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27th out of 41 books
—
4 voters
Back Story (Spenser #30)
In Robert B. Parker's most popular series, an unsolved thirty-year-old-murder draws the victim's daughter out of the shadows for overdue justice-and lures Spenser into his own past, old crimes, and dangerous lives.
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
March 2nd 2004
by Berkley
(first published March 10th 2003)
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Spenser takes on a thirty twenty-eight year old case for the fee of six donuts. If he’d have known he’d end up investigating a bunch of goddamn hippies, I assume he’d have demanded a full dozen.
Paul Giacomin, the closest thing Spenser has to a son, brings a young actress named Daryl to the detective for help. Daryl’s mother was killed in the midst of a bank robbery in 1974 by a group of militant radicals, but no one was ever arrested for the crime. Spenser takes on the case as a favor to Paul, a...more
Paul Giacomin, the closest thing Spenser has to a son, brings a young actress named Daryl to the detective for help. Daryl’s mother was killed in the midst of a bank robbery in 1974 by a group of militant radicals, but no one was ever arrested for the crime. Spenser takes on the case as a favor to Paul, a...more
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Revisiting a good novel from nearly a decade ago is like returning to a favorite restaurant. There’s a risk, but usually the reward is memories confirmed.
So too is Robert B. Parker’s “Back Story.” It has been nearly two years since this wonderful author has passed away. It seems like less time because he was prolific and had several novels in the pipeline. There are also two new incarnations with Ace Atkins taking Spenser forwarded (quite favorably, as reviewed here) and Michael Brandman breathi...more
So too is Robert B. Parker’s “Back Story.” It has been nearly two years since this wonderful author has passed away. It seems like less time because he was prolific and had several novels in the pipeline. There are also two new incarnations with Ace Atkins taking Spenser forwarded (quite favorably, as reviewed here) and Michael Brandman breathi...more
Jul 28, 2011
Jeff
added it
I am never exceptionally impressed with Robert B. Parker's books. The Spenser series is entertaining enough, with some witty dialog. Hawk is always entertaining and the exploits of Spenser and Susan's dogs add a fun dimension as well. This time out Spenser is asked to look into a 28 year old murder (the 28 years makes a somewhat funny running gag). Along the way, Spenser crosses paths with an angry mobster, a psychotic enforcer, a modern day hippy stoner, and the other assorted characters. Spens...more
Robert B. Parker books are highly enjoyable. I read my first one back in the Navy, and since then I think I've read about 20 of them. His main character--Spencer--is an intelligent good guy private detective in Boston who investigates crimes and missing persons and things like that. The dialogue is the best part of these books: Parker has honed his characters' speech to a fine edge. It is very entertaining, and often sprinkled with allusions to classic literature. There was also a brief televisi...more
I guess it's my own fault for jumping into a series at book 30, but it took me a while to get into this book. I read it mainly because Jesse Stone plays a small role in the story and I'm a big fan of Parker's Jesse Stone series. Because the Spenser universe has such a long and well-known history the author didn't take much time to introduce his characters. I figured it out as the book progressed, but I spent a lot of my time trying to keep the characters straight! In the end I think I liked it....more
My first Robert B. Parker book and maybe not the best one to start with. This is #30 in the Spenser series so it is assumed that I already have something invested in these characters. But since I don't, it was just so much machismo posturing to me. Spencer tries to solve a 30 year old murder as a favor to his friend and surrogate son, Paul. In the process he is threatened by both the mob and the FBI, ho-hum what else you got? I was a bit put off by the lackadaisical attitude towards the threats....more
Another Spenser novel in which Spenser is hired for a box of Crispy Creams to try and find the killer of a woman’s mother who was shot in a bank robbery 28 years earlier. He takes it as a favor to a good friend and is soon embroiled in something bigger than he expected. There a some people (bad ones at that) who don’t want the case reopened and threaten him and then try to kill him. With the help of Hawk the turn the tables on the killers and continue to delve into the case where the discover ci...more
What kind of book do you like to read? Hard back or paper back? Large or small print? Does paper type and color matter? I prefer a hard back with decent weight, crisp white paper. I also like the print to be on the large size.
The reader of my audio books makes a difference too. I love listening to Joe Mantegna and I know he played a big part in why I enjoyed Back Story so much. I also loved the Spencer for Hire TV show. Why has it taken me so long to read the books? In Back Story, the character...more
The reader of my audio books makes a difference too. I love listening to Joe Mantegna and I know he played a big part in why I enjoyed Back Story so much. I also loved the Spencer for Hire TV show. Why has it taken me so long to read the books? In Back Story, the character...more
E-library download to my Clip.
I read this book long ago, but couldn't pass up the audio performance by Joe Mantegna. He's a perfect Spencer! Paul is an adult in this one and brings in a woman friend - Darryl Silver (Gordon) who wants Spencer to investigate the 28-year old murder of her mother. All is not as it seems and Spenser goes way beyond the call of duty for his payment of 6 Krispy Kreme donuts! He gets philosophical with Susan. He bring Hawke in for backup and the two make the world safe...more
I read this book long ago, but couldn't pass up the audio performance by Joe Mantegna. He's a perfect Spencer! Paul is an adult in this one and brings in a woman friend - Darryl Silver (Gordon) who wants Spencer to investigate the 28-year old murder of her mother. All is not as it seems and Spenser goes way beyond the call of duty for his payment of 6 Krispy Kreme donuts! He gets philosophical with Susan. He bring Hawke in for backup and the two make the world safe...more
88 out of 100 for 2010
Another good mid-career Spenser novel; the right amount of action, soul searching, and detecting. Spenser is hired by a young woman named Darryl to solve her mother's murder; Mom died when Darryl was about six. The death occurred during a bank robbery--a sort of Patty Hurst style robbery to defeat the Establishment that flourished in the late sixties, early seventies. The more Spenser digs, the more he discovers that there was a cover up engineered by an FBI agent who was...more
Another good mid-career Spenser novel; the right amount of action, soul searching, and detecting. Spenser is hired by a young woman named Darryl to solve her mother's murder; Mom died when Darryl was about six. The death occurred during a bank robbery--a sort of Patty Hurst style robbery to defeat the Establishment that flourished in the late sixties, early seventies. The more Spenser digs, the more he discovers that there was a cover up engineered by an FBI agent who was...more
A woman walks into Spenser's office and asks him to solve a twenty-eight year-old murder in return for a half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. Sounds like a fair trade to me, and it certainly does to Spenser as well. Of course it helps that the client, Daryl Silver, is a friend of Spenser's surrogate son, Paul Giacomin.
Daryl's mother, Emily Gordon, was killed during the course of a bank robbery. Daryl insists that her mother was in the bank for perfectly legitimate and innocent reasons, "like cashing...more
Daryl's mother, Emily Gordon, was killed during the course of a bank robbery. Daryl insists that her mother was in the bank for perfectly legitimate and innocent reasons, "like cashing...more
The 30th Spenser book is one of the better late Spensers. He is approached by Paul Giacomin (his almost adopted son) and a friend (an actress in Paul's latest play) to solve the murder of the friend's mother twenty-eight years earlier. The woman was shot during a bank robbery by a self-styled revolutionary group, but no one was ever apprehended, despite the group's public claims at the time. There is a suppressed FBI intelligence report on the group that not even Spenser's law enforcement friend...more
Downloaded from Audible.com
Narrator: Joe Mantegna
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2003
Length: 5 hours and 24 min.
Publisher's Summary
Spenser tries to solve a 30-year-old murder as a favor to an old friend in the brilliant new mystery from the Grand Master.
In 1974, a revolutionary group calling itself the Dread Scott Brigade held up the old Shawmut Bank in Boston's Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing traveler's checks, was shot and killed. No o...more
Narrator: Joe Mantegna
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2003
Length: 5 hours and 24 min.
Publisher's Summary
Spenser tries to solve a 30-year-old murder as a favor to an old friend in the brilliant new mystery from the Grand Master.
In 1974, a revolutionary group calling itself the Dread Scott Brigade held up the old Shawmut Bank in Boston's Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing traveler's checks, was shot and killed. No o...more
Parker, Robert B – Back Story – VG
In 1974, a revolutionary group calling itself The Dread Scott Brigade held up the Old Shawmut Bank in Boston's Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing traveler's checks, was shot and killed. No one saw who shot her. Despite security-camera photos and a letter from the group claiming responsibility, the perpetrators have remained at large for nearly three decades. Enter Paul Giacomin, the closest thing to a son...more
In 1974, a revolutionary group calling itself The Dread Scott Brigade held up the Old Shawmut Bank in Boston's Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing traveler's checks, was shot and killed. No one saw who shot her. Despite security-camera photos and a letter from the group claiming responsibility, the perpetrators have remained at large for nearly three decades. Enter Paul Giacomin, the closest thing to a son...more
This is my first Spenser mystery that I've listened to and I'll probably be back for more. We listened to this on a road trip and it was almost perfect. Just the right amount of suspense combined with some great sarcasm and wit. And Joe Mantegna as the narrator is perfect - great voices and he has does that East coast Boston accent perfectly. One little gripe is the "he said/she said" that Robert Parker uses so much in his books. My big gripe for this book was the ending. No spoilers here, but w...more
Robert B Parker died this week and I am remembering him by reading this book.I am a fan of his Spenser character,a private investigator who I like for his great sartastic humor. In this book, Spenser is asked to get to the bottom of a 28 year old case. He is joined by his buddy Hawk and and as always, his psychologist girlfriend Susan. In this book, Susan's beloved dog Pearl has passed on and they introduce a new dog, Pearl II.
A classic Spenser novel, maybe a bit better than some of his other recent books. If you haven't read Robert Parker before, you'd probably want to start with some of his earlier Spenser novels. These can probably be described as classic PI noir novels, with unrealistic but entertaining plots and dialog. The characters are reasonably well developed over the course of several books, but the emphasis is on the action and the wry wit.
I'm a big fan of Parkers, I prefer his Stone series ironically over his Spencer series, that said, I found Back Story to be one of the better books in the series, perhaps it's the 30 year old unsolved murder that hooked me into the story, I worked on and solved an 18 year old rape case once, so it's interesting to see something similiar in a novel.
Parker made it look easy, it wasn't and isn't, I miss him.
Parker made it look easy, it wasn't and isn't, I miss him.
I discovered that I'd already read this one, but it's a fast read, and so I'll plow all the way through it again. Not the best Spenser book, but a fun little tale, with all the witty, goofy dialogue you'd expect from Parker.
Full report:
This is one of the funniest Spenser books. The dialogue between he and Hawk, especially is a hoot. Not to say that there's no action. Spenser, true to form, has guys trying to kill him several times. Really, though, it's all about the characters and their witty ba...more
Full report:
This is one of the funniest Spenser books. The dialogue between he and Hawk, especially is a hoot. Not to say that there's no action. Spenser, true to form, has guys trying to kill him several times. Really, though, it's all about the characters and their witty ba...more
I always liked the old "Spenser" TV Series - but had never read any of Parker's books. Found this one in a bargin sales stack at a BAM and figured it was worth a look at $5.95.
I'll spare the plot details as the other reviewers have already covered the gist of those.
One of the best bargin book pickups I ever made. Parker's writing style is spare, and almost entirely dialog driven. However, I have never read an author that can set so much mood and setting with so little actual writing.
Since the...more
I'll spare the plot details as the other reviewers have already covered the gist of those.
One of the best bargin book pickups I ever made. Parker's writing style is spare, and almost entirely dialog driven. However, I have never read an author that can set so much mood and setting with so little actual writing.
Since the...more
A bit on the short side, but I've gotten into the Parker novels lately due to the wit of the dialogue more than the plotting. I've been reading them through the library on audio books, so they haven't been in order, and our library does not offer any of the older ones. I'll be interested to read them to see if there's any real difference.
As with all of Robert Parker's Spencer mysteries, Back Story is a good read, entertaining and easy. We choose Parker's books for our listening when we are on longer car trips. We laugh, and are often stumped by the solution to the crime(s). There is a finite number of Parker's books for us to read now, since he died within this past year.
Robert B. Parker never disappoints me, and this book was no exception. I enjoyed every minute of Back Story. One of the cool things about this story was the intermingling of Spenser/Hawk and Jesse Stone. I wish there were more books when they work together. The dynamics of that meeting were great. I could almost smell the coffee.
One of the best of the Spenser series. In this book, Spenser agrees to help a client by trying to solve a 28 year old murder. Along the way, Spenser uncovers far more than the client wants to know. All of the best charachters are in this book and even Jesse Stone (the protagonist of another Parker series) makes an appearance.
I have determined to read all of Robert B. Parker's Spenser, Sunny, Jesse, Virgil/Everett novels before moving on to others. I have tried to read some newer stuff, but to be brutally honest, what makes the "Bestseller" list these days is a great deal of disappointment for the most part.
Parker doesn't disappoint.
This Spenser novel has more action than many I have read. Good book.
Parker doesn't disappoint.
This Spenser novel has more action than many I have read. Good book.
Man, Parker's good! Spenser and Hawk are really cool and really funny. Tight, crisp prose, characters who have chemistry who you want to care about. It's hard for me to find authors that I really like. I think I can add Parker to my stable of favorites, which is great since there's something like 29 other Spenser books.
One of my favorite Spenser books. I like the way characters come and go throughout the series, as they tell the story of Spenser's personal life in a deeper way, alongside the crime-solving part of the story. This book was especially poignant with the death of dog Pearl and the new Pearl II.
I like Spenser books. It's light, with fun dialog, characters and sometimes riveting plot lines. I agree with Martin; this isn't my favorite Spenser, but it's just fine. I like that another of Parker's characters makes an appearance or two in this book (Jesse Stone).
I had never read much of Parker's work before he passed away and feel like I really missed an engaging number of years to read them as they came out. Given that I have been thoroughly enjoying reading his work and look forward to finishing several more titles this year.
Good basic Spenser - he meets Jesse Stone, the other Parker cop (with a few more problems). Spenser is one of my favorite would-be alter egos - smart, handsome, athletic, witty, and a tough, mean mo-fo when the chips are down. Fun to read about, and play pretend.
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Robert B. Parker.
Robert Brown Parker was an American crime writer. His most famous works were the novels about the private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the late 1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also produced....more
More about Robert B. Parker...
Robert Brown Parker was an American crime writer. His most famous works were the novels about the private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the late 1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also produced....more
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