Rating: 
Summary: Spenser falls . . .and gets up!
Review: This is one of my favorite Spenser tales. And we love him because . . . . I guess it's kind of that John Wayne feeling, you like to have a big guy around who can always be relied upon to take care of business. Here, he almost fails, and that's the magnetism of Small Vices.Spenser is hired by the now successful, leggy Rita Fiore. There is the usual overt flirting ". . . too bad you didn't . . ." and "Boy, if you only had . . ." and "you had your chance . . " that we've come to chuckle at and with the honorable sleuth. Here he's asked to track down 'the real murderer' which will free a man wrongfully doing life in the hard place. It's hard to pity the imprisoned man Spenser is asked to free. It seems most feel he doesn't really deserve to be freed . . . even the loyal friend Hawk feels that Alves belongs in jail, "either for this crime or one he got away with." But Spenser, who again tells someone his first name but not us, gets too close and takes three slugs to the shoulder, leg and chest. It takes Susan, Hawk, Quirk, Belson, Lee Farrel and Vinnie nearly a year to rehab Spenser, who loses 40 pounds in the process, has a hard time making his limbs do what he wants them to, and basically can't walk. But they do and honor and heroism prevail, villains are suitably thrashed, and Susan and Spenser hook up. Again. And again. There's a lot of vulnerability in Spenser this time. Like Joe Pike in The Last Detective, his body has betrayed him and he is lost. Sadness, even tears. The pages describing Spenser trying to get up the hill in Santa Barbara after again learning how to walk again are riveting. Good stuff. If I had a disappointment, it was Spenser's laissez faire attitude towards Hawk who took a year off to mentor/train/help him. But maybe that's part of the mystique, he knew how he felt and so did Hawk. Great stuff. Rachel Wallace is still #1 for me but Small Vices is a close second.
Rating:
Summary: Parker on top form
Review: Throughout the Spenser series, Robert B. Parker has consistently shown himself to be an excellent writer. Often, however, the quality of the story isn't up to the same standards. In Small Vices, however, it is. This is, I dare say, the best Spenser novel to date. Chance, Parker's previous contribution to the series, was a disappointment. But like a weak jab setting up the knockout uppercut, Small Vices is top-notch. There's mystery here, highly compelling characters (including perhaps the most interesting Spenser adversary to date), social commentary, excellent dialogue, several strong social themes, and, most of all, page-turning suspense. And, unlike most suspense works, the finish wasn't a disappointment. Parker's work is best read as part of the series. However, this still rates four stars as a stand-alone work. You lose out on a lot of the history behind some of the characters, but it's still basically whole. Maybe Parker, like Spenser, finally got off the decaf. If so, I hope he stays off. Sometimes, a small vice can be a good thing. Dan
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Original
Review: When "Small Vices" begins you think that Spenser's biggest problem is going to be that Susan Silverman wants to adopt a baby and our hero does not. Spenser is hired by former assistant DA Rita Fiore to look into the conviction of career criminal Ellis Alves for killing Melissa Henderson, a Pemberton College coed. Alves' former attorney thinks he might have been framed and Fiore's law firm is footing the bill to find out the truth. Of course our hero meets with mondo resistance: Melissa's parents are outraged, the investigating cop is irate, the witnesses are not being forthright, and some thugs show up to warn Spenser to drop the case. If that last one was not enough to tell Spenser that something is up, the case does not make sense at face value. But as he gets closer and closer to the truth, a new person shows up to warn Spenser off. The "Grey Man" is a hired assassin, and people who know them both warn our hero that this might be the one man who can take him. After a first hit fails, Spenser continues to investigate while playing a game of cat and mouse with the Grey Man. That is when things get catastrophic. For the first time, Spenser has to depend on Susan, Hawk and the inner circle for the support and strength necessary to get through some very hard times. From time to time in Robert B. Parker's novels, Spenser takes a fall: clients have been killed, souls have not been saved, and the less said about Susan leaving him the better. But "Small Vices" provides a new level of personal trauma for our hero. This twist revitalizes the standard elements in Parker's series wherein Spenser searches for the truth and then has to determine what to do with that knowledge to make things right. In Spenser's world there are always hard choices to be made and "Small Vices" contains some of the hardest ones he has ever had to make. After all, you have to remember Susan wants to adopt a baby. "Small Vices" is one of the very best novels in the series, but please remember that you really should read these books in order as the dynamics of the key relationships and the addition of new members to the cast of merry men is an important part of what is going on. As always, these books are perfect for the commuter life style. With the rides to and from work, with lunch thrown in for good measure, you can read these in a day or two.
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