Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spenser's most current, convoluted and complex case, 29 Jul 2004
"Hush Money" begins with Hawk brining Spenser a client; Robinson Nevins, the son of Hawk's boyhood mentor, has been denied tenure at the University because of rumors that he was the lover of Prentice Lamont, a student and gay activist who committed suicide. Of course, as we have long come to expect with Robert B. Parker's novels in this series, no one will talk to our hero who eventually finds out the case is more and more complicated. There is also a secondary case involving a "friend" of Susan's, K. C. Roth, the victim of a stalker who finds our hero the proverbial white knight come to rescue her from any and all evils. This case gives Spenser something to do while the main case moves slowly along. The resolution of the main plot line is perhaps the most over the top resolution since the James Bondian climax of "A Catskill Eagle." I have spent the winter reading all of the Spenser novels in order and this has to be the most convoluted and complex case in the bunch and one of the few times Parker has really stretched credulity with me. Perhaps because I am defrocked college professor I have enjoyed Spenser's encounters over the years with various professors and administrators in their academic bastions (after all, this is where we started in "The Godwulf Manuscript"), but I have also appreciated the fact that such characters are drawn by Parker in lighter and darker shades of gray. "Hush Money" provides his best encounters which such intellectual denizens. "Hush Money" is a slightly better than average Spenser story. The high points of this novel are when Hawk finally reveals some details about his life before meeting Spenser and when Susan decks someone (she also warns them they will "be sleeping with the fishes"). This underscore that the strength of Parker's novels has been the relationships of the key players, even with the cases have been less than compelling. I started reading these books because a friend said I would enjoy Spenser's caustic, literate wit, but ultimately I looked forward to each book because the story of Spenser and Susan Silverman is one of the better love stories you can find in contemporary fiction. I almost always find myself more interested in the discussions between these two lovers than in the particulars of the case. I can do without our hero cooking in every novel, he does not have to beat up on somebody or contemplate the moral implications fo his actions every time around, and if Hawk is off in Burma doing who know what I can live with that, but a Spenser novel without Susan is one missing its heart.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Than Double the Usual Spenser Fun!, 27 May 2004
Robert Parker has introduced a new element in this fine novel. He has Spenser carrying on two investigations at the same time. One is for a friend of Susan's, the other for a friend of Hawk's. Both are nonpaying jobs, and both are demanding. So you get the equivalent of two novels in one.Better than that, the two story lines involve different ends of the Spenser spectrum. We get lots of female, sexual and romantic issues in the case involving Susan's friend, and lots of political, sexual and racial issues in the other case. Seeing them all together provides a fuller picture of Spenser's personal ethic, Robert Parker's favorite theme. Parker does a good job of designing the challenges to Spenser a way that he comes up against his moral limits quite often, which helps to flesh out his character is a very satisfying way. Beyond that benefit, the book is also improved by providing new insights into Susan and Hawk that have not been revealed before. As a result, the story line keeps moving much better than in most Spenser novels. That asset is further improved by a plot that has more reversals in it than in any other Spenser novel I can remember. The irony is chin deep before long. The only thing I didn't like about the book was Parker's insistence on having Susan and Spenser feed Pearl, the wonder dog, all kinds of unhealthy food like doughnuts at every possible occasion in the story. What's the point? If you have ever enjoyed another Spenser novel, read this book immediately! It will probably turn out to be one of your favorites among the books in the series. Have a great read!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spenser is fun as always, but how does he pay his bills?, 9 April 1999
By A Customer
This time Spenser takes on two cases for the price of one, which is zero. He even mentions in passing another case he had that he didn't get paid for. When was the last time he made any money? I don't think he is independently wealthy, so I guess he just makes money off the boring cases that we don't read about. Or maybe Susan is supporting him? That aside, this was a good story with lots of twists and surprises. I would like to have seen a bit more of a confrontation with the guys who threaten to kill Spenser and Hawk. They do get theirs in the end, but that is largely offstage. The strength of this book, as always, is the interplay among the characters. The resolution of the stalking subplot was really good, we get to see an unexpected side of Susan. I enjoyed this book, but I still wonder if Parker would keep writing them if his financial arrangements were the same as Spenser's.
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