School Days (Spenser)

Hawk was missing in this book, but I still enjoyed it very much. It was full of Parker's hilarious lines and held my interest all the way through. There were plenty of twists and turns in the plot. Parker is one of my favorites, and School Days is right up there on top.

It's been awhile but we finally get a Spenser novel that's hard to put down. I read it straight through at one sitting, which I rarely do these days with any book. Like most Spenser novels, School Days opens with action. A wealthy matron asks Spenser to investigate a prep school shooting, hoping to clear her grandson. Spenser dives in with his ususal irreverent gusto, refusing to believe what everyone else insists is obvious: the young man has confessed to the crime and appears very, very guilty. Doggedly (!) Spenser digs in. If there's a flaw here, it's the ease with which he finds witnesses. Choosing to follow someone makes sense: he has a reason for suspetng this person will lead him to the good stuff. But one foray into a school hangout and he's led right to the people he most needs to find? Coincidence. Unfortunately the plot twists make it difficult to review the story without revealing the outcome. And while Parker keeps the suspense high, I must admit I expected an even more devious story. Fans of Spenser will recognize his usual themes, including disdain for the surburbs and for formal education. And for some reason, author Parker has focused often on "lost" adolescents -- kids who were led astray by parental neglect. In his earlier novels, Spenser found ways to help -- an improbable social worker with unconventional but wise solutions. Here, we're more distant from the kids and even farther from any kind of help for them. As other reviewers pointed out, Spenser's sidekicks have deserted him. Hawk rates a brief mention. Spenser's cop friends lend their support and Rita Fiore moves center stage. Susan, Spenser's beloved, has been banished to Duke University for a conference. But we still feel her presence as Spenser remembers how she dresses, eats and lives. I see her as edgy, not perfect. And I'd like to know how she manages to avoid fueling her own car. Maybe there are more full-service stations in Massachusetts than in any state I've lived. Replacing these characters is Pearl, the dog, who's a good listener with lots of realistic canine quirks. Not a bad exchange. But what makes School Days a success isn't the specific quality of the plot or the characters. Parker's lean-and-mean writing hold the book together and keep the pages turning. And somehow his writing style works best when he writes about Spenser. Let's hope we see more of the same.

Susan's out of town at a conference. Hawk isn't around. Spenser is alone. Except for Pearl the Wonder Dog. A rich old lady hires Spenser to prove that her grandson isn't guilty of a Columbine-style school shooting. But the co-shooter has fingered the grandson as his accomplice. And the grandson has confessed. Tough case. But Spenser is a tough detective. And he does what he does best: digging and wisecracking and ticking people off. And beating them up when they try to out-tough him. Nobody out-toughs Spenser. Perhaps the most solid Spenser novels in the past several years.

After the lamentable "Cold Service," Spenser is back on top of his game. This is vintage Spenser--on a par with his rough-and-tumble early work such as "Godwulf Manuscript" and "God Save the Child." Mercifully, miraculously, Susan is gone. Yes, the always-annoying Susan appears in only 2 out of 65 chapters--and in one of these only by phone. Her absence is refreshing, and Spenser seems full of vim and vinegar without her. Her replacements--the leggy nutcase Beth Ann Blair and the insatiable firecracker Rita Fiore--are great. I must warn you, though [SPOILER ALERT!!!!!], the book does end tragically: Susan comes back. Almost all the other usual suspects are absent, too: no Hawk (!), no Quirk, almost no Belson, no Vinny, and so on. The series seems to perk up for the loss. The great American detectives have always been loners, and, bereft of his usual crew, Spenser seems liberated and renewed. One of the nicest things about the book (apart from the missing Susan, which is exhilarating) is Spenser's or Parker's withering take on suburbia. This is a constant in the Spenser books, and never is the indictment fiercer than here.

In the upscale affluent Boston suburb of Dowling at the local prep school, two teens that attended the education facility took their nine millimeter handguns and opened fire. Five studies and two teachers were killed a six students and two teachers were injured. They then holed up in the library until a hostage negotiator persuaded Wendell Grant to give up. The other killer disappeared but Dell later told them it was Jared Cark who later confessed to the crimes. Jared's grandmother hires Spenser to prove her grandson is innocent but when he gets to Dowling, he finds Jared is represented by an incompetent lawyer who believes his client is guilty and Jared's parents feel the same way. By the time Spenser questions everyone there is no question in his mind that Jared is guilty. However, Spencer goes one step further and sets out to find why this tragedy happened and what the private investigator learns turns out to be a bigger tragedy that the teen killing spree. Fast paced, breezy dialogue and the protagonist's trademark dry-wit makes for another delightful reading experience in the long running Spenser series. Robert B. Parker is at the top of his game in this exciting private investigative tale that examines how a Columbine type action could happen and where the blame should be placed. Fans of this series won't be disappointed in SCHOOL DAYS, one of the best and most timely books Mr. Parker has ever written. Harriet Klausner