I’ve never been so excited to find a ‘.5’ as I was as this one, because I love all things Spenser.
We got to see a bit of Spenser’s past, for the first time, and it does explain a lot about him and his values.

This one is a bit different, as it was intended to be a YA novel … and it flits back and forth between Spenser as a kid in Wyoming, and present day (well 2009ish’s day) with Susan sort of encouraging him to share and inserting her own (of course) shrink-y dialogue.

There is a bit of a continuity issue—we saw when Susan adopted Pearl the Wonderdog (the 1st) and that was already her name, she’d been her ex-husband’s dog first. In this one, they claim that Spenser’s dog, when he was a child, was named Pearl, and that all German Shepherd Pointers should be named Pearl. I’ve found very few continuity issues in the span of the 40ish Spenser novels penned by Bob himself, so I can’t be too mad about this.

Overall, this was very well done and explains a lot about Spenser, who he is, why he is, etc. Ultimately good continuity, minus the bit I pointed out already. I’d have LOVED to see Parker dive more into this, show us a bit more of young Spenser, but unfortunately he passed not too long after writing this, I believe? The following year?
(I will NEVER ever ever ever get over his passing).

So, I’ll just be grateful we got what we did and call this another great read.

5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Audio:
This is narrated by Daniel Parker—one of Bob’s sons, perhaps? The voice wasn’t right at all for Spenser, IMO, but I assume Bob found it just fine. Took a bit getting used to, but not a bad performance.



Spenser Reading Order:

1. The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
2. God Save the Child (1974)
3. Mortal Stakes (1975)
4. Promised Land (1976)
5. The Judas Goat (1978)
6. Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)
7. Early Autumn (1980)
8. A Savage Place (1981)
9. Ceremony (1982)
10. The Widening Gyre (1983)
11. Valediction (1984)
12. A Catskill Eagle (1985)
13. Taming a Seahorse (1986)
14. Pale Kings and Princes (1987)
15. Crimson Joy (1988)
16. Playmates (1989)
17. Stardust (1990)
18. Pastime (1991)
19. Double Deuce (1991)
20. Paper Doll (1993)
21. Walking Shadow (1994)
22. Thin Air (1995)
23. Chance (1996)
24. Small Vices (1997)
25. Sudden Mischief (1998)
26. Hush Money (1999)
27. Hugger Mugger (2000)
28. Potshot (2001)
29. Widow's Walk (2002)
30. Back Story (2003)
31. Bad Business (2004)
32. Cold Service (2005)
33. School Days (2005)
34.Hundred-Dollar Baby(2006)
35. Now and Then (2007)
36. Rough Weather (2008)
36.5 Chasing the Bear (2009)
37. The Professional (2009)
38. Painted Ladies (2010)
39. Sixkill (2011)
39.5 Silent Night (2013)
Spenser: A Mysterious Profile (2022)

continued in the series by Ace Atkins