Back Story

If Robert Parker's books were food, they'd be a light snack, as easily picked up as laid down. But there are times when a snack is just what you're looking for.

In Back Story, a "cold case" takes Spenser back to the era of the early 70s, to a politically radical group that sought to use crime to improve the world. This is one of Parker's better efforts, with a suspenseful story whose denouement is unexpected and satisfying.

This was the first book by Robert B. Parker that I have read. (He has written some seventy of them.) Parker came highly recommended: University of Chicago professors Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein highly praised Parker’s books in their trail blazing book Nudge.

The protagonist of Back Story, Spenser, is a Boston based private eye who loves dogs. He also has a very nice psychologist girlfriend and an extremely tough Afro-American friend (Hawk), who sometimes serves as a body guard for Spenser. Hawk served in the French Foreign Legion and was in combat overseas. Now he is a "Gun for Hire" who met Spenser in a boxing match.

Spenser is pretty tough - he’s an ex-boxer and ex-cop, but he’s probably not as tough as Hawk or Lee show more Child’s Jack Reacher. He is, however, more literate and witty than Reacher. And unlike most fictional private eyes, Spenser gets along well with the local constabulary, who are happy to have him consult with them.

The story itself involves Spenser’s efforts to solve a thirty year old murder as a favor for an old friend. Well, maybe not just a favor since Spencer is paid six Krispy Kreme donuts (which were not readily available in Boston at the time) for his Herculean efforts. The friend who asks the favor is asking it on behalf of his colleague, Daryl Silver, an actress whose mother was killed in a Boston bank robbery in 1974. Daryl wants closure but - semi-spoiler alert! - not all the bad guys get their comeuppance.

Evaluation: This series is, so far, a delight. The repartee between Spenser and Hawk had me laughing out loud. The writing is spare and taut; my favorite kind, especially for this genre.

I read this book in a day and half, and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately read another book by Parker in 2 days. Since it is only escape reading, I can’t give it more than 3.5 stars, but it is a good 3.5 stars.

(JAB) show less

For six Krispy Kreme donuts, Spenser agrees to find out who killed the mother of Paul's friend, Daryl, during a bank robbery 28 years ago. He gets help from friends in the Boston Police Department and the FBI, who are interested in an official coverup that they can't investigate, but Spenser can. Even after Daryl decides that she doesn't want to learn any more, because Spenser's and eventually Susan's lives are threatened if he continues to ask questions, he realizes that they will remain in danger until he gets answers and. And so he continues to pry in Boston and California and Paradise, home of Jesse Stone.

The bank robbery, committed by a group calling themselves the Dread Scott Brigade, reminded me of a crime committed with help show more from two Brandeis students in the Waltham Group, a community service organization, in 1970. Hawk mentions that he is dating someone from Brandeis. show less

A thoroughly satisfying light read - a decent mystery peppered with crisp, funny dialogue, hardboiled narration that doesn't take itself too seriously and some solid action.

BACK STORY by Robert B. Parker was published in 2003. Spenser is asked by Paul Giacomin to help his friend Daryl discover who killed her mother 28 years before. There was a bank heist and moms ended up dead but the case was never solved. The price to investigate, a six pack of donuts.
Classic Spenser and Hawk dialogue spiced with some violent action and many unpleasant truths revealed. Pearl the Wonder Dog has passed away before the opening of this story and we begin with a trip north in search of another that might replace the hole in both Susan and Spenser’s hearts.
The writing is simple and sparse, the dialog crackerjack, the action snappy and the story done so well that it seems as if anybody could write like this.
Try it several show more times and you will gain a greater appreciation for the skills of the late, great Mr. Parker. show less

This is my first Spenser mystery that I've listened to and I'll probably be back for more. We listened to this on a road trip and it was almost perfect. Just the right amount of suspense combined with some great sarcasm and wit. And Joe Mantegna as the narrator is perfect - great voices and he has does that East coast Boston accent perfectly. One little gripe is the "he said/she said" that Robert Parker uses so much in his books. My big gripe for this book was the ending. No spoilers here, but what a disappointment. I'll have to try another Spenser mystery on my next road trip.

I hate to say it but some of these Spensers are becoming much of a muchness. I liked it and the suprising drop in of Jesse Stone was unexpected but there was a curious sameness to it. Perhaps it is good that I only have a few to go.