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Walking Shadow

Walking Shadow

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: If You Don't Love Spenser, Don't Read This Book
Review: ....Because you'll never forgive him. Only a die-hard Spenser fan could keep reading after the first couple of chapters. To quote Hawk, "This is the silliest thing you ever got me involved in." (Whoops, I just blew the best moment in the book. Sorry.) The villains are one-dimensional to the point of being ridiculous. The clues are tasteless and dumb. Susan is at her most annoying - what DOES he see in her, except to love her for love's own sake, which is, quite frankly, getting tiresome. Makes me wonder what Parker's marriage is like. On the up-side, Hawk is even more refreshing than usual when he shows up to blow some humor into this stale story. But worst of all, Spenser is - horrors - just plain stupid in this one. Parker has avoided that in all the other books; even though you might not like the conclusion, at least you can't see it coming before savvy Spenser does. But this one? Good grief. It's vital to the plot that Spenser doesn't get it, but that's the only justification, and it's a terrible mistake for a great writer like Parker to make. Check it out at the library if you must; it's a quick read like all Parker books so it won't waste much of your time. But don't spend money on this one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: If You Don't Love Spenser, Don't Read This Book
Review: ....Because you'll never forgive him. Only a die-hard Spenser fan could keep reading after the first couple of chapters. To quote Hawk, "This is the silliest thing you ever got me involved in." (Whoops, I just blew the best moment in the book. Sorry.) The villains are one-dimensional to the point of being ridiculous. The clues are tasteless and dumb. Susan is at her most annoying - what DOES he see in her, except to love her for love's own sake, which is, quite frankly, getting tiresome. Makes me wonder what Parker's marriage is like. On the up-side, Hawk is even more refreshing than usual when he shows up to blow some humor into this stale story. But worst of all, Spenser is - horrors - just plain stupid in this one. Parker has avoided that in all the other books; even though you might not like the conclusion, at least you can't see it coming before savvy Spenser does. But this one? Good grief. It's vital to the plot that Spenser doesn't get it, but that's the only justification, and it's a terrible mistake for a great writer like Parker to make. Check it out at the library if you must; it's a quick read like all Parker books so it won't waste much of your time. But don't spend money on this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Read the book, forget the tape.
Review: Another great Spenser novel, but read the book, don't listen to the tape. The reader, Daniel Parker (son of the author) doesn't do it justice. Bring back David Dukes!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spenser in Chinatown on his most convoluted case
Review: By the time you get to "Walking Shadow," the twenty-first Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, you expect there to be a certain escalation in the dangers confronting our hero. The clearest sign of that this particular time around the block is that Spenser needs the backup of both Hawk and Vinnie Morris the defrocked mobster. Having faced down billionaire eccentrics, syndicate bosses and homicidal maniacs, Spenser is now facing what might be his greatest danger, a Chinese tong. As with the life in the projects portrayed in "Double Deuces," Parker has been reading up on Chinese-American culture, continuing to expand Spenser's horizons. Certainly the extent to which this novel is concerned with the problems of illegal Chinese immigration makes it far and away the most socially conscious Spenser story. At one point Hawk tells Spenser this is the silliest case they have ever worked together, but by the end that proves most decidedly not to be true.

Susan Silverman, a board member of the Port City Theater Company, asks our hero to discover the identity of the figure in black who has been stalking the Artistic Director. During a performance of an obtuse play that makes "Waiting for Godot" a paragon of clear reason, a figure in black shoots dead one of the actors on stage. The square peg to be pounded into the round hole this time around is how these two acts are connected. After all, Spenser does not believe in coincidence, especially when he starts nosing around and is quickly threatened by the head of the tong. Toss into the mix the local chief of police, a former state cop who appears to have sold his good name to obtain a small measure of power in this world. "Walking Shadow" is probably the Spenser novel in which our hero seems most like a duck out of water, because, after all, this time around its Chinatown (supply your own dramatic music). Fortunately the man knows how to be patient. On the home front there is not much cooking in this novel (lots of sandwiches and picnic lunches), but Spenser and Susan are busy restoring a cottage for their weekends together where Pearl gets to chase squirrels. "Walking Shadow" is certainly an above average Spenser novel with some of Parker's better twists at the end of the ride.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great story, great setting, so-so characters
Review: By the time you get to "Walking Shadow," the twenty-first Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, you expect there to be a certain escalation in the dangers confronting our hero. The clearest sign of that this particular time around the block is that Spenser needs the backup of both Hawk and Vinnie Morris the defrocked mobster. Having faced down billionaire eccentrics, syndicate bosses and homicidal maniacs, Spenser is now facing what might be his greatest danger, a Chinese tong. As with the life in the projects portrayed in "Double Deuces," Parker has been reading up on Chinese-American culture, continuing to expand Spenser's horizons. Certainly the extent to which this novel is concerned with the problems of illegal Chinese immigration makes it far and away the most socially conscious Spenser story. At one point Hawk tells Spenser this is the silliest case they have ever worked together, but by the end that proves most decidedly not to be true.

Susan Silverman, a board member of the Port City Theater Company, asks our hero to discover the identity of the figure in black who has been stalking the Artistic Director. During a performance of an obtuse play that makes "Waiting for Godot" a paragon of clear reason, a figure in black shoots dead one of the actors on stage. The square peg to be pounded into the round hole this time around is how these two acts are connected. After all, Spenser does not believe in coincidence, especially when he starts nosing around and is quickly threatened by the head of the tong. Toss into the mix the local chief of police, a former state cop who appears to have sold his good name to obtain a small measure of power in this world. "Walking Shadow" is probably the Spenser novel in which our hero seems most like a duck out of water, because, after all, this time around its Chinatown (supply your own dramatic music). Fortunately the man knows how to be patient. On the home front there is not much cooking in this novel (lots of sandwiches and picnic lunches), but Spenser and Susan are busy restoring a cottage for their weekends together where Pearl gets to chase squirrels. "Walking Shadow" is certainly an above average Spenser novel with some of Parker's better twists at the end of the ride.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spenser in Chinatown on his most convoluted case
Review: By the time you get to "Walking Shadow," the twenty-first Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, you expect there to be a certain escalation in the dangers confronting our hero. The clearest sign of that this particular time around the block is that Spenser needs the backup of both Hawk and Vinnie Morris the defrocked mobster. Having faced down billionaire eccentrics, syndicate bosses and homicidal maniacs, Spenser is now facing what might be his greatest danger, a Chinese tong. As with the life in the projects portrayed in "Double Deuces," Parker has been reading up on Chinese-American culture, continuing to expand Spenser's horizons. Certainly the extent to which this novel is concerned with the problems of illegal Chinese immigration makes it far and away the most socially conscious Spenser story. At one point Hawk tells Spenser this is the silliest case they have ever worked together, but by the end that proves most decidedly not to be true.

Susan Silverman, a board member of the Port City Theater Company, asks our hero to discover the identity of the figure in black who has been stalking the Artistic Director. During a performance of an obtuse play that makes "Waiting for Godot" a paragon of clear reason, a figure in black shoots dead one of the actors on stage. The square peg to be pounded into the round hole this time around is how these two acts are connected. After all, Spenser does not believe in coincidence, especially when he starts nosing around and is quickly threatened by the head of the tong. Toss into the mix the local chief of police, a former state cop who appears to have sold his good name to obtain a small measure of power in this world. "Walking Shadow" is probably the Spenser novel in which our hero seems most like a duck out of water, because, after all, this time around its Chinatown (supply your own dramatic music). Fortunately the man knows how to be patient. On the home front there is not much cooking in this novel (lots of sandwiches and picnic lunches), but Spenser and Susan are busy restoring a cottage for their weekends together where Pearl gets to chase squirrels. "Walking Shadow" is certainly an above average Spenser novel with some of Parker's better twists at the end of the ride.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good book, terrible reader
Review: I concur with the comments of the previous reviewers about the quality of the audiobook presentation by Daniel Parker. The Spenser books are made for drive-time listening, but one wonders whether anyone at Dove actually ever listened to Daniel Parker's performance before releasing it. There was a significant disconnect between my mind's-eye image of Spenser (tough, laconic big guy with insight and intelligence) and Parker's high-pitched lisp. Imagine a not-quite Charles Nelson Reilly voice emanating from Spenser and you get the picture.

The best Spenser voice: Burt Reynolds, who does all the characters (including Hawk) extremely well. After Burt, Joe Mantegna is very good, and David Duke is OK.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A fun read...however, predictable
Review: I had this one figured out half way through. Pearl was cute :-

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This was a very poor choice for a performer.
Review: I love the Spenser series, they hold my interest every moment, mostly because of the incredible humor that exudes every line and the usual performers who fit the character like a glove. This performer, who I assume must be Mr. Parker's son does not have the voice to carry the dialogue. He sounds more like an adolescent than a hard driving middle-aged character. Although I always love the Mr Parker's stories, the performer was so distracting that I had a hard time differentiating characters and following the story line. Sorry...bring back Burt Reynolds, William Windham or Michael (?)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Spenser, Hawk and Vinnie Morris take on a gang of killers
Review: In this episode, Spenser attends a play at the Port City Theater Company, where Susan is a member of the board. The director believes that he is being followed, so Susan asks Spenser to look into it. Circumstances change rather quickly when the lead actor is killed in the middle of a dramatic scene. He was shot through the heart from an assailant who was in the theatre, so it is clear that the job was professional.
Port City is a city whose better days have passed. It now has a large population of Asiatic descent and is dirty and riddled with crime. Spenser recruits Hawk, his regular companion, and Hawk, realizing the length of the odds against them, recruits former enemy Vinnie Morris, who joins the team to make a very formidable trio. They need all of their talents, as they are up against the major Asian crime gang of the region. Throw in a crazy woman who tries to bed Spenser while manipulating everyone else in the story, a crooked cop, and the story goes in many different directions. You are given hints as to the direction of the result, but nothing definite.
Spenser and Hawk are at their wisecracking best, with Vinnie and Susan excellent foils for them to play off of. The story moves along quickly, with plenty of action and suspense until the final resolution. I enjoyed it very much, reading it when I should have been working on other things.


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