Cold Service

Cold Service (2005) Robert B. Parker

I had figured that I was going to have to wait a year, until it came out in paperback, to read the latest Spender book. However, we found a hardback copy at Half Price Books, cheaper than the coming paperback will be, so we got it.

There was a rush to finish our current books, a race that Michael won, and as he got to read it firstI didn’t start it until last night. (It was a close race–I only had about three pages left in my book when he grabbed Cold Service.)

Like all Spenser books, it’s good. Not my favorite, but still good.

The book starts with Hawk in the hospital, and Spenser sitting by his bedside. Which is only fair, considering the amount of time Hawk has spent sitting in Spenser’s hospital rooms. It was interesting, the difference between Hawk’s recovery here, and Spenser’s in Small Vices. I suppose the difference is that Spenser is the main character, and Hawk is a supporting character, so we see only glimpses of his recovery, although we know that Spenser is around throughout.

Although the story focuses on Hawk’s revenge upon those who put him in the hospital, the underlying story and theme are really the subtle differences between Hawk and Spenser. As similar as the two may be, there are differences, and there are things that Hawk is willing to do that Spenser is not. Those things have come up before, but not nearly so much as they do in this book.

Oddly enough, the conflict that Spenser seems to feel does not come across quite as clearly as I expected, which is perhaps why this is only a good book and not a great one. There is little of Spenser’s inner life here–instead of seeing the conflict in his thoughts we see it through his discussions with Susan, as well as with Cecile, Hawk’s girlfriend. Somehow that made the whole thing slightly less real and less important to me.

I’m thinking that perhaps this book wanted to be longer than it turned out to be, and perhaps that’s the difference.

If you have not read a Spenser book before, this is probably not a good place to start. The dialog is, as always, good, but as I said there is far less of Spenser’s inner life, and that made it feel as if something was missing. Also, knowing nothing about the Gray Man would definitely reduce the impact of this book, since a brief synopsis of Small Vices is nothing like actually having read the book.

As far as supporting characters: Vinnie is around a good deal, Hawk and Spenser have to deal with Tony Marcus, there a brief visit by Quirk, and again Spenser turns to Ives and Epstein.

If you’re a Spenser fan, then you’re going to want to read this book. If you’ve not read Spenser book before, don’t start here. The timing is just a little bit off here, and so it feels like Robert B. Parker never quite gets into the rhythm of the story. Which isn’t so bad, since Robert B Parker on a bad day still is pretty damn good.
Rating: 6/10

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