Now & Then

Reading Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels is like eating potato chips -- crunchy, salty, greasy, and utterly without nutrition, but who cares? There will be a case to solve -- sometimes even the case he was hired to solve, there will be sexy banter with Susan and macho banter with Hawk. There will be some meals described, and some fashion choices, and then to remind you that Spenser is a real he-man, despite the cooking and fashion commentary, somebody will get punched. Or shot. Or both.

This time around, what starts out as a tail on a cheating wife turns into a double murder investigation after a bugged conversation reveals possible connections with domestic terrorism.

Fun way to spend an afternoon, and it won't even spoil your dinner.

The "Spenser" series has been running for so long (The Godwulf Manuscript appeared more than 35 years ago) and the characters have become so well-established that reading a new one is a little like reading a Greek myth you've never encountered before. You know how Spenser, Susan, Hawk, and the rest of Parker's stock company are going to think and act . . . just like you know that Achilles is going to be proud and invincible, Odysseus wily and cunning, Athena wise and grave, and so on. You don't really want to see Achilles embark on a second career as a minstrel or Athena get plastered and whoop it up with Bacchus and Apollo.

Viewed on those terms, Now and Then delivers the goods in the solid, polished, professional way we've come to show more expect from Parker. Spenser, Susan, Hawk, and the rest do what they do and the mystery--does it really matter what the details are, at this point in the series?--unspools in competent if not especially inspired fashion. Long-time fans of the series will, inevitably, find many of the scenes familiar (the Nth visit to a suspect's old high school, the Nth dig at pompous college professors, another instance of Susan endangered by a client (see Crimson Joy) and so forth. Among the familiar bits, however, Parker still manages to offer details that are fresh: Frank Belson's eye for crime-scene detail, Vinnie Morris' long-ago career as an electrician, the need to patch bullet holes in the wall after a shoot-out. If you still enjoy a few hours spent in the company of the old gang, watching them be their archetypal selves, you'll enjoy the book.

Note: Many fans of the series have, over the years, become a little fed up with the relationship between Spenser and Susan and the amount of time that Parker spends showing us how besotted they are with each other. I don't fall into that category myself (I like the idea of a tough-guy detective in an adult, emotionally fulfilling relationship with a woman, and I can put up with Susan's implausible perfection on the grounds that we only see her through the eyes of someone blind to her faults). If you do fall into that category, be warned: The principal subplot in Now and Then is Spenser and Susan talking about their relationship and how the events of his current case echo what they went through twenty years earlier (in Valediction and A Catskill Eagle). I'm not sure whether I buy the subplot or not, but I have to give Parker credit for being willing, at this stage of the series, to examine one of its least-examined elements. show less

Most of what I have read by Robert Parker is the Jesse Stone series, but this fit a category for a challenge so thought I would try a Spencer book. The book had witty dialogue, a tough-as-nails protagonist, three quirky sidekicks (Hawk, Vinnie, Chollo), and a rather unpleasant character in Susan. It's a formula that obviously worked through many years and more than 50 books featuring these characters. Now and Then certainly holds its own among novels of the suspense genre. It was a well-paced, realistic detective thriller...but I still like Jesse Stone more.

Now and Then is the thirty-fifth of Robert B. Parker’s forty novels featuring the redoubtable Spenser (with an “s”), a Boston based, literate, ex-boxer turned private eye. In this one, Spenser is retained by a jealous husband to find out whether his wife is seeing another man. Sure enough, she is unfaithful, but shortly after Spenser breaks the bad news to the husband, both wife and husband are murdered.

Spenser doesn’t like his clients to be murdered, so he sets about trying to catch the killer even though there is no client paying for his services. He is pretty sure of the killer’s identity, but in order to obtain proof, he sets up an elaborate scheme that endangers his One True Love, Harvard educated psychologist, Susan show more Silverman.

Spenser needs the help of three of his not-very-legal, but very tough buddies (Hawk, Vinnie Morris, and Chollo), all of whom have appeared in previous Spenser novels, to protect Susan. It’s always fun to be around Spenser’s buddies. Big, minatory, and black Hawk refers to “the honkie in the woodpile.” Chollo, a Latino hit man, who always says “si” instead of “yes” often refers to his humble native “village,” which turns out to be Bel-Air.

As in all Spenser novels, the dialog is saucy, e.g., as when Spenser first meets his client (and murder victim) to be:

"You Spenser?" he said.
"And proud of it," I said.
He looked at me aggressively and didn't say anything. I smiled pleasantly.
"Are you being a wise guy?" he said.
"Only for a second," I said. "What can I do for you?"
"I don't like this," he said.
"Well," I said. "It's a start."
"I don't like funny either," he said.
"Then we should do great," I said.
"My name is Dennis Doherty," he said.
"I love alliteration," I said.
"What?"
"There I go again," I said.
"Listen, pal. You don't want my business, just say so."
"I don't want your business," I said.
"Okay," he said.
He stood and walked toward my door. He opened it and stopped and turned around.
"I came on a little strong," he said.
"I noticed that," I said.
"Lemme start over," Doherty said.
I nodded.
"Try not to frighten me," I said.

Spenser and Susan usually engage in sexy bedroom banter, but in this novel they actually discuss getting married.

Spenser novels are a lot of fun and easy reading. This one is no exception, although I would rate it a little below some of the others.

(JAB) show less

November 2007: Just indulged myself in an all-day visit with Spenser, Susan and the gang. In their world, things may get tense, but they never go wrong; Right will prevail, even when it takes the lawless intervention of Hawk and Chollo to bring it about. No crime goes unpunished, except those committed in the pursuit of justice. Pure fantasy, and pure guilty pleasure. If I'm ever in serious trouble, I want Spenser to pull me out.

Sorry, Spenser still charms me, as repetitive, predictable, shallow as they are, I've been reading them with pleasure for two decades. I still get at least one out-loud chuckle from every book.Spenser books are the ultimate cheeseburgers...lacking any nutritional value, and utterly delicious.

Another very acceptable entry in the Spenser cannon. The mystery was good and the relationship of Susan and Spenser continues on in its very enjoyable way. It was easy to get sucked into it and I finished it in just about two bouts of reading. The local color was spot on here. I had thought this was the last of the Spenser novels but I'm now not sure if another was written but not released before Parker's sudden death. This copy has a few intro chapters of Rough Weather so maybe I need one more Spenser in my library.