The first Spenser book I read was in January of this year, and I just finished book 28 a few days ago! I am rolling along in his adventures, and am really enjoying them. I don’t care that for the most part, the plots are similar. I am looking forward to book 32 as that when he meets Jesse Stone. Jesse Stone is another series and that one I am finished.
I have watched the Robert Ullrich and Joe Mantegna Spenser movies, and I even watched Mark Wahlberg as Spenser on Netflix (out of book order, and I didn’t realize it). I have watched some of the television series with Robert Ullrich. I know there are Hawk television shows, and I would like to watch those. I didn’t like Joe Mantegna as Spenser, but Ullrich and Wahlberg easily pull it off. As I read the books, I picture Robert Ullrich!
Don’t laugh, but I have the Spenser Wiki site saved, so I can know what book is next!
I do read them while I am waiting for my 8-year-old son to fall asleep, and he sometimes reads over my shoulder and asks me what’s happening. So, I tell him (unless it’s a part where it’s too mature for him).
Besides Spenser, my favorite characters in no particular order are: Hawk, Vinnie Morris, Susan, Detective Quirk, Detective Belson, Detective Farrell, and Pearl the wonder dog.
The books are written in first person, and of course, the narrator is Spenser. I like the detail Robert Parker provides us and you can tell that Spenser notices everything.
For example, and not from any of the books, this is what it reads like (obviously, Parker does it much better than me):
As I walked into the Law Firm of Forrest and Lake, the receptionist looked up to me. She had blue eyes, blond hair, red painted fingernails, and small diamond shaped silver earrings. She looked to be about 20 to 25 years old. She had her hair in a ponytail, and she it wore it very nice. She was on a wireless headset and was talking to somebody and writing down some information with her left hand. She pushed a button on the phone, that had several green and red lights with some of them flashing in red, and asked me “how can I help you sir?”
I was hungry, so I made myself lunch. I got a frying pan that has seen a lot of good meals cooked in it, put a splash of butter and oil in it. I grabbed two slices of sourdough bread that I got from the bakery down the street from my office, and threw in some provolone cheese, ham, and salami in between them. As the pan sizzled, I poured myself a glass of white wine. A minute later, I could just tell by the way the pan sounded, that it was time to put the sandwich in. I glanced at my watch; 2 minutes on each side on a slightly lower temperature, and it would be perfect. Trust me, I have done this many times!
His face was old, and I could see a scar on the left side of his cheek, it looked like he had been in a good fight a long time ago and lost!
The building I pulled up to was three stories high with a red fake brick facade. On one of the sides, I saw graffiti. On the other side, was a door that said employees only. I staked it out and nobody came in or out for 2 hours.
Not only is Spenser a very good private detective, he is caring, he is a good cook, he can fight, he can shoot, he is strong, he is good looking, and he has an active sexual libido with Susan, his girlfriend of 20 years since they first met. Please don’t spoil there relationship for me if something happens later in the series.
I hardly ever screenshot sections from books, but in the one I just finished, Potshot, Spenser is pretending to be from the State Treasurer’s Office, Division of Abandoned Property. That is what I do at my job.
