Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surrogate Father Spenser for Hire, 9 Jul 2004
This is the seventh novel in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series and by now it is quite clear that whenever you start one of these stories the question is what is the new twist this time around. You can never call one of these novels an unconventional Spenser novel because they all tend to be unique in some key way. in "Early Autumn" our hero is hired by Patti Giacomin to find her son Paul, kidnapped by his father. Spenser finds Paul almost immediately and it quickly becomes clear that neither parent really cares about the boy, who is just a pawn in the wake of an ugly divorce. Paul needs someone to teach him, well, just about everything (except how to shrug; the kid does that really well in response to every question asked by Spenser). "Early Autumn," a metaphor for a 15-year old kid who has to grow up really fast, finds Spenser talking more than any of the previous books, although at the end his detective skills will again come into play. A large chunk of the book is Spenser and Paul talking about a whole bunch of different topics. In doing so, Spenser explains his view of the world, a task usually left to Susan Silverman. There is also an unforgettable twist as Hawk lends a hand at a key moment. As always, Parker's novels are quick reads, perfect for commuting or nice hot baths.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Paul Giacomin appears, 21 Mar 2009
This is not quite the usual Spenser story but it is the one that introduces Paul Giacomin, who appears or is mentioned in later books. In *Early Autumn* Paul is 15 years old, only child of warring divorced parents, who use him to get at each other. When the book begins, Mrs Giacomin hires Spenser to "rescue" Paul from his father, who refuses to return him to his mother's custody.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Marple's Binoculars slip, bounce through briars and bristles. Parker Pages Paul. I'm Enthralled., 28 April 2007
Spenser's sauntering, subtle swagger spoke volumes: "I'm restless and bored. What worthy chatter can I get into." Applying that approach this time, Spenser had entered the literary construction, no Elvis implied. Imaginary settings of shuffling leaves skittered through Spenser's hop, hip, and pause. The season was EARLY AUTUMN, but only in mood and theme. The plot opened in January.
Lighting the scene of Spenser's recently seated new office location, a flickering female of many poses, the now famous Patty Giacomin, put an edge on Spenser's curiosity and he began wondering (in essence) what caused X Chromosomes to grow gangrene. The plot pivoted around Patty for a while as Spenser rescued her lost son. In following scenes, the cat-like P. I. became curious about a 15-year-old stuck in a litany of shrugs. With no leeway to "lick em" Spenser joined Paul's rap (no shrink intended). By the time Spenser had met, "saved," and matched Paul Giacomin, I had been pleasantly warmed into "Do The Shrug Shuffle."
Autumn was the symbolic season, but what was the reason for Spenser to further his feisty, full-of-it facade by adopting and growing a kid.
For me, teenage chemical chaos isn't easy to cozy into (no wanna go back). But, Spenser sidled through Paul's Sea of Sleazy and set up male bonding before a fish could flop. Read and watch the deceivingly easy maneuvers of Spenser's pairing with Paul's paused psyche. See a master at work, and a kid whose sour luck had just turned sweet, by simple, easy treats on Private Eye Lonely Street, which had suddenly lost the edge of ennui.
Spenser is Goooood.
Not so much "Good" as opposed to Evil (that, too), but good like, "What part of `cool' do you understand." This time Parker pulled my interest so smoothly I had zero chance for resistance, though I gave futility a phase. Around word four, I felt a flash of dread, "Are you gonna lose it this time, Parker?" The opening was so low key I had almost bought the boredom as my yawn instead of Spenser's. Misconception wasn't maintained past a few easy-flowing pages, and I hadn't noticed when the flash bought the pan and the plot popped. Corn, anyone? (The yellow kernels would be mine, not Parker's.)
Maybe it was Spenser's study of Patty's entry onto his "WS" mode of "All the world's a stage" which had me fooled about Parker's faked foibles. His sleuth's female exorcism was so subtle I began flickering; which way would she would go, with character charisma condensation. But the bitters had been brewed by Patty's "selfless" reaction (she was so solidified-on-centered there was no self) to Spenser's success in bringing Paul home. Her character had clarified, then chilled as corrupt. Done. Jell-O, anyone? Future flickers would fumble and die, no where to hide.
As noted, I wasn't ready to be sucked into the relationship between Paul and Spenser, but under Parker's liquid-butter rap and rachet-up intrigue, ready or not didn't matter. The quick slip into liking Paul was good enough for me. As hinted above, what got me there was Spenser first imitation of Paul's shrugging shuffle, as Spenser timed his shoulders in synch, doing a duo. Recalling the way Parker wormed the reader into that capture makes me smile even now, as I type about it. I won't forget about it. (In this case if Italian, it would be, "Fuhgeduhboudit.")
Parker's technique was so natural it would have been easy to miss what had just happened, which would have been fine, because the author had me hooked as simply as Spenser had Paul on the line. That technique did a neon-light-script around the advice, "If you can't lick em join em." Then RBP took the thought behind the color highlight, bounced and twirled it, dropped it, kicked out the taint of time-gathered-trite, then renewed the candor of a cliche gone rap(ture). Lucky kid. Lucky you.
The way Spenser took on the raising of Paul Giacomin was one of the best dramatizations I've seen anywhere about saving a teenaged boy whose soul had nearly shrunken in on itself. The working scenes between Paul and Spenser gave primal meaning to warm, mesmerizing, and inspiring, as they danced through the construction of a "fancier" cabin than the more primitive one they inhabited while Paul learned who Spenser was and how to apply some of his tricks of growing strong and autonomous.
I agree absolutely with the reviews which wisely concluded that this is the novel in the series which defines Spenser personally. I loved it. Being party to Paul's transformation was one of the most sensitive yet underhandedly powerful psychological passages I've ever attended. There can be no doubt that this plot is pivotal as well as potent, yet gently so. The cooking was up to par, too.
Okay, enough jiggling and juggling the review dance. Enough steaming the yeasty bread, dripping garlic-warmed-basil-butter. Dine on this: If you know what's good for you (even if you don't), get it, the Early Autumn (healing) Virus. "Gedit now, kid."
"Aaaachhhhhhhooooooo!!" (No yawn intended.)
Here's lookin' at you, kid.
Binoculars set on Marple's Mark,
Linda Shelnutt
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by Robert B. Parker
by Robert B. Parker
by Robert B. Parker
by Robert B. Parker
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