Widow's Walk

Rating:
Summary: Walking the Walk
Review: Spenser, Boston's toughest and most philosophical private eye, is hired to investigate the death of Nathan Smith, a rich upper class bank owner. The prime suspect is Mary Smith, the dead man's widow who is twenty years younger and appears to have the I.Q. of a turnip. Mary is so dumb acting that everyone, including the District Attorney's office, isn't buying it. Hired by Rita Fiore, Spenser puts an edge on his sleuthing skills and dares to ask questions of the wealthy and the elite, looking for the right rock to turn over that will point to the real murderer. The trail is twisted and there are a number of players with their own agendas. In no time at all, Spenser is on his home turf, taking the good fight to trained thugs and would-be assassins.

Robert B. Parker has set the bar with his poetic private eye, and Spenser is the standard that a whole generation of authors of tough guy private investigator fiction have been measured against. The author has written 29 books about Spenser, 3 about female private eye Sunny Randall, 3 about small town police chief Jesse Stone, a recent Western novel featuring Wyatt Earp, 2 about Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, and a handful of stand-alone tales. The Spenser books were also the source material for ABC's SPENSER: FOR HIRE television series starring Robert Urich, and a string of A & E movies that now feature Joe Mantegna.

As in any Robert B. Parker work, the prose is sparse and dead-on, the dialogue crisp and clean, and the hero featured up front and center. WIDOW'S WALK has a lot to offer to old fans in the way of action and one-liners. The cynical wit and the camaraderie with Hawk and Belson, the relationship with Susan Silverman, are all in place in this addition to the Spenser franchise.

The overall plot sometimes comes across as thin and hard to get at. Banking terms and financial situations remain somewhat hazy, though the reader never gets the impression that Parker is playing fast and loose with them. Susan's loss of a patient through suicide comes across as a near-miss. The loss and Susan are important, but so far distant from what Spenser is working and dealing with that the death should have been excised from the book or given more weight, whether in terms of the Smith case or touching more directly on the Spenser/Susan relationship. The final villain, even though the reader is prepared for him, remained off stage so much that he seemed like a shadow and never came to life in any way.

A Spenser novel isn't designed or meant to be a heavy cerebral experience. Spenser is a hands-on, shoot-'em-up type of guy, the kind of man that the male and female audience who are fans of action and adventure can stand up and cheer for. Readers experienced with Spenser and Parker will want to add this book to their collection, and readers that want to embrace a new author and a new tough guy hero can pick this book up and be able to make a critical judgment on whether to pick up the rest of this exciting series. Robert B. Parker and Spenser always deliver exactly what they set out to do: a look into crime and a man's vision of himself and the cause-and-effect relationship he has with his world. The writing is simply the best, tight and efficient and involving.

Rating:
Summary: Who Killed Nathan Smith?
Review: After reading Robert B. Parker's latest Spenser incarnation, WIDOW'S WALK, I don't think I can answer that question. I suspect that anyone else reviewing this book will come to the same conclusion if they re-read the last 75 pages of the book. As such and given the incredibly high marks given by most reviewers of this book, I fear my review will be quite unpopular.

Spenser is hired by the leggy redhead attorney, Rita Fiore (a returning character) to find out who killed Nathan Smith. Smith, a blue blood banker with an impeccable reputation in Boston, was killed in his bed allegedly while his much younger wife, Mary, was watching television in another part of their three-story home. Without the appearance of a break-in or security breach, all circumstantial evidence points to Mary as suicide has been ruled out given the absence of the gun at the crime scene. When Spenser begins questioning Mary, he immediately finds that she lacks the intellectual capacity to string together basic sentences much less understand how or why her husband has been killed. Spenser's not so certain that Mary is deficient in mental faculty department or is putting on a grandiose act.

As Spenser begins his investigation, he immediately picks up a tail. After interviewing the Smiths' stockbroker, Spenser is accosted by the two tailing thugs. In true Spenser fashion, he provides his would-be attackers with the beating they so richly deserve. Shortly thereafter, people directly and peripherally attached to this case begin dying in savage order. Parker takes the reader through the typical investigatory scheme and provides a climax that left this reader scratching his head.

I've read all of Parker's Spenser novels and typically wait anxiously for the next offering. However, with this particular novel, I'm wondering what Bob was thinking. He maintains his easy-to-read chapters and storyline cadence of previous Spenser offerings but in this reviewer's opinion, that's about it. Several things were missing here: 1) a heavy dose of Spenser witticisms {Parker typically has me laughing out loud with Spenser's one-liners; not so here}, 2) an incredible lack of Hawk and his captivating mannerisms {if one is a true fan of Spenser, you know what I mean), 3) lack of character development of the resident villain (I don't know what to say here; Parker has an uncanny knack of providing the reader the psyche of the book's villain; not so in WIDOW'S WALK), and 4) WHO KILLED NATHAN SMITH?! As to my last comment here, the individual(s) responsible for the death of Nathan Smith is never disclosed.

All in all, a very disappointing Spenser for me however, as a true fan, I'll be there for the next offering.

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately, not a great introduction to Robert Parker
Review: I picked up Widow's Walk from the library, to listen to while I commuted to work. This was my introduction to Robert B. Parker and as such, also to Spenser.

Joe Mantegna reads very well for the characters and manages to convey very believable characters. As I listened, my imagination played some film noir soundtrack in the background.

There are a great many characters in the storyline. At one point I almost lost track of who was whom. And golly, everyone but the main characters seemed to die. It was as if they were all cursed with a Red Uniform from the original Star Trek days. And I think Parker seemed to concentrate more on having them dead than fleshing out the reasons or the writing behind the reasons for their deaths. The reasons just didn't seem to want to stick in my head. That felt unsatisfying.

All else considered, Widow's Walk was good for light reading, or listening, as the case was for me, but it wasn't exactly material that made me enthused about returning for another dose of Parker. I don't dislike his writing; it was just.. okay. It wasn't until I read the other Amazon readers' reviews for Widow's Walk that I figured I ought to give the earlier Spensers a go.

Rating:
Summary: Some other Spring, Spenser
Review: I feel like I've been unfaithful.Every March I await the arrival of Robert B.Parker's new Spenser book and every year I delight from page one the familiar voice of this steady and engrossing character. However this year is different. The case Spenser takes from lawyer friend Rita is boring and even Spenser is bored with the client - the widow/suspect "dumb Mary". Spenser's long time girlfriend Susan is upset about a lost patient and comes across as whinny and needing attention for a problemn we don't really feel. Even gallant Hawk doesn't have any spark.And Rita has been reduced to a [lustful] desparate big time lawyer.Parker's women have never been so shallow. Usually I can finish a Spenser book in two sittings but this one I found that I read two other books in between the start and finish. Robert B. Parker is the king of the mystery series and he has a great class of pupils from Dennis Lehane to Harlan Coben but prehaps it is time for the master to leave the tried and true and take Spenser somewhere else. The only character in this series that has aged is the dog. Maybe next spring we can try again.

Rating:
Summary: Reliable Fare
Review: This is the typical Spenser novel - same great characters: Spenser, Susan and Hawk + good story line and humor. Parker does smart tough guy dialogue as well as anyone. Spenser's self-deprecating humor always rings true.

So why only three stars? There is nothing to distinguish this book from any of the other Spenser novels. The plot was fairly good, but so are all of the books in this series. It is -as are all the Spenser novels - goos light reading.

Rating:
Summary: "It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory."
Review: We'll never tire of Spenser. I'm pretty certain of that. Even when we know the guy's going to end up being 80 years old, still checking out the babes, beating up the bad guys, with an emotional United Nations of friends and camp followers, even then we'll always enjoy his company for a few hundred pages.

Here he hooks up with an old flame, Rita Fiore, tries to help her client, the incredibly dumb Mary Smith, hangs with Cimoli, Quirk, Belson, Vinnie and Hawk, has his ashes hauled as usual by the ever size 5 Susan, and in the end, well, you know.

One disappointment for me was that he doesn't seem as sad as he used to be once faced with the darker side of the whims of life. As a consequence, Susan's sadness at the suicide of one of her patient's seems almost trite, certainly unnecessary. But it's Spenser being Spenser.

Hard to beat the early Spensers, but the recent ones ain't too shabby either. This one, "Widow's Walk," is one of the better novels of Parker's cast in the last ten years. Nevertheless, if you're new to the quintessential PI you shouild start with the early ones. These are some of the best mysteries in the last 50 years. Like the game we would play when we were kids, if you were going to take 10 mysteries with you on a deserted island, three would be by Parker written before 1985, possibly Gudwulf, Rachel Wallace, Ceremony, God Save the Child or A Savage Place.

But as Watson would tell Holmes, I digress. Spenser fans won't be disappinted in Widow's Walk.

Rating:
Summary: Beantown banker goes down...
Review: ... but will the widow walk? Spenser gets hired by the widow's defense attorney to help clear her of murder. She's about as young and dumb as Anna Nicole, and obviously lies when Spenser questions her. Meanwhile, another bank employee, a broker, and a hitman go down in a hail of bullets, and Spenser is being watched by a couple of fat guys in bad suits driving big black cars. Spenser enlists the help of faithful sidekicks Hawk and Vinnie, to protect himself and shadow the numerous suspects in this twisted tale of immorality. This one is packed with solid action, and Spenser's wry humor.

Rating:
Summary: Widow's Walk
Review: Our well known private eye Spenser is back on the case in this one, trying to untangle a complex case involving a not-very-bright widow suspected by Boston's Finest of murdering her homosexual husband. Or was it a suicide? In the process, Spenser runs across a bank and real estate scam involving a host of characters who may or may not be involved in the original case.

This is vintage Spenser, with all of the sharp dialogue and clear, beautifully simple descriptive passages we've come to expect from Mr. Parker and his detective hero. It all makes for another fine read.

Pay no attention to carping critics. If they didn't criticize, who would think they were important? Buy the novel - and enjoy yourself once again in Spenser's Boston.

Rating:
Summary: Save your time and money
Review: Ho hum. There was a time when Spenser novels were fun and a little bit interesting. That was when Parker cared to find an original plot and to inject just a bit of suspense or make us care about his hero. Not so any more. Each Spenser book becomes a bit more of a self-parody. Parker likes to have Spenser trade black jokes with Hawk (safe because Hawk is black); then he trades gay jokes with a gay guy; women jokes with women; etc. Parker can't think of any new jokes, and this is tired...very tired. To be interesting, Spenser needs to be less cute and more dangerous. The plot doesn't hang together, nobody we care about is in any real danger, there's nothing new here--even Boston is kind of "sketched in" like the characters. Want to read somebody good? Read Block or Connelly. Parker's problem is all summed up neatly in the new picture on the back of the book. For years, Parker used a picture of him trying to look tough with shades, a doberman, a baseball jacket and hat. We knew he wasn't tough, but at least he was trying. Now they have a new jacket picture--he loooks like your old fat uncle...the one who used to play tricks on you at family reunions. This new book is like that: old, tired, unfunny, a bit obnoxious. Save your money, save your time.

Rating:
Summary: Mr Parker Needs a Technical Consultant
Review: I've never met a Spenser I didn't like and this one's no different. They're always a fun read and I don't try to analyze them too deeply.

I am however, a bit of a stickler for technical accuracy, especially when it breaks the case wide open. In this instance, it was the discovery of the .40 calibre pistol and how it was retrieved. Mr Parker erred twice, rather seriously. His first error was stating that the .40 caliber is a rare caliber. This is no longer the case. The .40 is quite popular and can be found in the holsters of many police departments. His second error was in stating that semi-auto pistols must have the hammer cocked in order to fire. Most modern semi-autos are either double-action or double-action-only pistols neither of which require that the hammer be cocked to fire. In fact one of the most popular .40 caliber pistols on the market is the Glock and it doesn't even have an external hammer.

Normally this sort of technical error would not be that important but in this case it was a major plot point and as such brought down my rating of the book overall. Next time, Mr Parker needs to do a little bit of research on firearms.