It’s 1976 and the Montreal Summer Olympics will be starting soon. But that is of no consequence to Spenser at this point. What is important is the job that the highly successful head of an international conglomerate, Hugh Dixon, has hired him to do. Dixon has retained Spenser as a bounty hunter.Several months ago, Dixon’s wife and two daughters were killed in the terrorist bombing of a London restaurant. Dixon himself was made a paraplegic. Conscious throughout the entire ordeal, Dixon memorized the faces of the nine perpetrators, eight men and one woman. Now Dixon wants revenge - $2500 per head or $25K for the entire lot. And he doesn’t care if Spenser offers them up to the police dead or alive. Supplied with pictures of the terrorists, Spenser leaves Boston for what could be an indeterminate time and he leaves Susan for the first time since they met. He’d rather not do either, but, for those readers who were not yet adults in 1976, $25K was a lot of money in those days. Add in a virtually unlimited expense account and Dixon’s verbal assessment of him as Captain Midnight, and Spenser knows what he needs to do.It takes six days for Spenser to get a response to his ad in the London paper offering a reward for information on the bombing. And he spots the female terrorist who is waiting to see who picks up the message at the hotel desk. Upon checking out the location specified for the meet, Spenser discovers that it is a killing field, with no cover to protect him. And when he returns to his hotel room, that becomes a killing field, too.Despite being shot the night before, Spenser shows up at the rendezvous point, albeit well disguised facially. He spots the female terrorist again, eventually sees her signal an unseen accomplice that the meet is a bust, and follows her home. Spenser knows that he has now found his Judas goat, the person who can lead him to the rest.Spenser also knows that he needs help if he intends to stay alive. So he contacts Hawk, the free-lance and very successful enforcer and ex-prizefighter that we met in Parker’s last book. Hawk comes to London and the hunt resumes.The terrorists know what Spenser looks like, but they don’t know about Hawk, or his appearance, or his mad skills. And it will take all three of those facts for Spenser and Hawk to survive as they travel from London to Copenhagen to Amsterdam to the Montreal Olympics, following the Judas goat to the source of the problem.This is not a long book, only 181 pages in hardback, with a moderate font. But it is an intense book, ripe with descriptions that are full of scenery or emotion one minute and violence and psychosis the next. We get to see three European cities through Spenser’s literate eyes. We see both the professional and personal relationships between Spenser and Hawk solidify. We find Spenser less of a smart aleck in this book and Susan seems much more accepting of what he is and what he does.What we don’t get in this book is an accurate depiction of the passage of time, and for that I have lowered my rating of the book. The start date is unclear; and while the initial days of the operation add up, the span between successive events becomes increasingly hazy. The next thing we know, the action has moved to the Montreal Olympics, which makes it July, and Spenser’s bullet wound has completely healed. Then, when we get to the last chapter, which appears to be somewhat of an epilogue, it is unclear if only days have passed since the final denouement or if it’s been weeks.Time is part of reality. When time is not, or cannot be, accounted for easily, a person’s story becomes not only confusing but also a bit suspect. And this is truth whether a cop is eliciting an alibi from a person of interest, a parent is questioning a teenager who has missed curfew, or an author is writing a tale of suspense, terrorism and death.
This is the fifth book in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. By this entry, the character of Spenser, the tough, wise-cracking P.I. has largely taken shape. The two other principal characters, Spenser's lover, Susan Silverman, and his sidekick, Hawk, are still rounding into form. The relationship between Spenser and Susan is already showing signs of becoming alarmingly saccharine, but has not yet become nearly as obnoxious as it would be in later books. Hawk is a bit rougher and more menacing than the character would later become.The book opens with a scene strongly reminiscent of Philip Marlowe's arrival at the Sternwood mansion at the opening of The Big Sleep. In this case, Spenser arrives at the luxurious mansion and is escorted by a servant into the sanctuary of the home's wealthy owner who wants to hire Spenser. The man's wife and children were killed by terrorist bombers in London. The man lost the use of his legs in the attack, but survived, having burned into his memory the descriptions of the nine killers. He has now worked with an artist who has created Identi-Kit portraits of the nine. The client gives the drawing to Parker and tells him that he will pay $2500 per head for the capture of the killers, dead or alive. Parker accepts the job, goes to London and by virtue of a simple trick quickly finds a way to get to his targets. Hawk will later join Spenser and help him track the terrorists through England, Amsterdam and Canada.The plot is preposterous and beggars belief at too many points to mention. But this is one of those books where you simply have to suspend disbelief and go with the flow. It's fun watching Spenser and Hawk at work and cringing at the relationship between Spenser and Susan. This is not one of the better books in the series, but those who enjoy Spenser's adventures will not want to miss it.
What do You think about The Judas Goat (1992)?
52 out of 100 for 2010 . . . You wouldn't think there'd be multiple books by multiple authors entitled The Judas Goat, would ya? A Judas goat is used in slaughterhouses; it is trained to lead the other animals to slaughter while it is unharmed. Once ya know that, the title makes sense.Spense has been hired by a man whose family was killed in a London Bombing. Remember when London was the bombing capital of the world and we were outraged that three people were killed? Now, it's a slow weekend in the world. Anyway, Spenser has been hired to track down the bombers; he identifies one woman who was involved an, unbeknownst to her, follows her to identify the other bombers. Because they are an amateur terrorist organization, all of the bad guys are soon caught. But, along the way, Spenser discovers that they were just small fry; that the organization, a white supremacist group, is going to disrupt the Montreal Olympics. Quite a tale. It's the only 'international' Spenser novel I know of, and it has some nice scenes set in London, Coppenhagen, and Amsterdam. Parker has a great sense of place when he writes, and each novel evokes a vivid sense of place. Again, interesting to read the older novels in the series, and to note the difference from the more recent ones. In this one, Spenser actually gets shot (in the butt, no less) and gets his ass kicked in a fight. In some ways, the younger, more vulnerable Spenser is more interesting.
—Chuck
Oh, how I loved the television show, Spenser for Hire as a teenager of the 80s. So when I see these books, I think that I will like them. And I do, mostly, for what they are. They are gritty, violent, and often center on life in and around Boston. This is a fairly typical book for the series, I'm sure, although it does have Spenser and Hawk jet-setting around Europe. As the book is set in 1976, it's interesting to see the more relaxed security standards for airlines back in those times. The story isn't that strong, but it is full of action and suspense. The characters are all familiar to me from the show and that helps, but overall, this is just a bit of brain candy, perfect for a long flight. I like that this story highlights some of the sights of London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Montreal.
—Dolly
This book has our man Spencer going all over Europe to catch his prey: London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and, lastly, Montrèal after being hired for this particular job. A Mr. Dixon, who is a quite wealthy millionaire, was out with his family when a bomb blew up near them--the work of a group calling themselves "Liberty", a faction who wants Africa to stay "white controlled" and free from the Red Menace (communism). Mr. Dixon's wife and daughter died in the blast; by all accounts he should've been dead, too, but recovered enough so that he was wheelchair bound and scarred for what was left of his life. Spencer was hired to do what he himself could not: find his family's killers and deal out justice...Very good book, but very 'slight': less than 200 pages, so it's a quick read. I wish that there was more to it, but fine story anyway...Enjoy!
—Metagion
