School Days -- Time to Send Robert B. Parker to Detention
Written: Jan 14 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Parker can still write dialogue. Minimal Susan in this book.
Cons: Parker continues to go through the motions, churning out formula, not good books.
The Bottom Line: Book recommended only for devoted fans of Parker. All others should look for the early books.
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| DukeSunflow's Full Review: |
I'm beginning to wonder if Robert B. Parker is still alive. In the past 10 or so years, he's been more machine than writer, churning out books that are interchangable with one another, distinguished only by the occasional witty dialogue or energized action sequence. Every year like clockwork we get a new Spenser book, and most of his long time fans eat it up in a few hours and hope the next one will be better.
Enter School Days, a lackluster tale involving Spenser's investigation of the true motives behind a Columbine-like school shooting. Spenser's hired by the rich grandmother of one of the shooters to find out the truth. Only nobody, from the town police, to the administrators of the school, to the kids parents seem interested in talking about what really happened.
And in the end, neither was I. Parker spends most of many short chapters talking about how he was getting nowhere, something he's done frequently within his books. The problem is that the few pieces of evidence he does find aren't compelling on any level. There is minimal action, zero emotional connection with any of the victims of the crime, and not even much clever dialogue. The whole thing reads like a passable episode of a 70s detective story. And the ending reads like a ripped from the early 90s headline story.
I really wish that Parker would get back to writing books about Spenser and not these short sketches of novels that he's writing these days. School Days is yet another disappointment in a once fine series.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
DukeSunflow
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Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 314
Trusted by: 39 members
About Me:
I love writing, music, games, mysteries, my wife and my daughter!
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