( P ) Books - Page 12

Pastime (Spenser)

Robert B. Parker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Vintage Vignettes on Varieties of Rain? Dining on Times Past? Casting Pearls Before Swine? Oh Yeah. Tim Taylor approved! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The beginning chapters of PASTIME used a dramatically different stye from previous books I've read in the Spenser series. As other reviewers have helpfully described, this one's personal, and as such, to me it felt warm and "homey" (though, after the first chapters, the Spenser/Hawk/mob grit got going with full guts and grandeur... then paused periodically for more cozy "cookie" breaks).

Loved the story opening featuring Pearl's entry into the Spenser/Silverman family. Parker has a knack for drawing dogs to life on paper, in their cuddly, lapping, mysterious ways. I have to admit that I love animals, and any story which realistically captures their caricatures usually has me hopelessly hooked.

In fact, pets work so well to draw me into a book, that I was shocked, yes, to read the concluding statement of a delightfully edgy-eloquent review on this novel. I was so impressed, I was ready to click the "Yes" vote, wishing I could click it repeatedly and have each mouse tap add to the tally. Then, oh my. I read the final statement in the review: "But I still hate that damn dog."

I could not do it. Couldn't click "Yes" on a review which ended with that comment. You have no idea how much conflict I felt, wanting so badly to praise and honor that review. But, to vote against a dog? Could not.

Also could not vote "No." The review was too exquisite, and to love or not to love a dog is not the question; it's a matter of taste and heart, not of reviewing talent, or of a review being helpful or not.

BIG sigh. I almost went into a rash of hives of "does not compute" with that click-or-not conflict.

Maybe this is a good place to note that I'm beyond impressed with the variety of customer review posts on Amazon, including many of the spitting, hissing ones. It's this priceless collection of contrasting opinions (some of them profound, most of them interesting) on products which brought me to Amazon's pages; it's what keeps me here (in addition to Amazon's entertaining, colorful, graphics lush, public-carnival atmosphere, of course).

That out of the way, I'll slip out of my moody reverie mode and continue on with a review.

Laughed out loud at the "Boink Brain" term Spenser used for Susan's ex, and a couple clips describing Pearl antics.

Had a difficult time connecting my habitual reading rhythm for a Spenser novel to the first scenes including Paul Giacomin. The mood of those scenes seemed like Spenser might have allowed a somewhat "in process" character, like a son in his late teens, early 20's, to work/write with him on the Paul parts. At first I felt a loss with the seemingly diminished spark, snap, and sizzle of Parker's style, though there were a few perky passages:

>> "I was sixteen," I (Spenser) said. "And she sat in front of me in French class."
"Sixteen," Paul said. "You had a childhood?" <<

Then I began to contemplate the significance of the title using the word "Pastime" which, beyond the obvious allusions to Parker's welcome and interesting inclusions of Spenser's personal history, hinted at how one passes his time (usually meaning personal, leisure, home-life time, a quality of which most P.I.'s do not possess in any card count, and certainly not in Spades). At that point, I almost achieved a consciousness-shift into the home-base of "duh."

What's more, after reading into the scene from which Paul was excluded, between Spenser and Vinnie Morris, I began to see what was happening with the subtled-down-syntax, the artistic demand of it. I enjoyed the warm humor around Vinnie's attempts to understand and reconcile Paul's (e-mo-tion-al) need to find and understand his mother, and Spenser's support of that process.

"She got something he wants?" (Vinnie's question)
"His past," I (Spenser) said.
Vinnie looked at me some more and tossed his foot some more.
"His past." Vinnie said.
I nodded.
"What the f... is that supposed to mean?" <<

In contrast to the ooie-gooie, warm-fuzzy personal parts in this one, the tense bar scene was all the more effectively enthralling, with Spenser, Hawk, Gerry Broze-and-bodyguards being brought up to and down from a sit-u-a-tion of guns-drawn-every-which-way. Vinnie, you done good with your timed entry and smooth actions there!

In fact, all scenes including Vinnie were an effective contrast to the increased personal lives drama in this # 18 Spenser offering. Possibly the most telling of these was Vinnie's difficulty attempting to understand (or NOT to understand?) Paul's need to find his mother (see quote above). Psychobabble not being a part of the gangster-mob-mystique, Vinnie's puzzlement around Spenser's concern for Paul's emotional struggle was comical. What? The kid's not in mortal danger, not playing for mortal stakes, and Spenser has dropped everything to help him find a worthless woman who doesn't want to be found?

As to Spenser's childhood info, I enjoyed all of it, especially the explanations he gave on why/how he became a good cook, and why he continues to cook for himself, which tied in perfectly to his unique but so appropriate childhood.

As to some of the more typical macho male machinations (yet even this one was warmed by Pearl's presence) I became deeply engrossed in the struggle-through-the-wilderness scene, the wet, drippy forest with a leg-wounded Spenser and domesticated Pearl making their slow, heavy, water-logged way away from the stalking, tracker-enhanced bad guys.

PASTIME was a rainy day heaven, raining every-which-way, from peaceful, to harsh-in-a-marsh, almost constantly throughout the plot, ... AFTER the Sunny Scene One with Spenser, Susan, and Paul's variation on Ozzie & Harriet, kid, dog, and picket-fence-in-progress, with the requisite pretty pitcher of iced-tea brewing in the house. Yeah, Susan was doing that! Also, with awkward intensity, she cooked a meal for Paul and Spenser; the concoction was some type of honey-marinated, chopped-up chicken.

Iconic dichotomies of Ideal Vs Real in this plot were prime, posed perfectly:

-- From the impotent face off of Ozzie Dear to Mommie Patty.

-- From Spenser's parenting of Paul paired off with Joe Broze's unsung, unplaced, bio-son, Gerry (contrasted to Joe's "true" son, Vinnie).

-- From the architectural "glory" of The Commons, Formal Gardens, Designer Parks, manmade (from tax-dollar-dues) ponds stocked with loons; to the some-pastimes-never-die, all-night-diner, coffee-and-pie-house, open-24-hours (featuring hard-cooked apples w/core pieces, but good cherries, and thick, heavy, white-porcelain mugs).

-- From the backdrop of a Capitol building glowing through the pinnacle of night, to "fragrant bums" covered in newspaper, shedding rain with cardboard tents:

>> To our left Beacon street went up the hill to the State House, its gold dome lit and visible from everywhere, its Bulfinch front pretending that what went on inside were matters of gravity and import. The wind that had, in the late afternoon, slanted the rain in hard as I left police headquarters, had died with the daylight, and the rain, softer now, came down in near perfect silence. <<

Having finished the book and reflected upon the unique style of PASTIME featuring an Ozzie side of Spenser being exposed to his favorite gangster types, confusing the heck out of them to the point of increasing the normal edges of comedy; I realized that I had enjoyed this book even more than I had thought, as I was skipping through the lighter read of it, even as it took place mostly in the rain (not in Spain; but in and around Boston).

Loved the ending scene with Spenser and Susan. I began marking passages to quote, but the marks wouldn't end until every word in the scene was included. So, I suppose you may have to read the book to get it.

With ongoing ruminations of respect for this fascinating series,
Linda G. Shelnutt

Editorial Review:

Certain that his mother's shady boyfriend is behind her disappearance, Paul Giacomin calls upon the skills of Spencer to help him find his missing mother. Reprint. AB. PW.

Purity of Blood

Arturo Perez-Reverte

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Arturo Pérez-Reverte is one of the most beloved writers in the world. His bestselling novels, including The Club Dumas and The Queen of the South, have been published in fifty countries and translated into twenty-eight languages. Now, with The Adventures of Captain Alatriste, he delivers a magnificent series, already a million-copy bestseller in Spain, that chronicles the heroic adventures of a seventeenth-century swordsman.

In Purity of Blood, the second novel in the series, the courageous Alatriste is considering rejoining his old regiment to fight in Breda-but his blade leads him to another adventure. A desperate father hires him to rescue his daughter from a convent where a powerful priest is said to be using the girl as his personal concubine. The father has been prevented from legal recourse because the priest has threatened to reveal that the man's family is "not of pure blood"-is, in fact, of Jewish descent -which will all but destroy the family name. Alatriste agrees to help, and several nights later, under the cloak of darkness, a rescue attempt is made.

But soon Alatriste discovers that he has become part of a religious and political conspiracy that leads all the way to the highest levels of the Inquisition. When a date is set to burn the man's daughter at the stake, Captain Alatriste springs into action -sword first-setting off a series of twists and turns that will keep readers riveted to the page.

Translation by Margaret Sayers Peden

Paper Doll (Spenser)

Robert B. Parker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Color Crayons & Paper Dolls. Tigers Beware. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Push a Pin into the perfection balloon. What is marriage ... what are styles of domesticity ... to a wealthy WASP, to a liberated couple like Spenser and Susan, to a good-guy gay cop, to a State Senator, to an aging wealthy southerner.

The concluding scene in DOUBLE DEUCE, # 19 in the Spenser series, catered a surprising twist to Susan and Spenser's attempts at traditional homemaking. That close was as refreshing to the double S as a storm-brought rainbow. The choice carried in DD's final chapter surfaced in silent style into the thematic structure of PAPER DOLL, # 20 in the Spenser series.

To Loudon Tripp seeking the private eye to find his wife's killer, Spenser answered the "small problem" of his having been dismissed from the police force:

"I am trustworthy, loyal, and helpful, but I struggle with obedient."

Who was Olivia Nelson?

She was Loudon Tripp's murdered wife. Was she Harriet to Ozzie, or did she have a small problem.

Spenser's gum shoe stuck in southern muck as he researched the past of a double identity with no indemnity. While thus stuck, the P.I. endured a dual whap to his knee caps by a fake constable. The gum was seared off by BAD-knight-Quirk to the rescue (YEA!), in a scene to write about to a homemaker or a troubleshooter, maybe even a troublemaker, whichever would apply, or lie right.

In the early 90's what did we cook, what did we say, what did we wear, what books did we read. See here. Hear ye. (...)

Readers have commented that they feel this series is anti-gay. One might not hold that opinion after reading PAPER DOLL, in which Lee Ferrell was introduced and featured with compassionate clarity, as a young gay cop working for Quirk. As would be expected, the repartee scenes between Ferrell and Spenser popped. The corn, no pron, was light, fresh, sensitive and free (relatively).

In Alton, South Carolina, 1948 a child was born, bearing a tale and a trail of a "sister" of doom. Was there room at the Inn? Spenser stayed there, and learned the song, "one way ... or the other."

The opening scene of chapter sixteen provided a collection of guffaws from the way Spenser dealt with an auto paused to tail his travels. If that passage doesn't do that, it's possible you've lost your Proof of Existence Papers. Would you then be a paper doll? I'd rather be me. Since the breakout of loveable dogs in DOUBLE DEUCE, Parker had been warmly elevating the dog's life, and I relish it that introduction to the series, but don't know if I'm ready to be one, if I have a choice!

In addition to dogs, another Spenser "signature" was continued and repeated from DOUBLE DEUCE, that of how a character holds a whiskey glass. Note an example of that on page 237 of the mass market paperback. Might this signature be a continued tribute to Erin Macklin (who held her whiskey glass "with both hands")? Also note how Lee Ferrell held his glass in a few spots in this one. That, possibly more than Spenser's "adoption" of the gay cop, was telling of Ferrel's status, as it developed through an amber-filled glass.

The conclusion of the murder in this one was a switch. For me, it worked, stretching contemplation space in the part of my brain which ruminates Parker's tweaking of what makes a good guy/gal good and a bad guy/gal bad.

Parker gave a perfect clue to the murderer, but I didn't get it until the plot told me.

"The words hung in the room, drifting like the dust of ruination."

That wasn't the clue, nor was it the preface to comeuppance for the killer. It was just a line I quite liked. As always, there were several.

Holding books with both hands,
Linda Shelnutt

Editorial Review:

When Boston aristocrat Loudon Tripp hires Spenser to investigate his wife's murder, Spenser uncovers high-class scandals and a corpse who might not be dead after all. Reprint. NYT. K.

Trojan Gold: A Vicky Bliss Novel of Suspense (Vicky Bliss Mysteries)

Elizabeth Peters

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

At Long Last 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I've read all the Vicky Bliss novels, and I can only say I wish Elizabeth Peters would write more. She has such a humorous touch with these novels that the characters are not only believeable, they're a downright likeable bunch. I like the way Peters uses humor to propel the story along, and the exchanges between Vicky and her sometimes lover, John Smythe, are hilarious. But don't leave out her boss, Herr Doktor Schmidt, who is a remarkably innocent man for one of his advanced years, and a wonderful co-conspirator (even if he does have a tendency to view desperate situations as some sort of wonderful adventure). For fans of this series, I heartily recommend this book, since it's about time that Vicki and John come clean about their feelings for one another. The avalanche scene is a real nailbiter, and in keeping with the adventure! Don't miss this one!

Editorial Review:

A picture is worth a thousand words . . . but the photograph art historian Vicky Bliss has just received in the mail gives rise to a thousand questions instead. At first glance it appears to be the famous portrait of Frau Schliemann adorned in the gold of Troy. But closer study reveals the picture to be contemporary—which is odd since Vicky knows the Trojan gold vanished sometime around the end of World War Two. And if she needed further proof that something here is terribly amiss, a quick look at the blood-stained envelope the photo arrived in should do the trick.

Yet Vicky is not the only expert to receive this mysterious mailing. And the entire circle is gathering for a festive Bavarian Christmas—one, hopefully, to be made even more festive by the rediscovery of an ancient lost treasure. But the celebration could prove to be short—and bloody—courtesy of a very determined killer in their midst . . .

The Thomas Berryman Number

James Patterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Not one of his better books 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am a huge Patterson fan, however this is the first book of his that I have ever read (25 read so far) that I did not enjoy. It jumps around so much it is hard to follow and confusing when it ends.

James Patterson Thomas Berryman 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Very poor quality not as stated pages just bearly hanging in well used not as stated. Very dissappointed. Review not on the book but the seller. Book as always James Patterson never fails...

Loss of life book not main character 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I cannot believe Mr. Patterson in any way participated in authoring this book. It was very poorly written and dull. the characters and plot were shallow and underdeveloped despite the length of the book. I am an avid Patterson reader but I wasted my time and money on this one.

Not typical Patterson 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have read all of the Alex Cross series, and all of the Women's Murder Club. I have read Honeymoon, Lifeguard, Step on a Crack, Judge and Jury, Beach Road, Beach House, and am working on Black Friday (market). All that being said, I loved them all, Honeymoon probably standing out as one of the best....I did not like Thomas Berryman Number. I have yet to read a Patterson book I have not liked until now. I did finish it, but it was difficult to do. I do not advise anyone to read this book if you are used to fast paced, interesting thrillers. This one is not.

Editorial Review:

Three terrifying murders in the South culminate in a relentless manhunt in the North that centers on a ruthless assassin, the woman he loves, and the beloved leader he is hired to kill with extreme prejudice. Reprint. NYT. LJ.

Street of Five Moons: A Vicky Bliss Novel of Suspense (Vicky Bliss Mysteries)

Elizabeth Peters

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Characterization & Description of Europe 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

It's been awhile since I've read a book that I've taken such delight in. Vicky Bliss is a methodical detective much like Mary Russell from the Laurie R. King series. In "Street of the Five Moons", Vicky meets her match in "John Smythe", secretary to a nobleman and art collector, who strongly resembles Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey. His playful evasiveness is a delightful foil for Vicky's determination. Peters describes Germany and Italy like she's a longtime resident and makes clever allusions to more than a few literary classics.
"Street of the Five Moons", like many series' second books, seems stronger than the first installment and has more compelling characters. Vicky's asides to the reader are also a fun device. I look forward to finishing this series and strongly recommend "Street of the Five Moons".

Editorial Review:

Art historian Vicky Bliss may be blond and beautiful, but looks can be deceiving. She also has the brain of an Einstein, the reckless courage of a test pilot—and no one's more savvy about fine works of art. For example: the gold pendant her boss at Munich's National Museum is currently dangling in front of her. It's an exquisite replica of a Charlemagne talisman—and it was found, along with a note written in hieroglyphs, sewn into the suit pocket of an unidentified man lying dead in an alley.

There's a murderous puzzle to unravel—and Vicky will start by hunting down the master craftsperson who created the magnificent piece, even if the search carries her to the ends of the Earth. Instead, it's pointing her toward Rome, the most romantic city in the world. But it's also pulling her into a treacherous game of intrigue where the stakes could not be higher: Vicky's life!

At Some Disputed Barricade

Anne Perry

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Anne Perry’s gift for illuminating the heart’s deepest secrets shines through in her bestselling series of World War I novels. With compelling immediacy, she depicts the struggles of men and women torn by their convictions and challenged by the perils of war.
July 1917. Joseph Reavley, a chaplain, and his sister, Judith, an ambulance driver, are bone-weary as they approach the fourth year of the conflict; the peace of the English countryside seems a world away. On the Western Front, the Battle of Passchendaele has begun, and among the many fatalities from Joseph’s regiment is the trusted commanding officer, who is replaced by a young major whose pompous incompetence virtually guarantees that many good soldiers will die needlessly. But soon he, too, is dead–killed by his own men. Although Joseph would like to turn a blind eye, he knows that he must not. Judith, however, anguished at the prospect of courts-martial and executions for the twelve men arrested for the crime, has no such inhibitions and, risking of her own life, helps all but one of the prisoners to escape.

Back in England, Joseph and Judith’s brother, Matthew, continues his desperate pursuit to unmask the sinister figure known as the Peacemaker–an obsessed genius who has committed murder and treason in an attempt to stop Britain from winning the war. As Matthew trails the Peacemaker, Joseph tracks his comrades through Switzerland and into enemy territory. His search will lead to a reckoning pitting courage and honor against the blind machinery of military justice.

At Some Disputed Barricade is an Anne Perry masterpiece–brilliant, surprising, and unforgettable.

We Shall Not Sleep: A Novel (World War I)

Anne Perry

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Anne Perry’s magnificent Victorian mysteries established her as one of the world’s best known and loved historical novelists. Now, in her vividly imagined World War I novels, Perry’s talents “have taken a quantum leap” (The Star-Ledger), and so has the number of her devoted readers. We Shall Not Sleep, the final book in this epic series featuring the dedicated Reavley family, is perhaps the most memorably enthralling of all Perry’s novels.

After four long years, peace is finally in sight. But chaplain Joseph Reavley and his sister Judith, an ambulance driver on the Western Front, are more hard pressed than ever. Behind the lines, violence is increasing: soldiers are abusing German prisoners, a nurse has been raped and murdered, and the sinister ideologue called the Peacemaker now threatens to undermine the peace just as he did the war.

Then Matthew, the third Reavley sibling and an intelligence expert, suddenly arrives at the front with startling news. The Peacemaker’s German counterpart has offered to go to England and expose his co-conspirator as a traitor. But with war still raging and prejudices inflamed, such a journey would be fraught with hazards, especially since the Peacemaker has secret informers everywhere, even on the battlefield.

For richness of plot, character, and feeling, We Shall Not Sleep is unmatched. Anne Perry’s brilliantly orchestrated finale is a heartstopping tour de force, mesmerizing and totally satisfying.


From the Hardcover edition.

Mortal Stakes

Robert B Parker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

HIgh Stakes Indeed 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Mortal Stakes, the third in the Spenser series, is wonderful on many levels. It is more than just about baseball and blackmail and a lone wolf PI taking on underworld thugs. It is also about relationships: between couples, between business partners, between a sports idol and his fans and also his teammates. Parker handles all of these relationships well, with the plot twisting down to a somewhat surprising end: the hero is not who you think! Excellent read - I highly recommend.

Batter's Up! Pitcher Pauses. Crack that Ball! Spenser's Heaven Visits Hell. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Loved the reality/fiction twist of Spenser going undercover as a writer to get into baseball back rooms and detect from inside the game. The poem introducing this heavenly concept of work overlapping play was a perfect preface. Of course the meaning in those lines from Robert Frost descend into deadly seriousness, beyond a person's job taking him into his most passionate pastime.

It appears that, for Robert B. Parker, the heart of Boston's commerce and culture is baseball at Fenway Park. That is where this author appears to live. And where Spenser opens gateways for Parker's dreams... and nightmares.

To me, Parker seemed happy to be writing this book within this setting with mirrors reflecting mirrors of "plays" within plays that Spenser's opening interviews didn't feature suspects/clients offering delicatessen varieties of The Limburger Reek. The beauty of the baseball scene was captured perfectly, from the spectators in the stands, to the clean locker room banter, to the management organizational structure and press picture, to the sharks feeding among the sacred roots of the game. Even though I'm not into baseball, by page 4 Parker had me hooked into his ambiance. I felt the realism in the levels of the game, felt Spenser's joy (at the outset) to be doing this case.

It seemed to me as if, by this third Spenser novel, copyright 1975, Parker was feeling his oats as an author, had established his commercial appeal, and was really stepping out to write what and how he'd always wanted: Baseball, within the classic framework of detective fiction.

Loved the joked-up titles for his fictional book, off-colored ditties which lead to an appropriate one. I was curious what Spenser would come up with, contrasted to his hokey (as he meant them to be) jokes, and he dropped the head-liner at the precise time and place for effect.

It was nice, as a change of pace, to see Spenser as slightly less of a wise guy and more of a vulnerably happy man eating up the perks of his profession (though his artfully acerbic wit, which I relish, certainly wasn't lacking).

I'm happy to report that this third novel was written in the meaty narrative style of the prior two novels, rather than in the pared down dialogue dance of his later works, though I do not mean to disparage the honed beauty of his later work. Just wanted to enjoy his early, classic P.I. style (with its sensual gourmet touches), wanted to stretch out for a while prior to the sophisticated-dialogue-rap condensing narrative complexity into Parker's signature syntax dance.

I wonder how many novels Parker wrote with the setting and location detail riding equal to or above the dialogue and interview process. I'm going to enjoy the heck out of finding out where/how his style evolved. Would like to also unearth the whys, but I'd have to interview the man to get to that groundwork.

Though writing fictional works is my favorite outlet for my talent (making work into play), when I've despaired of being published right in that venue, I've sometimes toyed with the idea of writing a novel based on facts featuring the development and expression of a talent like Parker's, a full, meaty story showing how his talent was guided and manipulated by whatever factors. Sidney Sheldon's memoirs, THE OTHER SIDE OF ME (See my review posted 1/14/06), does a great job of exposing how his expression was hammered by those jealous of ability expressed well, developed by ungodly hard work with good luck mixed into the bad, endured torture to arrive at a success few could fully comprehend, though his memoirs explain a lot.

Another amazing example of how life's events mold talent is Stephen King's ON WRITING (my review dated 10/13/06). Apparently King is frightening enough that many people seem to pause at least twice before tarnishing his talent in public venues which King might read.

But King and Sheldon's books (those mentioned above) are nonfiction. If I wanted to (or even could) take time away from writing pure fiction (I'm ambivalent about alternate routes for expression, because I'm better with fiction than with fact), I'd like to write factual information into novel form, with a focus on what manipulated an auspicious author's talent into the types of books published under his name, an author like Robert B. Parker.

And, I've wondered if the stalking incidents in HUSH MONEY and WALKING SHADOW (my reviews dated 4/11 & 13/06) were based on actual incidents in Parker's life. I've also wondered if his wife, Joan, is as feisty as Susan was in HUSH MONEY. In the real world, Joan probably wouldn't (for understandable reasons) act out the drama quite as Susan did. But, I'll bet RB and Joan enjoyed the heck out of Susan's scenes taking care of the "lady" stalker. Readers aren't the only ones who live vicariously in novels.

What's fiction for if not to write or read about what we'd love (and sometimes fear) to be able to do in life but, for various reasons of cowardliness, courage, or consequences, cannot.

Returning to the issues and joys of MORTAL STAKES, the above tangent subtly explains why I enjoyed so much reading about Parker (via Spenser) wallowing in his passion of Fenway Park baseball. The above tangent also backs up my reasons for appreciating Parker's inclusion of detail of Spenser's personal and professional daily routines. When an author writes when, how, and what his main character eats his daily bread, that author not only draws that character from its essence, the author draws the reader in from the seat of where we all live at base reality.

Spenser's daily routine actions spread like gourmet-peanut-butter and homemade jam over Parker's pages, following Spenser's exit from the ball park, through the following day. Those scenes were a premium use of narrative space lush with syntax ambiance, all of which effected a perfect set up for the riveting scene of mob-type intrusion into Parker's office by Frank Doerr and back up guy. This type of narrative contrast makes high art, the contrast between a heavy risk scene holding "mortal stakes," coming on after the reader has gotten comfortable wallowing in a character's simple, daily human machinations, a character running through "at home" routines, meandering through "at play" situations involving his greatest passions (especially when the pleasurable addictions overlap his livelihood necessities).

After that stirring of contrasting scenes, the comfy/schmoozing Vs. the risky/riveting elements had welded into a novel I wasn't wanting to end. And, in essence, it wouldn't end until I rolled through over 20 more Spenser novels after this one. Yeah!

(I wonder, how Parker felt chained to this venue for a lifetime. He did successfully manipulate it to express various angles of his literary creativity and ethics development process. Maybe he loved every day of his work as an author. Or did he sometimes want to pull his hair out, scream primal howls, to get out of the detective novel constraints? He did develop other series characters and accomplished those Spenser sidelines well.)

Who would have thought a reader like me, who has absolutely zilch natural interest in spectator sports, would have become cozily enchanted, actually entranced by a novel worked around and within baseball. To be able to accomplish this, heavy-duty talent is required to be firing on all cylinders.

V-rrrrooooooooommmmmmmm.

This is what happens when work is play for an author. Yet reading the Frost poetry more closely, it says, "when work is play for mortal stakes." This play is serious. The work of an author, no matter how glamorous or how fun it may seem, is serious. Should editors open the gateway, then get out of the way? (Until the creation is complete, then offer assistance if/as requested?) I don't know. I'm just a fool full of brain sparks. And, with second thoughts having fizzled, I realize Parker, like Sheldon and King, should write his own memoirs. I couldn't EVEN do justice to a biography on Parker's authorship evolution. I live so far into the ozone of fiction, I too often get my facts wrong.

But, a few questions remain.

How would Brenda and Susan contrast, in fitting into baseball and the P.I.'s life, into the life which is played with mortal stakes? The sparing scenes with each of these female sidekicks were beautifully, sensitively, and thougtfully drawn.

And what of the economic/cultural contrasts dramatized so crushingly clearly here, of lives varying from the clean health of Spenser's personal ablutions and ruminations, to the varieties of physical deterioration and downtrodden, deathly drudgery; from urban renewal edging against City Pimp-ery, to a Heartland Hero protecting the sad sanctuary of "his people" lost to an exhausting poverty of mud and swill?

Of course Parker dealt with those situations with his usual finesse, largesse, and an abundance of duress. Earthy wisdom was also applied with Biblical eyes and teeth, gusto and grace.

Before leaving this book, I felt a need to study the sophisticated symbolism of the "setup" location and situation.

What does contemplation of the scene's description bring to mind?

As did the caring, relishing (reader drool inducing) way Spenser took time to cook for himself, the "setup" setting symbolized what Spenser was defending in a battle no less than a full out war, which involved defending the continued existence of everything he held dear, including his life and the sacred people and parts in a way of life hard won in the US. The setting Spenser chose for his showdown scene also symbolized what was sea creature, at the center of that life, ripping its flesh and eating the people and parts.

In MORTAL STAKES, Parker stepped into the storms of life as we're growing it. He stuck his thick neck out and really said something. Go beyond thought spaces between sentences. This work is such a cohesive whole the undercurrents might be best seen after the last page has been turned. Slowly.

Linda G. Shelnutt

Night Train to Memphis

Elizabeth Peters

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

empty story about empty-headed heroine. ugh 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I am new to reading mysteries outside of those written by agatha christie. I picked up this book because I was intrigued to read about a smart and clever art historian as detective and also because this book seemed to get so many good reviews.

I am close to the end but so far it has been a total letdown. ugh!!! vicky is a big blond ditz who spends more time worrying about her hair and clothes than in learning about the suspects she is hired to find or about the art treasure she gets to visit. (there is very little info on the artwork at all, which was a letdown as I am a nerd and like learning about that stuff.)

vicky is not a sleuth! she needs to get rescued by a big strong man left and right. she can't figure out anything for herself. everything is spelled out for her, and for the reader, except that I was pretty much able to guess the guilty parties from the start. it isn't that hard!

the big mystery here is wondering why we are following such a vacant vicky around? why not a character who is informed and observes things?

the soap opera romance is cliche. this book is a bit of a letdown if you are hoping for a gripping intelligent thriller.

reader beware!

Editorial Review:

An assistant curator of Munich's National Museum, Vicky Bliss is no expert on Egypt, but she does have a Ph.D. in solving crimes. So when an intelligence agency offers her a luxury Nile cruise if she'll help solve a murder and stop a heist of Egyptian antiquities, all 5'11" of her takes the plunge. Vicky suspects the authorities really want her to lead them to her missing lover, the art thief and master of disguises she knows only as "Sir John Smythe." And right in the shadow of the Sphinx she spots him. . . with his new flame. Vicky is so furious at this romantic stab-in-the-back, not to mention the sudden arrival of her meddling boss, Herr Dr. Schmidt, that she may overlook a danger as old as the pharaohs and as unchanging. . . a criminal who hides behind a mask of charm while moving in for the kill.