Back Story [Paperback]

In this 30th entry in one of mystery fiction's longest-running and best-loved series, Spenser--the tough yet sensitive Boston private eye with no first name--takes on an unsolved murder nearly three decades old. The client, an actress, is a friend of Paul Giacomin, Spenser's surrogate son (who first appeared in 1981's Early Autumn). Her mother was slain by leftist radicals at a bank holdup in 1974, and now she wants to know who fired the shot. As Spenser digs into the past, he soon learns that powerful people on both sides of the law want the case left alone--badly enough to kill.

These death threats provide a fine excuse for Hawk, Spenser's extremely scary (yet sensitive) bad-guy pal, to tag along in nearly every scene as bodyguard. The interaction of the two friends is one of this series' familiar pleasures, as is the presence of Susan Silverman, Spenser's longtime love interest. Another pleasure is Robert B Parker's stripped-down prose, a marvel of craftsmanship. (Plus we get the first meeting between Spenser and Jesse Stone, hero of another Parker series.) Yet, alas, the whole enterprise feels a little tired. The plot never generates much sustained suspense, and the author's adoration for his central characters renders them at times almost cartoon-esque. Still, Back Story is excellently prepared comfort food, even if it isn't five-star cuisine. --Nicholas H Allison, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Parker's spruce and cunning book will speed you towards the right conclusion -- Philip Oakes, Literary Review 20030501 'Back Story will satisfy fans looking for the greatness we once took for granted' -- Time Out 20030603 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

" 'Back Story' will satisfy fans looking for the greatness we once took for granted." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

In 1974, a revolutionary group calling itself The Dread Scott Brigade held up a bank in Boston, killing a woman named Emily Gordon in the process. But the perpetrators were never brought to justice. Three decades on, and Emily's daughter, Daryl Gordon, has decided she needs some closure. Spencer is on the case, but the lack of clues and a missing FBI intelligence report force Spencer to reach out in every direction - from Daryl's estranged, hippie father to Vinnie Morris and the mob to the mysterious Ives - testing his resourcefulness and his courage.

In 1974, a revolutionary group held up the Old Shawmut Bank in Boston's Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing traveller's checks, was shot and killed. No one saw who shot her. Despite security-camera photos and a letter from the group claiming responsibility, the perpetrators have remained at large for nearly three decades.

Enter Paul Giacomin, the closest thing to a son Spenser has. Twice before, Spenser's come to the young man's assistance; and now Paul is thirty-seven, his troubled past behind him. When Paul's friend Daryl Gordon-daughter of the long-gone Emily-decides she needs closure regarding her mother's death, it's Spenser she turns to. The lack of clues and a missing FBI intelligence report force Spenser to reach out in every direction-to Daryl's estranged, hippie father, to Vinnie Morris and the mob, to the mysterious Ives - testing his resourcefulness and his courageousness.

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1932, Robert Brown Parker attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine, graduating with a degree in English in 1954. Following college he enlisted and served a period of time in the infantry in Korea. In 1956 he studied for an M.A. in English at Boston University, then took a variety of white-collar jobs, returning to teach and work on a Ph.D. in 1962, at the urging of his wife, Joan, his childhood sweetheart who he had married in 1956. He went on to complete his thesis, on the American hero from the Revolution to the modern mystery, covering the novels of Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Ross Macdonald, and to obtain a teaching post at Boston's Northeastern University, which gave him time to write, resulting in the first Spenser novel, the Godwulf Manuscript, in 1973. In 1978 he retired from the University, and has gone on to write many more novels featuring Spenser and his sidekick Hawk. He has also completed The Poodle Springs Story the fragment left by Raymond Chandler, at the request of the Chandler Estate, and a sequel to The Big Sleep called Perchance to Dream. More recently he has also introduced other, contrasting, central characters such as Jesse Stone in Night Passage and Trouble In Paradise, and has become involved in film and TV production through Pearl Productions, a company co-founded with his wife Joan and named after their German short-haired pointer. Robert B. Parker has written over 30 novels featuring Private Investigator Spenser, but that is not the limit to his work - (more...); Robert B. Parker on the Web; There are many excellent sites dedicated to the work of Robert B. Parker, giving details of the characters, the plots, even the food favoured by Spenser and the unforgettable characters that he's created.