Genre: Mystery
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This is only the second Spenser book that I have read, and I am not sure why. Parker’s hero is similar to Coben’s Myron Bolitar and Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter, and if you follow my reviews you know those two write my favorite escapism fiction. PI Spenser has a similar sense of humor, and Parker does an excellent job keeping us in suspense between the chuckles.
In School Days: A Spenser Novel the story centers around a school shooting and a young boy who confesses to it. His grandmother hires Spenser to prove his innocence, even though his alleged accomplice fingered him and he admitted it, and Spenser takes the case. Interestingly enough, other than Grandmother Ellsworth, Spenser is the only one interested in finding out all of the details. School officials, the defendant’s parents, even the local police want this case wrapped in a bow and put away quickly.
Parker does a good job with a very sensitive subject in his thirty-third book in this series. School shootings have been in the news all too often since the attack in Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Several authors have written fictional accounts of school shootings, but Parker’s original twist makes this one stand out.
I did miss some of the strong supporting characters that populate Rosenfelt’s and Coben’s books though, and I kept searching for Hawk, Spenser’s sidekick who I remembered from the previous novel I read. Even his girlfriend Susan was out of town during this adventure, and Spenser was pretty much on his own.
All in all this was a well written mystery that convinced me to search out the thirty-one books in this series that I have missed.
-Beverly
Publisher - G.P. Putnam's Sons
Date of Publication - September 27, 2005
In School Days: A Spenser Novel the story centers around a school shooting and a young boy who confesses to it. His grandmother hires Spenser to prove his innocence, even though his alleged accomplice fingered him and he admitted it, and Spenser takes the case. Interestingly enough, other than Grandmother Ellsworth, Spenser is the only one interested in finding out all of the details. School officials, the defendant’s parents, even the local police want this case wrapped in a bow and put away quickly.
Parker does a good job with a very sensitive subject in his thirty-third book in this series. School shootings have been in the news all too often since the attack in Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Several authors have written fictional accounts of school shootings, but Parker’s original twist makes this one stand out.
I did miss some of the strong supporting characters that populate Rosenfelt’s and Coben’s books though, and I kept searching for Hawk, Spenser’s sidekick who I remembered from the previous novel I read. Even his girlfriend Susan was out of town during this adventure, and Spenser was pretty much on his own.
All in all this was a well written mystery that convinced me to search out the thirty-one books in this series that I have missed.
-Beverly
Publisher - G.P. Putnam's Sons
Date of Publication - September 27, 2005
