God Save the Child

Oh, Parker. I swear, there must have been a standard in the 70s (1974, to be exact) where 25% of a detective novel had to be description. I think it's driving Jilly nuts over in Kinsey-Malone land, but I'm finding Parker's version of it kind of eye-watering. I mean, my idea of dressing myself back then was Garanimals, so I shouldn't judge. But just you try and see this:

He was dressed in what must have been his wife's idea of the contemporary look... He had on baggy white cuffed flares, a solid scarlet shirt with long collar points, a wide pink tie, and a red-and-white-plaid seersucker jacket with wide lapels and the waist nipped. A prefolded handkerchief in his breast pocket matched the tie. He had on black and white saddle shoes and show more looked as happy as a hound in a doggie sweater.

That's just the start, though; later in the book, Spenser puts on a white trench coat. Spiffy! There's also one paragraph that is literally a description of every single store seen as Spenser drives along a commercial 'canyon,' and it's actually kind of fun. I mean, had I been reading it in 1980, maybe not so much. But now, sure: "restaurants that look like log cabins, restaurants that look like sailing ships, restaurants that look like Moorish town houses, restaurants that look like car washes, car washes, shopping centers, a fish market, a skimobile shop, an automotive accessory shop..." The paragraph takes up most of a page. No joke. I can't think why it was relevant. It builds the setting of leaving the city to the Happy Sunda 'burbs, and it lets Parker sneak in a snide comment about how "Squanto might have made a mistake" (in allowing the whites to settle).

I mean, that's really why we read these oldies, right? To sort-of-sink into the mentality of the past? And I kind of dig this glimpse into the past, with Parker's Spenser's asides, except for the part where Spenser notes that the high school guidance counselor, Susan Silverman, has a "thin dark Jewish face." Um, I don't even. But onward. She does a lot of shrugging, throws in some "I don't know's" in response to his questioning and when they have dinner--and this was wonderful--has a second helping of gravy. It's truly interesting to see the first appearance of a character who will one day annoy me as she nibbles on a lettuce leaf and makes enigmatic statements.

It's also quite interesting to have a Spenser that is a bit... slow on the uptake, and who gets/allows himself to be manipulated, and doesn't intuit the solution. Oh, but then it gets slightly weird again with a homosexual angle. Spenser even hangs out at a local divey gay bar trying to run into a suspect. Is it judgey? Maybe indirectly in the descriptions, but if it is, it's less so than the implied judgement at the drunken hetro bash thrown by his clients.

Still, I'll read a few more. I'm curious to remember how Hawk comes into the picture, and when the writing starts to shift to the streamlined version. Maybe he eventually found an editor that said, "we need to take out all the description," and the 1990s Spenser is what was left. Overall, an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, although I probably should have been more productive.

Two and-a-half-stars, rounding up because I read most of the words. show less

4 1/2 stars
Everything brightened up for me in chapter 3, when Susan Silverman came on the scene. I think I actually like her better than Spenser. (I wonder what Mr. Parker would have thought of that. . .)

I kept expecting the body builder's story to include the use of steroids, but that never came up. While I still had that on my mind, I wound up being surprised by the ending.

I'll probably keep this one, although there are stories in the Spenser series that I like better.

In my opinion, much better than the first novel, and Susan was a riot. The characterizations are really fun, but I get tired of the huge portions of clothing descriptions. It feels period. That's a nice way of saying it feels dated. Fortunately, it's not that bad. The story is solid and the action is pointed. The wrap ups make me feel a little cheated, where background discoveries actually seemed more interesting than the main action.
I'll keep going, having enjoyed the characters so far.

I believe this to be the second in the Spenser series. Audible has released many of the early titles read by a favorite narrator, Michael Pritchard. We meet Susan Silverman and Healy (both of whom have cameo roles in the Stone series) for the first time as Spenser is hired to find a boy who has disappeared who has ostensibly been kidnapped (with his guinea pig.) We also learn Spenser’s first name (I’m not telling.) And his age. Heh heh. Solid mystery layered with Spenser’s familiar wise-cracks. The characters are mostly disreputable and dysfunctional; one wonders what Parker thought of his neighbors.

This novel irritated me to no end. Parker apes Chandler, and I suppose there is something to be said for his attempt to convey a sense of time and place in 1970s Boston suburbia. But Parker does not really have anything to say; the mystery is underwhelming and Parker has a weird fixation with dads not being there for their sons or something.

Fourteen-yr old Kevin Bartlett is missing. The affluent bored suburbanite parents hire Spenser to help the state and local police find him. A ransom note appears, the ransom is paid and instead of getting the boy back the parents get a cruel prank and their lawyer is found dead in their livingroom. I thought the plot was clever – it fooled me. We were left wondering how Spenser would reconnect in later books with (Smithfield?) Sheriff Trask. The big bonus in this book is that Spenser met Susan Silverberg – she’s Kevin’s high school guidance counselor. Susan is an attractive, mature, independent, smart woman – a great match for Spenser – partner, not subordinate. All of the dialogue is good but particularly between Spenser show more and Susan. I paraphrase a snappy passage:
Were you looking down my receptionist’s blouse?
Clues, clues. I am an investigator. I was looking for clues.

The ending was a little corny. Some pretty cold, shallow players suddenly display some character but what’re ya gonna do? It’s the 70s. show less

While the mystery is not my everything, Spenser has turned out to be. He is such a smart a**! I find myself giggling constantly. I absolutely love the "Spenserisms" and have taken to copying and saving them. They may not make sense to anyone else, but they make me fall out of my chair laughing. If that is the most a book can give you well I say it is a lot.

I loved the introduction of Susan. She has Spenser's number down. I'll be reading this series regularly. I am enjoying the flashbacks to another era and these make perfect in betweener books.