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Whistle Stopper - Rough Weather
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List Price: $26.95
Our Price: $12.00
Your Save: $ 14.95 ( 55% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780399155192
ISBN: 0399155198
Label: Putnam Adult
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2008-10-21
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Studio: Putnam Adult
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Improbable but on target
Comment: I have read almost every one of Robert Parker's "Spenser" mysteries. I've liked them all, but the quality varies. This is one of the best. Although I agree with another reviewer that the type is getting bigger (or I'm getting a lot faster at reading) and the snappy repartee is getting repetitive. On the other hand, I like Hawk's summary of Spenser's technique: just poke the hornet's nest until a hornet comes out.
Spenser is hired as a "beard" or "stud-boy" by a beautiful rich divorcee to attend her daughter's wedding. Not surprisingly, the wedding goes awry with murders of the groom, the minister, and others, while Spenser and Susan barely get to safety.
The new characters are interesting and painted deftly with few verbal strokes, the plot intriguing, and the ending a real surprise (but not so much if you know Spenser's character). The usual characters are on stage and the Gray Man has returned in a central role. I think one of the things that make Spenser novels so good is that they are not just about solving a mystery. They are about relationships, friendships, principles and integrity. You don't find that so much in a story anymore.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gun-toting thugs, dark secrets, and even a hurricane... what else do you want?
Comment: This is a "status plus" entry in Mr. Parker's long-running series. The "status" part is the usual reliable detective plot involving a violent crime or two, an inquisitive Spenser, lots of character banter, and the resolution of the crime or crimes involving a dark family secret or deep character flaw on someone's part (and often both). That's all here, and if it's all a bit familiar, it's still as compelling as always in the author's capable hands.
The "plus" part comes into play in the opening chapters, where we see something new: a huge multi-chapter murder/kidnapping scene set amid a huge hurricane. Spenser is doing some security work at a wedding being held on some rich folks' private island when the hurricane hits, and it's quite something to see Spenser playing cat-and-mouse with the uzi-carrying kidnappers while the hurricane rages and Susan is in danger, too. It's a pretty memorable fifty or sixty page opening, and a set piece not seen since the Star Wars-like storming-of-the-bad-guys'-fortress sequence from "A Catskill Eagle" many years ago.
And later on, there's also a little controversy to thicken the broth, as Spenser makes some interesting decisions at the conclusion of the kidnapping investigation that even give Hawk pause for a moment. Without revealing too much, I'll just say this: Spenser's always been more concerned with who orders the violence than with who actually pulls the trigger (the hired gun known simply as "Ty Bop" has been getting away with murder for years for this reason), so my jaw didn't drop too much over the resolution. It is dark, though.
On a somewhat lighter note, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any further potential wedding talk between Spenser and Susan this time out. And this after they practically set a date in the previous entry, "Now and Then". Mr. Parker does like to keep us fans in suspense.
In the end, "Rough Weather" continues the fairly high quality and fairly sharp stories of the last couple of "Spenser" novels. That is, the formula is pretty apparent but 1) it's still a pretty good formula and 2) the actual stories lately have been pretty memorable. Heck, even the scary, villainous "Grey Man" gets the patented Parker "dark family secret" treatment this time out. My Kindle pages were definitely turning (or whatever it is that Kindle pages do).
Yes, to an extent, I can see why some reviewers grumble, but for me, Robert Parker and Spenser are still worth the time of any serious mystery/suspense enthusiast.
Customer Rating:
Summary: RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "NEEDS MORE HAWK... LESS SUSAN... AND A MORE BELIEVABLE PLOT"
Comment: As a devoted Robert B. Parker fan it is sad to say his Spenser books are becoming a staid cookie-cutter series with almost replaceable by the number scenes. The razor edge that Spenser was famous for is not quite as sharp... and perhaps dulled by his advancing middle age... as more and more literary time is spent with boring predictable time with Susan. Loyal readers know she takes mini-microscopic bites of whatever food she orders... in whatever restaurant they visit. We know that whatever clothes she wears... she is the most beautiful woman Spenser has ever seen... we know that if she says she'll be ready in five minutes... she'll be ready in thirty-five minutes. And even more depressing for readers is the non-stop double entendre sexual conversations between the two of them... that are actually boorishly embarrassing to any adult. (Could you imagine sitting next to them on a cross country flight listening to such sophomoric interaction?)
And then there's Hawk. Just one sentence from Hawk when he enters a scene and there is immediate hope and enthusiasm brewing in the reader's soul. In this installment he doesn't do much more than chauffeur Spenser around.
The storyline starts when Heidi Bradshaw an attractive rich and famous woman who built her wealth by marrying a number of rich men ambles into Spenser's office and hires him to be her male escort and provide a non-defined security at her daughter's wedding, that will be taking place on her private island, Tashtego. Spenser takes Susan along with him and can't even explain to himself... let alone... to Susan... what his security job entails. On the day of the wedding... arch enemy "THE-GRAY-MAN" shows up as a guest... with no explanation or deep *"detecting"* work by Spenser... and from there we get senseless mass killings... what appears to be a ransom situation... without any immediate ransom request being made... and of course Spenser can't let go of the case even though he is no longer being paid.
Even Spenser's usual quota of sharp-snappy-funny quips are cut down to a minimum, but here's a couple of good ones: "IF YOU'RE GOING TO PRACTICE NEPOTISM, YOU MAY AS WELL KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY." And "SHE WAS CARRYING A PURSE THAT WOULD WORK AS A HAMMOCK FOR PYGMIES." And "ACCORDING TO RULE 4 IN SPENSER'S DETECTIVE FOR DUMMIES, IF YOU AREN'T GETTING ANYWHERE AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, GO ANNOY SOMEBODY." The one great flash of former Parker street poetry occurred when he described the reverence that Ty-Bop a mob bosses killer had for Hawk: "HE WOULD KILL ANYTHING THAT TONY POINTED HIM TOWARD. BUT THAT ASIDE, HE ALWAYS SEEMED TO ADMIRE HAWK. HE NEVER SAID ANYTHING, BUT HE WATCHED HIM ALL THE TIME, THE WAY A SCHOOLYARD PLAYER WOULD WATCH MICHAEL JORDAN."
My suggestion for a future Spenser installment would be for Spenser to breakup with Susan, and then for Spenser, Hawk, and maybe one other respected "shooter" that Spenser calls on in time of need... go away to a mountain cabin to bond and unwind... and in the midst of booze and steaks... and sharing old stories... the cabin is surrounded by a group of bad guys whose lives Spenser and Hawk had made miserable in the past... and the boys have to fight to the death to survive.
This would be a lot more entertaining than listening to double entendre chit-chat while watching Susan take microscopic bites of her lettuce.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A fun read, but too amoral for me
Comment: Some time ago, I stopped reading the Spenser series because I thought Parker had gotten lost in amoral violence, which is something I dislike in fiction. I started again after I thought the emphasis had changed. But this book goes back to what I consider the "bad period." By my count, 13 people are killed in this book, all apparently without any consequences to anyone. Two are arguably killed in self-defense, although alternatives were likely available. Three were criminals killed by criminals, so arguably we shouldn't care. One was the evil bastard the book is about. The other six were innocent nice, or at least neutral, people who didn't deserve killing. This is a bit too much "anything is justified so long as someone gets a good outcome" writing for my taste.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fecklessness
Comment: On page 106 of the book, the following conversation occurs:
"People aren't liking federal agencies much these days."
"Is it because we're being governed by a collection of nincompoops?
"Yeah, pretty much."
"It'll pass," (Spenser said). "We got through Nixon."
I certainly hope Spenser is right, because personally, I can't take much more of this "fecklessness".
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Editorial Reviews:
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A hurricane hinders a kidnapping and Spenser goes on a search for the man responsible— the infamous Gray Man, who has both helped and hunted Spenser in the past.
Heidi Bradshaw is wealthy, beautiful, and well connected —and she needs Spenser’s help. In a most unlikely request, Heidi, a notorious gold digger recently separated from her latest husband, recruits the Boston P.I. to accompany her to her private island, Tashtego. The reason? To attend her daughter’s wedding as a sort of stand-in husband and protector. Spenser consents, but only after it is established that his beloved Susan Silverman will also be in attendance.
It should be a straightforward job for Spenser: show up for appearances, have some drinks, and spend some quality time with Susan. But when Spenser’s old nemesis Rugar—the Gray Man—arrives, Spenser realizes that something is amiss. A storm, a kidnapping, and murder tear apart what should be a joyous occasion, and Rugar is seemingly at the center of it all. The only thing is that the sloppy kidnapping is not Rugar’s style—as Spenser knows from past encounters. With six dead bodies and more questions than he can process, Spenser begins a search for answers—and the Gray Man.
With its razor-sharp dialogue, crisply etched characters, and high-wire narrative tension, Rough Weather once again proves that “Robert B. Parker is a force of nature” (The Boston Globe).
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