Rating: 
Summary: Spenser Saddles Up
Review: "Gunman's Rhapsody" is little more than a thin reworking of the Spenser-Susan-Hawk triad. You have Wyatt Earp who is nothing more than a taciturn Spenser, a man who lives by a masculine code which is predicated on violence; you have Josie Marcus who like Susan is intelligent, liberated, and Jewish; and you have the Earp brothers (Virgil, Morgan, et al.) who exist as a collective Hawk entity. Wyatt and his brothers spend a good deal of time in laconic discussion of how tough and bad they are and how they all live by the code of family blood, while Wyatt and Josie murmur again and again how their relationship is fated, eternal, etc. Given the lack of originality in character conception and development, the book is hampered even more by its plodding plot and repetitive diescriptions. Parker is somewhat hamstrung by the need to fit the shifting alliances, double dealing, and continual flux of the frontier into a neat package -- a package which will vindicate Wyatt and his brothers from appearing to be exactly what they were: thugs, thieves, gamblers, and political opportunists. History, however, is a hard taskmaster, for despite Parker's efforts to insert honor and romance as driving motives, his portrait of the Earps never exonerates them. The narrative pace of the book is extremely slow, and even the gunfight at OK Corral is an anticlimax, as is the falsely attributed killing of Johnny Ringo by Wyatt in the book's final pages. The repetitive elements in the book revolve around ad nauseam discussions of family honor, failed descriptions of the gunfighter's mentality (i.e., total awareness, the gun as an extension of the man, etc.), and scene after scene of Wyatt looking over the rim of his coffee cup so that he can continually scan the room for approaching danger. In short, this is not even a good Spenser novel. Its only plus is that there is little in the way of gourmet cooking, tired wisecracks, and cute dog descriptions.If a reader wishes to find a truly exciting account of the Tombstone situation, he or she should go to Paula Mitchell Marks's "And Die in the West." It is an extensively researched, yet readable piece of Western history. It is surely one of the best books on Western history ever written, and it certainly outdistances "Gunman's Rhapsody" is terms of character and pace. Parker obviously consulted this book. After reading it, he should have gotten out of town and left the territory to Ms. Marks.
Rating: 
Summary: Writer's gotta write what a writer's gotta write
Review: "I write," said Parker. "I know," said Smith. "That's the way it is," said Parker. "You're a writer, you write. You write, sometimes you finish a book. You finish a book, sometimes it gets published." "Published don't mean it's good," said Smith. There was no expression on Parker's face. It seemed as if part of him always lived in some quiet, distant place. He was always holding something back. "Didn't say you had to like it," said Parker. "Don't, much," said Smith. "Can't be helped," said Parker. "No," said Smith. "Guess it can't."
Rating: 
Summary: Fun fast escapism
Review: Another reviewer wished this had been his first Robert Parker novel because he thinks he might have enjoyed it more. This was my first Robert Parker novel, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. I bought it in order to have some light reading while vacationing in Orlando. While my kids were splashing in the pool, I was sitting in the sun, lost in the world of the Earps and Tombstone. This book is exactly what I wanted. It's fast-paced, easy to read, full of good dialog, and goes great with a refreshing beverage of your choice. Mr. Parker tells a great story. I highly recommend this book for summertime reading.
Rating:
Summary: Dwindling Effort
Review: As a former rabid fan of Robert Parker, especially the Spenser series, it saddens me to say that this book is just another of Parker's recent half-hearted efforts to put something in print. In Gunman's Rhapsody, he rehashes old plots and dialogues from print and movie script. The publisher, in collusion, allows it to go out with it's deceptive practice of meager word count, large font, and widely spaced lines. Robert Parker is tired folks. After so many great works, he doesn't seem to want to write anymore. Don't buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Parker
Review: As an afficionado of Parker/Spencer books this is a disappointing effort.Halfway through, I was glutted with bullets,Winchesters,Colts, the way Wyatt holds his coffee cup,fried bread and bacon, etc.Parker has an obsession with Jewish women. Josie is Susan minus 100 or so years. "Intelligent,
upper class, educated, eating sparingly." I missed Pearl, the wonder dog.Please, Robert, stick to what you do so well.
Rating:
Summary: Gunmans Rhapsody
Review: Being a great fan of Parker I am Dismayed by this mail it in writing.There are fifty great books set in the old West,This is not one of them.
Proves people should stick to what they know.
Wheres Spencer
Rating:
Summary: Parker's Twist on a Western Legend
Review: Being the author of a recently published mystery novel in which Tombstone's shootout at the O.K. Corral plays a small part, I am very much aware of the complex relationship between western and mystery fiction. Several leading mystery writers--Loren Estleman, Elmore Leonard, and Bill Pronzini immediately come to mind--also write western fiction. In GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY, Robert B. Parker takes on the task of writing a western. He succeeds masterfully in his effort. With echoes from his Spenser series echoing throughout his story, Parker's Wyatt Earp is a man who adheres to his own strict personal code of what he considers honor. Once he arrives in Tombstone, he finds himself falling hard for a beautiful showgirl, Josie Marcus. She's the lover of Johnny Behan, an Earp political rival, and this rivalry eventually leads to the legendary shootout. All the usual suspects--Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, and Johnny Ringo--play their parts in the story. Along the way, Parker presents his interpretation of American society at that point in history. He presents a largely lawless Tombstone split along Union/Confederate and townfolk/rancher grounds. He shows people attempting to live their lives as they best can with the values they hold. I have always enjoyed the Spenser series, and I enjoyed GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY. I continue to be amazed by Robert B. Parker's writings. He is a master working at the top of his form.
Rating:
Summary: Parker's Name is Only Item of Interest in this Book
Review: Clearly, someone wagered Parker that he couldn't write another account of OK Corral gunfight AND sell it. The tipoff on this book is Parker's name at 5 times the size of the book title AND Parker's name is at top while the title is well at bottom of the cover. Do not buy this book; if you have to read it, get it from the local library. There is nothing of interest, nothing in the characters, nothing for a plot that you cannot discern in first
three pages. Finally, this book fails the Dan Jenkins first page test.
Rating: 
Summary: Spenser at the (just OK) Corral
Review: Critics loved it & all in all it's an ok read. Basically it's Spenser in the old West. Parker focuses on too few aspects of Wyatt Earp's life w/too much existential angst.All in all it's a good entertaing read. It's a sentimental favorite because it drove me to read the true western writers ( Braun, Keltner, Johnston, & L'Amour).
Not (IMOO) worth full price.
Rating:
Summary: Spenser Goes west
Review: First Robert B. Parker turned his series detective hero Spenser into a woman (for the Sunny Randall series), now he has Spenser travel back in time to the old west to play Wyatt Earp -- with Doc Holliday as a kind of low budget Hawk. All the familiar Spenser ideals of love and honor are there, and there's some anachronism (did they really talk about "securing the perimeter" in the old west?) which makes it easy to make fun of Gunman's Rhapsody. But the story zips along, and it's a well imagined version of the familiar OK Corrall legend. I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it almost despite myself.
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