Cold Service (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: 2006-03-07
ISBN: 0425204286
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780425204283
- 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 Cold Service (Spenser)
Book Review: MERELY AVERAGE--NEITHER WELL DONE NOR REALLY BAD
Summary: 3 Stars
The good news is that COLD SERVICE (2005) is a bit better than BAD BUSINESS (2004). The bad news is that it isn't much better.
COLD SERVICE is basically a fantasy book--a macho revenge fantasy--in which Spenser assists Hawk in killing the men who shot Hawk in the back and killed the man Hawk was hired to protect, as well as that man's wife and two of his three children.
Basically about 87 percent of this story is a paint-by-the-numbers piece, and we get the usual Parker touches--events recapped with Spenser telling his girlfriend what has just happened and her providing minimal queries of a moral-psychological nature; scenes with Spenser's dog trying to join the girlfriend and Spenser in bed; scenes with Spenser cooking for his girlfriend; and of course dozens and dozens of comments about the weather and traffic and seagulls and pedestrians to help Robert Parker pad out some of the chapters from 2 or 3 pages to a weightier 4 or 5 pages.
As usual, the local police and the Feds (who allow Hawk and Spenser to do their vigilante-killing-spree thing without any objections) all belong to a fantasy land. Only the street names and store names of real Boston have a close connection with this imaginary "Spenserian Boston."
But that's okay--if that is where you want to spend a few hours instead of playing online in Facebook's Farmville or some other cyberspace fantasy land. After all, in the 1950s and '60s, Ian Fleming's James Bond Thrillers provided basically the same sort of macho "time out" from reality for many people, including Pres. Kennedy--and me.
Three things that seemed to be improvements over BAD BUSINESS were (1) the kind of crime/criminals involved were somewhat more realistic (though very stereotyped), (2) Hawk&Spenser (as a unit) basically committed fewer crimes (although there WERE a lot of people murdered by Hawk), and (3) the brief descriptions of how it feels to be recovering from serious injuries/wounds rang fairly true (I judge from my own experiences).
As for "plotting," it seems more than a bit shaky. Even Spenser seems to notice at times; dialogue OFTEN runs like this: "We go in there and kill 'em all." "How do we do that?" "Through the front door." "What's the rest of the plan?" "That's the whole plan." (Am I the only person reminded of Beavis and Butthead cartoon episodes?)
SEMI-SPOILER ALERT: Very few readers will be happy with the way Hawk's final showdown with the Chief Bad Guy is presented at an abandoned shopping mall--two men go in; one comes out--you already know which one--and neither Spenser nor we have any idea what happened inside the mall. Nor does Robert Parker.
Finally, the REALLY good news is this book can be read so quickly that nobody will be wasting many precious hours of his or her life on it.
Summary of Cold Service (Spenser)
When his closest ally, Hawk, is beaten and left for dead while protecting a bookie, Spenser embarks on an epic journey to rehabilitate his best pal, body and soul. But that means infiltrating a ruthless mob?and redefining his friendship with Hawk in the name of vengeance...
?Cold Service moves with the speed of light.??Orlando Sentinel
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