I finished the sixth book in the Spenser series Looking for Rachel Wallace last night. This one was written by Robert B. Parker in 1980. The case this time involves a publishing company hiring Spenser to bodyguard a controversial female author named Rachel Wallace. Needless to say, given the title, Spenser eventually has to find out who took her.
I liked the beginning of the book well enough. Rachel Wallace's views are in direct conflict with Spenser's personality and approach, and that oil-water mix makes for some interesting reading. But the book loses some spark when Spenser loses her. The rest of the book, which has quite a bit of physical action from this point, just seems okay for me. Nothing spectacular. Ah well, they can't all be nail-biters.
I do like that the character of Susan is back as she offers a good counterpoint in Spenser's personal life, to balance his professional private investigator side.
If one were just picking around the Spenser series, this is a book that can be kind of put off until later. From a continuity end, I don't see it being critical to the overall flow of a book-to-book, publishing order read.
You, sir, are a readin' FOOL, you are! Check you out! I haven't read a book in a day since high school (those Simon Hawke "Time Wars" books weren't exactly huge). Isn't that the greatest feeling, finding a whole series to read, knowing you get to follow this same character(s) for hundreds and hundreds of pages? Much as I love TV, TV can't touch that feeling.
ReplyDeleteUnless it's Firefly, of course...
When I first starting reading your Spencer reviews, I got a vague memory. I'm pretty sure I started one of these on spring break my senior year. We had rented this house on the beach, and my room had some books on a shelf, and nothing else looked good. Wait...was it Spencer or Mike Hammer? Now that I think of it, it was the latter. I only read about ten pages anyway, I think. I was on spring break, for crying out loud! I had better things to do! Well, not better, but definitely different (hic!).
I have GOT to work some reading time back in my life! When I AM reading, it's usually non-fiction these days (you, sir, MUST get yourself a copy of Paul Feig's "Kick Me", his story of growing up in the 70s. MADE for guys like us. You'll love it!), but I need to enjoy some good novel reading again! It's been too long.
Mike, I will have to hunt down Paul Feig's book - I'm a huge fan of his.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is the most I've read novel-wise in a long long time. I was about due. Still, did I pick up any of the dozen of books unread in my basement? Nope. Went to the library where I am on a time-limit (okay, three weeks books can be out but still...).