Spenser part four

It was along about the third or fourth “Ace Atkins” versions I realized what was different. No, the pacing was correct. The plot elements were almost too smooth. The main protagonist, Spenser, namesake for the series, he was correctly portrayed if a little un-aged.

Still adore the sidekicks and vast array of colorful characters, it’s, it took a half-dozen of the books to realize that the plot was moving too clock-like.

Being this invested in the series, I’ll continue to read them, but probably not at my previous breakneck pace.

Silent Night (2011)

Silent Night (Spenser Book 41)
Xmas-time, first of the Spenser series not completed by Robert Parker. Pro tennis and… cartel drug lords?

Lullaby (2012)

Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby (Spenser Series Book 40)
Back in the projects, “Southie.”

Wonderland (2013)

Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland (The Spenser Series Book 41)
Tie in to the movie, but only a marginal connection. Mobbed-up? Angry ex-wife?

Kickback (2015)

Robert B. Parker’s Kickback (Spenser Book 43)
Crooks in chambers, small town politics. In. The first two or three continuance books, I didn’t notice a difference, but this was the time I started to see — while lavishly aping the original, there’s a missing piece that set Robert Parker’s writing apart from Ace Atkins. Still, well-written, and lovingly executed.

Cheap Shot (2014)

Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot (The Spenser Series Book 42)
New England Patriots. Defense. Thug life.