Rating: 
Summary: Parker on Autopilot
Review: I don't like to give Spenser novels a bad review, because I love the characters (except Susan) and the series, and have gotten hours of enjoyment out of them. But in this novel Parker seems to have basically been on autopilot and I did not find it very well done at all.Here we have Spenser hired by one Marlene Rowley to follow her husband Trent because she thinks he's been cheating on her. Sure enough, Spenser follows good ol' Trent to a hotel where he is doing whatever it is he does with an attractive blonde. There, Spenser bumps into another PI following the blonde. Interesting, huh? And so it goes-Trent is the CFO for a company called Kinergy, an energy broker, and winds up dead in the corporate officers. Spenser unravels a [...] fraudulent scheme going on, as well as a sex ring among the major players at Kinergy. And of course, Spenser doggedly gets it all unraveled in the end. The key problem here is that the story reads like a cookie cutter Spenser novel. Many Spenser novels in the past few years have been trending in that direction, but they usually offer at least some small insight, interesting plotline, or some tidbit that hooks you. We have none of that here. The plot is not that interesting, the dialogue is not that interesting, even Hawk and Vinnie are not that interesting! (Plus, there were typos throughout the book, which were distracting and annoying). A disappointing effort. But as a Spenser junkie, I can't wait for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: A notch below readable....
Review: I have every single Spenser book. Unfortunately, I confess I now buy them out of some twisted feeling of obligation. There is also a vestige of hope that the new books will somehow recapture the feelings I experienced when reading the earlier books. I am sad to say it, but this book is just boring. Of course it is formulaic as so many of these types of books are -- but the formula used to be exciting book after book after book. The new books are tedious, the dialogue bordering on obnoxious, and the plot lines are so predictable they are, frankly, silly. Unfortunately, I suspect I will continue to buy Spenser books. I will still pre-order them as I did this one. Why, I do not know. I only know that I love Spenser and Hawk. I continue to hold out that the vapid banter between Spenser and Susan or between Spenser and his clients or adversaries will give way to sturdy action, plausible story lines, and the old-fashioned wit and pace Parker once so effectively delivered. I am very disappointed. I am disappointed in myself for continuing to read the series. I sometimes think Parker is playing a joke on us. I sometimes imagine him saying, while I am reading, "Isn't it great? I put this trash together in a week, and they eat it up. Isn't America great?" As I am sure so many other Spenser lovers will do, if you have all of the Spenser books, like I do, you will continue to order them. If, however you are reading this review and are new to the Spenser series, you really ought not to bother. It will be a terrible disappointment. The worst thing you can do actually, is to go back and order the older Spenser books. Then you'll get hooked like me and its over. You will then waste your time and money on the last six or seven books which are tedious, boring, and downright unreadable - Worse, you will read every single word scratching your head and asking yourself, "Why do I keep doing this?"
Rating: 
Summary: Musical Beds Turns Deadly
Review: I have not read all of the Spencer series of novels. In fact, I think I have only read one or two, so I have no comment from a historical perspective on the qualities of this one. I found the book to be an easy and fun read. Mr. Parker has mastered the art of making a book look larger than it really is, but his use of dialogue and his sense of humor appeal to me. Things start out easily enough when Spencer is hired by a suspicious wife to tail her cheating husband. As it turns out the lady he is seeing is also being tailed by another PI and so is the lady that hired him. It seems that all of the principals are involved with one very up and coming company called, Kinergy and further investigation discovers that there is some musical bedrooms being played by the principals, all under the encouragement of a local radio personality who believes that marriage should not limit one's ability to show love for another. This is starting to look like a bedroom farce until one of the players is shot dead in his office. The deceased is the husband whom Spencer had been hired to tail. The cheese gets more binding when the chief of security at Kinergy also turns up dead in an apparent suicide, which is more apparently another murder. In his trademark fashion, Parker takes Spencer through the hoops along with the other characters that populate these novels and in the end, justice is done in a rather entertaining fashion. I enjoyed it.
Rating: 
Summary: Spencer tackles Enron
Review: I listened to the audio version. Joe Mantegna is great as usual. This time Spencer gets involved with extra-marital affairs, creative bookkeeping, and an Enron type scandal. As long as you maintain a light-hearted view of the details presented, the novel moves along nicely. However, if you have any financial background at all, the basic premise of the book falls apart. I know it is very moralistic to keep Spencer on the straight and narrow. However, it has beceome very boring from a reader's standpoint. No matter how enticing the female counterparts are, Spencer skillfully avoids them. This is as exciting as watching paint dry. This book is not nearly as good as last year's PotShot.
Rating:
Summary: Average
Review: I think this is one of his weakest novels. Its not that bad but since I read all of his books I definately expected something more exciting and its not happening here. As previous reviewer said, too many characters. You may have hard time remembering who is who and who is supposed to be doing what. Story itself drags on without too much action. Dissapointing.
Rating:
Summary: Parker always delivers
Review: I've always liked Parker's books, especially the Spenser and Jesse Stone novels. This was no exception. I love the witty banter and the strong loyal friendship between Spenser and Hawk. Parker never fails to turn out a good story full of strong characters, snappy dialogue, and his narrative is always vivid, even though he's not as wordy as some writers. The only thing about this book I didn't like is, I would have liked to have seen more of Hawk. I understand that such a character is more effective when used sparingly but a little more Hawk would have been an improvement I think. Still, it's a good tale and if you like Parker's novels, I can definitely recommend "Bad Business".
Parker is one of the best!
Rating:
Summary: Classic Spenser Novel: Characters Enter 21st Century
Review: I've read the entire collection of Spenser novels. I always enjoy Spenser's independence coupled with his soft heart and strong attachment to Susan Silverman. This isn't a great novel but it does continue the tradition in a solid way and is nice easy reading.
If you've never read a Spenser novel, I would suggest starting at the beginning with the Godwulf Manuscript and on from there for a very enjoyable -- and pleasurably long -- series of mystery novels. The characters are worth getting to know.
What I especially like about "Bad Business" is that Vinnie (he's a really good shooter) now has an iPod. What a great image! There is also a reference to Hieronymus Bosch, a Dutch painter from the 15th and 16th centuries who is also a fictitious character created by the author Michael Connelly in a wonderful series of books. Bosch, the principal protagonist, is an LAPD detective who is named after the painter. Is Robert Parker a fan of Michael Connelly?
Rating:
Summary: The Good, the Bad, the Snarly....
Review: If you are new to Spenser, start with an earlier book, such as "Looking for Rachel Wallace," or what I consider his very best, "Paper Doll." You could also start at the beginning and work your way through all 31, and have a very nice time. But by no means should you begin your Spenser adventure with this book. The plot is energetic but quite confusing - an Enron-like company pulling fiscal scams, all mixed up with some headache-inspiring spouse-swapping frenzy, huh? - but the real disappointment is, there is no one to care about here. Parker delivers his usual wit and wisdom, and that is what his fans love - the crisp dialogue, the social commentary, the gleeful puncturing of society's various bubbles. It helps to have visits from nearly every character we love (Hawk, Vinnie, Rita, and Susan who sort of grows on you) but this book lacks a crucial something that his earlier works had in abundance: sympathetic people, whether clients or others, whom you could cheer for, and bad people whom you could truly hate. I found myself having difficulty telling one supporting character from another, and by the end - when the only really bad dude is reduced to hissing like a lizard when he's caught - I didn't care how it ended, as long as it ended soon. It was kind of embarrasing, hiss hiss. Spenser is always, always worth a read, even in a confusing mess like this. But for most people, it's probably a good idea to just take this one out of the library. I've already given my copy away, leaving me one book short of a complete set. I just don't care. Many books ago, in "Walking Shadow," (which, in my opinion, was the first book where Parker's cracks began to show) Hawk had a wonderful line that went something like, "This is the silliest thing you ever got me involved in." I kept waiting for Hawk to say something like that in this one (pointless sexual tangles, fakes and double-fakes with the stock market, an open-marriage advocate/talk show host in love with a... Well I don't want to spoil it, whatever it is), but he didn't. The plot of "Walking Shadow" was clear and grounded compared to this. Maybe Hawk should walk off and start his own series, and replace the Spenser clones Jesse Stone (young male clone) and Sunny Randall (female clone). Most of us who are die-hard Spenser fans would follow Hawk anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Predictably good
Review: It is hard to conceive of a bad Parker novel. By now his skills are so honed, his characters so familiar, his dialogue so effortless, his sense of place so assured and his plots so polished that he is the safest buy in crime fiction. This is good, average Parker, with very deft depiction of the accounting scams motivating the crime. As others have noted, the Enron parallels are explicit, there is too much Susan and too little action. Still, we buy the books and enjoy them. We all continue to wonder, however, what Parker could do if he really put his mind to it, sent Susan and Pearl, incommunicado, to the farthest reaches of the globe, and focused on Hawk and Vinnie in a good old fashioned bloodfest. That might be his gift to his faithful readers for enduring the kissy face, dainty eating, cutesy-poo talk and dog slobber all these years.
Rating:
Summary: Spenser tackles white collar thugs...
Review: It seems quite en vogue to take the current dirty laundry in today's white-collar world and use it as a backdrop for a novel or television show. Robert B. Parker (RBP), widely renowned for his Spenser novels, has taken a page from this trend as the setting for his latest Spenser iteration, BAD BUSINESS. And, while the company could be one of many, RBP sure sounds as though he's chiding Enron in this one. BAD BUSINESS begins with the introduction of a new client, Marlene Rowley. Ms. Rowley is depicted as something of a haughty socialite, one borne of entitlement and very accustomed to having things her way. Veteran readers of Spenser know these types of attitude are fingernails on Spenser's chalkboard. As Ms. Rowley explains her plight, a wayward husband who she desperately wants to catch and "hang," she continues directing Spenser as to what he will do, when he will do it, and how he will do it. Spenser slowly but directly pops Ms. Rowley's balloon of self-importance in typical fashion. After the preliminaries are out of the way, Spenser agrees to follow Mr. Rowley in an attempt to catch him in the act. Spenser has a very easy time finding, following, and ascertaining that Mr. Rowley is indeed seeing another woman. However, while bird-dogging Rowley, he spies someone shadowing Mr. Rowley's paramour. After confronting this private cop, Spenser further discovers that Ms. Rowley is also being tailed by yet another private cop. Oh, how the plot thickens. This plays directly into the Spenser psyche as he begins moving his investigation into areas peripheral to the primary investigation...and what juicy nuggets he finds! And, as he does so often, Spenser enlists the help of Hawk, the dark anti-hero, who all Spenserians have come to love. While Hawk does not flex his muscles in BAD BUSINESS, he and Spenser do engage in their give-and-take dialogue that is, as always, fabulous. As RBP delves into white-collar criminal elements, the reader is introduced to a new character, Marty Siegel, a self-proclaimed "best accountant in the world," to read the tea leaves, as it were, given that Spenser and Hawk are clueless when it comes to financial reports. Although one would think the dialogue between Spenser and a "bean counter" would be somewhat prosaic, leave it to RBP to cast an accountant with an attitude. RBP has recreated the drama present in so many earlier Spenser novels and has managed to weave the backdrop of current events into this offering, which, from this reviewer's perspective, gives BAD BUSINESS tangible credibility. While I love the physical barbarity of Hawk and Spenser against the "bad guys," BAD BUSINESS manages to hold the same spell with very little "B" violence. Four and one-half stars. A great read.
| 
