School Days (Spenser)
by Robert B. Parker
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert B. ParkerEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-03
ISBN: 0425211347
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Berkley
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780425211342
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of School Days (Spenser)
Book Review: One of his better books
Summary: 5 Stars
I've just read through a couple of the other reviews here (which I do sometimes) and I have to say I agree with some of the more nasty reviews, though I disagree with their conclusions. Parker's a really disciplined writer, someone who writes fast (reportedly he does 20-25 pages a day, now, and three books plus a year) and cleanly, without almost any extraneous plot or characters in his work. He's been back in form lately (Apaloosa was very good) and this is his latest Spenser book, part of what's got to be the longest running series in detective fiction these days. They can't give him any more awards (I think they made him a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers Guild or whatever it is a decade or so ago) and so he just soldiers on, putting his grandchildren through Harvard and piling up the CDs.
What makes the book good is one of the points where I do agree with some of the reviewers. I don't particularly agree that Susan is a weakness of the series: frankly Parker's portrayal of Spenser, and what made the character unique from early on, is that he *isn't* a loner. That was a departure from Chandler, Hammett, Ross and John D. MacDonald, and all the other private eye writers up to the 60s. The idea of one of those writers having a character with a permanent relationship is almost inconceivable (the exception is Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles, but they were only in The Thin Man) and so Parker was breaking the mold when he did that. It's also generally agreed that almost splitting the detective character in twain by adding Hawk as an alter ego to Spenser was brilliant. This book avoids both of those plot conventions of Parker's, and is in many ways a more traditional book, though of course setting and even plot are much more contemporary than any of the above-mentioned author's books.
The plot is rather pretty much standard Parker. There's been another school shooting, and somehow one of the shooters got away. The other was caught, and gave up his friend. The grandmother of the second boy is very wealthy and determined, and hires Spenser to look into the matter, and prove her grandson innocent. Spenser, of course, can't prove anything of the sort, but he does try to find out why the whole thing happened, something the cops can't determine.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. As I said, it's somewhat more characteristic of earlier works, but I think if I had read the book without Spenser's or any of the other names in it, I still would have been able to tell who the author was. The writing style is very distinctive.
Summary of School Days (Spenser)
When a Massachusetts boy is accused of mass murder, his socially prominent grandmother, who hires Spenser to investigate, is convinced of his innocence. But Spenser isn?t convinced of anything?except that there?s trouble ahead...
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