- Audio Cassette
- Publisher: Dove Entertainment Inc (March 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0787111333
- ISBN-13: 978-0787111335
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 12.7 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
While the rest of us grow older, Spenser seems suspended in perpetual early middle age. Oh, he talks about getting older, but his body is still firm, his muscles toned, and his reflexes are still hair-trigger fine. Even so, it is Spenser's body that betrays him when he is almost killed by an assassin's bullet two-thirds of the way through Robert B. Parker's latest Spenser adventure, Small Vices. Hired to discover the truth behind a four-year-old murder, Spenser soon runs afoul of "the Gray Man," who eventually shoots and partially paralyzes him. Spenser, his stalwart girlfriend Susan, and his almost mythical friend Hawk then hole up in Santa Barbara until the detective can get back on his feet again.
There's never any doubt that Spenser will get back on his feet, or that he will eventually track down the man who shot him and solve the mystery that started the whole ball rolling in the first place. What makes the Spenser mysteries interesting is Spenser himself, the thinking person's private eye, a man of honor and of conscience who understands that every action has consequences. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Maybe you've drifted away from the Spenser series, now in its twenty-fifth installment, and started paying more attention to the younger fellows--Hiaasen, Mosley, and countless others. Well, it might be a good time to check back in with Parker, who can still sling similes with the best of them. This time the inimitable if aging Spenser (he's a Korean War vet!) shows definite signs of losing a step--he's shot, nearly killed, and must undergo a grueling rehabilitation before tracking down his assassin for round two. Along the way, he investigates the wrongful conviction of a Boston gangbanger who was framed for the murder of a rich college girl. Spenser and longtime lover Susan are still trading quips about relationships, sex, and, this time, adopting a baby, and Spenser and even-longertime pal Hawk are still exchanging knowing nods and meaningful monosyllables as if they were Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway. What is it about Spenser and his pals that makes it hard to stay away for long? Certainly, it's not realism. We love the dialogue, but clearly nobody talks that way--we're not tough enough, quick enough, and we certainly can't spout literary allusions well enough. But if we were quick enough, it sure would be fun to talk like Spenser and to hang out with Hawk and Susan, and, let's face it, it might also be fun to beat up the bad guys in our lives every now and then. Spenser lives in the real world and deals with it the way we imagine we would if only we knew how. Hemingway called it grace under pressure, and smirk though we may, it still feels good, even just to read about. Bill Ott
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spenser falls . . .and gets up!,
By
This review is from: Small Vices (Mass Market Paperback)
This is one of my favorite Spenser tales. And we love him because . . . . I guess it's kind of that John Wayne feeling, you like to have a big guy around who can always be relied upon to take care of business. Here, he almost fails, and that's the magnetism of Small Vices.Spenser is hired by the now successful, leggy Rita Fiore. There is the usual overt flirting ". . . too bad you didn't . . ." and "Boy, if you only had . . ." and "you had your chance . . " that we've come to chuckle at and with the honorable sleuth. Here he's asked to track down 'the real murderer' which will free a man wrongfully doing life in the hard place. It's hard to pity the imprisoned man Spenser is asked to free. It seems most feel he doesn't really deserve to be freed . . . even the loyal friend Hawk feels that Alves belongs in jail, "either for this crime or one he got away with." But Spenser, who again tells someone his first name but not us, gets too close and takes three slugs to the shoulder, leg and chest. It takes Susan, Hawk, Quirk, Belson, Lee Farrel and Vinnie nearly a year to rehab Spenser, who loses 40 pounds in the process, has a hard time making his limbs do what he wants them to, and basically can't walk. But they do and honor and heroism prevail, villains are suitably thrashed, and Susan and Spenser hook up. Again. And again. There's a lot of vulnerability in Spenser this time. Like Joe Pike in The Last Detective, his body has betrayed him and he is lost. Sadness, even tears. The pages describing Spenser trying to get up the hill in Santa Barbara after again learning how to walk again are riveting. Good stuff. If I had a disappointment, it was Spenser's laissez faire attitude towards Hawk who took a year off to mentor/train/help him. But maybe that's part of the mystique, he knew how he felt and so did Hawk. Great stuff. Rachel Wallace is still #1 for me but Small Vices is a close second.
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEST IN YEARS,
By
This review is from: Small Vices (Mass Market Paperback)
I've read every Parker novel, most multiable times. This is the most powerful of all the Spenser novels. Less funny, more serious without giving in to being dark.Everyone is here, Spenser, Susan, Hawk, Pearl.But someting feels, larger in this one. Most Spenser novels feel like a TV program. This installment feels more like a movie.
5.0 out of 5 stars
SUSPENSEFUL AND HILARIOUS,
By Laurent Boulanger (Craigieburn, VICTORIA Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Small Vices (Mass Market Paperback)
ï¿Small Vicesï¿ is the second Parker Iï¿ve read, and it does not disappoint (the first being ï¿Playmatesï¿). I just wish I had discovered Parker a long time ago. Parker writes a tight prose reminiscent of Sue Grafton, but in the male voice. The main character, Spenser, is charming, tough and a little deviant. He is a PI who is not scared to use his fists when he has to and his brain when it becomes more appropriate.In ï¿Small Vicesï¿, Spenser has to uncover the truth about Alves, a young colored man who has been accused and sentenced for the rape and murder of a white coed, Melissa Henderson. What follows is a tale of treachery, deceit, lies, police corruption, contract killing and violence. When Spenser is shot trying to uncover the truth, he hangs on to his life by a thread. Parker has done another magnificent job at blending humor, suspense and believable settings. We are taken from Boston to New York, and even on a trip to Santa Barbara in Southern California. The sub-plot with Spenserï¿s wife Susan and dog Pearl blends in nicely with the suspense and does not slow down the pace of the story. If youï¿ve never read a Parker, you canï¿t go wrong with this one. But then Iï¿ve got another sixteen of his to read, so Iï¿ll let you know as I proceed.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Audiobooks > Authors, A-Z > ( P ) > Parker, Robert B.
- Books > Audiobooks > General
- Books > Audiobooks > Literature & Fiction
- Books > Audiobooks > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery
- Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Audiobooks > Cassette > Mystery
- Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery
- Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Police Procedurals
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
