The Professional: A Spenser Novel: A Spenser Mystery
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Review
'If you are in the mood for a gumshoe thriller, you cannot do better than read The Professional ... the denouement is both unexpected and logical' The Lady.
Review
'If you are in the mood for a gumshoe thriller, you cannot do better than read The Professional ... the denouement is both unexpected and logical' The Lady.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
First Sentence: I had just finished a job for an interesting woman named Nan Sartin, and was happily making out my bill to her, when a woman came in who promised to be equally interesting.
A local lawyer hires Spenser to meet with four of her clients. These four women are each married to an older, wealthy man. They have also each been having an affair with, and are now being blackmailed by the same man, Gary Eisenhower, and they want Spenser to end the threat. Or do they? One woman's husband is not wealthy, nor does she want Gary to go away. As the case ebbs and flows, things become more serious and someone dies.
In some ways, you can pass this off as just another Spenser book; formulaic but enjoyable. But not quite. Yes, you have Spenser's apparent chauvinism and ego, his wonderful, easy cooking--these books always make me hungry--the humor--would Hawk really read Janet Evanovich?--and Susan, but there was a bit more here than that. Usually I can't stand women who are just too stupid to live, but when Parker written them, you know it is a very deliberate element of the plot.
An element I found interesting was that the story took place over a matter of months, rather than days as do many mysteries. I also don't remember Spenser employing French in previous books. One thing I feel is very well done is that, as Spencer ages, there is less still the element of threat, but less physical violence than once was.
I appreciated Spenser's introspection regarding his relationship with Susan, "sometimes I thought that Susan was the only thing in life that I care about. But I knew that if it were actually so, it would destroy us. We both needed to work. We both had to do things...It was cases like the one I was on that reminded me now and then that I could care about other things."
I found this a very good read. Oh, and thank you, Putnam, for including the map of Spenser's Boston on the inside covers. I do love maps.
THE PROFESSIONAL (PI-Spenser-Boston-Cont) - VG
Parker, Robert B - 38th in series
Putnam, 2009, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780399155949
A local lawyer hires Spenser to meet with four of her clients. These four women are each married to an older, wealthy man. They have also each been having an affair with, and are now being blackmailed by the same man, Gary Eisenhower, and they want Spenser to end the threat. Or do they? One woman's husband is not wealthy, nor does she want Gary to go away. As the case ebbs and flows, things become more serious and someone dies.
In some ways, you can pass this off as just another Spenser book; formulaic but enjoyable. But not quite. Yes, you have Spenser's apparent chauvinism and ego, his wonderful, easy cooking--these books always make me hungry--the humor--would Hawk really read Janet Evanovich?--and Susan, but there was a bit more here than that. Usually I can't stand women who are just too stupid to live, but when Parker written them, you know it is a very deliberate element of the plot.
An element I found interesting was that the story took place over a matter of months, rather than days as do many mysteries. I also don't remember Spenser employing French in previous books. One thing I feel is very well done is that, as Spencer ages, there is less still the element of threat, but less physical violence than once was.
I appreciated Spenser's introspection regarding his relationship with Susan, "sometimes I thought that Susan was the only thing in life that I care about. But I knew that if it were actually so, it would destroy us. We both needed to work. We both had to do things...It was cases like the one I was on that reminded me now and then that I could care about other things."
I found this a very good read. Oh, and thank you, Putnam, for including the map of Spenser's Boston on the inside covers. I do love maps.
THE PROFESSIONAL (PI-Spenser-Boston-Cont) - VG
Parker, Robert B - 38th in series
Putnam, 2009, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780399155949
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Not one of Mr Parker's better novels, alas, as this will be the penultimate Spenser tale, since the author sadly died recently.
Spenser is a fun, old school private detective and Parker's easy to read prose and in-jokes for those fans who have read the earlier stories, makes reading any of this series like visiting an old friend.
Those hung up on political correctness will hate this smug tale of a serial womaniser and con artist who finally gets what's coming to him, but taken with a pinch of salt, it's a quick enjoyable read.
One for the fans only. Not advised as a starting point for new to Parker or Spenser readers.
Spenser is a fun, old school private detective and Parker's easy to read prose and in-jokes for those fans who have read the earlier stories, makes reading any of this series like visiting an old friend.
Those hung up on political correctness will hate this smug tale of a serial womaniser and con artist who finally gets what's coming to him, but taken with a pinch of salt, it's a quick enjoyable read.
One for the fans only. Not advised as a starting point for new to Parker or Spenser readers.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a tangled web people weave and in Robert B Parker's `The Professional', this is a web consisting of writhing arms and legs! Spenser is back and this time the laid back PI is tasked with helping out four ladies all being blackmailed by the same Lothario. They don't want to let their husbands know they are cheating, but they cannot afford to pay the blackmail. Can the self-proclaimed world's greatest PI solve the issue for everyone? Or will it inevitably end up with a few dead bodies on the way?
`The Professional' is one of Parker's final novels and is perhaps a slight low to end on. Spenser is as cool as ever; funny, charming, but also effective and feisty. It is the story itself that is convoluted and confused. There are a lot of characters all `interacting' with one another and the first half of the book feels like overly long exposition and not enough actual story. Instead of concentrating on the blackmail storyline, Parker instead explores the concepts of sex and love - can the two be separated? We learn more (perhaps a little too much) about Spenser and his long term partner's feelings towards one another. Although this will serve fans of the characters well, I found it took a lot away from the crime element of the book, slowing the pace.
As one of the final books Parker wrote `The Professional' is solid enough, but not outstanding. Fans of the series will enjoy the usual banter between characters, but it has one of the weaker narratives.
`The Professional' is one of Parker's final novels and is perhaps a slight low to end on. Spenser is as cool as ever; funny, charming, but also effective and feisty. It is the story itself that is convoluted and confused. There are a lot of characters all `interacting' with one another and the first half of the book feels like overly long exposition and not enough actual story. Instead of concentrating on the blackmail storyline, Parker instead explores the concepts of sex and love - can the two be separated? We learn more (perhaps a little too much) about Spenser and his long term partner's feelings towards one another. Although this will serve fans of the characters well, I found it took a lot away from the crime element of the book, slowing the pace.
As one of the final books Parker wrote `The Professional' is solid enough, but not outstanding. Fans of the series will enjoy the usual banter between characters, but it has one of the weaker narratives.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
chick flick novel
very light hearted "crime" novel. A chick flick, not meaty.okay if you like a crime novel sugary with no blood.
Published 9 months ago by elizabeth co antrim
Usual high standard
Spenser novels are what they are: page-turning, light, mild crime thrillers. Not so much noir anymore, but at least vaguely greyish. Read more
Published 15 months ago by John Gimblett
Spenser winds down
Not really up the usual high standard. I feel this because there is too little action and too much discussion and debate. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. J. Hewett
The Professional
Spencer is coming back to form, unfortunately in one of the last books. No Hawk, minimal Susan, just Spenser pushing his way through a plot full of would be seducers who have... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Welder Bob
And so Farewell ... Robert B Parker RIP
A brief note at the front of The Professional summarises the author's career and ends by recording baldly, "He passed away in January 2010. Read more
Published 22 months ago by G. M. Sinstadt
Spenser Looks Out for the Bed Hoppers
"The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2009 by Donald Mitchell
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