School Days (Spenser) (Hardcover)

by Robert B. Parker (Author)
Key Phrases: drank some scotch, school shrink, pink top, Beth Ann, Jared Clark, Wendell Grant (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Any new installment in Parker's long-running series starring tough, wisecracking Boston PI Spenser is a pleasure, and this time out high-maintenance girlfriend Susan Silverman is out of town, giving readers unfettered Spenser face time. The wealthy Lily Ellsworth hires Spenser to prove the innocence of her grandson, Jared Clark, accused of a Columbine High School–style shooting that has left five students and two teachers dead. Jared has confessed to the crime, and Spenser faces major opposition from local law enforcement officials, school authorities, dysfunctional parents, opposing lawyers and deadly gang-bangers. As always, Spenser solves the case in a surprising manner, shoots some bad guys and has several attractive women offer him sex, all of which he handles in his proficient, wisenheimer way. Susan's German shorthaired pointer Pearl gets a lot of attentive babysitting, but longtime sidekick Hawk is nowhere in evidence. Those who have stuck with Spenser as Parker invented (and set loose) other case-crackers will be rewarded once again with another solid installment in this fine, enduring series. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Spenser returns! He fights, he flirts, he cooks, he wisecracks, he quotes poetry! This thirty-third outing for the Boston private eye is one of the most psychologically astute and well-choreographed entries in the entire series. And it has the added attraction of exiling Spenser's annoyingly perfect longtime girlfriend, Susan, to a conference, leaving the temporarily solo sleuth to resist some pulp fiction-like female advances with his acerbic version of knightly honor. Meanwhile, there's murder: a wealthy grandmother hires Spenser to clear her 17-year-old grandson of being the co-conspirator and co-killer in a school shooting at a private school that has left five students, a teacher, and an administrator dead. The boy's buddy has named him, and he has confessed to the crime. Everyone--police, school officials, the defense lawyer, and the immediate family--has given up on the kid, but Spenser has never seen a slammed door he didn't long to break down. Soon he's questioning everyone in the kid's circle, looking for the chink in that slammed door. Along the way, he rummages through all sorts of closets in the privileged world of the private school, turning up links to the underworld. The only flaw in this terrific performance is Parker's dialogue, which, though full of witty patter, often makes his characters sound as if they're reading an old-time-radio detective drama. Still, this is a high point in one of the genre's classic series. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399153233
• ISBN-13: 978-0399153235
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #431,384 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of School Days by Robert B. Parker (Spenser Novel), October 7, 2005

By	C. Baker "[e-mail]" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Parker has churned out another fine effort in this latest Spenser novel. Here our intrepid private investigator is kicking back in his office when in pops a rich grandmother whose grandson was involved in a school shooting in a ritzy white suburb of Boston. She refuses to believe he's guilty and engages Spenser's services to prove his innocence. The untangling of this mess unravels other sordid goings on in the area. Spenser finds himself in some grey moral areas as he tries to uncover the truth.

This is a solid effort by Parker and one of the more interesting and well laid out offerings in the series. It is in most ways typical of Spenser novels, with the sparse prose and fast moving plot, that fans of Parker have come to expect. Unlike most Spenser novels there's no Hawk and Susan only makes a cameo appearance at the end, as she was out of town while this case went on.

Overall, this is a fine addition to the series. And a note of interest, Spenser is clearly doing every well financially as he can afford to drink Johnny Walker Blue, a very expensive scotch, like it's water.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Like a potato chip, February 9, 2007

By	silversurf (Planet of Paint) - See all my reviews

This review is from: School Days (Spenser) (Mass Market Paperback)

I heard an intrview with Robert Parker on Public Radio. It was interesting, so I decided to read one of his novels. Then I read a bunch more. This review can apply to just about any of them, because they are all pretty much the same, just with different settings. I didn't think the first one was especially good, or well-written, or interesting, but I kept on reading all the same.

To me, Parker novels are like potato chips. You know the next one will be just like the last one, no better, no worse. It will be salty, greasy, and crisp, and not especially good for you. But you know you are going to eat one more, and one more....until they are all gone.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ciao bella -- Could we be so lucky?, March 24, 2006

By	Lila (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

As so many reviewers here have said, it's quite remarkable how much more taut, crisp, bright, and engaging a Spenser book can be with Susan Silverman neatly removed, compared to the staleness and heaviness of the other Parker books which she permeates. For a long time, I had trouble admitting to myself that I found her ungenerous, controlling, compulsive, self-centered and tedious. For, in every new book, Parker continued to show Spenser besotted by her, and it wasn't easy to look past how he saw her, and judge her by what she actually did and said. The first book in a long time that is free of her is a real delight in many ways. But this book might turn out to be considerably more than that. It could be the turning point of the Spenser series. What stands out most about School Days -- and what might possibly mean that something wonderful is going to happen -- is that Spenser himself complains about her more than he has ever done. And he is right on target every time he does it. Could Parker be preparing a massive rejuvenation of the whole series and actually be thinking of getting rid of Susan? Could it be even better than that and mean that Spenser will see through her and let go of her himself? Just the thought makes hope rise and the heavens open. And how true it would be to Spenser's character. How much it would show Parker's profound understanding of him. It would be the truth that would win Spenser's ultimate loyalty, not his fantasy of a true love, who may never have been what he believed her to be. Is it possible that all of us who write reviews about how much better he is without her could have seen that so clearly, if Spenser himself is not, on some level, seeing it, too? It might be messy on the home front for Parker to do it, but he seems to be giving us delicious hints in School Days, that he might be willing to bite the bullet and let Spenser have the insight of his life.