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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780425224144
ISBN number: 0425224147
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: October 07, 2008
Publishing house: Berkley
Sale Popularity Level: 36433
Studio: Berkley
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Product Description:
Investigating a case of infidelity sounds simple—until it plunges Spenser and his beloved Susan into a politically charged murder plot that’s already left three people dead.
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Rated by buyers 
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Spenser gets involved with an FBI buddy whose wife is apparently cheating on him. After a couple of dead bodies, the story becomes Spenser's personal quest to come to grips with his and Susan's past. Meanwhile, Spenser and Susan discuss marriage, and Spenser takes a road trip to Ohio to investigate the mysterious Perry Alderson. Surrounded by his usual gang of thugs, Spenser protects Susan and roots out the bad guys (but aren't Spenser's guys bad too?).
Rated by buyers 
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Spenser and Hawk sprint through another fast paced adventure. This book is a lot of fun to read. Parker writes so well that we readers are willing to give him plenty of leeway. The villain's motives are never really explained, but we'll let that slide. We willfully forget that our heroes were born during the Depression: they are so old that they are the same age as John McCain! But Parker should help us out. The plot revolves around some recordings: tapes, no less. When was the last time anyone used a tape to record anything? The file, sir, not the tape. Ever hear of MP3?
I don't know about anyone else, but I for one am pretty tired of Spenser's continuously dragging up the story of when Susan left him, decades and decades ago. If only he could move on as swiftly as the plot of this novel does!
Rated by buyers -
I'll go on reading Robert Parker's Spenser novels as long as he cares to go on writing them. This is a perfectly adequate page-turner.
The pages turn very quickly because there is so much dialog, and Parker's dialog is descending to self-parody. The average line of dialog seems to be about two words long, and some pages are not much more than thin columns of two-word exchanges.
Years ago, I cared about Spenser's clients, people in real trouble whom he rescued. This time, the client gets killed before we have a chance to care, and there's nothing much to care about except the fact that his wife is unfaithful.
Years ago, I cared about Spenser and Susan. I felt involved, anxious, and saddened during the several novels in which they were separated. This novel tries to refer back to that period, but evoked no real emotional response in me.
It is harder and harder to suspend disbelief, particularly in Spenser's ability to get teams of people to work twenty-four-hour shifts on his behalf, apparently without paying them, just because of being good friends. Spenser himself appears to have no visible means of support, and Parker doesn't even bother to try to explain it with throwaway references to successful jobs. The different shades of moral code between Spenser, his associates, and the people he encounters in the police, FBI, etc. are not believable or interesting.
The big gimmick in this book is the exciting question of whether, after decades of living together, Spenser and Susan will decide to get married. It has the contrived feeling of, there's no way to avoid saying this, Fonzie jumping the shark.
As always, there is some laugh-out-loud funny dialog. I liked this exchange.
"Want to talk about it?" Susan said.
"Sex might make it better," I said.
"You think sex makes everything better," Susan said.
"Uh-huh."
"Maybe you're right," Susan said. "Let's see."
Rated by buyers -
This book was definiately not the best book I've read in a long time, but it also was not the worst. It was interesting enough to keep me involved; although it was pretty apparent what was going to happen at the end.
This is the very first book I have read by him. I will not read another. Although it kept me interested, his writing style is not my type. I do like how the book is written by one character only, but I don't like how he banters so much with his characters.
But, overall, read the book if you are looking for a quick read that will keep you mildly interested.
Rated by buyers -
Let me very 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 very 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 subsequent book will be Spenser's last" and give it a real full experience and give us that final memory with Spenser.
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