The Wilderness [Hardcover]

Robert B. Parker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1979

"A novel of violence, crisp dialogue, and suspense . . . the reader is immediately caught up in the ambience of danger." -- The Boston Globe

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 243 pages
• Publisher: The Delacorte Press; 1st edition (October 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385291086
• ISBN-13: 978-0385291088
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,804,970 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

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wilderness is Parkers Best, January 3, 2000

By 

Gary E Wilson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wilderness (Mass Market Paperback)

I have just finished Wilderness and thought it is Parkers best. I have read 17 Parkers and my wife gave me 14 more for Christmas. I really enjoy Spensers dialog and detailed descriptions of everything. I frequently read excerpts to my wife. I started Wilderness slowly and was disappointed to find it wasn't a Spenser. By the time I got to the Maine woods, I couldn't put it down and finished in a sitting. I have tromped the Alaska wilderness for 33 years and felt right at home in Parkers Maine. It's almost a shame Spenser has been so successful, if it hadn't been, Parker might have written more great suspence novels.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wilderness, A great read, May 16, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Wilderness (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading Robert B. Parker's Spencer novels, I was disappointed when I sat down to read Wilderness and found it was not a Spenser novel. This disappointment soon turned into one of the best reading experiences of my life. Writing in third person, Parker was able to do something he never could do with the Spenser character - get us inside the characters minds, letting us know exactly how they felt about everything and move us with their feelings. This is by far the best novel I have ever read and I suggest you get a copy and reserve time to read it all at once. You won't want to put it down

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read -- but where is the rest of it?, September 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Wilderness (Mass Market Paperback)

This is by far the best of Parker's non-Spenser novels. I enjoyed reading it tremendously. It is too bad Parker hasn't seen fit to follow it up with sequels. This book doesn't deserve the obscurity it has been forced to endure.