| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
While the rest of us grow older, Spenser seems suspended in perpetual early middle age. Oh, he talks about getting older, but his body is still firm, his muscles toned, and his reflexes are still hair-trigger fine. Even so, it is Spenser's body that betrays him when he is almost killed by an assassin's bullet two-thirds of the way through Robert B. Parker's latest Spenser adventure, Small Vices. Hired to discover the truth behind a four-year-old murder, Spenser soon runs afoul of "the Gray Man," who eventually shoots and partially paralyzes him. Spenser, his stalwart girlfriend Susan, and his almost mythical friend Hawk then hole up in Santa Barbara until the detective can get back on his feet again.
There's never any doubt that Spenser will get back on his feet, or that he will eventually track down the man who shot him and solve the mystery that started the whole ball rolling in the first place. What makes the Spenser mysteries interesting is Spenser himself, the thinking person's private eye, a man of honor and of conscience who understands that every action has consequences. --Tim Appelo --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
Ellis Alves is no angel. His lawyer says he was framed for the murder of college student Melissa Henderson and asks Spenser for help. From Boston's back streets to Manhattan's elite, Spenser and Hawk search for suspects, including Melissa's rich kid tennis-star boyfriend. But when a man with a .22 puts Spenser in a coma, the hope for justice might just die along with the detective.
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
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Following the disappointments of the last few Spenser novels, in 'Small Vices' Parker recaptures the carefully-composed blend of wit, action and moral and metaphysical rumination that characterised his earlier work. Without revealing too much about the plot, the extremity of the situations Spenser gets into in 'Small Vices' serve to heighten the reader's appreciation of the central characters and their truly moving commitment to each other. Of course, there are also bucketloads of smart lines, dangerous women, gunplay, fisticuffs and cookery, but as always, character development and moral complexity raise this series above the level of genre fiction and into the rarefied territories of literature.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Spenser novels are really about Don Quixote, dressed up as a modern detective. Spenser is better at what he does than Don Quixote was, but has the same appeal.
Fortunately for Spenser fans, the other characters are drawn as finely and uniquely, and bring much appeal to any story. It's like visiting your somewhat funny, dysfunctional family for a reunion.
I appreciate it when Robert Parker breaks up the stories with new plot complications. Spenser's injury makes this book all the more rewarding by providing new perspectives on one of fiction's most appealing detectives. Otherwise, Spenser seems like a Greek god able to tame nature and man without any personal consequences. I liked the more vulnerable side of Spenser, and his relationship with Rita Fiore provides lots of interesting dialogue.
If you are a Spenser fan, don't miss it.
If yo are not yet a Spenser fan, this is a worthy book to start with.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I give this the highest rating because I consider it one of the important Spenser books. Basically, Spenser is confident that he's going to be better than his adversary, and so when he is nearly killed by an expert, he needs to deal with his mortality.
The ironic part of this is that he's working to find out if an absolute loser of a gangbanger is guilty of the murder he's accused of. This novel poses questions both of mortality and of morality. There's the question of how important is "The Truth". Deals are made and those who end up in prison may be more worthwhile to society than those who don't.
The ironic part of this is that he's working to find out if an absolute loser of a gangbanger is guilty of the murder he's accused of. This novel poses questions both of mortality and of morality. There's the question of how important is "The Truth". Deals are made and those who end up in prison may be more worthwhile to society than those who don't.
This is a Spenser novel which, although a quick read, gives you ethical problems to ponder. Very highly recommended.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Burt Reynolds IS Spenser
Burt Reynolds IS Spenser! Reynols gives the ultimate rendition of the Boston hard boiled sleuth and turns out to be a highly intelligent actor with great understand for the text. Read more
Published on 13 May 2009 by TKr
The best Spenser novel so far!
I'm an avid fan of several of Robert Parker's heroes, particularly Spenser and Jesse Stone. The last Spenser novel I read (Hugger Mugger) was somewhat disappointing, but Small... Read more
Published on 7 May 2008 by SuzieB
the best of the lot
consider this the best of Parker's Spencer novels. All the ingredients are there, a very good and plausable plot; our hero recovers from a near fatal shooting and the recovery... Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2002
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.
|
