Looking for Rachel Wallace (Paperback)

~ (Author) "LOCKE-OBER'S RESTAURANT is on Winter Place, which is an alley off Winter Street just down from the Common..." (more)
Key Phrases: older cop, young cop, vigilance committee, Rachel Wallace, Linda Smith, Julie Wells (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When Spenser accepts a job as a "bodyguard" for a beautiful young woman, he gets in way over his head. "(Spenser) gives the connoisseur of that rare combination of good detective fiction and good literature a chance to indulge himself."--The Boston Globe.MASS MARKET PAPER

From the Publisher

Spenser is..."The sassiest, funniest, most-enjoyable-to-read-about private eye around today...the legitimate heir to the Hammett-Chandler-Macdonald tradition." --The Cincinnati Post

Spenser is..."Tougher, stronger, better educated, and far more amusing than Sam Spade, Phil Marlowe, or Lewis Archer...Spenser gives the connoisseur of that rare combination of good detective fiction and good literature a chance to indulge himself." --The Boston Globe

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dell (August 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440153166
• ISBN-13: 978-0440153160
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,393 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #22 in	Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( P ) > Parker, Robert B.
  #65 in	Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Hard-Boiled

• This is item 7 in The Spenser Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite!, June 16, 1999

By	Anna K. Anderson (Chester, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking for Rachel Wallace (Paperback)

Spencer is truly himself here. He is hired to protect a lesbian author who is a feminist activist. Parker creates her to be a warm person if a bit prickly. This remarkable story is really more about what Heterosexual Spencer is and how he feels about this lesbian person (and oh, by the way, Susan is there and contributing to both solutions) how she must come to realize that even though he is everything she feels she must fight against, she grudgingly comes to respect and, yes, admire Spencer. It sounds hokey, and the lesbian angle is not a turn on either. But trust me, this book is special. I have come across it late, this being 1999, but it is truly a remarkable book. You cannot read it without feeling good.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars War Between The Sexes, July 21, 2006

By	Mel Odom (Moore, OK USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Take one testosterone-laden private eye with and admirable world view but who knows that his code of honor is the backbone of everything he believes in (Spenser). Add one fiesty lesbian feminist out to point out the faults and foibles of a male-dominated society (Rachel Wallace). Shake vigorously to mix the two together so they become combatants. Season with vicious hired gunmen. It all adds up to one of the most delicious dishes ever served by Robert B. Parker.

Hired by a book publisher to protect Rachel Wallace, one of their hottest properties, Spenser finds himself at odds again and again with the woman he's supposed to take care of. Both of them have their own ways of doing things, and both are intractable. Eventually their differences outweigh the reasons they should stay together and Spenser gets fired. However, someone kidnaps Rachel Wallace and Boston's toughest private eye makes things personal when he goes looking for her. Through the bluebloods and the hired street muscle, through a snowstorm that shuts the city down, Spenser goes on the hunt, mowing over everyone that gets in his path.

Robert B. Parker is the author of the Spenser novels, the Jesse Stone novels and the Sunny Randall novels as well as others.

This book, along with EARLY AUTUMN and MORTAL STAKES, is the best to define Spenser's character and Robert B. Parker's thoughts on the world and his place in it. In the course of this short novel, Parker explores the differences between the male and female of the human species, and the struggle that each undertakes to understand the other. This isn't a societal diatribe. It's a great novel that's larger than the sum of its parts. Not only does the suspenseful action and great dialogue keep a reader turning pages, but it serves up a healthy does of thought-provoking commentary as well.

Readers who have never read a Spenser novel before would find this a good starting place. This is one of the foundation novels that spins completely out of the character, up against others and up against the world. Readers looking for a a great private eye novel with heart need to look no farther.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars true blue, March 18, 2004

By	Simon Crowe (Greenville, SC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE, Spenser is hired to bodyguard the title character, an outspoken lesbian author. Ms. Wallace and Spenser don't see eye to eye, and after she fires him, she gets kidnapped. Spenser spends the rest of the book looking for her.
I've read almost all of these books, and this one contains I think the best description of Spenser's personality,when Susan compares him to Sir Gawain. There's some comedy in the early scenes with the juxtaposition of Spenser and Rachel, but Rachel is characterized a little broadly, humorless and cranky. Spenser figures out the mystery pretty early on and spends the rest of the book trying to find Rachel. This is worth a couple of hours of your time on a Saturday afternoon.