Available:*
Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Cabell County Public Library | PAR | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Milton Public Library | PAR | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... West Huntington Public Library | PAR | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
The bestselling author of Pastime and Double Deuce presents a "taut thriller . . . (that will) keep the reader's adrenaline pumping overtime" (Publishers Weekly). Caught in a snowstorm of drugs, passion, and hate, Spenser investigates a cocaine-related murder. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
Author Notes
Robert Brown Parker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 17, 1932. He received a B.A. from Colby College in 1954, served in the U.S. Army in Korea, and then returned to receive a M. A. in English literature from Boston University in 1957. He received a Ph.D. in English literature from Boston University in 1971.
Before becoming a full-time writer in 1979, he taught at Lowell State College, Bridgewater State College and Northwestern University.
In 1971, Parker published The Godwuff Manuscript, as homage to Raymond Chandler. The character he created, Spencer, became his own detective and was featured in more than 30 novels. His Spencer character has been featured in six TV movies and the television series Spencer: For Hire that starred Robert Urich and ran from 1985 to 1988.
He is also the author of the Jesse Stone series, which has been made into a series of television movies for CBS, and the Sunny Randall series. His novel Appaloosa (2005) was made into a 2008 movie directed by and starring Ed Harris. He has received numerous awards for his work including an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1977 for The Promised Land, Grand Master Edgar Award for his collective oeuvre in 2002, and the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. He died of a heart attack on January 18, 2010 at the age of 77.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
YA Parker's story has a timely plot revolving around cocaine smuggling through a Massachusettes town from a syndicate in South America. Spenser comes to town to probe the death of a newspaper reporter who knew too much. It soon becomes apparent that the chief of police is involved in the drug operation. After a second murder, Susan, his psychologist girlfriend; Hawk, a man of special skills; and Lindquist, the cooperative state trooper, join forces against the drug kingpin. Lots of action, some violence, and a little romance keep the plot moving right along. Easy, fast-paced reading that should appeal to teen mystery fans. Anne Paget, Episcopal High School, Bellaire (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The TV series Spenser: For Hire is based on Parker's bestselling series of mysteries starring a Boston private detective, and this taut thriller will no doubt match its predecessors' success. The murder of newspaper reporter Eric Valdez takes Spenser to Wheaton, Mass., where Valdez was investigating a Colombian cocaine operation. After a meeting with the police chief, Bailey Rogers, the detective is waylaid by thugs whom he beats handily. Spenser confirms his suspicions that a grocery wholesaler, Felipe Esteva, is dealing the drug and paying off the police. The next murder victim, however, is Rogers, whose young son drives a truck for Esteva. Spenser daringly hijacks a fortune in cocaine and offers to sell it to Esteva, as dangerous a ploy as the macho detective has ever attempted. When his only ally, a state trooper, is ``reassigned,'' Spenser brings his lover Susan to help with psychological warfare and his sidekick Hawk to face Esteva's mob. Parker keeps the reader's adrenalin pumping overtime until Spenser and company claim the victory. Mystery Guild dual main selection; Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club alternate. (June 5) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Spenser vs. drug-smugglers and corrupt cops in a small Massachusetts town: a fast, straightforward, unpretentious addition to one of mystery fiction's most uneven series. Central Argus reporter Eric Valdez went to Wheaton, Mass., to investigate rumors of massive cocaine-distribution there. . .and wound up murdered. So the Argus' publisher now sends Spenser to Wheaton--where the food is awful, the cops are hostile, and the townsfolk (one-third of them Colombian) are taciturn. Eventually, however, Spenser zeroes in on a local Colombian produce-tycoon, his sexy wife, and the town's non-Colombian police chief--who then becomes murder victim #2. And it soon turns out that the easy part is fingering the bad guys. The hard part is protecting the innocent from self-destruction (psychologist-girlfriend Susan zips in for a consultation) and staying alive (tough-guy Hawk offers help in that area). Parker hasn't come up with a strong or original plot since Promised Land over 10 years ago--and the storyline this time is paper-thin. But, unlike many recent Parker efforts, it's crisply paced, divertingly peopled, quietly amusing, and occasionally touching--with only a few eruptions of the maudlin staginess and preachy self-congratulation that have made the 1980's Spenser so trying. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
