Books Listed by Author
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Edenville Owls
Parker's first book for younger readers. But not TOO young! A lot less cussing and violence than his adult books. A bit of bad language and teen yearnings by 14-year-old Bobby, who tries to help out his new teacher who is being threatened by a strange man. I enjoyed it.
Read:
5/2009
High Profile
Jesse Stone #6. Chief Jesse investigates the body of a famous personality found hanging in a tree. Not to mention a body in a dumpster.
Read:
6/2026
Hugger Mugger
Spenser travels to Georgia to investigate race horse shootings.
Donut Quote:
"Donuts put a nice foundation under your morning." -- pg. 51.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Club Man (pg. 136) -- Probably refers to the Clubman line of colognes and such. I never heard of it, I was more of a Russian Leather kind of guy, back in the day when I used the stuff.
Quote:
"Just so we're clear,", I said. "I'm not after your wife."... -- (pg. 31) I didn't understand the point of this exchange.
Read:
8/2008
Hundred-Dollar Baby
April Kyle asks Spenser to deals with some guys trying to cut in on her house of ill repute.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Tsimmis (pg. 174) -- Probably Tzimmis, one meaning of which is a state of confusion.
Read:
7/2008
Hush Money
Spenser helps out Hawk by investigating why a professor was denied tenure.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Defenestrated (pg. 65) -- Throwing of a person or thing out of a window.
Linguiça (pg. 104) -- Portuguese cured pork sausage.
Polemic (pg. 136) -- An aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another.
Formulaic Berbers (pg. 213) -- Don't know, maybe refers to something earlier in the story that I missed?
Quote:
"What she does," I said, "is she tries not to want me to do things I don't want to do." -- (pg. 123) Spenser on the successful male/female relationship.
Read:
8/2008
Night And Day
Jesse Stone #8. The town of Paradise seems to have a peeper!
Read:
6/2026
Night Passage
For some reason I thought this was another Spencer story, but although it takes place in the same world (i.e., Gino and Vinnie are present), it introduces a new guy, Jesse Stone, who just got a new job as a small-town police chief after getting fired from the LAPD for being a drunk.
Read:
7/2008
Now & Then
Spencer, who I mistakenly keep calling "Parker", starts out on a cheating spouse case, ends up in the middle of some sort of terrorist thing.
Quote:
"Or maybe it is Margaret that I mourn for" -- Related to a poem by G. M. Hopkins (pg. 50)
Words I Had To Look Up:
Bench strength (pg. 219) -- The quality of the players sitting on the bench.
Inextricable (pg. 169) -- Incapable of being disentangled or untied.
Read:
7/2008
Painted Ladies
Spencer takes on the chore of bodyguard to an art professor who is to fetch the ransom for a painting to the picture-nappers. Said painting explodes, killing the art professor. Spencer returns his fee, and goes after the fiends.
Quote:
"Frees their minds," I said,"to romp with the mind of god." -- (pg. 154)-- Now I have to read The Great Gatsby!
Words I Had To Look Up:
cathexis (pg. 220) -- Concentration of emotional energy on an object or idea. One source suggests a "crush" as an example.
Read:
12/2010
Paper Doll
Spenser investigates the murder of a perfect wife on behalf of her perfect husband and perfect kids. Not so perfect, any of them.
Read:
8/2008
Pastime
Spencer helps Paul locate his missing mother.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Cathexis (pg. 41) -- From MSN Encarta: the concentration of a great deal of psychological and emotional energy on one particular person, thing, or idea
Ineffable (pb. 188)-- Incapable of being expressed in words. I've used the word, but, as usual, couldn't have put a coherent meaning to it.
Read:
7/2008
Playmates
Spencer investigates points shaving in college basketball. See the website http://bullets-and-beer.com/ for comments on this and other books by Robert Parker.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Lunsmen (pg. 47) -- Probably mispeled "landman", fellow native in yiddish.
Read:
7/2008
Potshot
Spenser travels to the town of Potshot to investigate the murder of some cute chicks husband by some bullies. Lot's of clever quips, I think I will abandon the Stephenson I'm reading and read all the Spenser titles.
Smoke Quote:
"This is exactly the right moment," I said, "for me to light two cigarettes and hand one to you."
"Makes you regret not smoking for a moment," Susan said.
Read:
7/2008
Promised Land
Parker, I mean Spencer, is hired by some guy to find his wife who has run off, possibly to find herself. At the guy's house Spencer runs into Hawk. What has this guy got himself into? Good story, no donut or cigarette quotes I can remember, but there WERE two English muffins consumed. Or at least one, for sure, was.
Read:
11/2018
Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues
Jesse Stone #10. A guy the Jesse busted and busted up back in Los Angeles gets out of prison and comes after him.
Read:
6/2026
Rough Weather
Parker is hired to "stand by" a rich woman at her daughter's wedding. The gray man shows up.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Neurasthenia (pg. 231) -- A condition that is characterized especially by physical and mental exhaustion usually with accompanying symptoms (as headaches, insomnia, and irritability), is believed to result from psychological factors (as depression or emotional stress or conflict), and is sometimes considered similar to or identical with chronic fatigue syndrome. I think I've got it.
Read:
12/2008
School Days
Parker investigates a mass-shooting at a private school, at the behest of one of the shooter's grandmother.
Quote:
She pointed her breasts at me. Both barrels. (pg. 268)Read:
7/2008
Sea Change
Jesse Stone #5. Chief Stone investigates the case of the dead woman found floating near the wharf. Boy, people drink a lot in these books!
Read:
6/2026
Sixkill
An obnoxious actor has a woman die on him in his hotel room. Parker investigates with his new protege, the actor's ex-bodyguard.
Read:
5/2011
Small Vices
Spenser investigates a possible miscarriage of justice when a young black hoodlum is convicted of the murder of a white college student woman person-type.
Quote:
Several ducks waddled promptly over expecting to be fed. They were brown ducks for the most part except one which had a green head and was probably a male duck, though I wasn't sure. I didn't know a hell of a lot about ducks. (pg. 286)
Read:
8/2008
20 books displayed
[Palacio - Paretsky] [Paretsky - Parker] [Parker - Parker] [Parker - Parker] [Parker - Paulsen] [Paulsen - Pease] [Pease - Peyton] [Peyton - Pooley] [Pooley - Poyer] [Poyer - Pratchett] [Pratchett - Pratchett] [Pratchett - Pronzini] [Pronzini - Pynchon] [Pynchon - Pynchon]