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Spenser is Fading Away

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Let me first say that I have read all the Spenser novels and the associated books. I have a solid grounding in "Spenser Lore". You really need to have that background to be able to understand and enjoy this book. If you tried to pick this up as your first entry into the Spenser world, you would probably be very confused, since so much of it relies on back story. Way back in the dawn of time, Susan ran off on Spenser. After great trials and tribulations they got back together again, but it has always gnawed at Spenser's psyche that it happened. He has dealt with MANY cheating spouses since then, but for whatever bizarre reason when this particular man comes into his office and tells Spenser of his adulterous wife, Spenser hits his breaking point. For whatever reason, it suddenly becomes the neon-bright symbol of the scar in his past. This then infects (ahem, affects) everything that goes on. Even though there are serious terrorist issues at work, and stories of FBI agents being compromised, Spenser pretty much ignores all of that end-of-the-world concern that would have Jack Bauer looking for someone to torture. Instead, Spenser meanders along, doing his usual stirring up the hornet's nest and sitting back to see what happens. I adore Spenser. I adore the series. I am very aware that Spenser by this point would be over seventy years old, that there are so many books out that it must be challenging for author Parker to come up with new sparse-but-snappy dialogue. I gave Parker great credit for his description of the "tarnished knights" protecting the lady who herself was slightly tarnished. Not too long ago Spenser would be a spot-free glowing boy scout and Susan his beacon of perfection. I like very much that the Spenser world is getting even a tiny glimmer of reality in it. I like the bright glints of wit. "Has Timmy fallen down a well?" Spenser asks of his pup. That being said, this is almost Spenser Lite. The plot is one of the mildest, simplest I've seen. It feels watered down. In another section a poem is hinted at, which I love, and then the book actually lays out the meaning and poem in great detail - as if we were too dense to "get" the reference on our own. The final resolution of the issue feels very wrong for MANY reasons which I can't go into here for spoiler reasons. What it really seems to be is that Parker isn't writing more Spenser novels as much as he is tidying up a few loose threads in preparation for Spenser to retire. I am very much in favor of wrapping things up neatly - but even so, a series as great as the Spenser series should go out with a strong, vibrant finish. Instead, it feels as if it is petering out with a tired sigh, which is a great shame. I would almost wish that Parker would decide "OK the next book will be Spenser's last" and give it a real full experience and give us that final memory with Spenser.

Didn't I read this four years ago?

Customer Rating:

I've read every Spenser novel, beginning when I was in high school in the '80s. I've reread a number of them. In the past decade, I've grown very bored of Spenser's new novels. I wonder if Dr. Parker isn't growing bored, as well. I rarely read the dialogue between Spenser and Susan. They love each other. They are hot for each other. They have complex emotions. They bore me. Spenser's supporting cast reads like a joint United Nations/Politically Correct Univ. task force on thuggery. Check 'em off: African American? CHECK. Italian-American? CHECK. Native American? CHECK. Latino? CHECK. Homosexual? CHECK. Each is aware of his group's stereotypes and the role he is to play in the UN/PCU exercise. The banter is dry and witty: think Oscar Wilde with a BowFlex and a shotgun. This novel, in particular seems as if it was written by cut-and-paste from all the other Spenser novels. There's no need for character development anymore, because the same characters (or archetypes) keep popping up. Each time a new Spenser novel comes out, I tell myself I won't read it. Invariably I do. I am assured of a speed read through a familiar plot, 30-40 pages of Spenser/Susan dialog I can skip, a few well-written scenes of violence, some food/alcohol references, and some knight errant meditations on the harshness of the world. I have avoided Dr. Parker's other series because his voice will always remind me of Spenser. And I want to remember the younger, MORE complex, MORE passionate, MORE violent Spenser, rather than his aging, tired self. Maybe it's time to send Spenser and Hawk off to the old thugs' home...

Now, Then - Never!	Customer Rating:
This is the first Parker book I have read and it will be the last. The author thinks he is witty - think again, arrogant maybe but not clever. The character development is weak and the plot even thinner. A total waste of time and money.

Great for travel; so so for the series

Customer Rating:

Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Hawk and the streets of Boston have been wonderful companions on long airplane flights over the years. Recently I spent 20 hours traveling and read a biography of Cleopatra, a history of Google, and a fable about an Alchemist. Each took a bit of concentrated reading, but the short punchy sections in Now and Then were perfect for those short waits while boarding, taking off and landing. Spenser still has good punches -- albeit most of them in this novel on the punching bag -- and I found the novel well below Parker's average. Spenser's motivation in seeking revenge for a killing of a client revolves around Susan's affair years before while they were married, but even Hawk can't work out Spenser's real motivation. The joke about a "village" in California gets a real workout. It may be time for Spenser to retire and leave the streets of Boston to Hawk. There are moments the dialog sparkles: "[t]he fact you talk funny, it is good now and then to be reminded you are not just another jerk from Yale. ... "Dear boy," he said. "There are no jerks from Yale." "Never?" I said. Ives continued to smile. "Well," he said, "Hardly ever." And, I liked the recipe for pasta: "I mixed bread crumbs and pignolia nuts with a little olive oil and began to toast them in a fry pan on low. ... I took the fry pan off the fire and emptied the toasted bread crumbs into a bowl. I had a large pot of water boiling on the stove. I put some whole-wheat linguine in it and set my timer. ... After the pasta had cooked for three minutes I added slices of yellow squash and zucchini. ... The timer sounded. I poured the pasta and vegetables into a colander and let them drain for a moment. ... I put the pasta and vegetables in a bowl, added the toasted crumbs, pignolias, and some grated cheese. I tossed it all with a splash of olive oil." While he's cooking Spenser and Susan discuss his motivation for seeking revenge for the umpteenth time. I could taste the pasta and the sauvignon blanc that went with the dinner. Frankly, that imagined meal was the best part of the book for me. Robert C. Ross 2008

SPENSER AND HAWK AND VINNIE AND CHOLO

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The four musketeers ride again! Yes, I got carried away, but this foursome is fearsome and Vinnie, a hired gun, will shoot anything that moves if he doesn't understand it. Cholo, another hired gun, is a bit slower to 'ace' people, but not by much. As Hawk says to Spenser at one point, "That's all we need", meaning just himself and Spenser, but as this case turns out all four guns come in very handy. After 50 some books from Mr. Parker one would think he might run out of new and interesting plots, yet this book shows that not to be true. Through 60 plus chapters the beat goes on giving us a Spenser who wants to even things out concerning a husband and wife murder. But it isn't that simple as the deceased marital problems have an all too familiar ring to what Spenser and Susan experienced 20 years before. All this comes rushing back to them with uncomfortable nearness. And then there is Perry Alderson, just what is Spenser to do about him? Other than too many "I said", "he said", and "she said", usages in their conversations, this is a very good and interesting crime novel. Not as violent as some Spenser crime novels, but more intricate using both Boston Police and F.B.I., with Cleveland, Ohio, and Erie, Pa., police involved as well. Great plotting and great reading from the one and only, Robert B. Parker. Semper Fi.