Twenty-five years and 26 books into the Spenser series, Hush Money dishes up another solid installment that is sure to fulfill the cravings of Parker fans new and old. This time Spenser and his buddy Hawk are helping a couple of troubled friends (i.e., they're working without a fee). The first case involves the denial of tenure for Professor Robinson Nevins. While tenure meetings are always closed-door affairs, Nevins assumes that the recent suicide of graduate student Prentice Lamont (who some claim was having an affair with Nevins) ruined his chances for a coveted permanent position. Spenser and Hawk cut a brawl-strewn path through the members of the tenure committee on their way to the surprising truth of the Nevins case. The other investigation pits Spenser against the unknown stalker of K.C. Roth. Spenser's girlfriend, Susan, has known K.C. for a while, and while the PI finds Ms. Roth a bit melodramatic, he's always eager to help a damsel in distress. The only problem is that after he's apparently resolved the case, K.C. begins a little stalking of her own--of Spenser. The book is driven by the controversies surrounding political correctness that Parker always loves to confront, and it's fun to watch Spenser struggle (a little) to resist K.C.'s advances. It's also a (slightly disturbed) pleasure to see Spenser and Hawk address some academic hypocrisy with their own special brand of reasoning. Not a mystery for the cozy-loving palette, Hush Money's literate, tough-guy dialogue shows why Parker is the rightful heir to the throne of Chandler. --Patrick O'Kelley


Amazon.com Audiobook Review
Sometimes a detective's life is all work for no pay. As a favor to his buddy Hawk, Spenser agrees to investigate a man unjustly denied tenure. Then Spenser's girlfriend, Susan, asks Spenser to help stop a stalker. Plenty of work, sure, but all done pro bono. "Two cases at a time. I thought about having 'Master Sleuth' added to my business cards." As the cases unfold, Spenser (and Hawk) charm and batter their way past policemen, stockbrokers, hit men, white supremacists, an unstable woman, and a stuffy tenure committee. Author Robert B. Parker tells a good story, but his real strength is in his dialog--the rhythm of which Burt Reynolds captures perfectly. A fantastic reader, Reynolds uses a wide range of voices and accents to bring Parker's characters to life. (Running time: 9 hours, 6 cassettes) --C.B. Delaney


From Publishers Weekly
Despite his quarter century on Boston's mean streets (he debuted in The Godwulf Manuscript in 1974), Parker's retrograde yet hip PI Spenser can still punch, sleuth and wisecrack with the best of them. This time out, Spenser looks into the case of Robinson Nevins, a conservative African-American professor denied tenure, perhaps for his alleged affair with a male student, Prentice Lamont, who has committed suicide. Spenser's hard-eyed stroll through the cloistered world of academia brings him into contact with Amir Abdullah, a black professor who is theatrically militant about African-American issues despite a long list of sexual conquests that includes the leader of a white supremacist organization. Sexual conquest is also on the mind of K.C. Roth, a pretty woman beset by insecurity and prey to a stalker. When Spenser and his sidekick, Hawk, persuade her sinister admirer to desist, K.C.'s fragile emotions lead her to fall hard for Spenser, and the stalked becomes the stalker. Naturally, Spenser's longtime lover, Susan, is less than amused. Readers who find the Spenser chronicles cute or contrived probably won't change their minds with this entry. Beyond dispute, however, is Parker's reliably gossamer narrative touch and, in this particular instance, his skilled brewing of suspense within the academic setting. Fans will also enjoy unexpected revelations about Hawk's background, Spenser's serving of justice with a vengeance and, as usual, prose that's as clean as a sea breeze. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Complicated doings in the latest Spenser novel: he's investigating a case of denied tenure, which seems to be tied to the suicide of a young gay, and when he aids a woman who is being stalked, she gets romantic ideas and starts stalking him.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
It is key that a well-known hero sound as readers have imagined him. Reynolds's portrayal of detective Spenser is on targetÐintelligent, tough and sensual. Hawk, Spenser's African-American sidekick, is equally good, but Susan, the girlfriend, sounds too breathy and sweet for a razor-sharp shrink. These friends lay two problems in Spenser's lapÐthe tenure denial of a possibly gay professor and a stalking situation. En route to solutions he runs up against academics and political activists of all stripes. Reynolds makes each one individual. He also savors the food scenes characteristic of Parker's novels. Spenser fans won't be disappointed here, and new converts may be won. J.B.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Kirkus Reviews
To celebrate his 25th anniversary as Boston's preeminent private eye, Spenser takes two pro bono cases as favors to his nearest and dearest. To oblige his buddy Hawk, he agrees, much against his inclinations, to return to the groves of academe, the scene of his very first adventure, The Godwulf Manuscipt, in order to investigate Prof. Robinson Nevins's claim that he was denied tenure because of a conspiracy that included rumors Nevins vigorously denies of his relationship with Prentice Lamont, a gay graduate student who edited OUTrageous, a newsletter whose mission is to out higher-profile gays, until Lamont's suicide six months ago. At the same time, as a favor to his favorite shrink, Susan Silverman, Spenser looks into the claims of Susan's friend KC Roth that somebody, probably not her ex-husband Burton Roth, certainly, and certainly not her ex-lover Louis Vincentis, is stalking her. The Nevins case will bring Spenser up against Parker's favorite adversaries, the spineless bullies who spread fear and misiniformation from their faculty offices and an enterprising group of racists who campaign uncompromisingly against African Americans, gays, and anybody else who might adulterate the Aryan gene pool. But it's the Roth case, whose complainant is such a pathologically clinging vine that identifying her predator may be the least of Spenser's problems, that may pose the greatest dangers for its venerable hero. Not by any means a high point in the series (Sudden Mischief, 1998, etc.), but still a guaranteed return on your time and attention. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Spenser has his hands full when he takes on two cases at once. In the first, a high-minded university might be hiding a killer within a swamp of political correctness. And in the other, Spenser comes to the aid of a stalking victim, only to find himself the unwilling object of the woman's dangerous affection.

"One of the great series in the history of the American detective story!"--The New York Times

"Spenser can still punch, sleuth, and wisecrack with the best of them."--Publishers Weekly

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
When all else fails Robert Parker, he's got great dialogue to fall back on. In fact, he creates character as much through dialogue as he does through physical description and action. His latest Spenser novel is no exception, with masterly bits of talk on virtually every page."Well, you've talked to the lady," O'Connor said. "What's your impression?"

"Good-looking," I said..."Nice combo. Good-looking and easy."Every time Parker publishes a new Spenser novel, you can bet that some reviewer somewhere will use the phrase "vintage Parker."

I don't know how vintage Hush Money is, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Parker has always had a good time skewering the antics of various social institutions, and his wit has never been sharper than it is here.

A black professor is denied tenure at a college, and Hawk, who knew the professor's father, convinces Spenser to find out why. There are certain extenuating circumstances that require a private investigator: A young male student has committed suicide, and there is a rumor that he was having an affair with the professor. That is the main story line of Hush Money, though Parker also gives us some scenes with another great character, a relentlessly sexy and self-dramatizing woman who believes her ex-husband is stalking her. You'll recognize her right away: You've met her at innumerable parties and probably had the misfortune of falling in love with her on more than a few occasions. Parker really nails her (and I don't mean in the biblical sense).

Parker is wise and clever enough to give everygroupinvolved — blacks, straights, gays, feminists, and most especially, academics — all kinds of hell. My favorite character in the novel (and one of my favorite Parker characters of all time) is the middle-class black professor who is trying hard to speak and think like a homeboy. "I irritated a number of people recently when I told an interviewer that I hate all groups, including those I belong to. I was being quite sincere. You take nice, decent, clear-thinking people — white, black, straight, gay, skinny, fat, Christian, atheist — and put them in groups, and they turn into zealots and fanatics. They toe the group line. It's never enough that you agree with some or even most of the things they espouse; you must believe all they espouse or you instantly become the enemy."And that's what this book — kind of a mystery version of The Bonfire of the Vanities — is both hilariously and sadly about: how we've become a nation of knee-jerk groups instead of a nation of thoughtful individuals. And that's true of right wing and left wing alike.

I had a great time with this book, and you will, too. And yeah, now that I think about it, it is vintage Parker.
— Ed Gorman

FROM THE PUBLISHER

With Hush Money, Parker adds another classic to the legendary series, with a morally complex tale that pits the burly Boston P. I. and his redoubtable cohort, Hawk, against local intellectual heavyweights.

When Robinson Nevins, the son of Hawk's boyhood mentor is denied tenure at the University, Hawk asks Spenser to investigate. It appears the denial is tied to the suicide of a young gay activist, Prentice Lamont. While intimations of an affair between Lamont and Nevins have long fed the campus rumor mill, no one is willing to talk, and as Spenser digs deeper he is nearly drowned in a multicultural swamp of politics: black, gay, academic, and feminist.

At the same time, Spenser's inamorata. Susan, asks him to come to the aid of an old college friend, K. C. Roth, the victim of a stalker. Spenser solves the problem a bit too effectively, and K. C., unwilling to settle for the normal parameters of the professional-client relationship, becomes smitten with him, going so far as to attempt to lure him from Susan. When Spenser, ever chivalrous, kindly rejects her advances, K. C. turns the tables and begins to stalk him.

Then the case of Robinson Nevins turns deadly. It is, Spenser discovers, only the tip of the iceberg in a great conspiracy to keep America white, male, and straight. Spenser must call upon his every resource, including friends on both sides of the law, to stay alive.

SYNOPSIS

Bestselling writer Robert Parker returns with a Spenser novel that may just be the best in the series. Spenser takes on a couple of pro bono cases that get him in deeper than he anticipated. One of them deals with a college campus where a young gay man committed suicide, the other with a woman who believes she's being stalked. Don't miss this one from the master of the hard-boiled mystery.

FROM THE CRITICS

Laurie Davie - Romantic Times

This is one of the best mystery series around￯﾿ﾽa classic for more than 20 years￯﾿ﾽand the adventures of Spenser, Hawk, and Susan continue to be fresh, funny, and intelligent. If you like fast action, gripping plots, and characters you￯﾿ﾽll feel you￯﾿ﾽve known for years, check out Spenser & company!

Charles Winecoff - Entertainment Weekly

...[I]t's easy to see why Parker's snappy banter and cynical ey have kep fans turning pages for 25 years.

Marilyn Stasio - The New York Times Book Review

...[T]he story forces Spenser to take on the heroic task of examining his conscience for prejudicial attitudes...

Publishers Weekly

Despite his quarter century on Boston's mean streets (he debuted in The Godwulf Manuscript in 1974), Parker's retrograde yet hip PI Spenser can still punch, sleuth and wisecrack with the best of them. This time out, Spenser looks into the case of Robinson Nevins, a conservative African-American professor denied tenure, perhaps for his alleged affair with a male student, Prentice Lamont, who has committed suicide. Spenser's hard-eyed stroll through the cloistered world of academia brings him into contact with Amir Abdullah, a black professor who is theatrically militant about African-American issues despite a long list of sexual conquests that includes the leader of a white supremacist organization. Sexual conquest is also on the mind of K.C. Roth, a pretty woman beset by insecurity and prey to a stalker. When Spenser and his sidekick, Hawk, persuade her sinister admirer to desist, K.C.'s fragile emotions lead her to fall hard for Spenser, and the stalked becomes the stalker. Naturally, Spenser's longtime lover, Susan, is less than amused. Readers who find the Spenser chronicles cute or contrived probably won't change their minds with this entry. Beyond dispute, however, is Parker's reliably gossamer narrative touch and, in this particular instance, his skilled brewing of suspense within the academic setting. Fans will also enjoy unexpected revelations about Hawk's background, Spenser's serving of justice with a vengeance and, as usual, prose that's as clean as a sea breeze.

Library Journal