BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: 6/2/1973)
(Digital: Yes.)
Audio: 7/14/2009; 9780307705105; Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group; Duration 5:10:23 (5 parts); Unabridged.
(Film: There was a Spenser For Hire tv series).

SERIES:
Spenser Series (Book 1)

CHARACTERS: (Not comprehensive)
Spenser – Private Investigator
Bradford W. Forbes – University President
Carl Tower – Head of University Security
Terry Orchard – Student and secretary of SCACE (Student Committee Against Capitalist Exploitation)
Dennis Powell – Student & Terry’s love interest
Lowell Hayden – University Professor
Cathy Connelly – Terry’s former roommate
Lt. Martin Quirk – Boston Police
Sgt. Frank Belson - Boston Police

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
Maybe they get tamer as the series wears on, but here, Spenser does a lot of drinking and womanizing that didn’t warm my heart. I guess that is why it’s labeled “hardboiled”—apparently that applies to antiheroes like Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe.
Spenser jokes a lot. I recall, from several years ago when listening to the series on CD’s, that I’d thought the series was humorous. It’s sort of a satirical humor. The actual telling of the novel is also humorous…well, because we’re in Spenser’s head the entire time even if he’s not engaged in dialog with other characters –some of the humor I didn’t understand, but as the story went on, I found it easier to just wear a perpetual smile to cut down on the repetitive muscular relax-contract-relax-contract exercise. :-) The plot was good, and the characters were interesting.

AUTHOR:
Robert B. Parker (9/17/1932 – 1/8/2010). Wikipedia says this (and more): Robert Parker “was an American writer of fiction, primarily of the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character was also produced. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area.[2] The Spenser novels have been cited by critics and bestselling authors such as Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane[3] as not only influencing their own work but reviving and changing the detective genre.[4]”

NARRATOR(S): Michael Prichard. Wikipedia says this about Prichard: “Michael Prichard is an American actor and audiobook reader.
Prichard grew up on a farm in Kansas, and first developed his baritone voice by singing.[1] He earned an MFA in theater from the University of Southern California.[2]
He is best known for narrating audiobooks, including the complete Nero Wolfe mystery series by Rex Stout and the complete Travis McGee thriller series by John D. MacDonald. During his career he has narrated more than five hundred audiobooks.[3]
In recognition of his narration work, he received the Audie Award for best history book narration in 2010,[4] as well as multiple AudioFile Earphone Awards.[3]
In addition to recording audiobooks, Prichard has acted on stage with Ray Bradbury's Pandemonium Theatre Company and with the Pacific Resident Theatre.[1]”

GENRE:
Fiction, Hardboiled Mystery

LOCATIONS:
Boston, MA

TIME FRAME:
1970’s

SUBJECTS:
Private investigation, Illuminated manuscripts, University library, University administration, English department, students, drug dealers, Professors, Cults, Family

NARRATIVE STYLE:
First person

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 1
“He was telling me about the sensitive nature of a college president’s job, and there was apparently a lot to say about it. I’d been there twenty minutes and my eyes were beginning to cross. I wondered if I should tell him his office looked like a whorehouse. I decided not to.
‘Do you see my position, Mr. Spenser,’ he said, and swiveled back toward me, leaning forward and putting both his hands palms down on the top of his desk. His nails were manicured.
‘Yes, sir,’ I said. ‘We detectives know how to read people.’
Forbes frowned and went on.
‘It is a matter of the utmost delicacy, Mr. Spenser’—he was looking at himself in the glass again—'requiring restraint, sensitivity, circumspection, and a high degree of professionalism. I don’t know the kind of people who usually employ you, but . . .’
‘Look, Dr. Forbes, I went to college once, I don’t wear my hat indoors. And if a clue comes along and bites me on the ankle, I grab it. I am not, however, an Oxford don. I am a private detective. Is there something you’d like me to detect, or are you just polishing up your elocution for next year’s commencement?’
Forbes inhaled deeply and let the air out slowly through his nose.
‘District Attorney Frale told us you were somewhat overfond of your own wit. Tell him, Mr. Tower.’
Tower stepped away from the wall where he had been leaning and opened a manila file folder, no nonsense.
‘Carl Tower,’ he said, ‘head of campus security. Four days ago a valuable fourteenth-century illuminated manuscript was stolen from our library.’
‘What is an illuminated manuscript?’
Forbes answered, ‘A handwritten book, done by monks usually, with illustrations in color, often red and gold in the margins. This particular one is in Latin, and contains an allusion to Richard Rolle, the fourteenth-century English mystic. It was discovered forty years ago behind an ornamental façade at Godwulf Abbey, where it is thought to have been secreted during the pillage of the monasteries that followed Henry the Eighth’s break with Rome.’”

RATING:
3 stars. Yes, sort of low by my standards, but I remember being fond of this series so I’ll listen to more in the series and hope that Spenser grows into the less hard drinking-cavalier, and more likeable character I thought I remembered him to be from listening to a few of the books in this series several years ago.

STARTED-FINISHED
5/7/21-5/15/21 ( )

This is my first Spenser novel. It was Parker's first, too. I'm not sure how to rate it, though. I liked it fine, but it didn't really blow my skirt up. Perhaps I've read too many P.I. novels, and a lot of them just blend together into the same old story. Apparently, Spenser is a little different, in that he works out and tries to stay in shape, although he didn't make it to the gym in this one. He did eat a lot of junk food and drank a fair amount of bourbon, which doesn't go all that well with strength and fitness.
I did appreciate his humor.
The police lieutenant says to Spenser, "You're not working for the D.A. now, boy, you're working my side of the street, and if you get in my way, I'll kick your ass right into the gutter. Got that?"
Spencer replies, "Can I feel your muscle?"

"Start up with the lieutenant, Spenser, and you'll end up looking like you went through a pepper mill."
"I won't be able to sleep without a night light," I said.

"A cold McDonald's hamburger is halfway between a jelly doughnut and a hockey puck, but the nine-dollar bourbon helped."
For health reasons, I'd recommend Spenser eat the jelly doughnut and/or the puck.

The story wasn't difficult to figure out, but I enjoyed the ride, and especially the slam-bang ending. I'll certainly try more Spenser novels.

HIS FIRST NOVEL. THIN PLOT I THINK HE GOT BETTER WITH AGE. THE WESTERNS WERE BETTER. EASY READ ( )

I've heard of this series in the past, and thought it might be interesting to check it out. It's a bit old, but only a little dated which might be a minus for younger readers as there are some references that might be missed. No problem for me, of course.

It was a fairly fun read, very quick, and I was finished before I knew it. He's definitely a wise guy, but then again, so am I, so it was OK. I'll try to remember some of his quips. Like, "I made a bet with myself that ..., and I won."

He's a bit over the top sometimes in these politically-correct days in his treatment of women, but we need to cut some slack and consider when it took place. I'm not sure what to think about someone who can sleep with both a mother and her daughter in the same day - if I were younger, jealousy might come to mind... hey, just kidding.

I'll probably read a few more to see how it goes, but I have a feeling it'll get old if I read too many.
( )

The first Spenser novel. We meet Spenser with his smart mouth. When people try to scare him off he doesn't back down.
There are a lot of descriptions of people, places, even what he is eating. ( )