Thin Air - Hardcover

Parker, Robert B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399140204 ISBN 13: 9780399140204

Publisher: Putnam, 1995

Synopsis

When Lisa St. Claire, the beautiful young bride of a Boston police detective vanishes mysteriously, Spenser joins the search for the missing woman, following a dangerous trail that leads him to a sociopathic Latino ex-lover and into a deadly confrontation with Lisa's dark past. 175,000 first printing. $125,000 ad/promo.

About this title

About the Author

Robert B. Parker was the author of more than fifty books. He died in January 2010.

Reviews

In the famed Boston PI's 22nd case, an oddly sympathetic villain and a resolute heroine draw Spenser into a barrio enclave in a depressed Massachusetts factory town. Readers know that Lisa St. Clair, a radio deejay newly married to a Boston police detective, has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a Proctor, Mass. tenement by Rico, her former lover. The cop, who knows only that his wife has disappeared, is shot and seriously injured just after he asks Spenser to investigate. Chapters alternate between the room where Lisa is kept under guard and constantly running video cameras and Spenser's gradual assembling of clues. The PI discovers Lisa's former name and occupation; he thinks up a way to penetrate Proctor's divided and desperate Hispanic community, ruled by Rico and a rival. Lots of atmosphere and even suspense?Will Lisa resist Rico's demands? Can Spenser discover a way to rescue her??are built up in short sentences and one-line paragraphs. Spenser's pal Hawk is away (his place taken briefly by the sharp L.A. crook, Chollo), and his lover, Susan, and dog Pearl are kept mostly backstage during a slightly stretched out story that, nevertheless, packs a lot of punch. Mystery Guild selection; Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Spenser, Parker's most popular creation, here searches for a mysterious woman.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Spenser Lite: less death, more wit. Though at times the violence in past Spenser novels has strained credulity, it often had a cathartic effect for both reader and hero. But lately author Parker includes less gunplay and fisticuffs. Symbolic of the change is the fact that, in this twenty-third Spenser adventure, the detective's friend and ultradeadly ally, Hawk, is off in Burma, leaving Spenser on his own when longtime pal Frank Belson of Boston Homicide needs help. Belson's beautiful young bride, Lisa St. Claire, has disappeared. When Belson is wounded in an ambush that may be related to Lisa's disappearance, Spenser undertakes the search. The trail initially leads him to L.A., where a friendly mobster--who may have an interest in the resolution of the case--lends Spenser the use of Chollo, a sort of Hispanic Hawk. Eventually, Spenser concludes that Lisa is the captive of Luis DeLeon, the second-ranking bad guy in the aging New England mill town of Proctor, where he--and presumably Lisa--are ensconced in a well-armed fortress. The ending is predictable, if less violent than one might except. Lisa is by no means the first damsel in distress to be rescued by Spenser, and frankly, the plot has become a drag. The captors are always deranged, confusing love with power, and the victims are in jeopardy as a result of poor taste in lovers. Silly women, brave Spenser. Still, longtime fans will stand in line for this one, and in their defense, even flawed Spenser is good reading. Wes Lukowsky

Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399140204
• ISBN 13: 9780399140204
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 293