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A knock on Spenser's office door can mean only one thing: a new case. This time the visitor is a local lawyer with an interesting story. Elizabeth ...
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Jun 28, 2011
Kemper
rated it: 
*I wrote this long review where I indulged in some Parker bashing a few weeks back. I just read that he died today. Yes, I do feel like a jackass.*
Once upon a time there was a crime writer named Robert B. Parker, and in the early ‘70s, he started a line of books about a P.I. named Spenser. The books were good and the critics loved him and deemed him the heir to Raymond Chandler. He wrote about a dozen of these books and everything was great for him and his readers.
Then More...
Once upon a time there was a crime writer named Robert B. Parker, and in the early ‘70s, he started a line of books about a P.I. named Spenser. The books were good and the critics loved him and deemed him the heir to Raymond Chandler. He wrote about a dozen of these books and everything was great for him and his readers.
Then More...
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Aug 28, 2011
Kala
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At this point, reading a Spenser book is like slipping on a comfortable pair of shoes or visiting an old friend where you laugh at the same jokes or gossip about the same people. There's nothing wrong with that and I gladly picked up them up as they came out.
Even after finishing the book, I'm not sure who the title The Professional refers to. The story is a bit of a mess but there was the standard cast of characters.
What starts out as a blackmail scheme (as per the back o More...
Even after finishing the book, I'm not sure who the title The Professional refers to. The story is a bit of a mess but there was the standard cast of characters.
What starts out as a blackmail scheme (as per the back o More...
Aug 01, 2011
Spenser is hired by the attorney for 4 women with rich husbands who all had (or are still having) affairs with the same guy. Now he's blackmailing him. Of course getting him to stop isn't so simple. Spenser crosses paths with a couple of thugs hired by one of the husbands. A few murders later and things get even more complicated.
Of course Susan Silverman is there to help Spenser understand some of the psychological problems involved. Hawk shows up but unfortunately he doesn't have much to do in More...
Of course Susan Silverman is there to help Spenser understand some of the psychological problems involved. Hawk shows up but unfortunately he doesn't have much to do in More...
Dec 31, 2010
James
rated it:
Boston P.I. Spenser makes his thirty-seventh appearance in The Professional. Four women are married to older, wealthy men and each of the women has been having having great sex on the side with a man named Gary Eisenhower. Sadly, Eisenhower has been videotaping his sessions with the women and is now blackmailing all of them. The women would like it to stop--the blackmailing if not the sex--and so they hire Spenser to deal with the problem.
Spenser swings into action, along with the us More...
Spenser swings into action, along with the us More...
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Sep 06, 2010
Genie
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At first, this case appears straightforward. Four wealthy women arrive in Spenser's office with their lawyer. They are are all having affairs with the same man, Gary
Eisenhower. They are all married to older men in prominent positions who know nothing about their extra curricular activities. The affairs are about to be revealed because Eisenhower is blackmailing them and the huge amount of money in payoffs can not be kept secret much longer. Gary has been making audio a More...
Eisenhower. They are all married to older men in prominent positions who know nothing about their extra curricular activities. The affairs are about to be revealed because Eisenhower is blackmailing them and the huge amount of money in payoffs can not be kept secret much longer. Gary has been making audio a More...
Feb 04, 2010
Carla
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I was so sad to hear that Robert Parker died last week. I have read all the "Spencer" detective novels (35 at last count), each one aloud to my husband since we discovered them about 15 years ago. The first few years it was wonderful -we had almost 20 years to cover (he wrote about one a year). I was surprised to see that I had not listed them in my "books read" section, but they are a bit of a guilty pleasure. The plots are very similar each time, which does not decrease our
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Jan 25, 2010
Chuck
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I first started reading Robert B. Parker when Lars, my eldest son, was critically ill in the hospital nearly twenty years ago. For some reason, this made a very strong attachment for me and his hero, Spenser, who has been there for me for nearly twenty years.
This may be his last case, as the author died a week ago today. I hope not; I hope one or more two are still in the pipe . . . 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. This tale finds Spenser helping a group of women, each o More...
This may be his last case, as the author died a week ago today. I hope not; I hope one or more two are still in the pipe . . . 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. This tale finds Spenser helping a group of women, each o More...
Dec 13, 2009
Kayeb
rated it:
Classic Spenser and Robert Parker The ongoing question I have is if "Spenser" ever runs into folks who talk and talk. Certainly a characteristic of Parker is the brevity of style and the reparte...but it just seems that a challenge to both author and character would be to add in that dimension.
A knock on Spenser's office door can only mean one thing: a new case. This time the visitor is a local lawyer with an interesting story. Elizabeth Shaw specializes in wills and trus More...
A knock on Spenser's office door can only mean one thing: a new case. This time the visitor is a local lawyer with an interesting story. Elizabeth Shaw specializes in wills and trus More...
Dec 02, 2009
LJ
rated it:
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 Spencer 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 Spencer to end the threat. Or do they? One wom More...
A local lawyer hires Spencer 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 Spencer to end the threat. Or do they? One wom More...
Oct 27, 2009
Richard
rated it: 
The old crew is back for another adventure: Spenser, Susan, Hawk, Belsen, Quirk and assorted hoods and thugs. Out of over 60 books, Mr. Parker has this group in about 2/3 of them. I think I have read them all, and enjoyed most of them.
I think with this one, however, I am through with Spenser and Parker. This is the second bad story in a row.
In a very odd tale that has Spenser working for no money or client, we find him standing with the offender: a serial user of women ma More...
I think with this one, however, I am through with Spenser and Parker. This is the second bad story in a row.
In a very odd tale that has Spenser working for no money or client, we find him standing with the offender: a serial user of women ma More...
Nov 25, 2009
Wayne
rated it: 
I am not sure if it was the narrator or the story but I came very close to not finishing this book. I think Parker must be getting soft in his old age with this book his main recurring protagonist, Spencer, spends more time talking about love than in action against bad guys.
I think I want my Spencer to be single, killing bad guys, and bedding hot babes than talking to his girl friend about how sex and love are inseparable to long lasting happiness and satisfaction. I don't need to re More...
I think I want my Spencer to be single, killing bad guys, and bedding hot babes than talking to his girl friend about how sex and love are inseparable to long lasting happiness and satisfaction. I don't need to re More...
Mar 27, 2011
Joy
rated it:
Oh he is just so much fun and I do love to laugh. His witty crisp dialogue does it for me. Quick reader as always and of course being a licensed clinical social worker I relate to Susan his life long love and the dog, Pearl.
Parker writes in the style of Chandler and as a matter of fact, even completed one of Chandlers unfinished novels, Poodle Springs. A friend of mine criticizes me for reading this light fluffy stuff and says I need to read serious literature. Well I have read quite More...
Parker writes in the style of Chandler and as a matter of fact, even completed one of Chandlers unfinished novels, Poodle Springs. A friend of mine criticizes me for reading this light fluffy stuff and says I need to read serious literature. Well I have read quite More...
Jul 12, 2010
KarenC
rated it:
The usual snappy TV dialogue reminiscent of the old Spenser for Hire show coupled with a much more introspective Spenser. I'll always hear Robert Urich and Avery Brooks doing the dialogue. A fast read, thanks to larger print and lots of white space; finished in less than 12 hours of reading time.
A storyline that seemed to drag itself out, as if it didn't want to end; much like the "case" Spenser worked on with a lot of free time on his hands. A little too much Susan and not enough of
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Jul 31, 2011
Kathy
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jan 28, 2010
Rob
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Oct 10, 2009
Jay
rated it:
Much like using a sorbet as a palate cleanser, I needed to read a little Robert B. Parker after my bloated course of Pynchon. So I was going to enjoy "The Professional" on almost any terms. The fact that it was an enjoyable romp with Spencer and Susan was like finding that cool scoop in the crystal dish is MANGO!
Parker has written over 50 books, perhaps half of which feature Spenser et al. While Parker seems to becoming ever more economical as a writer -- the book must b More...
Parker has written over 50 books, perhaps half of which feature Spenser et al. While Parker seems to becoming ever more economical as a writer -- the book must b More...
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Jan 11, 2012
Thomas
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I've been a Robert B. Parker fan for years. As a writer, I've learned several things from him. The man could tell a story with dialogue almost as well as John D. McDonald.
Others on this site have summarized the plot. I'll restrict my comments to the structure and writing.
The book (hardcover) was printed in large font, with quite a bit of space. I wonder what the word count was. I read the book in two afternoon sittings.
I enjoyed going along with Spenser More...
Others on this site have summarized the plot. I'll restrict my comments to the structure and writing.
The book (hardcover) was printed in large font, with quite a bit of space. I wonder what the word count was. I read the book in two afternoon sittings.
I enjoyed going along with Spenser More...
Feb 11, 2011
Mike
rated it:
One of Parker’s better books because he avoids his usual mistakes. There is less smart-ass dialogue, and the final lines of most chapters are not groaningly bad. Parker still does not know how to plot, but most of his dialog shines like silver in the sun. Susan is better integrated into the story than usual, though she is too much in the latter chapters. There are a very few passages of really beautiful, Chandleresque writing, though this book lacks the usual unacknowledged HAMLET quotation. THE
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Jan 26, 2011
Heather
rated it:
Maybe more like a 2.5, truely enjoyable enough. Most of the book I felt like I was just on the surface, listening to a bunch of dialogue and not actually seeing into the characters. And yet you could understand the people at the same time even though you were only exposed to them in clipped, short chapters. Still I liked it that way sort of, not really deep but I was always happy when Susan and Spenser were so cute about each other. There were also unexpected twists that kept me going, it wa
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Aug 27, 2010
Gerald
rated it:
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." Millions of readers will lament the loss. Parker was a mere seventy-seven. His wife found him dead at his desk. Seemingly there are still two or three unpublished books.
There has been a sense in recent years of Parker writing on autopilot but even then sustaining his status among the best of his particular trade. The Professional may More...
There has been a sense in recent years of Parker writing on autopilot but even then sustaining his status among the best of his particular trade. The Professional may More...
Dec 19, 2009
Bob
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Spenser is back and taking job for a quartet of ladies who while married to rich older men, have been dallying with the same “gentleman” who has documented their trysts and is now blackmailing them. The problem is that they don’t want to confront him publicly and have the news get back to their husbands and the blackmailer has now intention of stopping and the four are not his only prey. Spenser and Hawk try to convince both sides to cease but to no avail till outside forces bring a conclusion
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Dec 26, 2009
Alan
rated it:
I thought the buzz around this one had been positive, but it manages to be aimlessly meandering and predictable--not to mention unconvincing--at the same time. You can see how Parker writes without a plan, and it feels like he just needs to hit his 300 pages. There are shades of moral questions that he skirts around or brushes off, and lots of shop-talk with Susan (so a warning to those who don't like that). There isn't even much of Parker's trademark dialogue and banter, though some old friends
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May 31, 2010
Dave
rated it:
Sorry to see him go, though his latest twenty or thirty books have been very repetitive, not to say ritualized. He never completely stopped trying, though. In future Parker studies, this might be seen as a "problem" book, in which Spenser deals with a sociopathic seducer/blackmailer who isn't totally unlikeable, but who is supposed to have caused the various tragedies that happen in the book. The case is not made very convincingly, and the tensions are interesting. Readable, snappy
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May 17, 2011
Randy
rated it:
Spenser is hired by four women to get a blackmailer off their backs. All four were married to rich, much older men and Gary Eisenhower had been the lover of all, filming them together and hitting all up.
The thing was Spenser when he found Eisenhower he actually liked the man. He wouldn't stop, he liked the money and unencumbered women, and said if he was beaten up, he'd blow the whistle on the three women.
Then the bodies started turning up. One of the husbands, Eisenhower More...
The thing was Spenser when he found Eisenhower he actually liked the man. He wouldn't stop, he liked the money and unencumbered women, and said if he was beaten up, he'd blow the whistle on the three women.
Then the bodies started turning up. One of the husbands, Eisenhower More...
Nov 02, 2009
Nette
rated it:
Oh, Spenser. You are a Korean War vet, which makes you at least 74, yet you can still beat up 25-year-old thugs, eat and drink like an Amish farmer after a barn raising, and make hot monkey love to Susan Silverman every single night. What is your secret, man? And Susan, who must be in her late 60s -- why is she still supermodel gorgeous? And why is Hawk (who's been eligible for the senior meal at Denny's for at least 15 years) still attracting college coeds, despite speaking in that creepy
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Nov 15, 2010
Vicki
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I wanted to like it as it was the book I was reading when he died. Really. How's that for a weird coincidence? Anyway, I digress. The Spenser line lost its luster when Susan left him and moved to San Francisco but, like others, I remained a faithful reader and have dutifully given his books since A Widening Gyre two stars. This one, however, was just plain awful. The characters sucked. The plot sucked. Everything about this book sucked. For an more thorough and well-written critique of Mr
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Apr 05, 2010
Joy
rated it:
What a treat to find Parker's latest book at the library. Perhaps this will be the last one since he died a month or so ago. It was a typical
Spenser novel with snappy dialogue, occasional words that sent me to the dictionary, Spenser trying to right the wrongs of the world. Susan, the psychotherapist, had some interesting observations: "People who are what they seem to be generally don't seek psyychotherapy." and "There are very few absolutes in the therapist's canon." More...
Spenser novel with snappy dialogue, occasional words that sent me to the dictionary, Spenser trying to right the wrongs of the world. Susan, the psychotherapist, had some interesting observations: "People who are what they seem to be generally don't seek psyychotherapy." and "There are very few absolutes in the therapist's canon." More...
Dec 25, 2009
Herzog
rated it:
Spenser books are like eating a candy bar - they're for immediate gratification, go quickly and leave no lasting sustenance. The story line here was pretty thin. There were a couple of laughs from Hawk, but the pop psychology was a bit tiresome. I'll keep reading Spenser because of the familiarity and the fact that they are so quick to read, but they've certainly lost some of their zing. Parker is 77 now. I'm hoping that he's left a final Spenser to be released posthumously which will wrap
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Jun 25, 2010
Martha
rated it:
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to this. The plot is not particularly riveting but I liked the characters very much, particularly Spencer himself, with his laid-back, wry humor. The very simple storyline and writing style made it easy to keep track of when listening in installments (I often have trouble following the plot when listening to more complicated novels). The constant repetition of "said"--"he said--she said" was more annoying when read aloud than it
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Mar 02, 2010
Robyn
rated it:
All of Robert Parker's novels, whether about Spenser, Jesse Stone, Sunny Randall, or a western, are so enjoyable. If you need a quick shot of mystery and intrigue he is the writer to whom you can turn with confidence. His characters are so well written that they feel like old friends. That may be cliched, but it is true. With literary references sprinkled about, ala Ruth Rendell minus the pretention, a reader can even enjoy a bit of smugness when the allusions are recognized. I think I hav
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