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
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!! One of his best and I've read them all.
Review: This book takes a look at what friendship and loyality are first with his going too all odds to help his friend Hawk. Then helping Susan out of her situation even though he knows she may not choose to be with him. Even though he has crossed certain lines he still keeps his intergrety.
Rating:
Summary: A catskill eagle
Review: This is a great book. It is very humorouse and well thought out. I give this book five stars. We could all learn something from reading this book. It gives great examples on how to break out of jail and properly act in wierd situations. I think this is a great book. It starts out slow then get faster paced and keeps you wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Parker's best--a crowning achievement
Review: This is Robert B. Parker's best Spenser novel and best novel to date. Besides updating the hardboiled/film-noir/detective novel genre for the new age, it has always been clear to me that Parker, an English Professor who has taught at Tufts and Harvard, is also exploring the concepts of the Hero and the Heroic in our decidely un-heroic, if not anti-heroic, age. He does so masterfully here.The book soars on many levels. Lovers of literature will not be disappointed with many obscure allusions--not the least of which being the title of the book. Action fans will find plenty of violence. Lovers of pithy prose and repartee will also not be disappointed. Parker accomplishes the almost impossible: an exciting novel that manages to be literature at the same time. No mean feat, but he's been doing in for 30 years. If some of the later novels fall somewhat flat, e.g. Small Vices, Hush Money, Pale Kings and Princes, this book repays endless rereadings. And, since discovering it in 1987, I've read it at least a dozen times. It repays each new reading. Truly a book for a life time.
Rating:
Summary: Parker's best--a crowning achievement
Review: This is Robert B. Parker's best Spenser novel and best novel to date. Besides updating the hardboiled/film-noir/detective novel genre for the new age, it has always been clear to me that Parker, an English Professor who has taught at Tufts and Harvard, is also exploring the concepts of the Hero and the Heroic in our decidely un-heroic, if not anti-heroic, age. He does so masterfully here. The book soars on many levels. Lovers of literature will not be disappointed with many obscure allusions--not the least of which being the title of the book. Action fans will find plenty of violence. Lovers of pithy prose and repartee will also not be disappointed. Parker accomplishes the almost impossible: an exciting novel that manages to be literature at the same time. No mean feat, but he's been doing in for 30 years. If some of the later novels fall somewhat flat, e.g. Small Vices, Hush Money, Pale Kings and Princes, this book repays endless rereadings. And, since discovering it in 1987, I've read it at least a dozen times. It repays each new reading. Truly a book for a life time.
Rating: 
Summary: Psychological Profile
Review: This is the 12th in the Spenser series. The last chapters make the book very good, and up to that point it is absorbing because of the re-appearance of interesting characters. Here we find Hawk's greatest presence since _The Judas Goat_. Hugh Dixon of the same story gives Spenser $10,000 without a question asked. Rachel Wallace, of the book named after her, does research for Spenser. It was difficult for me to accept the premise that Susan was in such bad shape psychologically that she would risk people's lives in having Hawk come "free" her from her lover and in then sending a dire message to Spenser. However, the story provides an in-depth analysis of Susan's perception of herself, which makes it a bit more understandable. Also, we learn the circumstances of Spenser's birth and find out who raised him. It was only from Chapter 51 to the end that the story - and the characters' decisions - started to make sense. So, hang in there and finish this one, even if you're tempted to give up early. Chapter 52 provides a fantastic description of entering a tunnel, having a heavy stone door close behind and descending into the earth - in total darkness. My heartbeat raced and my breathing quickened as I experienced every step Spenser took. One humorous note, at least for me, is the revelation of Spenser's and Hawk's shoe sizes: 9 and 9 1/2. It seems like awfully small feet for such big men. :)
Rating:
Summary: This is the only Spencer I recommend;others? Just Jokes!
Review: This is the only seriously written Spencer ever written by the author. I think Mr. Parker has become a disgusting writer who could not help to outsmart himself everytime when he tried to write something. I really don't know why he is trying so hard to make the characters deliver so many and so much unnecessary and out of reality smart talks?! If writing would become so ridiculous smartassed entertaining, why doesn't R.B.P. change his profession to write comic jokes? I found his style become less and less serious in the Spencer Series, and could only provide us with LIP SERVICE with poor,simplified,hollow scenarios and plots! More and more, he is trying to waltz himself through the chapters, by only giving us overkilled, overdone, and over exagerated his-thought-to-be-sense-of-humor, he not only kept insulting our patience but also insulting himself with every new Spencer he wrote! I merely found two writers so far who could not keep himselves from self-degenerated and self-deteriorated downhill trend; another one is the once great(est) Lawrance Sanders. But L.S.'s self destruction is quite acceptable, since he's become so old,so alcholic stinking in his Mcnally's BLAB,BLAB,BLAB Series; yet Parker should not indulge himself in this kind of SMARTASSED LIP SERVICE and tried to ruin the taste of a reader. Neither does he has the right to make life so easier for Spencer as a once hard working private investigator. Spencer should not and could not survive under such too humours environment by just giving lip services with overkilled and unbearable comedian talks. BE A LITTLE BIT SERIOUS,OK? I tried very hard to read on of R.b.P's recent so called WORKS, but I could not believe that everytime, before the last several chapter,or even before finishing, I QUITTED! I was totally fed up by Parker's overdone smart talks, and couldn't careless anymore, because these books had become so ridiculously trivial and light-hearted after I suffered a PARKER'S SMART TALK SYNDROM! If Private Investigation Business could be done just by continuous smart talks, we don't need a license to get started, we could just buy a ticket to a comic show. I also found that the Spencer for Hire TV series were actually (much much) better than Parker's books, and the only book-turn-movie better than the originals. And this is a unique finding. Besides the fame and richness, I sincerely hope that this author could become more serious in his writing! Don't make easy money like the character in his creations! Thanks,but no, thank
Rating:
Summary: The BEST of the best
Review: This was far and away the penultimate Spenser novel. Enthralling and absorbing, full of raw emotions and violence. He must give up all of his carefully conceived rules regarding life, love, and his profession and forge a more realistic path for his future. As the plot unfolds and expands it is like observing a beautiful, intricate dance. I have read it repeatedly and it never suffers.
Rating: 
Summary: The beginning of the end for the Spenser series
Review: This was the first book in the Spenser that indicated something weird was going to happen. Catskill Eagle signalled the beginning of the end for the Spenser series. They've gone completely down hill since it's publication (although in fairness there has not yet been a Spenser novel as awful as A Catskill Eagle). Parker suddenly tried to turn Spenser in James Bond, having him invade hidden underground bases and the like. The book makes no sense.
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