Walking Shadow

Rating:
Summary: Spenser, Hawk and Vinnie Morris take on a gang of killers
Review: In this episode, Spenser attends a play at the Port City Theater Company, where Susan is a member of the board. The director believes that he is being followed, so Susan asks Spenser to look into it. Circumstances change rather quickly when the lead actor is killed in the middle of a dramatic scene. He was shot through the heart from an assailant who was in the theatre, so it is clear that the job was professional.
Port City is a city whose better days have passed. It now has a large population of Asiatic descent and is dirty and riddled with crime. Spenser recruits Hawk, his regular companion, and Hawk, realizing the length of the odds against them, recruits former enemy Vinnie Morris, who joins the team to make a very formidable trio. They need all of their talents, as they are up against the major Asian crime gang of the region. Throw in a crazy woman who tries to bed Spenser while manipulating everyone else in the story, a crooked cop, and the story goes in many different directions. You are given hints as to the direction of the result, but nothing definite.
Spenser and Hawk are at their wisecracking best, with Vinnie and Susan excellent foils for them to play off of. The story moves along quickly, with plenty of action and suspense until the final resolution. I enjoyed it very much, reading it when I should have been working on other things.

Rating:
Summary: Great story, great setting, so-so characters
Review: Let me state it clearly upfront -- I love Spenser. I also hold Hawk in high esteem. And Pearl never fails to charm me. I always consider time spent with these characters time well spent. I enjoyed the twists this plot took me on and appreciated that Spenser and Parker both respected the Asian/American community depicted here. HOWEVER, most of the female characters in this book were more than a little hard to like. Susan seems almost oblivious to the danger she perpetually puts her lover in. And, while I don't want to give too much of the plot away, let's just say that a lot of the story hinges on the selfish, shallow motives of women, as well. The misogyny of this work almost gave me the creeps. Of the new characters, DeSpain is the most intriguing.

Rating:
Summary: Spenser cleans up Port City
Review: Port City must be the most dreary place on planet Earth. I've never been there, but I feel like I have. Spenser somehow escaped pneumonia in this twisted thriller, not too mention being the #1 target of the Chinese mafia. This unusual story starts with a Greek theater director, who thinks he's being stalked. Then it takes off with murder, illegal immigration, and some whacky women. Spenser needs more help than Hawk can give him, so he finds a thug named Vinnie and a Chinese grad student to help him navigate through the streets of Port City in this curious adventure. The book reads well, and the plot twists keep you entertained. Robert Parker knows how to write a book that reads fast.