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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Savage awakening, June 8, 2007
This review is from: A Savage Place (Paperback)
To this point, Spenser's adventures have been (relatively) light-hearted - some kidnappings, shake-downs, things of that nature. However, when he travels to Tinseltown to work as a bodyguard for Candy Sloan, an up-and-coming young investigative reporter on the trail of corruption in a movie studio who has been threatened, things turn very serious, very fast. The very first night he is in town, after Candy drops him off at his hotel - assuring him she will be fine on her own this first night - she gets grabbed off the street and beat up. Not too much later, a man she has been seeing is murdered. I don't want to get into more than this, as I do not want to ruin the story for those who have not read it - but this is not a story with a shiny-happy feel to it - this is detective noir at its grittiest. Beautifully envisioned, wonderfully written - filled with Spenser wise-cracks - but dark and gritty nonetheless.
I loved it. This is life. Thank you, Robert Parker, for giving us this day our Spenser.
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27 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Spenser is tarnished, December 11, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: A Savage Place (Paperback)
This could have been a good story. Instead, it was a conglomeration of events and choices that made no sense and was horribly mired by Spenser's plummet from hero status. The image of Spenser dancing, slow and tight, with his client was disturbing enough. (This story comes after his commitment to Susan Silverman. A _slow_ dance with another woman on the balcony of her hotel room should be against Spenser's honorable "system" for living.) But it doesn't end there. He strips her and himself, carries her to bed, and spends the night. The next morning he explains that, since he doesn't have a relationship with this woman, having sex with her was alright and wouldn't bother Susan _much_. Bothering Susan _at all_ by sleeping with another woman should be against his system. He later reveals his stunning logic that sleeping with this woman a second time _would_ be cheating on Susan. Spenser's shining armor is bashed to bits in this story. Also, the client (her name is "Candy" for heaven's sake) is an investigative reporter for a television station who is trying to prove that she is more than a pretty face and a swaying backside: she is good at her job. How does she go about proving this? By sleeping with men for information! She enhances this image of intelligence by zombe-like chanting of "I want it all, I want it all." As a result, instead of going to the police with information regarding very dangerous people, she meets dire consequences. Quite an intelligent lady. Spenser dreams of Susan on his flight home to Boston. How wonderful of him. This is the eighth entry in the Spenser series and is very disappointing. The 10th, 11th and 12th stories (_The Widening Gyre_, _Valediction_, and _A Catskill Eagle_) help restore some of Spenser's honor.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Witty, smart aleck dialog is what makes Spenser great, September 5, 2005
This review is from: A Savage Place (Paperback)
In many ways, Spenser is just another tough private detective. He is good with his fists and will not hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way. The plots and villainous characters are not terribly unique and in this case the client is the standard lovely lady in distress. However, what distinguishes Spenser from other fictional detectives is the quality of the dialogue. He is a habitual smart aleck, forever doing what he can to offend friend and foe. Those on his side are charmed by it; his opponents relish the chance to beat his head in.
In this story, a beautiful TV reporter named Candy Sloan is investigating corruption in the Hollywood movie industry. Spenser takes the job as her bodyguard and Candy proves to be a very determined woman, willing to use her body to extract the information she needs. Spenser handles himself well, but Candy is not as clever as she thinks and she is murdered. At that point Spenser continues on the job, tracking down the murdered and completing the case.
Despite all of his macho antics, Spenser is an intelligent, honest man who will risk his life in an attempt to see that justice is done. The combination of intelligent dialog and noble actions are what makes the Spenser novels my favorite series of detective fiction.
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