The Godwulf Manuscript [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert B. Parker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 1992

Spenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he is ready when a Boston university hires him to recover a rare, stolen manuscript. He is hardly surpised that his only clue is a radical student with four bullets in his chest.

The cops are ready to throw the book at the pretty blond coed whose prints are all over the murder weapon but Spenser knows there are no easy answers. He tackles some very heavy homework and knows that if he doesn't finish his assignment soon, he could end up marked "D" -- for dead.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dell (December 5, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440129613
• ISBN-13: 978-0440129615
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 0.6 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) has long been acknowledged as the dean of American crime fiction. His novel featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye Spenser earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim, typified by R.W.B. Lewis' comment, "We are witnessing one of the great series in the history of the American detective story" (The New York Times Book Review). In June and October of 2005, Parker had national bestsellers with APPALOOSA and SCHOOL DAYS, and continued his winning streak in February of 2006 with his latest Jesse Stone novel, SEA CHANGE.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Parker attended Colby College in Maine, served with the Army in Korea, and then completed a Ph.D. in English at Boston University. He married his wife Joan in 1956; they raised two sons, David and Daniel. Together the Parkers founded Pearl Productions, a Boston-based independent film company named after their short-haired pointer, Pearl, who has also been featured in many of Parker's novels.

Parker began writing his Spenser novels in 1971 while teaching at Boston's Northeastern University. Little did he suspect then that his witty, literate prose and psychological insights would make him keeper-of-the-flame of America's rich tradition of detective fiction. Parker's fictional Spenser inspired the ABC-TV series Spenser: For Hire. In February 2005, CBS-TV broadcast its highly-rated adaptation of the Jesse Stone novel Stone Cold, which featured Tom Selleck in the lead role as Parker's small-town police chief. The second CBS movie, Night Passage, also scored high ratings, and the third, Death in Paradise, aired on April 30, 2006.

Parker was named Grand Master of the 2002 Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America, an honor shared with earlier masters such as Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen.

Parker died on January 19, 2010, at the age of 77.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Wait to Read the Rest!, April 5, 2001

By 

"atticus99" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Godwulf Manuscript (Mass Market Paperback)

I love reading mysteries. I've torn through John Sanford, Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Deaver, Elmore Leonard, Ross MacDonald, and the like...and so, it's with a little shame that I admit I hadn't read a Spenser novel before now. My mother told me that the authors I was reading now, while good, were basically following the formula that Robert B. Parker had been perfecting for the last 25 years. So rather than picking up "Potshot", his newest book, I went to the used bookstore and found myself the first book in the series. Although a little out of my element with references to people and styles that were popular when I was three years old (the book was first published in 1973), the story crackles like any on the shelves today. I was reminded of the gritty violent world that Dennis Lehane portrays in his Boston mysteries starring Kenzie and Gennaro, and the wise-cracking wit of Robert Crais' Elvis Cole. Of course, now I realize that these PI's owe a great deal of their success to Spenser. The plot of the mystery in "The Godwulf Manuscript" was fair and interesting, but ultimately it is secondary to the captivating character of Spenser and the people surrounding him. I cared less about the unfolding of the mystery of where the Godwulf Manuscript went and who took it, than I did learning about the people who were involved in the deadly circumstances surrounding it. An excellent first book of a series. I'm thrilled to know that 27 more Spenser books are in my future!

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First Spenser novel an interesting study in character, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Godwulf Manuscript (Mass Market Paperback)

This was Parker's first Spenser novel, and after having read most of those that follow, it was interesting and surprising to find that Spenser wasn't a terribly likeable character in the "early days." I like him much better in later books. He's a sleaze in this first book! But The Godwulf Manuscript has all the Spenser-style wise-cracking, irreverent, sarcastic wit that makes me laugh as I read. Interesting plot. If you've never read a Spenser novel, start with this one but read the later novels too. It gets better!

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written but pretty standard private eye stuff, September 17, 2000

By 

Kinsey Millhone (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Godwulf Manuscript (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a nut for reading series in order, so when I decided to tackle Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels, I started here. Now, I am definitely planning to continue making my way through the series, but if it weren't for Parker's sterling reputation, I don't know that I would have been inspired to pick up Book 2 after reading "The Godwulf Manuscript." For anyone who's read a lot of private eye novels, this is a fairly standard tale of a two-fisted gumshoe who's always drinking, fighting, irresistible to women, etc. Plus it's set against an early '70s backdrop of student rebellion which seems almost quaint now. Nevertheless, I like Spenser's sassy first-person voice, and I've already started "God Save the Child." Onward and upward!