Rating: 
Summary: Where it all began - a great book
Review: This book is the novel that introduced the character of Spenser.
The dialogue is witty. The scences where Spenser is on a college campus are nicely structured. The Boston backdrop is well done. The book flows - a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction
Review: This first Spenser novel does an excellent job introducing our hero. Most introductory stories drag - but this one moved at a fast-pace with lots of thrills and plot twists. I highly recommend this to any fan of the PI / Mystery genre.
Rating:
Summary: A great beginning to a fantastic series
Review: This was the first book in the Spenser series. Robert Parker had obviously done his homework well - he wrote his doctoral thesis on the Private Eye genre of writing! An English Professor living in the Boston area, Parker was sure to write a story near and dear to his heart. The plot: an illuminated manuscript is stolen. A student is killed, his girlfriend framed, and a tie to left-wing politics, drugs, and all the rest is involved. The story brings our first look at Joe Broz, but Spenser kills off his only two "muscle men" we meet. We also meet Spenser's two favorite cops - Lt. Quirk and Frank Belson. The story is in "a university" which is studiously unnamed, in Boston by Roxbury. We get the girl's parents on the hill in West Newton, the English Professor on the beach at Marblehead. Lots of talk about the drives between these places. A double murder at Jamaica Pond, a stay at the Boston City Hospital. The final scene takes place at the Copley Plaza hotel. Wow, what a different "Spenser" from the most recent books! Spenser has gone through a DRAMATIC transformation since this first rough-and-dirty portrayal. In many ways, Spenser is just beginning to develop his personality in this story. There's no Susan, no Hawk, no self-assured steadfastness. Spenser drinks a lot, puts himself down, wisecracks a bit too much, and (this is the best part) sleeps with a mother AND her daughter within 24 hours. It was just too much! Oh, quite enjoyable, of course. All the basic Spenser components are there, in a sort of rough form. The plot was good, the people excellent, the descriptive scenery as always lovely. Those who follow Spenser through the series will note that Parker introduced a few ideas here which he later abandoned. Spenser talks about going to games in Boston with his dad as a kid. He actually only came to Boston as a teenager, having grown up in Laramy, Wyoming. Spenser talks about not growing up on a farm. even though he pretty much did. Strangest of all, when he's alone in the house with the sleeping girl, he talks about feeling like his dad did when "all the rest of us" were asleep. The rest of us??? He's an only child! Still, those are minor points in an overall enjoyable beginning to what develops to be a fantastic series.
Rating:
Summary: Great Detective series
Review: Thsi is one of the earlier Spenser novels, but is just as good as the other. The dialogue is great and the mystery is fun.
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