This has got to be the worst private eye novel ever written. Spenser is even more arrogant and conceited than ever. He tells the girl that nobody can kill him... Really? Parker pretends to know L.A. I thought he messed up a bit by mentioning Marineland. My recollection was that Marineland had already gone bankrupt and been closed for several years in 1981, but apparently that was not the case, apparently they lasted until 1987. Parker describes some L.A. places like he visited once or twice, even gets the names of some streets right, etc. He even seems to know the directions that the freeways run. Spenser spends the entire novel acting tough, taking the law into his own hands and despite having a clever wit, makes the reader dislike his flawed moral system and idiotic macho man act. At the end, like all of the Spenser novels I've read he goes BESERK!How do you turn a hundred page novel into 185 pages? Mention food over and over again. Describe dinners and eating establishments until your readers either gain or lose an appetite. You don't believe me?Chapter three. Pineapple and whole wheat toast.Chapter five.. Canned soup. Pasta with cream sause. Later in chapter. Hamburger at hamburger hamlet. Custard lulu.Chapter nine. Medium rare butterflied lamb chops with asparagus. Chapter ten. Corned beefChapter 12. Nacho supremesChapter 15. Cheeses bread. Apple. Pear. Wine. Country pate.Chapter 19. Lunch at the Mandarin. Mongolian lamb with scallions. Minced squabChapter 20. Grilled bagels. Cream cheeses. JamChapter 22 Bacon tomatoes lettuce bread. Six pack of beerChapter 23. Veal medallionsChapter 24. BurritoFinal verdict... A real stinker. I find little about Spenser to like. Why I keep trying I don't know.
As those young kids on The Internets would say: Spenser FAIL!One of my complaints about the later Spenser books was that he stopped making mistakes somewhere along the line. Errors in judgment made him much more interesting, especially in how he dealt with the aftermath of life-and-death decisions that went sour on him. Re-reading the earlier books, I’ve been reminded how often Spenser screwed up, and in this one, he fucks up catastrophically on a couple of levels, professionally and personally. And then he goes ape shit and probably should have been sent to prison. It’s awesome!Spenser gets hired by a local Los Angeles TV station to protect one of its reporters, Candy Sloan. Candy has a line on some illegal union pay-outs from a movie studio, and she’s noticed that she’s been followed. Spenser heads to Hollywood, and tries to watch Candy’s back, but she gets beaten up right after Spenser arrives which should have been an omen that this gig was going to go badly for everyone involved.Parker never wrote a scene about the immediate aftermath of this case when Spenser returns to Boston, but we know from other books in the series that this one haunted him for the rest of his career. Susan mentions in a later book that the fall-out from what happened in L.A. contributes to the huge problems they have a few books down the line, and that’s another indication in how pivotal this book is in the Spenserverse.This is also one of the shortest books at 192 pages, and I’m again amazed at how much story, lively characters and action Parker can cram in to such short books. He definitely had the gift of saying a lot with few words.Next up: Spenser turns pimp in Ceremony.
What do You think about A Savage Place (1992)?
"What are you like? How did you end up in such a strange business?" "I got too old to be a Boy Scout," I said…. "That's not an entirely frivolous answer, is it?" she said. "No." "You want to help people." "Yes." "Why?" "Makes me feel good," I said. "But why this way? Guns, fists, hoodlums?" "Because they're there," I said. "You're laughing at me, but I will proceed. It's why I'm a good reporter. I keep asking. Why not be a doctor or a schoolteacher or" -- she spread her hands, the glass in one o
—Shuriu
This was probably my least favorite book of the Spenserseries. He was on location in Hollywood to protect a TVreporter investigating corruption and racketeering in themovie industry. I didn't like the reporter, Candy Sloan,but thought Spenser liked her too much. A classic Spenser line was "I'm a romantic. Agreements areuseless with romantics." There was a good description of Los Angeles: "But L.A. waslike nothing I'd ever seen. I didn't know any place like it for sprall, for the apparently idosyncratic mix of homes and business and shopping malls. There was no center, no fixed point for taking bearings. It arched and spralled and disarrayed all over the peculiar landscape--garish and fascinating and impressive and silly, smelling really of bougainvillea and engive emissions,full of trees and grass and flowers and neon and pretense. Andoff to the northeast, beyond the Hollywood Hills, above the smog, and far from Disneyland were the mountains with snow on theirpeaks."
—Joy
Just finished the 8th in The Spenser series – and I like them more with each book—Why I wonder—I think it is because you really at this point ( 8 books in) know Spenser well – his antics – his hard side and his romantic side as well—In this one he is more of a smart aleck than he has s been (which is saying something). The plot is predictable, but the writing is what the Spenser readers expect and enjoy and this one certainly doesn’t disappoint-- A Savage Place is a portrait of Los Angeles in the early eighties that both frightens and inspires Spenser's loyal fans and the newly initiated alike this setting is unique for a Spenser book. The novel taking place in LA instead of Boston, which means that Spenser is completely on his own. There is no Hawk and Susan Silverman in this one --, and Spenser has no connections with the local police force. This makes for fresher, more exciting story overall, since Spenser acts much more like a lone wolf
—Johnny Williams
