The sass quotient went off the charts in the opening of PLAYMATES, as Spenser lunched in luxury with a big shot trustee on the board of Taft University, then faced off with the cool cats at the college newspaper office (giving a classic line for the heart of journalism), then connected with the hot shot coach of the basketball team, which was allegedly shaving points somewhere in the ranks. Each time Spenser met a new person or persons I smirked in anticipation of how they'd respond to him and how he'd prod tender spots. Of course, whenever Spenser met someone worthy of him I all but leaped out of my chair and clicked my heels.
The return to the university scene reflected back to some of the themes and setting auras in THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT, the pilot to the Spenser series. Parker's writing style seemed to take a reminiscent walk in PLAYMETES, as he described physical scenes with the crisp depth and detail of his first few novels which opened the series in the seventies. In a sense, PLAYMATES seemed to be a pleasant pivotal point for the trilogy of Spenser, Parker, and his readers, as many of the prior ingredients-with-pull in books 1 - 15 were surged and stirred into this pot of philosophical, literary gold.
I see why/how C. MCCALLISTER was able to write his exquisite review from the reading perspective he described. It would be worth your while to read that review; and while I'm at it maybe I should mention that quite a following of perceptive reviewers have faithfully tracked this series with pens prosing in posh syntax style. Read `em and weep if you don't have a private collection of each of the 34-and-counting books in this series.
When I ordered PLAYMATES from Amazon, for some reason, I was more curious than normal about the title, how it would fit into the plot. I was still wondering about the title, after having read to the last page of this novel's ingeniously unusual type of impossible solutions and resolutions, which went on to become one of the signatures of Parker's denouement genius. MCCALLISTER described this signature precisely, in a succinct sentence or two, though he didn't call it a signature, since PLAYMATES was the first novel he had read in this series, which gave his reluctant capture even more weight in the astuteness category .
With a bit of contemplation after completing the last page of PLAYMATES with a smile, I could see who the pair of playmates were, and why Parker's use of that word would capture anyone with a sensitive soul protected by a gruff, sassy, or classic exterior. After having read the first 16 Spenser novels now, with a peppering of some of the later books into the mix, I was reminded pleasantly why I continue to crave Spenser's sass and genuine class, starting from the first few paragraphs I read in one of the later books in this series. If you want to know which one that was, which caused me to pause within THE ACCIDENTAL READER clause and cause, feel free to read my reviews from the base of my Listmania, which lists all books in the series and indicates which ones over which I've blathered.
I contemplated closing this review by listing the ingredients (from previous plots) which I noted above as having been surged and stirred into PLAYMATES. Then I thought, "Maybe not. Better to let that list become bait for further study of this series, including a soul dip into its prime review collection." You might slip on a hint of allergy remains here and there, but let the "faithful" leading the show pull you out.
Of course, in addition to Amazon's Customer Reviewers, some of the best big name journalists also pose posh and perceptive on Spenser, who seems to bring out the sass and spark in a massive collection of readers.
Live long and well, Parker. When you leave, your trail will endear and endure,
Linda Shelnutt
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Playmates: A Spenser Novel
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Top reviews from other countries
cooksontrains
Always a good read Robert B Parker
Reviewed in Canada on April 5, 2018