Interviews
Ransom Notes Interview with Robert B. Parker
Ransom Notes: You say the title from this book comes from the saying "Revenge is a dish best served cold." What did you find most interesting about focusing this story on Hawk's need for vengeance -- centered on planning actions that are outside the law?
Robert B. Parker: I was fascinated with the control of deep emotion that the phrase "cold service" implies. Hawk was able to contain his feelings in the service of them. That ability is one of the things that makes Hawk what he is. Spenser is capable of that as well, and both of them understand the need for such containment without any need to talk about it. Spenser knows that there is no absolute solution to the conflict which may sometimes occur between what's right and what's legal. At such moments he remembers Hemingway's statement to the effect that "what's right is what feels good afterwards." Or, as he himself has said, "I do what I can, not what I ought." The test of loyalty, like the test of love, or honor, or any of the intangibles that make us human, is how you are able to respond when being loyal or loving or honorable is difficult and costs a great deal. Hawk and Spenser understand each other and trust each other, and in a nearly bottomless way, love each other. Nothing changes that, not even the events of Cold Service.
RN: Hawk spends much of the book recuperating from serious injuries. What was the most interesting thing about placing such limits on someone who is normally so physically imposing?
RBP: While slightly less imposing perhaps than Hawk, I had a near-fatal piece of major surgery in January 2000, and I use a lot of what I learned from that in Cold Service. Heroes need to be able to deal with what befalls them, not just with bad guys but with loss, and pain, and weakness, and all that stuff. What I like about Hawk here is that he remained Hawk even when he could barely stand. And, in the appropriate time, he returned to being what he was. He got back up on the horse, as it were.
RN: The partnership between Spenser and Hawk has always crossed racial boundaries. Would you like to talk about how racial and ethnic issues come into play in Cold Service?
RBP: Race seems to be one of the intractable issues in human behavior, its insistence is made more puzzling perhaps because in the larger biological context there's not really any such thing. It is a largely human invention, dependent on differences which have little evolutionary or biological significance. The difference between a black bookie, say, and a Ukrainian bookie is of no significance. But the difference between a bookie and a cop is of considerable significance, if you want to place a bet.
RN: Can you tell us anything about your future writing plans?
RBP: This year (2005) there will be two Spensers (spring and fall). In June there will be a western, Appaloosa. Then, in future years, there will be a Spenser, a Jesse Stone, and a Sunny Randall book each year.
