Potshot

Rating:
Summary: It would be too easy to make a pun on the title...
Review: Another Spenser novel, and the margins are wider than ever; what used to take me an hour to read now takes forty-five minutes. But they are forty-five quality minutes, dontcha know?

One of the things I used to like about Parker's Spenser novels was the way they gave the illusion of an internally-consistent world. Secondary characters met previously would appear later in either smaller or pivotal roles, sort of the way people drift in and out of our own personal lives. But over time, Parker started playing this schtick to death, until it became a peculiar form of self-parody.

In "Potshot", the latest outing, Spenser rounds up his posse, comprised of every sympathetic tough guy he's ever met. Many of these tough guys have tried to kill him in the past, but over time have become part of Spenser's extended sewing circle of sensitive macho men. It's a darned unlikely scenario, and one that doesn't really work when played out in this format.

The mystery here is paper-thin, with a coating of olive oil, so it is completely transparent. That's because the story has nothing to do with "whodunnit", but more with "seehowcuteiam?". In the end, it doesn't matter if we know who the killer is, we are to walk away with the idea that Spenser is a noble savage and that he somehow imparted his sense of frontier wisdom and justice to his more vicious compatriots.

Weirdly, I liked "Potshot", in the same way that I like a good Bugs Bunny cartoon. In the end, it doesn't matter how Bugs managed to find a contractor willing to build an elevator in his rabbit hole; what matters is how cool he looks riding it up and down. That's the secret to enjoying a Spenser novel if you have half a brain - see how cool he looks riding it up and down.

Rating:
Summary: A collection of likeable characters...
Review: Parker does a great job of creating a plot that allows him to bring some of our favorite characters together into one place in New Mexico. From Hawk to Chollo and some of Spenser's friends from Georgia and California all come together to take on the bad guys! I would recommend this to any and all Spenser fans, but it probably wouldn't be as funny to someone who hasn't read and learned about the other characters.

Rating:
Summary: Witty Dialogue, an All-Star Cast, and a Showdown
Review: Potshot is an improvement over recent Spenser novels. There's more mystery here, the dialogue is in top form, and many characters you haven't read about in years are brought together. I particularly liked the way that Mr. Parker arranged the plot so that Spenser's strong feelings about the right way to do things would be apparent in a new way. My only complaint (why the book got four stars instead of five) is that the last two pages of the ending made no sense to me . . . except as an extreme form of irony. Surely, Mr. Parker isn't as ironic as this seems. Or is he? You'll have to see what you think. Those pages remind me of the ending of The Maltese Falcon in some ways.

Spenser is comfortably encased in his office in Boston when a new client enters, from Potshot, Arizona. The attractive Ms. Mary Lou Buckman has been recently widowed. Her husband was shot after having been threatened by a mysterious gang leader called The Preacher, who runs a protection racket. "They killed my husband." "He wouldn't pay the Dell any money." The local police are making no headway, and a mutual friend from the L.A.P.D., Lieutenant Samuelson, has recommended Spenser.

Arriving in Potshot (a cross between a refurbished ghost town for yuppies and biker heaven in the weeds), everyone praises the late Mr. Buckman, agrees that The Preacher had him killed, and offers no hard evidence. A woman in town begins vamping Spenser, and he gets a sense that some things are not as portrayed. During an interview with The Preacher, he becomes convinced that someone other than the gang killed Buckman.

Taking Susan for a West Coast swing to check things out, Spenser finds that the case is even hotter than he imagined.

Soon, he is assembling the ultimate A-Team of shooters to take on the 40 bad guys in the Dell (The Preacher's gang). You will find Vinnie Morris, Bobby Horse, Chollo, Bernard J. Fortunato, Tedy Sapp, and Hawk on the team. This section is a little briefer than would have been ideal, but there's good fun here.

The mystery and its resolution fit nicely into a typical small town Western plot.

Overall, the book has quite a range. Some sections are like shoot-outs in old Westerns while other parts have funny French and literary plays on words. As a result, this book has something for almost everyone and should be quite popular.

After you finish, ask yourself the question of how you can spot situations where there are more red herrings than real clues to the motives of those you are dealing with. How can you get past the red herrings? What questions should you ask? Mr. Parker's answer is that character will out. I suspect he's right. Look for character clues. If you can't find any, set up the situation to develop some. That's what Spenser's approach to sticking out his neck is all about.

Bang! Who's dead now?

Rating:
Summary: Another amazing Spenser Adventure
Review: Parker has done it again. This is a Spenser novel, and like all good Spenser novels, it is a comforting friend with predictable patterns. Susan will be desirable, distinctive, and busy with her own career, but supportive of Spenser even in his more self-destructive aspects. Honor and stubbornness force Spenser to stick himself in harm's way and see what will happen. Susan prefers the risk of bodily harm with personal integrity to a person of greater caution and less commitment. Hawk will be available to cover Spenser's back and help break the bad guys.

In this novel Parker combines the best of the Magnificent Seven, cleaning up a town. In making Steve McQueen proud, a Mexican American ally of Spenser's says to the bad guys, "We deal in lead, friend"(278). With an almost perfect plot for the California detective novels of the thirties and forties, the complexity of characters and plot kept me happily pursuing the story with every page.

Having recently read a fair amount of Richard Feynman's efforts to explain quantum physics in lay terms, I beamed approvingly as Spenser opined, "Afterlife is no less implausible than anything else. All explanations of existence are equally incredible." Faith in God is at least as plausible as faith in physics in explaining the behavior in the universe.

If you have already fallen in love with Spenser, Susan, and Hawk you will enjoy this new opportunity to extend the acquaintanceship. If you have never encountered them before this is a lively way to make a new literary friend.

Rating:
Summary: POTSHOT - Series gumshoe hits his mark
Review: Back with super-cool sidekick Hawk, and shrink girlfriend Susan, gumshoe Spenser doubles down with two cases to solve in a 'far out' place called Potshot, Arizona. The first case is the unsolved demise of Steve Buckman, a local tour guide and former resident of the City of Angels. The bereaved widow is the client. The second case is the challenge to rid the town of a group of organized thugs, called the Dell, who black-bag so-called protection money from Potshot's businesses. Town leaders want the hoods removed before the desert hamlet becomes a modern-day ghost town.

Spenser does what Spenser does best: super sleuthing one clue at a time, with his 'ah shucks' good-old-boy, quick-witted humor, until he develops a plan and moves to solve his cases. The plan to purge the town of the Dell calls for Spenser to mobilize many 'characters' from past Spenser episodes. This band of misfits makes for a hilarious dialog on top of the always humorous interplay between the old boxing buddies, Spenser and Hawk.

Like a standup comedian who uses a news story to deliver a gag, author Robert Parker uses a detective story to deliver his best-yet comedic dialog. (I wished the narrative would never end.) POTSHOT is Robert Parker, and the enigmatic Spenser, at their best.

Rating:
Summary: POTSHOT
Review: YOU CAN NOT GO WRONG WITH A SPENSER BOOK. BUT HE SEEMS TO HAVE REACHED A PEAK. AVERAGE ENTRY IN THIS LONG RUNNING SERIES.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe a good book but definitelty not a great one
Review: I liked this one. But I defintely didn't love it. These days most Spenser novels seem to be (are?) just retreads of each other. Damsel in distress comes to Spenser for aid. Damsel has her own issues, as Spenser invariably learns later, but he helps her regardless. Tough guys push Spenser, he pushes back, harder. Gets Hawk (and/or another thug) to help. Spenser solves the crime but, if the perpetrator is a "politically correct victim" (i.e. minority, gay, woman), he may or may not let them go free. But like I said, truth be known, I liked this one. Not loved, but liked.

But let's address the quibbles...

I always wanted to see characters like Chollo and Vinnie together but I was disappointed. There was really no interaction between any of them, except maybe between Bernard J. Fortunato and Tedy Sapp. Robert Parker had a great premise in his "Seven Samarai" redux but he just uses it as a plot device.

And let's face it, it's time to kill off Susan. The scenes and dialogs with her are contrived. They aren't sexy at all. They aren't even salacious any more. It's just page filler.

And all the jive talk and wisecracks of Spenser are begining to get too old (like Spenser should be) and insulting. I am as opposed to political correctness and the like as the next guy -- more so -- but some of the comments made by Spenser were just too much. Bobby Horse, for one, should have just popped Spenser in the mouth.

And the really big question that just won't go away, WHY did she (if you read the novel, you'll know who I'm referring to) hire him in the first place?

After "Potshot," you realize that it's about time for Parker to end the Spenser series.

So with all these faults with the book, why do I recommend it. Simple. Hawk.

Although this is not a "Hawk" novel, and despite what Parker has Hawk say about Spenser near the novel's end, it is Hawk who actually comes off the best and freshest in this novel. He displays his brains, brawn and good gun. Although I gave kudos for Robert Parker in the past for writing a Black character with brains and brawns -- the equal of his white protagonist, Spenser -- there have been times when Hawk's jive-talking dialogue is something straight out of a minstrel show.

Hopefully, this will mark the beginning of a newer, even better Hawk.

So bottom line, if you like Spenser and you like Hawk, and you liked Parker's Spenser series in general, this is a good read. You'll probably enjoy and finish it in one sitting.

Otherwise, enjoy the outdoors for the Summer.

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST P.I. IN THE BUSINESS IS BACK!!!
Review: For me, the publication of a new "Spenser" novel is like opening presents on Christmas morning! There's always the instant rush of anticipation and excitement. In Robert Parker's newest edition to the series, POTSHOT, our Boston P.I. is hired by Mary Lou Buckman to investigate the murder of her husband. The Buckmans had moved from Los Angeles to Potshot, Arizona in order to run a small travel service; but, when Steve Buckman refused to pay protection money to a gang of roughnecks called the Dell, he was shot to death in broad daylight on Potshot's main boulevard. Spenser decides to take the case and flies out to Arizona to do a little investigating. What he soon discovers is that Mary Lou slept around with a number of men who might have wanted to see her husband dead; that the Dell (led by a man called The Preacher) is scaring folks out of Potshot; that someone is buying up the property at an alarming rate; and that he can't take on the Dell by himself. Flying back to Boston, Spenser enlists the aid of Hawk and Vinnie Morris. He then travels around the country to recruit Chollo, Tedy Sapp and a couple of other tough guys to help him fight the Dell. While his posse heads to Potshot, Spenser continues to check into the background of the Buckmans and discovers some things that begin to shed light on the situation in the small Arizona town. Before anything can be done, however, the Preacher and his gang of cutthroats must be dealt with. The showdown between Spenser, his men, and the forty-or-so members of the Dell is definitely worth the price of the book. What POTSHOT does is bring several of Spenser's acquaintances together in one story to pit them against a larger force. It's fun to read as Hawk and Vinnie and Tedy and Chollo try to outdo each other in the "toughness" arena. Of course, we know that Hawk and Spenser could've taken on the gang by themselves and won. Still, it's great to see all of these other characters from past novels come together to interact with each other. I do wish the novel had been longer with more confrontations with the Dell before the final shootout. As usual, Parker's dialogue is crisp and funny. Spenser still has his sense of wit and humor, and isn't afraid to use it in front of the bad guys. That's probably one of the best things about Spenser, besides his code of honor. I will say that the ending left me a little confused. Without giving it away, I'm still not exactly sure who killed Steve Buckman. It could have been one of two people. All in all, reading POTSHOT is a wonderful way to spend an evening. It's like getting together with an old friend for a few hours and reminiscing about the past year. Life doesn't get much better than this.

Rating:
Summary: The Plot Was Phoned In!
Review: I've read every Spenser mystery, and through the years each one has become just a little less of a "good read." This is the worst of the lot. It's enjoyable because it's another in the Spenser series, but the series is becoming as bad as Lillian Jackson Braun's 'The Cat Who...." books....you know, let's make something up to sell another book....call the plot in and be damned with it...and with the readers!

Rating:
Summary: An improvement...
Review: "Potshot" is an improvement over the last two or three Spenser novels, particularly over "Hugger Mugger," simply because the locale and storyline are very engaging. I can't understand readers who are quibbling over lack of "originality" in the series--what, after thirty years of Spenser novels, do you expect? Spenser to become an astronaut? Maybe to run for President? All I ask is a workable story and interesting characters, and "Poshot" supplies both. Long live Spenser, and may the literary gods protect him from those who apparently think that they could come up with more original Spenser ideas than Parker does, and who also believe that they could produce thirty years of anything without borrowing from themselves along the way. Get real.