Valediction (1984)

by Robert B. Parker

Series: Spenser (11)

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The most dangerous man to cross is one who isn't afraid to die. But the most deadly is one who doesn't want to live. And Spenser has just lost the woman who made life his #1 priority. So when a religious sect kidnaps a pretty young dancer, no death threat can make Spenser cut and run. Now a hit man's bullet is wearing Spenser's name. But Boston's big boys don't know Spenser's ready and willing to meet death more than halfway.… (more)

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dgmathis | Mar 16, 2023 |

Another good story by Robert B. Parker. Several surprises that made this not nearly as predictable as I though it would be. I think that reading two Spenser mysteries in a row is not the best way to go. I just finished The Widening Gyre before I started Valediction. Probably should read something else in between two Spenser stories. (

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MMc009 | Jan 30, 2022 |

Susan leaves and S is nearly killed

ritaer | Jun 27, 2021 |

I enjoyed the twist at the end, but I especially enjoyed the angst with his lady love. It's one thing to be down about it, but he became blind to all women. For a flaw, it was certainly a doozy for this novel. First really serious injury I've seen him, take, too. I think I've become a fan. :) (

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bradleyhorner | Jun 1, 2020 |

Perhaps my favorite Spenser novel so far, reading them in order. (

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GratzFamily | Apr 28, 2020 |

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Spenser (11)

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New York Times bestseller (Fiction – 1984)

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Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Massachusetts, USA

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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Epigraph

Dull sublunary lovers' love (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove Those things that elemented it.
John Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

Dedication

For Joan, like gold to airy thinness beat

First words

There were at least three kinds of cops in Harvard Yard: a scattering of Cambridge cops, gray-haired mostly, with faces out of County Mayo; portly old men in brown uniforms and no sidearms who guarded the gates; and squadrons of Harvard University police who wore tailored blue uniforms and expensive black gun belts, and looked like graduates of the Los Angeles Police Academy.

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Valediction (novel)

▾Book descriptions

The most dangerous man to cross is one who isn't afraid to die. But the most deadly is one who doesn't want to live. And Spenser has just lost the woman who made life his #1 priority. So when a religious sect kidnaps a pretty young dancer, no death threat can make Spenser cut and run. Now a hit man's bullet is wearing Spenser's name. But Boston's big boys don't know Spenser's ready and willing to meet death more than halfway.

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