Audio read by Joe Mantegna
Random House Audio, 2010
5 unabridged cds (5.5 hours)
$32.00
304 pgs.
Rating: 5 (though I missed Hawk)
I don’t think, when I first heard Joe Mantegna read the Spenser books, I liked his rendition of the Spenser I had in my head. Apparently his voice has grown on me, because I loved the reading of this story. Mantegna’s voice is now Spenser’s voice for me. I noticed in Barnes and Noble yesterday that the very last Spenser that Parker wrote before he died is now on sale. So sad. What a fantastic writer, storyteller, humorist, even!
In this, the 39th Spenser, Pearl falls in love! Nice touch, and a great way to end the story. Pearl, by the way, is Susan and Spenser’s dog. Romping in the Public Gardens with Otto is a riot. Such infused humor throughout the story.
Spenser is hired by Ashton Prince as a body guard during the payment of a ransom for a unique Dutch painting, Lady with a Finch. When Prince is blown up during the exchange, Spenser feels he didn’t do his job well enough and joins the team of Belson, Quinn, and all sorts of others that Parker has introduced throughout the years. Hawk is absent – somewhere out of the country, but Susan is very much a part of this story, including helping in unique ways throughout Spenser’s investigation.
Excellent story. Parker just kept getting better and better.
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