Chance

Rating:
Summary: Always a good read, Parker is not at his best in "Chance."
Review: I love Robert Parker's "Spencer" novels. I've read all of them -- most more than once. For a while, every time a new novel would come out, I'd start with "The Godwulf Manscript" and read them all through, adding the new one at the end. So you know that I like his work! And I liked "Chance". But it is clearly not Mr. Parker's best work. It begins well, in classic "Spencer" fashion. Wise guys, damsels in distress, the ineffable Hawk, and the daunting, independent Susan. Spencer's self awareness is, as always, compelling. But the plot seems to simply fall apart in some ways at the end. After a lengthy investigation, and some pithy prose, Spencer solves the mystery, not by perserverence, or powerful deduction, or canny insight -- but rather by the receipt of a 'phone call and information spilled in the last few pages. It felt as though Mr. Parker had merely gotten tired of writing and decided to close out the text. Don't get me wrong, fellow readers. I enjoyed the read -- I like Parker's style; I like Spencer's character -- as much as I like Susan's and Hawk's characters. But this time, Mr. Parker provides humor and prose that leads to little more than a brief "poof" of denouement.

Rating:
Summary: Parker's Spenser series should've ended before Chance
Review: I used to wait eagerly for the next installment of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. I'm done waiting. The last three books, ending with Chance, have bored me to death. Chance is the piece-de-resistance. I kept waiting for the mystery to show itself. Turns out, there wasn't one. Spenser spent the whole book following someone around Las Vegas. Parker's early Spenser books are gems, but don't waste your time with Chance.

Rating:
Summary: The Worm Turns
Review: In Chance, you will meet the least trustworthy group of double-dealers you can ever imagine. They won't tell Spenser what's really going on, and switch allegiances at the drop of a hat. Just when you think you know what will happen next, the plot switches off into an unexpected direction.

Anthony Meeker, the biggest rat of them all, will keep you fascinated by raising the age-old question of what some women see in the men they marry.

Compared to most Spenser stories, this one has twice the plot. It's also filled with the usual entertaining by-play among Spenser, Hawk and Susan.

If you're like me, you won't be able to put this entertaining story down after starting it.

Take a Chance! You'll find it irresistible!

Rating:
Summary: The Worm Turns
Review: In Chance, you will meet the least trustworthy group of double-dealers you can ever imagine. They won't tell Spenser what's really going on, and switch allegiances at the drop of a hat. Just when you think you know what will happen next, the plot switches off into an unexpected direction.

Anthony Meeker, the biggest rat of them all, will keep you fascinated by raising the age-old question of what some women see in the men they marry.

Compared to most Spenser stories, this one has twice the plot. It's also filled with the usual entertaining by-play among Spenser, Hawk and Susan.

If you're like me, you won't be able to put this entertaining story down after starting it.

Take a Chance! You'll find it irresistible!

Rating:
Summary: Reynolds Ruins It
Review: It speaks well of Parker's novel that it can survive a reading as weak as this one by Burt Reynolds. Reynolds is unprepared, confused, and way, way, too cute as narrator - not to mention that his Hawk is right out of Amos 'n Andy. This rendition makes you appreciate the people who REALLY KNOW HOW to read a recorded book.

Rating:
Summary: Chance is no gamble
Review: No need to gamble when you pick up a Spenser novel. You know the tough wisecracking hero and his supercool sidekick Hawk will beat the odds and come out fine. Spenser stirs up the entire Boston mob scene, and takes some of them along on a junket to Vegas in this highly entertaining yarn. Fights and dead bodies pop up almost as frequently as Hawk's sage advice to Spenser. One thing you can bet on - Spenser's justice will prevail. Anybody who has ever enjoyed a Spenser novel will certainly not be dissappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Chance is no gamble
Review: No need to gamble when you pick up a Spenser novel. You know the tough wisecracking hero and his supercool sidekick Hawk will beat the odds and come out fine. Spenser stirs up the entire Boston mob scene, and takes some of them along on a junket to Vegas in this highly entertaining yarn. Fights and dead bodies pop up almost as frequently as Hawk's sage advice to Spenser. One thing you can bet on - Spenser's justice will prevail. Anybody who has ever enjoyed a Spenser novel will certainly not be dissappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Another Spenser novel -- Same as usual but still good
Review: One problem that many authors have is keeping audiences interested after dozens of books. We become accustomed to a certain style of writing, a certain cast of characters, and it's easy to get bored. Robert B. Parker is one of the few (only?) authors that can successfully write novel after novel in the same way with the same main characters and still weave an engaging story.

Chance is your basic Spenser novel; if you've read a few of them, you know just what to expect. Our hero is hired to find an errant husband, and ends up focusing on a damsel in distress. Most of the way he has no idea what he's doing. It's refreshing, actually, to have the investigation end at one point, with Spenser more clueless than when he began. Of course he figures it all out in the end, but more by luck than anything else. There isn't too much byplay with Susan here, so if you're interested more in that relationship than in Spenser's wisecracking and dogged persistence, try another book (perhaps Small Vices).

I hope Mr. Parker keeps Spenser going for a long long time.

Rating:
Summary: snake eyes
Review: Robert B. Parker is an excellent author -- he could pull three stars out of a description of Spenser getting audited on his income taxes. Maybe four.

But of his recent work, Chance is a bit of a disappointment. Mystery? There isn't really a mystery here the reader can solve. Character? The new characters are all rather shallow, structureless, and uncompelling. This may be a statement about the type of people attracted to Vegas, a city which plays a promonent role in the story, yet no insight is gained into the shallowness, no real new perspective is offered. Suspense? There really isn't much. Drama? No, not much of that either.

Really there isn't much here, globally. Locally, it's better. The interactions between Spenser and the others is, as usual, a joy to read. And Spenser's verbal quips, cultural references, and interesting insights are worth the read. But the book needs a bit more. And Parker's shown before that he can provide it.

Note : This review is based on the book as a part of the Spenser series. The Spenser books are best read in chronological sequence. As a standalone book, this is probably only two stars.

Rating:
Summary: snake eyes
Review: Robert B. Parker is an excellent author -- he could pull three stars out of a description of Spenser getting audited on his income taxes. Maybe four.

But of his recent work, Chance is a bit of a disappointment. Mystery? There isn't really a mystery here the reader can solve. Character? The new characters are all rather shallow, structureless, and uncompelling. This may be a statement about the type of people attracted to Vegas, a city which plays a promonent role in the story, yet no insight is gained into the shallowness, no real new perspective is offered. Suspense? There really isn't much. Drama? No, not much of that either.

Really there isn't much here, globally. Locally, it's better. The interactions between Spenser and the others is, as usual, a joy to read. And Spenser's verbal quips, cultural references, and interesting insights are worth the read. But the book needs a bit more. And Parker's shown before that he can provide it.

Note : This review is based on the book as a part of the Spenser series. The Spenser books are best read in chronological sequence. As a standalone book, this is probably only two stars.