Cold Service (Spenser Series #32)

by Robert B. Parker

Overview

A quest for vengeance packed with heart-pounding action and unexpected twists

When his closest ally, Hawk, is beaten and left for dead while protecting a bookie, Spenser embarks on an epic journey to rehabilitate his best pal, body and soul. But that means infiltrating a ruthless mob—and redefining his friendship with Hawk in the name of vengeance...

With its fast-paced narrative and unpredictable twists, Cold Service is perfect for fans of crime fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425204283
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/07/2006
Series:	Spenser Series , #32
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 7.35(h) x 0.95(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert B. Parker was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring police chief Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole–Everett Hitch westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010.

Date of Birth:

September 17, 1932

Date of Death:

January 18, 2010

Place of Birth:

Springfield, Massachusetts

Place of Death:

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Education:

B.A. in English, Colby College, 1954; M.A., Ph. D. in English, Boston University, 1957, 1971

Website:

http://robertbparker.net/

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.

Editorial Reviews

Cold Service moves with the speed of light.”—Orlando Sentinel

From the Publisher

Some quietly powerful scenes between Spenser and Hawk show the depth of their long-term friendship, and equally thoughtful exchanges between Spenser and Susan reveal an enduring and enviable love. All this in a package that features writing as lean and seductive as poetry -- plus Hawk dishing up his own brand of retribution -- makes Cold Service one hot mystery.
— The Washington Post

Paula L. Woods

Spenser cares for badly injured buddy Hawk, then goes after the Ukrainian mob that nearly killed him. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Eight years after Spenser was shot and left for dead (Small Vices, 1997), it's Hawk's turn to seek revenge on his would-be killers. The Ukrainian mob, branching out from Brooklyn to Beantown, wants to horn in on Luther Gillespie's racket, so the bookie hires Hawk as his bodyguard. Result: Gillespie dead, most of his family ditto, Hawk shot three times in the back. Naturally, this will not stand; as soon as Hawk's back in shape several months later, he's eager to go after the shooters. Identifying five Ukrainian suspects is a snap, but when the DA's office bobbles the case, Hawk and Spenser are left on their own, except for the sympathy of Susan, Spenser's favorite shrink; Cecile, Hawk's favorite thoracic surgeon; and the underhanded but heartfelt support of the Boston Police Department and the FBI. The shooters, it seems, are protected by Boots Podolak, the mayor and unofficial owner of Marshport, whose move into Boston is fully though unhappily supported by Massachusetts East mob kingpin Tony Marcus. Hawk's problem, then, is to eliminate the button men and provide a trust fund for the surviving Gillespie boy without ruffling too many feathers of the mob, the Ukrainians, or their overlords, heroin-smuggling terrorists from Afghanistan (don't ask). If this unusual diplomatic brief sounds fearfully complicated and well outside Hawk and Spenser's usual field of expertise, don't worry. It's nothing that can't be resolved by the condign application of baleful glares, well-chosen handguns, and a concentration of man's-gotta-do wisdom that's high even for this celebrated series (Bad Business, 2004, etc.). Somebody seems to have misplaced a reel between the High Noon build-up and the Fistful ofDollars finale. The testosterone-laced attitudinizing is sharp and often compelling, though no substitute for an honest attempt to surmount difficulties that melt away instead at a touch of Spenser and Hawk's magic hands. Agent: Helen Brann/Helen Brann Agency

Kirkus Reviews