{"id":9641,"date":"2018-01-24T14:47:24","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T19:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9641"},"modified":"2026-01-23T19:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:27:14","slug":"hush-money-audio-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9641","title":{"rendered":"Hush Money, Audio Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hush Money<\/a><\/em>, Audio Version (1999\/2000) Robert B Parker<\/a> narrated by Burt Reynolds<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>WARNING<\/strong>: The production and transfer to digital on this are awful. Truly terrible.<\/p>\n

What I listened to was full of clicks and skips and was generally terrible. If I’d have paid money for it instead of borrowing I’d probably have been pissed off. Luckily, I just borrowed it.<\/p>\n

This is another narrated by Burt Reynolds, and the same caveats as before apply: he has a deep voice, and he tends to elide some words and phrases, so if there was any background noise, it was sometimes difficult to catch all the words. However, I do enjoy his narration, and he does a good job with the characters and keeping the dialog separate. Which is good, since Spenser books are like 90% dialog.<\/p>\n

This is another weirdly timely story. Hawk asks Spenser to look into why the son of his former trainer was denied tenure. (No, really, it works. I promise.) Additionally, Susan asks Spenser to help out a friend who is being stalked.<\/p>\n

Why do I like this story? First, we get another glimpse into Hawk’s past, and an explanation as to how Hawk ended up as he did.<\/p>\n

Bobby sees something he likes and he takes me on, and when he finds out I\u2019m not living anywhere special he takes me in, and I learn to fight and maybe along the way to use a fork when I\u2019m eating. Stuff like that.
\n…
\nBobby say to me, \u2018I think you need to get a little schooling.\u2019 And I say why, I gonna reason with people in the ring? And Bobby say, \u2018You should take an English class and a math class.\u2019 And pretty soon I\u2019m in night school at the community college.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hawk being who he is, this is a perfect explanation as to how he ended up well-read and more learned than he should have been, with his background as a street-kid and a boxer.<\/p>\n

Bobby Nevins was a legend. He\u2019d trained fighters for more than fifty years. All of his fighters could fight. All of them were in shape. None left the ring broke. None were strolling queer street. In a business riddled with charlatans his word was good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And why Hawk would do anything for Bobby.<\/p>\n

But the case quickly turns into a hairball, and soon Spenser is looking into a white power group. That’s where things got a little eerie, considering the current climate in the US. Except, of course, that the racist in the story is actually less awful than some of the racists we’re seeing now.<\/p>\n

(A) newsletter titled Alert! which warned against the encroaching mongrelization of the white race, the feminization of the American male, the homosexual assault on marriage, the debasement of American Christianity, and the arrival of the Antichrist. There was a thoughtful discussion, complete with footnotes and bibliography, of a secret plot which festered deep within the power centers of the federal government, abetted by Zionism, whereby this country would be handed over to the One Worlders at the UN.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Honestly, I keep finding parallels in the books to what is going on currently and I find it more than a little terrifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Margaret Dryer,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m the dean of student affairs here. Like many of you present I do not agree with Mr. Quant\u2019s view of the human condition.\u201d <\/p>\n

The audience quieted a little as she spoke. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I agree with his right to hold those ideas and indeed to espouse them, however repellent I personally find them to be. That is the meaning of free speech, and I hope each and every one of you in the audience will respect Mr. Quant\u2019s right to free speech.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yet despite everything, there is the reminder that things are not all bad. I particularly liked this passage where Spenser talks to Lee Farrell.<\/p>\n

Farrell said. \u201cLemme tell you what\u2019s bothering you. You\u2019re chasing along after whatever it is that you can\u2019t quite catch, and every gay person you encounter is sleazy, crooked, second-rate, and generally unpleasant.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOr so it has seemed,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, being a basically decent guy, despite the smart mouth, you fear that maybe you are prejudiced and it\u2019s clouding your judgment.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAlso true, except for the smart mouth part.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSame thing happens to me with blacks,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cI spend two months on a drug-related homicide and everybody\u2019s black, and everybody\u2019s a vicious sleazebag, and I begin to wonder, is it me?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNeither one of us gets to deal with the best parts of a culture,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo. We deal with the worst. You got a case involving murder and blackmail, most of the people you meet are going to be scumbags.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of race, creed, or color,\u201d I said. \u201cOr sexual orientation.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd not because of race, creed, color, or sexual orientation,\u201d Farrell said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So this is yet another complex mystery that takes a look at the underside of things, yet despite all the dirt reminds us that many people are good and decent. And sometimes the hero wins.
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publisher: Phoenix Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hush Money, Audio Version (1999\/2000) Robert B Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds WARNING: The production and transfer to digital on this are awful. Truly terrible. What I listened to was full of clicks and skips and was generally terrible. If I’d have paid money for it instead of borrowing I’d probably have been pissed off. […]<\/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":[191,37,8,43,41],"tags":[484,106,107],"class_list":["post-9641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-audio-book","category-mystery","category-private-eye","category-reread","tag-burt-reynolds","tag-robert-b-parker","tag-spenser"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2vv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9665,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9665","url_meta":{"origin":9641,"position":0},"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":[]},{"id":3909,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3909","url_meta":{"origin":9641,"position":1},"title":"Small Vices (Audio)","author":"Michelle","date":"July 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (2002) written Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds This audio book was my first exposure to Robert B. Parker. I was doing mind-numbingly dull lab work, and audio books kept me from losing my mind, so I was willing to try almost anything. I fell in love\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","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/small-vices-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9517,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9517","url_meta":{"origin":9641,"position":2},"title":"Chance, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"December 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Chance, Audio Version (1996\/1997) Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds And I've reached Burt Reynolds narrating, and almost the book where I entered this series. The criminals in Boston are in a bit of an upheaval, and some of it is Spenser's fault: He and Hawk took out Tony\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Spenser-Chance.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/89","url_meta":{"origin":9641,"position":3},"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":325,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/325","url_meta":{"origin":9641,"position":4},"title":"Small Vices","author":"Michelle","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (1997) Robert B Parker On the trip to get my grandmother, as I was driving alone I wanted a book to listen to, to help me stay awake and coherent. I grabbed Small Vices, read by Burt Reynolds to keep me company on the trip. I really do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"small_vices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/small_vices.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22125,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22125","url_meta":{"origin":9641,"position":5},"title":"Small Vices, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"July 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices, Audio Book (1997) Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds (Spenser) Since my name was anathema at Pemberton, I had to employ guile. 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