- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Viking; First Edition edition (31 Oct 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670836826
- ISBN-13: 978-0670836826
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.6 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,840,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Private detective Spenser returns in this thriller which mixes memory, desire and danger. A sequel to "Early Autumn", "Pastime" is a tale of past crimes and present perils.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
You will find this Spenser novel more entertaining if you read "Early Autumn" first since two of the characters are introduced in the earlier book.
Parent-son relationships are an important theme here. Paul's mother has come up missing and the youth contacts Spenser who in many ways has acted like a father to Paul in earlier books. In following her trail, Spenser again faces mobster Joe Broz and his son, Jerry. You get to know and understand the gangster a bit better here. That father-son relationship is also well explored.
Parker uses another element to add suspense. Susan has ended up with ex-husband's dog Pearl who accompanies Spenser and Paul. Well, we all know how high the animal mortality rate is in crime and suspense fiction, so dog lovers will be holding their breath everytime the dog goes out with Spenser.
All in all, a good and satisfying read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I listened to this book on tape read by David Dukes. It had the best ingredients, a hard nosed detective with a psycho analyst girlfriend and a pointer gun dog, named Pearl, who was terrified of guns. the pace was slow to rapid. I had the tapes lined up on the passenger seat for a quick swop worried the journey would end before the story.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
26 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
"Pastime" may well be the very best of the Spenser novels
31 Jan 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Here we are up to the 18th novel in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series and we finally get to find out a whole lot of interesting things about our hero's past. Ten years earlier in "Early Autumn," Spenser saved Paul Giacomin from a destructive family situation and basically adopted the boy. Now Paul shows up to report that his mother is missing and he wants the help of his surrogate Father in finding her. As Paul tries to deal with what his mother means to him, Spenser reveals key details from his own life, raised out west by a father and two uncles, to both Paul and Susan. Like us, they are both fascinated to find out more about the history of the most important man in their lives.
Ultimately the mystery of what happened to Paul's mother means Spenser again crosses paths with mobster Joe Broz, his inept son Gerry and his right-hand man Vinnie Morris in what proves to be a final reckoning for them all. It is by combining this plot line with the search for Paul's mother as the context in which we discover the secrets of Spenser's past that "Pastime" is elevated to the top rank of Parker's novels. In many ways I consider this novel to be the height of the Spenser series rather than "A Catskill Eagle," because while it is not as epic in scale, "Pastime" is more true to the essence of the character of Spenser and has much more depth. Although the book starts off as a son's search for his mother, ultimately "Pastime" is about fathers and sons. But if you read just one Spenser novel this is not the one to read, because you simply cannot appreciate it unless you have along for the ride from the very start.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Another strong effort.
8 Nov 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This was another strong effort from Robert Parker. As entertaining as always, there is an added layer of depth to this one as Parker explores the relationships between father and son. There is an interesting parallel between the Spenser/Paul relationship and the Joe Broz/Gerry Broz relationship.
If you are looking for Spenser the "private investigator" you only get about half of the equation. There is plenty of "private" stuff, but not much of an "investigation" as Spenser and Paul go about the relatively easy task of finding Paul's mom who has been missing for a couple of weeks. But you DO get plenty of what we love the most: Spenser wit, Spenser justice, and Hawk, too.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A good Spenser novel on many levels
3 Oct 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This sequel to Early Autumn (1980) truly shows how Spenser (and Parker) have improved over the years.
This is a sharp turn from the last Spenser novel. Instead of annoying women, there's real warmth and personality. Susan starts by getting "Pearl" from her ex-husband. Spenser names her Pearl after a dog of his youth. Paul comes along, wanting to find his mother. We run into Vinnie, who's looking for the mother's boyfriend, Rich, for Joe Broz. Vinnie actually warns Spenser to be careful - Rich is a friend of Joe's kid, Jerry, who they both feel is a "bad apple".
The story is not only about this search, but also about Paul thinking about his past and Susan probing into Spenser's past. We hear about how Spenser's mom died giving him birth, and he grew up with his dad and two uncles in Laramy, WY. They moved out when he was a teenager to Boston. They hunted in Maine, when he had his first drink. They all boxed and taught him how to box. His "only other love" was a high school sweetheart that he was too shy to move on. It's sort of the book to "fill Spenser out" as a person.
Very interesting on many levels. It's good after so long to hear what made Spenser the way he is. You have to ignore minor inconsistancies with what has previously been said about Spenser's past and take this as the truth. But what about "Brenda Loring"? Did he not love her despite dating her for over five years? Ah well.
If you're a Spenser fan, this is not a book to miss!
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
