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stevem0214's review against another edition
4.0
Good solid Spenser novel, but not one of my favorites. The bad guys are a little to white collar for my taste. I like it better then Spenser and Hawk have to bust a few heads I guess!
papidoc's review against another edition
3.0
I thought I had read all of Parker's novels, and with his passing, had lost interest. His family or estate seems to have sought out several authors to continue writing novels based on Parker's characters, but having read a couple of them, they are but a shadow of the man's own writing, IMHO.
While visiting my daughter and new grandchild, I was browsing the used book section at a local thrift shop when I ran across Bad Business, and to my surprise, it was a Parker original that I had not read. So, I picked it up for only $.20 and read it on the beach at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It wasn't among his best, but it was pretty good, and far better than the imitators. Full of neurotic and annoying clients, and loyal and manly hoodlums helping out their friend, the intrepid and literary detective, Spenser. Not to mention an Enron look-alike company, complete with criminally stupid C-level executives, insipidly amoral spouses, and venal "life consultants," all stirred together in a soupçon of greed and financial manipulation. Not remotely like the business people, consultants, and institutions with which I work regularly, but it would certainly appeal to the causal reader in search of a mystery about the scum of the business world.
While visiting my daughter and new grandchild, I was browsing the used book section at a local thrift shop when I ran across Bad Business, and to my surprise, it was a Parker original that I had not read. So, I picked it up for only $.20 and read it on the beach at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It wasn't among his best, but it was pretty good, and far better than the imitators. Full of neurotic and annoying clients, and loyal and manly hoodlums helping out their friend, the intrepid and literary detective, Spenser. Not to mention an Enron look-alike company, complete with criminally stupid C-level executives, insipidly amoral spouses, and venal "life consultants," all stirred together in a soupçon of greed and financial manipulation. Not remotely like the business people, consultants, and institutions with which I work regularly, but it would certainly appeal to the causal reader in search of a mystery about the scum of the business world.
koshpeli's review against another edition
4.0
Good mystery. I do think that there might have been some more intrigue shown, rather than told. The beginning had an interesting situation involving multiple private eyes, but that kind of disappeared and before we could have much fun with the first suspect . Still good stuff, lots of witty remarks and people at various levels of guilt, complicity, and self-awareness or denial of how terrible they are.
I do see we are in the period of the MAN CODE DIALOGUES. Every book, sometimes multiple times per book, someone says "Oh my, you have a man code" and Spenser/Susan/Hawk says, "Yes, but it's ineffable." then there is some discussion of how this code of honor is so unique and how weird it is that he has it and Hawk has it, then we list the cast of characters who have it, sometimes with their little ethnic epithets because people often think of people they are close to that way (Hey the Hispanic vice-president wants to talk to you, Bob!). Spenser Friends Role Call!
The annoying thing is, yes, the man of honor/code thing is what makes Spenser a great hero and it's part of the noir tradition and I like how Spenser has always played with it, sometimes subverted it, but it's not actually all that bizarre. "You're not going to kill the bad guy, chop him into pieces and feed him to his family? How odd. I can't understand people who have a sense of morals. I live in the suburbs/work out but not to be a professional boxer/have a white collar job/like modern music/eat McDonalds and thus am inferior to you in every way, a total hypocrite and have no moral center. I wish I were a professional thug who has probably killed 20 people. Then I'd be as good as you!"
Also, man does Parker have to work on his issues with homosexuals.
Spoiler
, he died and was quickly revealed to be a good guy. The mysterious guru whom we all knew would be evil, could have been more conniving and I think it might have been more interesting if he had been the classic connected-but-over-his-head-Spenser adversary, pushing Spenser around until his Mafia connections decided to turn him loose and let Hawk and Spenser have at himI do see we are in the period of the MAN CODE DIALOGUES. Every book, sometimes multiple times per book, someone says "Oh my, you have a man code" and Spenser/Susan/Hawk says, "Yes, but it's ineffable." then there is some discussion of how this code of honor is so unique and how weird it is that he has it and Hawk has it, then we list the cast of characters who have it, sometimes with their little ethnic epithets because people often think of people they are close to that way (Hey the Hispanic vice-president wants to talk to you, Bob!). Spenser Friends Role Call!
The annoying thing is, yes, the man of honor/code thing is what makes Spenser a great hero and it's part of the noir tradition and I like how Spenser has always played with it, sometimes subverted it, but it's not actually all that bizarre. "You're not going to kill the bad guy, chop him into pieces and feed him to his family? How odd. I can't understand people who have a sense of morals. I live in the suburbs/work out but not to be a professional boxer/have a white collar job/like modern music/eat McDonalds and thus am inferior to you in every way, a total hypocrite and have no moral center. I wish I were a professional thug who has probably killed 20 people. Then I'd be as good as you!"
Also, man does Parker have to work on his issues with homosexuals.
Spoiler
He doesn't hate them, no sireee, there are two gay guys who are good guys in his books. And Spenser doesn't care if the bad guy is gay, no, no no....but nonetheless we all know it's icky and kind of a problem..... Bad guy is gay? Ha! Now we got him!!!muddypuddle's review against another edition
4.0
I have always been a Spenser fan. This one was typical Spenser and included a healthy dose of Hawk and (a little too much) of Susan Silverman. Good story, great locale. It's time to try one of the books that have been written since Parker passed. I wonder how they compare?
scott_a_miller's review against another edition
3.0
Just average. But with Spenser, Hawk and the rest of Parker’s characters, average is still pretty good.
jenvb's review against another edition
4.0
Love this series!
You don't have to read them all to get the gist of the characters. Dialogue is great between them.
You don't have to read them all to get the gist of the characters. Dialogue is great between them.
brianlokker's review against another edition
4.0
This Spenser novel, the thirty-first in the series, did not engage me much at first. Spenser is hired by the attractive but shallow Marlene Rowley to get evidence that her husband is cheating on her. It’s a run-of-the-mill divorce case. The work is dull, but the pay is good (especially considering that Spenser's fee for his last case, recounted in Back Story, was a half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts). So I’m thinking this case isn’t really worthy of Spenser.
But shortly after Spenser gets into the case, he finds that another private detective is tailing the husband’s lover, and yet another is conducting surveillance on Marlene. As Susan Silverman describes it, it’s a “gaggle of private detectives.” Maybe there’s something more than suspicion of marital infidelity involved? Murder and financial shenanigans, maybe? Ah, that’s more like it. As Spenser says, “What had begun as a no-brainer of a divorce tail was showing every sign of turning into a hairball.”
The plot of Bad Business is quite complex, with colorful characters and a lot of moving parts. It kept me guessing most of the way. It kept Spenser guessing too: “My head felt overtaxed. I was thinking too much about too much and concluding too little. I wasn’t used to it. I was much more adept at thinking too little and drawing conclusions from no information.”
Fortunately, Spenser has Hawk at his side to help him with the legwork. (Hawk does not appear until almost the halfway point in the book—and it’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.) And he has Susan to bounce ideas off of as he develops a theory of the case. In my opinion, this book has one of the best denouements in the series, as Spenser and Hawk gather the suspects in a room and sort things out. (It reminds me of the way Nick Charles typically reveals the murderer in the Thin Man movies.)
I was going to say that the Susan and Pearl the Wonder Dog annoyance factors were relatively low, but then Susan had to spoil it all in the last chapter when she decides to take Pearl for a walk and says in her inimitably precious way, “‘I’ll stroll the baby about.’” Just take the darn dog for a walk, like a normal person.
But Susan and Pearl aside, this is an excellent Spenser mystery. A complex plot that develops out of a seemingly simple assignment, interesting and entertaining characters, great banter between Spenser and Hawk, and lots of literary references and philosophical musings from Spenser. Any Spenser fan is sure to enjoy it.
But shortly after Spenser gets into the case, he finds that another private detective is tailing the husband’s lover, and yet another is conducting surveillance on Marlene. As Susan Silverman describes it, it’s a “gaggle of private detectives.” Maybe there’s something more than suspicion of marital infidelity involved? Murder and financial shenanigans, maybe? Ah, that’s more like it. As Spenser says, “What had begun as a no-brainer of a divorce tail was showing every sign of turning into a hairball.”
The plot of Bad Business is quite complex, with colorful characters and a lot of moving parts. It kept me guessing most of the way. It kept Spenser guessing too: “My head felt overtaxed. I was thinking too much about too much and concluding too little. I wasn’t used to it. I was much more adept at thinking too little and drawing conclusions from no information.”
Fortunately, Spenser has Hawk at his side to help him with the legwork. (Hawk does not appear until almost the halfway point in the book—and it’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.) And he has Susan to bounce ideas off of as he develops a theory of the case. In my opinion, this book has one of the best denouements in the series, as Spenser and Hawk gather the suspects in a room and sort things out. (It reminds me of the way Nick Charles typically reveals the murderer in the Thin Man movies.)
I was going to say that the Susan and Pearl the Wonder Dog annoyance factors were relatively low, but then Susan had to spoil it all in the last chapter when she decides to take Pearl for a walk and says in her inimitably precious way, “‘I’ll stroll the baby about.’” Just take the darn dog for a walk, like a normal person.
But Susan and Pearl aside, this is an excellent Spenser mystery. A complex plot that develops out of a seemingly simple assignment, interesting and entertaining characters, great banter between Spenser and Hawk, and lots of literary references and philosophical musings from Spenser. Any Spenser fan is sure to enjoy it.
cwebb's review against another edition
4.0
Spenser flutscht dahin, das kann man immer schnell mal lesen.
slapshottechnology's review against another edition
3.0
Classic Spenser book. This time he infiltrates a wife swapping, gay radio personality, energy trading business.
mackenzierm's review against another edition
3.0
I don't really have much to say about this book. It's the first book I read by Parker and I can't say he's an author I'd like to read from again. I didn't really find that the book had much substance. The characters, in my opinion, weren't all that strong, meaning I wouldn't have really cared if they were all killed, lol! Anyways, I gave this book three stars just because it wasn't horrible, it was just not what I was expecting really.