{"id":9501,"date":"2017-12-05T09:40:56","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T14:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9501"},"modified":"2021-06-03T18:03:07","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T22:03:07","slug":"thin-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9501","title":{"rendered":"Thin Air"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thin Air<\/a><\/em> (1995) Robert B. Parker<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Belson’s wife has disappeared. He first comes to talk to Spenser, because Spenser went though something similar with Susan. However, when Belson is shot, Spenser takes over the case (mind you, Quirk and the BPD are working on the case as well, but Spenser has more leeway and time).<\/p>\n

There are parts of this story I remember quite clearly.<\/p>\n

The slim muddy trickle that had been leaking down from the roof garden had been joined by other trickles until finally the whole wall was sheeted with dirty water that ran steadily.<\/em>
\n…
\nAbove us I heard the sound of wood twisting. \u201cIt\u2019s the goddamned roof garden,\u201d I said to Chollo. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe roof garden?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. It\u2019s been raining for three days. All the dirt on the roof. It\u2019s soaked full of water. The house is caving in under the weight.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I remembered those bits quite clearly, because it was such an unusual thing to have happen in a mystery.<\/p>\n

There are other parts that struck me as being little different from today.<\/p>\n

The signs on the store fronts were in Spanish. The billboards were Spanish. The only English I saw was a sign that read: ELECT TIM HARRINGTON, MAYOR OF ALL THE PEOPLE. I wondered how hard Tim was working for the Hispanic vote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Slums were immutable. The ethnicities changed, but the squalor and sadness and desperation remained as constant as the movement of the stars.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I especially liked about this book is Chollo. Spenser met him several books prior, and asks for his help. First, as much as I love Hawk, he wasn’t going to be any help here. Second, although Chollo is like Hawk, he is also clearly not Hawk. It’s another reminder that although Spenser is supposedly on the side of angels, he doesn’t hesitate to call on bad guys for assistance.<\/p>\n

I looked at Chollo in the car beside me. He was sitting low in the seat, his arms folded on his chest, his eyes half closed. He\u2019d probably encountered everything Deleon had encountered, and he hadn\u2019t turned out much better, probably. He was a bad guy, but if he told you something you could believe him. He said he\u2019d kill you, he\u2019d kill you. He said he wouldn\u2019t, he wouldn\u2019t. You could trust his word. Which was more than could be said about a lot of people who weren\u2019t supposed to be bad guys. Besides, he was my bad guy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And he’s amusing. Which one sort of needs to be to hang out with Spenser.<\/p>\n

\u201cVamanos!\u201d Santiago said to the driver. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d Chollo translated for me. <\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of got that one,\u201d I said. \u201cEspecially when we started right up.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chollo said nothing. But his eyes were amused.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I especially like that it’s made clear that Spanish speakers are not interchangeable in real life.<\/p>\n

the concept of Hispanic is a gringo concept. We are not Hispanic, or, as they say on his side of the country, Latino. We are Dominican and Puerto Rican and Mexican. We are like your Indians in the last century.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Much like the previous book when Spenser dealt with Chinese immigrants, it’s made clear that immigrants are not a monolithic population, and that there are sub-populations within sub-populations.<\/p>\n

Age-wise, no mention of Vietnam, however he is still talking about Joe Walcott, who retired in 1953. So that’s still putting him in that era.<\/p>\n

Joe Walcott had once taught me the same lesson when I was very young, though it took me longer to learn it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I mentioned earlier, we’re getting into some of my favorite Spenser stories. Spenser is funny, yet there remains a serious and realistic thread underneath everything.
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thin Air (1995) Robert B. Parker Belson’s wife has disappeared. He first comes to talk to Spenser, because Spenser went though something similar with Susan. However, when Belson is shot, Spenser takes over the case (mind you, Quirk and the BPD are working on the case as well, but Spenser has more leeway and time). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,8,43,41],"tags":[106,107],"class_list":["post-9501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-mystery","category-private-eye","category-reread","tag-robert-b-parker","tag-spenser"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2tf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22553,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22553","url_meta":{"origin":9501,"position":0},"title":"Valediction, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Valediction , Audio Book (1984) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard (Spenser) Spenser continues to unravel as Susan moves to California to work. And starts seeing someone else. Paul is staying with Spenser for summer break, and suggests Spenser take a case for the director of the dance company\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Valediction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Spenser-Valediction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/89","url_meta":{"origin":9501,"position":1},"title":"Small Vices","author":"Michelle","date":"July 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (1997) Robert B. Parker Okay, so I didn't totally resist, but I've limited myself to just Small Vices, which is one of my favorite Spenser books. Small Vices was my introduction to Spenser. It is also the reason I have some small affection for Burt Reynolds. Back when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comfort Read"","block_context":{"text":"Comfort Read","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/reread\/comfort-read"},"img":{"alt_text":"small vices.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/small%20vices.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":93,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/93","url_meta":{"origin":9501,"position":2},"title":"Cold Service","author":"Michelle","date":"July 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"cold service.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/cold%20service.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9042,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9042","url_meta":{"origin":9501,"position":3},"title":"The Judas Goat, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"April 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Judas Goat, Audible Version (1978) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard Spenser has been hired by Hugh Dixon, a millionaire whose family was killed in a bombing in London. Hugh Dixon wants the terrorists caught or killed, and he'll pay Spenser a bounty for each kill or capture.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Spenser-Judas-Goat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9288,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9288","url_meta":{"origin":9501,"position":4},"title":"Ceremony, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"September 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Ceremony, Audio Book (1982\/1992) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard April Kyle is a pretty sixteen year-old runaway who is working as a prostitute somewhere in the Combat Zone in Boston. Her father wants nothing to do with her, but her mother wants her safe, so Spenser takes on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Spenser-Ceremony.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9665,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9665","url_meta":{"origin":9501,"position":5},"title":"Hugger Mugger, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"February 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hugger Mugger (2000) Robert B Parker narrated by Joe Mantegna Walter Clive has hired Spenser to come down to Georgia to see who has been shooting his horses. What Spenser finds makes no sense: there is no rhyme or reason to the shootings, and the in-house security has seen nothing.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Spenser-Hugger-Mugger.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}