Stardust (Spenser #17)

This is one of the best novels in the Spenser series, a level achieved by the quality of the dialog rather than the action. Jill Joyce is a beautiful television star and her series is being filmed in the Boston area. Her character is a psychologist and Susan Silverman is serving as a technical consultant for the show and there have been several disturbing incidents of Jill being harassed. As a consequence, Susan recommends Spenser be hired as a bodyguard so the story opens with Spenser meeting Jill. Jill is a child in the body of a beautiful woman, completely self-absorbed yet completely vulnerable to all of the dangers in the world. Emotionally unstable, her reaction to any difficulty with a man is to offer her body, but not in a manner that would suggest sexual pleasure on her part. Jill is evasive, uncooperative and pushes Spenser and then Hawk to the limit. When her body double is found murdered, Quirk and Belsen are also involved, increasing the breadth and depth of the wisecracks to the point where I found myself openly laughing. The case takes Spenser back into Jill's life and he quickly finds that her rise to the level of a star was filled with deep and dirty potholes. There is an ex-husband, an alcoholic non-entity of a mother and a previous relationship with a west coast crime kingpin. This is a crime story where the journey makes the pleasure rather than a dynamic and climactic confrontation at the end. Parker is unusual as a writer of crime fighting novels in that it is the dialog that makes them entertaining rather than the action. In my opinion, his worst books are where he includes more action to the detriment of the dialog. That does not happen here.

Spenser is hired by Zenith Meridian Television to protect their star television personality, Jill Joyce - who says she has been receiving harassing telephone calls and letters. When Spenser tries to find out more about these calls, Jill refuses to elaborate - insisting, however, that he protect her from "Him," as she calls her stalker, while all the while refusing to answer any questions relating to details about the problem, her past or pretty much anything at all and at the same time alternating between trying to get Spenser into bed and drinking herself into a torpor. Finally Spenser leaves her in Hawk's care and sets out to find out what he can on his own. Jill is probably one of the least appealing people Spenser has ever set out to "save." He, however, sets out with great patience nonetheless, to do just that. He follows every lead, steps on toes from the East to the West coast in the process, has his life threatened several times and finally gets to the bottom of the situation. It ain't pretty. Of course, you'll have to read the book to find out what happens. I enjoyed this story, mostly because the character dynamics were so interesting. Jill Joyce was so terribly unpleasant, yet at the same time she engendered great sympathy and loyalty among so many people that it was really unbelievable. As one character remarked, she had a "quality" about her, something deep inside her that got buried under the booze and drugs. Parker did a good job with his writing skills of showing that vulnerability as well as the prickly and unpleasant exterior. Very good job. Strong recommend from me.

What might burn to what purification and perfection, within the ashes of impoverished beginnings ... Again, a Spenser novel kept my focus away from the snow-packed, icy curves of a Rocky Mountain corridor over the Continental Divide on Colorado State highway 50, edging the high, steep cliffs over Monarch Pass. If any feat would recommend the ability of a novel to hold a reader captive, that should. The fascination in this # 17 in the series seemed to pivot around a flickering disgust Vs appeal of the Star of the plot, Jill Joyce, as those dark/bright flashes played through Jill's evolving relationships with Spenser, Susan, and residual characters, who mostly viewed "Jillie" as a "high-octane pain in the ..." (quoting one the book's descriptive terms of her). Parker worked an amazing double-sided realism into the plot, contrasting Jill's spoiled, impatient, sour personality; to her youthful vulnerabilities, her having not one true friend, and her carrying the weight of the job title's specific and actual demands. With drunk, druggie, an nympho added to the liabilities in this Star's aura, the scales slipped south, and provided Spenser with a challenge he couldn't refuse. I may have left out a couple descriptive terms of the down side of Jill Joyce's personality, but guessing what they might be would be a snap. STARDUST is a classic character study, and an excellent example of fine writing, especially given Parker's vivid, delightfully sardonic descriptions of various settings, descriptions based on weather conditions and wealth divergence, contrasting Boston and surrounding areas with the San Diego and LA extended environments. During the writing of my previous review on PLAYMATES, # 16 in this series, I began noticing an edge of embarrassment about my ongoing compulsion to write reviews on each novel in the Spenser series. Therefore, I seem to be pushed at the moment by a nag from my Left Brain to explain personal and professional motivations in feeding the continued pursuit of this "study." Actually, that's precisely what my dedication to reviewing this series has become, a study. I feel blessed to be able to observe three decades (and counting) of cultural evolution through Parker's liberal notations of styles of dress, tastes in food, ways of thinking, repartee dance-steps, etc. Yet, I'm making note of much more than that. I'm observing the steady, methodical, dedicated evolution of an author's voice, talent, perspective, and ethical philosophy ... over thirty years of annual production in a sequential offering repeating characters, locale, and genre. I'm observing "current" events unfolding within Parker's plots. I'm noticing subtle publisher presence and reader preference as that backdrop appears to play into Parker's choices of subject, theme, and style variances in each novel in this chain adding links upon links of evolving ethical considerations. My interest was maintained well in STARDUST as my curiosity grew about how

Parker has written another good book. Spencer is hired to baby sit a TV star. He is to protect her and also find out who is trying to kill her. He is his usual witty self, he is helped by Hawk and Susan as always. The TV star, Jill Joyce, is not a good person, a nice way to say it. Spencer keeps digging and finally comes up with the person who has been making the threats. You will be surprised who it is. A good read, if you have liked other Spencer books you will like this one. I always enjoy Hawk, wish he had a larger role the books.

Just what you'd expect in a Spenser novel. Witty dialog and suspence. This book will not be a disapointment to Spenser fans.