - this book has it all and was richly deserving of its award. It won't be long in my project to read all the Edgar Best Novel winners till I'll be reading Parker's second winner, California Girl and I am looking forward to it. But I must say that, based on this novel, Parker's Orange County is a place I will visit every now and then, but I wouldn't want to read several of his books in quick succession.
—Nikki
I love this book. I have read it many times over the years and each time I get something new from it. The book is told from Joe’s POV and the reader is carried along with him as he learns about his father, his past and ultimately about himself. At the start of the book he has a blind, total love for his father and by the end he still loves his father but has a much greater understanding of him as a man and as a consequence a greater understanding of himself. I loved Joe’s awkwardness, his vulnerabilities and his intelligence. It goes without saying that the writing is excellent and the story-telling is fantastic, but what stays longest with me is Joe, who may be quiet but is not silent by any means.
—Carol
