Helpful Score: 3
Another in the LOOOOONG series of Spenser novels by Robert Parker. It's fully as good as any of them. In this one, Hawk has been bushwacked and seriously injured. As he heals and slowly regains his strength, he and Spenser set out to find the people who did this to him and set things to right.
It involves rival ethnic gangs (Ukrainians!) and a variety of other interesting things (Afghan warlords, anyone?).
It has tight, crisp dialog--as all Parker books do--and speeds quickly to a satisfying conclusion. Recommended.
It involves rival ethnic gangs (Ukrainians!) and a variety of other interesting things (Afghan warlords, anyone?).
It has tight, crisp dialog--as all Parker books do--and speeds quickly to a satisfying conclusion. Recommended.
Helpful Score: 1
If you love detective type mysteries you will love this book.
Helpful Score: 1
Parker/Spenser fans will remember Small Vices (1997), wherein the Boston PI was shot nearly dead and his sidekick Hawk nursed him back to health. This strong new Spenser novel flips that scenario, with Hawk shot and Spenser helping him first to get better, then to take revenge. Their targets are Boots Podolak and his army of Ukrainian thugs who run the black/Hispanic Boston satellite city of Marshport. Their goal is more complicated than just vengeance, though. When Boots's henchmen shot Hawk, they also killed the man he was protecting--a rival of Boots--as well as the man's wife and two of his three children, and now Hawk wants not only to destroy Boots and his operation but to channel millions of Boots's money toward the surviving child. To get at Boots, Spenser and Hawk tap on several series regulars, most notably black gangster Tony Marcus, who is doing business with Boots, and the Gray Man, the assassin who nearly killed Spenser in Small Vices; meanwhile, Susan, Spenser's psychiatrist girlfriend, dispenses sage advice, but stays mostly in the background. The novel features a complicated plot, numerous tough guys and plenty of tension that builds to an (interestingly) off-page mano-à-mano shootout between Hawk and Boots. This isn't Parker's best, nor his best Spenser, and the novel has a slightly rushed quality, but it's sincere, visceral entertainment that will more than satisfy the author's fans.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW
I really liked this book. It is a story about what happens when Spenser helps Hawk track down the men who wounded him and left him for dead. It tells about Spencer's thoughts about what he is doing and why.
Hawk is shot protecting a bookie who has hired him for protection. Than the bookie and his family is killed. Spenser is going to find out who shot his friend. Very good book
Another great effort in a long line of great Spencer efforts by Robert Parker.
Good book. Passed it on to a friend.
Hawk is shot from behind and almost killed . After a long recuperation it's Payback Time. And even though Spencer has some moral reservations about what they have to do, he is there to help Hawk through this to the end.
Fast paced thriller with sprinkles of humor. This is Parker and his characters at their best.
Fast paced thriller with sprinkles of humor. This is Parker and his characters at their best.
If you like Parker...you'll love this one.
on the Spenser/Hawk relationship
Hawk has been left for death while protecting a bookie. His rehabilitation is added by Spenser and assisting Hawk with his vengeance.
A newer "Spenser" (2005) GREAT!
When you're a Spencer (and Hawk) fan, what can you say about a Robert B. Parker book except that's over too soon. Another winner. -- Paul C.
another cool Spencer novel featuring Hawk, light and easy ready.
this time it's Hawk's turn to get shot and Spencer's turn to help him recover and ultimately get revenge
One of the best in the Spenser series.
One of the best of the Spenser books. This one really goes to the heart of who Hawk is as a person and his relationship with Spenser. High body count (but never graphic)as Hawk is on a vendetta, but the book is more about relations between all the characters. Loved it.
Not my favorite of the series - but a fast read - with familar characters.
When his closest ally, Hawk, is beaten and left for dead while protecting a bookie, Spenser embarks on an epic journey to rehabilitate his best pal, body and soul. But that means infiltrating a ruthless mob and redefining his friendship with Hawk in the name of vengeance.
If you like the Spenser series (which I do),this is one.Fun to read with lots of snappy dialog.
Typical Parker. Terse writing. Very enjoyable.
This time it's Hawk who finds himself at the wrong end of a bullet and spends considerable time recovering and reclaiming his honor from those who nearly took it for good. Spenser is pretty much just along for the ride on this one. You can't really say Parker keeps getting better, but what he is is rock solid consistent.
I love RBP's writing, but the Spenser series is getting stale and the characters are more stereotypical with each one. Try Double Play (fiction about Jackie Robinson's bodyguard) or Poodle Springs to experience Parker at his best.
Suspence
One of the more fun heros to read about.
I love Spencer, and in this story he is helping his friend Hawk. Typical Robert B Parker, with terse and yet lyrical language and witty repartee. A great read.
This was my first non-western Parker book... I didn't think much of it, the story was fine but the relationship between Spencer and Hawk was too much for me, couple of hundred pages of "You're cool, Hawk", No, you be cooler then me, Spencer". Maybe I should not have started with book 32.
This strong new Spenser novel flips that scenario, with Hawk shot and Spenser helping him first to get better, then to take revenge. Their targets are Boots Podolak and his army of Ukrainian thugs who run the black/Hispanic Boston satellite city of Marshport. Their goal is more complicated than just vengeance, though. When Boots's henchmen shot Hawk, they also killed the man he was protecting--a rival of Boots--as well as the man's wife and two of his three children, and now Hawk wants not only to destroy Boots and his operation but to channel millions of Boots's money toward the surviving child. To get at Boots, Spenser and Hawk tap on several series regulars, most notably black gangster Tony Marcus, who is doing business with Boots, and the Gray Man, the assassin who nearly killed Spenser in Small Vices; meanwhile, Susan, Spenser's psychiatrist girlfriend, dispenses sage advice, but stays mostly in the background. The novel features a complicated plot, numerous tough guys and plenty of tension that builds to an (interestingly) off-page mano-à-mano shootout between Hawk and Boots.
Ukranian mobsters muscling in on organized crime in New England catch Spenser's friend Hawk in a near-fatal shooting, which of course cannot go unavenged. The usual good stuff from Parker.
I have not read the book.
