Moving right along in my re-reading adventure ... (If you haven't seen my other reviews in this series, I grew up on these books and am now re-reading them all in order. So fun.)
These are some especially good ones in this collection. In Thin Air we see how deep some friendships run ... and in Small Vices ... same, for different reasons.


Thin Air

This one takes an approach that Parker rarely takes:
It has a dark opening, and shows the POV of a killer & their vic.

Belson’s wife, Lisa is missing!

In this one we get to see a bit more of Belson, and it manages to be heart-wrenching at times. Spenser has to call in a lot of favors, and travel across the country, which I think is a testament to his friendship with/ loyalty to Benson. He also has to work with several crime bosses and top enforcers, so it packs lots of fun and extra wit for the readers.

Hawk’s not in this one, it’s mentioned that he’s in Burma and probably best if ‘we’ don’t know what for.

This is set in the town of Proctor, MA which … I’m not sure which actual MA city that’s Parker-code for. Maybe Lawrence or Lowell is my best guess. Ay any rate, excellent as always.

5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Audio:
This narrator is awful … what is he even doing with poor Belson? Awful.
Also: Vinnie Morris has been such for ~40 years. All of a sudden he’s “Vinnie Maurice” with this narrator. And he pronounces DeLeon as “deli-on”. Come on. He also butchers some of the MA cities. Annoying.



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Chance

Spenser also finds himself with one of those clients who doesn’t tell him all he needs to know and tries threatening him … added fun for the reader! We get lots of series regulars in this one, such as Gino Fish, Joe Broz, and a few others. Hawk is employed along with Spenser on this case and so there’s lots of shooting and other danger and violence bits.

Fun as always.

5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Audio:
Burt Reynolds narrated this one and … while he isn’t exactly the right fit for Spenser, he’s better than the previous 22 books’ narrators. Not a huge fan of this performance, but … we’ve definitely heard worse.



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Small Vices

“He ain’t heavy—he’s my brother.”

The one with ‘The Gray Man’.

Rita’s law firm hires Spenser to find out whether someone who was prosecuted and subsequently incarcerated was done so wrongfully. Racism is prevalent here, like in other books. Not on Parker’s part! But it seems to have played a part in certain demographics’ lack of opportunities, etc.

I don’t want to share any spoilers, so I’ll simply say: The one with ‘The Gray Man’. And i’ll add, that I think, if I could pick just one as my fave of this series, it’d likely be this one.

Well done, truly.
I grieve the loss of Bob every day … today, I’ll grieve him just a little bit more as I marvel at his talent.


5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Series semi-regulars:
Spenser has to lean on his friends and allies quite a bit in this one so we see many crime bosses, etc. from the past:

Joe Broz
Gino Fish
Patricia Utley (and Steven)
Quick
Belson
Healy
His Manhattan homicide detective friend whose name I don’t even remember


On a personal front:
Susan informs Spenser she’d like a baby!
She also has to sell the house they’re renovating together in Concord.


*Rita Fiore, who we’ve met before, many books ago is in this one. She’s no longer a DA, but a big-shot prosecutor with a cushy firm.


Audio:
Another Burt Reynolds narration … he’s not ideal but better than all his predecessors. 3-star performance.



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Sudden Mischief

Finally, more of Susan’s background is revealed … incidental to giving her ex-husband’s, of course.
(And the first continuity issue I have noticed—this one is series-level. It’s said multiple times that Susan hasn’t seen Brad in 20 years … she saw him a few books ago when he had to leave the country and so, she took in Pearl the Wonderdog.)

“You have no ego … or it is so big, it’s impenetrable.” < Possibly the most accurate quote of this entire series, uttered by Rachel Wallace to Spenser.

Another read full of conspiracies, fraud, and murder, The ‘bad guys’ go a little too far when they attack Spenser while he’s with Susan so there’s the added fun of Spenser being sort of out for blood on that front too.

5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Recurring characters introduced:
Ty Bop
Junior
*Tony Marcus’s bodyguards (he’s out of prison).


On a personal front:
Susan works out her very own daddy issues.


Audio:
AWFUL. This narrator PANTS throughout the entire reading. Absolutely disgusting. I recommend grabbing any other format and sparing yourself from this.

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Hush Money

A uni professor is being denied tenure due to … false accusations of scandal. Spenser is on the case, once again pro-bono, as a favor to Hawk.

He’s also investigating stalker claims as a favor to Susan (for a friend of hers).

Both cases are sort of strange so he opts to “Follow the money”, and picks up a psycho-stalker of his own along the way.
Lots of fun, especially Susan turning a bit violent.


5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Audio:
Ugh. Burt Reynolds is back. He isn’t too bad, he just isn’t the right voice for some in this world. 3-star performance.



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Hugger Mugger
After a few pro-bono cases, Spenser takes a sort-of odd one on in order to pay some bills… someone’s shooting horses.

He ends up traveling to the South again (among other places) and as usual, something very strange is afoot. A couple of cooperative locals and a 25 year-old psychopath make for a fun read.

5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️