A Catskill Eagle

Rating:
Summary: Soars Higher than Most
Review: I just finished Robert B. Parker's "A Catskill Eagle" for the fifth time in as many years. I didn't intend for it to become a yearly ritual, but it has done that and I'm happy for it.

Eagle is the book that makes Spenser epic, that cements the bond between Spenser and Hawk among the great literary friendships. It is Parker's way of enforcing the comparisons between his own Spenser and the unstoppable, nameless knight of Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queen". It is more than a knight's tale, more than a picaresque, more than a detective novel.

To rescue Susan from her other lover, a rich, cruel and brutal man, Spenser and Hawk cut a swath of destruction across America. In order to secure the distressed damsel, they commit murder and arson and eventually sign on for an assassination. As an example of the depths of love and fealty, this book ranks up there with The Sun Also Rises. As an action-adventure it is perfect. As a hilarious buddy comedy it belongs in the same cabinet as any Hope/Crosby road film.

If there is a weak spot in this novel, it is in Russell Costigan himself, Susan's lover. In his desire to make Russell the very opposite of Spenser, he makes him dislikable, crude, a whiny, insecure neanderthal undeserving of Susan's love or attention. It makes her decision bewildering and unbelievable, despite Parker's attempts to explain.

But this book isn't about Russell. It's not even about Susan. It is about the quest. It is about the things around us that define who we are and how we respond when we are needed. And in that, it succeeds far beyond almost anything else you will read in this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Soars Higher than Most
Review: I just finished Robert B. Parker's "A Catskill Eagle" for the fifth time in as many years. I didn't intend for it to become a yearly ritual, but it has done that and I'm happy for it.

Eagle is the book that makes Spenser epic, that cements the bond between Spenser and Hawk among the great literary friendships. It is Parker's way of enforcing the comparisons between his own Spenser and the unstoppable, nameless knight of Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queen". It is more than a knight's tale, more than a picaresque, more than a detective novel.

To rescue Susan from her other lover, a rich, cruel and brutal man, Spenser and Hawk cut a swath of destruction across America. In order to secure the distressed damsel, they commit murder and arson and eventually sign on for an assassination. As an example of the depths of love and fealty, this book ranks up there with The Sun Also Rises. As an action-adventure it is perfect. As a hilarious buddy comedy it belongs in the same cabinet as any Hope/Crosby road film.

If there is a weak spot in this novel, it is in Russell Costigan himself, Susan's lover. In his desire to make Russell the very opposite of Spenser, he makes him dislikable, crude, a whiny, insecure neanderthal undeserving of Susan's love or attention. It makes her decision bewildering and unbelievable, despite Parker's attempts to explain.

But this book isn't about Russell. It's not even about Susan. It is about the quest. It is about the things around us that define who we are and how we respond when we are needed. And in that, it succeeds far beyond almost anything else you will read in this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Soars Higher than Most
Review: I just finished Robert B. Parker's "A Catskill Eagle" for the fifth time in as many years. I didn't intend for it to become a yearly ritual, but it has done that and I'm happy for it.

Eagle is the book that makes Spenser epic, that cements the bond between Spenser and Hawk among the great literary friendships. It is Parker's way of enforcing the comparisons between his own Spenser and the unstoppable, nameless knight of Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queen". It is more than a knight's tale, more than a picaresque, more than a detective novel.

To rescue Susan from her other lover, a rich, cruel and brutal man, Spenser and Hawk cut a swath of destruction across America. In order to secure the distressed damsel, they commit murder and arson and eventually sign on for an assassination. As an example of the depths of love and fealty, this book ranks up there with The Sun Also Rises. As an action-adventure it is perfect. As a hilarious buddy comedy it belongs in the same cabinet as any Hope/Crosby road film.

If there is a weak spot in this novel, it is in Russell Costigan himself, Susan's lover. In his desire to make Russell the very opposite of Spenser, he makes him dislikable, crude, a whiny, insecure neanderthal undeserving of Susan's love or attention. It makes her decision bewildering and unbelievable, despite Parker's attempts to explain.

But this book isn't about Russell. It's not even about Susan. It is about the quest. It is about the things around us that define who we are and how we respond when we are needed. And in that, it succeeds far beyond almost anything else you will read in this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Spenser goes Spielberg
Review: I was not a fan of detective novels, until I had a copy of "Godwulf Manuscript" shoved under my nose with the admonition "Read it. I swear, this guy's cool." And then I inhaled the entire series. "Catskill Eagle" is the flat-out best writing Parker has ever done. The supporting characters almost steal the stage from Boston's fave gumshoe. No one else writes dick like this. Parker shows he's the best by driving his protagonist straight down the throat of a dilemma which pits his heart against his head; the Boy Scout chucks the rules to do what's right. The Best. Period. End of Review.

Rating:
Summary: A Catskill Screenplay?
Review: I'm in the process of reading all of the Spenser novels, and so far this is the most unusual. Unlike other Parker novels, which feature somewhat realistic settings and situations, Catskill is wildly unbelievable -- more like a Bond movie than anything else. Spenser and Hawk actually start a small war in weapons installation!

A welcome change in this book is the fairly limited appearance of the hateful Susan Silverman; whose actions in this book make you wonder why Spenser doesn't end their relationship -permenantly.

Generally speaking, Parker's greatest weakness as an author is his writing of women. Both Rachael Wallace and Silverman's dialogue is more like Mr. Spock than any female I've ever met. Fortunately we are spared the inevitable three page chapters in which Susan expounds on Spenser's motivations or some other character's. But Parker knows this isn't his strength, because I've been skipping those chapters lately, and it doesn't hurt the story at all!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Spensers so far.
Review: Robert B. Parker, A Catskill Eagle (Dell, 1985)

Spenser, Susan, and Hawk are back for another adventure. This one spends its time ketting between the two coasts. When we last left our intrepid adventurers, Susan and Spenser had decided to spend some time apart, and Suze was out in San Francisco dating some other guy. Now, out of the blue, Spenser gets a letter, saying she's in trouble, Hawk is in jail in a nothing little Frisco suburb, and Spenser's help would be greatly appreciated. Spenser heads out to the left coast to get his pal out of jail, find his is-she-or-is- she-not? girlfriend, do some sleuthing, and break a few heads.

Parker has kept the Spenser dynasty going for almost three decades now, and the quality of the novels has remained high as time has gone on. Still, the series has its high and low points, relatively, and A Catskill Eagle is one of the high points. Hawk and Spenser one-liner each other more than the whole WWF on amphetamines. Plot twists abound. The boys get their hands dirty. Government agencies get involved (can't tell you how without spoilers-- I told you, plot twists abound, which makes it hard to get into any detail after the first six pages or so). Pretty much everyone ends up mad at Spenser, Hawk, or a combination of the above, but no one (who survives) can deny a good time was had by all.

In other words, it's classic Spenser-- funny, fast-paced, and thrilling. If you haven't caught the bug yet, do yourself a favor and start reading Parker, who's one of the best in the business today. ****

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Spensers so far.
Review: Robert B. Parker, A Catskill Eagle (Dell, 1985)

Spenser, Susan, and Hawk are back for another adventure. This one spends its time ketting between the two coasts. When we last left our intrepid adventurers, Susan and Spenser had decided to spend some time apart, and Suze was out in San Francisco dating some other guy. Now, out of the blue, Spenser gets a letter, saying she's in trouble, Hawk is in jail in a nothing little Frisco suburb, and Spenser's help would be greatly appreciated. Spenser heads out to the left coast to get his pal out of jail, find his is-she-or-is- she-not? girlfriend, do some sleuthing, and break a few heads.

Parker has kept the Spenser dynasty going for almost three decades now, and the quality of the novels has remained high as time has gone on. Still, the series has its high and low points, relatively, and A Catskill Eagle is one of the high points. Hawk and Spenser one-liner each other more than the whole WWF on amphetamines. Plot twists abound. The boys get their hands dirty. Government agencies get involved (can't tell you how without spoilers-- I told you, plot twists abound, which makes it hard to get into any detail after the first six pages or so). Pretty much everyone ends up mad at Spenser, Hawk, or a combination of the above, but no one (who survives) can deny a good time was had by all.

In other words, it's classic Spenser-- funny, fast-paced, and thrilling. If you haven't caught the bug yet, do yourself a favor and start reading Parker, who's one of the best in the business today. ****

Rating:
Summary: A catskill eagle
Review: The massive story arc Robert B. Parker developed over several novels wherein Susan Silverman leaves Spenser and goes off to California reaches its climax in "A Catskill Eagle." Our hero had been hoping for some sort of reconciliation with Susan, who was involved in a serious relationship with a married man, when suddenly he receives a letter from Susan telling him Hawk is in jail in the small town of Mill River. Apparently, Hawk killed a man and busted three teeth belonging to Russell Costigan, the man who has been seeking Susan's affections and whose family basically owns Mill River. After busting Hawk out of jail, the two head off to find Susan despite the fact they only have $197 dollars, 17 rounds of ammo, are 3,000 miles from home, do not know where Susan might be, and do not have a car, clohtes, toilet paper or champagne. Just to make things interesting, Costigan's dad is one of the richest and baddest men in the nation.

The title for "A Catskill Eagle" comes from a choice quote in Melville's "Moby Dick," and provides an elegant metaphor for Spenser's place in the world. However, in this particular novel Parker tries a bit too hard to create a dragon slayer epic, because the man "holding" Susan is not only her married lover, but the son of one of the richest men in the world, who owns a whole punch of semi-impregnable fortresses in which to hold the secluded maiden, not to mention he is a major arms manufacturing who sells weapons to anybody with the cash and also trains armies of mercenaries to hire out around the world or do his bidding and on top of all that the Feds want the old man dispatched with extreme prejudice. You get the feeling this is a Catskill Eagle against the great white whale and you know that in the end this is not going to be any contest.

Obviously I am displaying a preference for the more intimate Spenser cases I have read in the past. Measuring our hero against such an epic scale tends to put him a bit out of focus for me. Instead of Spenser for Hire this is more in the mold of super agent James Bond, license to kill. The good thing about this particular epic quest is that Spenser ends up bringing in pretty much the entire support system from Quirk and Benson to Rachel Wallace and Hugh Dixon. The best of the new additions to our growing little family is Dr. Hilliard, Susan's shrink, who provides some insights into damsel in distress the way Paul does for Spenser. However, while I am fully away from both personal and mediated experience that people in love do stupid things, I just do not buy Susan's actions. She might be capable of an impulsive error, but to keep piling them up like this does not ring true to my admittedly idealized notion of the lady. I do not buy her as this lost a soul. Having said that, "A Catskill Eagle" is decent attempt at an epic adventure for our hero (the book is probably the longest in the series to date) and any story in which it comes down to whether Freud's reading of Sophocles is clinically accurate has got to be a bit more than okay.

Rating:
Summary: At long last, Spenser finally rescues Susan
Review: The massive story arc Robert B. Parker developed over several novels wherein Susan Silverman leaves Spenser and goes off to California reaches its climax in "A Catskill Eagle." Our hero had been hoping for some sort of reconciliation with Susan, who was involved in a serious relationship with a married man, when suddenly he receives a letter from Susan telling him Hawk is in jail in the small town of Mill River. Apparently, Hawk killed a man and busted three teeth belonging to Russell Costigan, the man who has been seeking Susan's affections and whose family basically owns Mill River. After busting Hawk out of jail, the two head off to find Susan despite the fact they only have $197 dollars, 17 rounds of ammo, are 3,000 miles from home, do not know where Susan might be, and do not have a car, clohtes, toilet paper or champagne. Just to make things interesting, Costigan's dad is one of the richest and baddest men in the nation.

The title for "A Catskill Eagle" comes from a choice quote in Melville's "Moby Dick," and provides an elegant metaphor for Spenser's place in the world. However, in this particular novel Parker tries a bit too hard to create a dragon slayer epic, because the man "holding" Susan is not only her married lover, but the son of one of the richest men in the world, who owns a whole punch of semi-impregnable fortresses in which to hold the secluded maiden, not to mention he is a major arms manufacturing who sells weapons to anybody with the cash and also trains armies of mercenaries to hire out around the world or do his bidding and on top of all that the Feds want the old man dispatched with extreme prejudice. You get the feeling this is a Catskill Eagle against the great white whale and you know that in the end this is not going to be any contest.

Obviously I am displaying a preference for the more intimate Spenser cases I have read in the past. Measuring our hero against such an epic scale tends to put him a bit out of focus for me. Instead of Spenser for Hire this is more in the mold of super agent James Bond, license to kill. The good thing about this particular epic quest is that Spenser ends up bringing in pretty much the entire support system from Quirk and Benson to Rachel Wallace and Hugh Dixon. The best of the new additions to our growing little family is Dr. Hilliard, Susan's shrink, who provides some insights into damsel in distress the way Paul does for Spenser. However, while I am fully away from both personal and mediated experience that people in love do stupid things, I just do not buy Susan's actions. She might be capable of an impulsive error, but to keep piling them up like this does not ring true to my admittedly idealized notion of the lady. I do not buy her as this lost a soul. Having said that, "A Catskill Eagle" is decent attempt at an epic adventure for our hero (the book is probably the longest in the series to date) and any story in which it comes down to whether Freud's reading of Sophocles is clinically accurate has got to be a bit more than okay.

Rating:
Summary: unbelievable
Review: this book is the worst spenser book. his own fantasies of love have impaired his ability to write. the relationship between spenser and susan would entitle both of them major psychiatric diagnoses and the action/adventure is of mythical proportion....come on parker, you can do better than this