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    Cold Service: A Spenser Novel, Book 32
    Unavailable
    Cold Service: A Spenser Novel, Book 32
    Unavailable
    Cold Service: A Spenser Novel, Book 32
    Audiobook5 hours

    Cold Service: A Spenser Novel, Book 32

    Written by Robert B. Parker

    Narrated by Joe Mantegna

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When Spenser's closet ally, Hawk, is brutally injured and left for dead while protecting booking Luther Gillespie, Spenser embarks on an epic journey to rehabilitate his friend in body and soul. Hawk, always proud, has never been dependent on anyone. Now he is forced to make connections: to the medical technology that will ensure his physical recovery, and to reinforce the tenuous emotional ties he has to those around him.

    Spenser quickly learns that the Ukrainian mob is responsible for the hit, but finding a way into their tightly knit circle is not nearly so simple. Their total control of the town of Marshport, from the bodegas to the police force to the mayor's office, isn't just a sign of rampant corruption--it's a form of arrogance that only serves to ignite Hawk's desire to get even. As the body count rises, Spenser is forced to employ some questionable techniques and even more questionable hired guns while redefining his friendship with Hawk in the name of vengeance.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 8, 2005
    ISBN9780739318607
    Unavailable
    Cold Service: A Spenser Novel, Book 32
    Author

    Robert B. Parker

    Robert B Parker was the best-selling author of over 60 books, including Small Vices, Sudden Mischief, Hush Money, Hugger Mugger, Potshot, Widows Walk, Night Passage, Trouble in Paradise, Death in Paradise, Family Honor, Perish Twice, Shrink Rap, Stone Cold, Melancholy Baby, Back Story, Double Play, Bad Business, Cold Service, Sea Change, School Days and Blue Screen. He died in 2010 at the age of 77.

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    Reviews for Cold Service

    3.5/5

    228 ratings14 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Especially good, considering the series' recent floppers.
    • 4/5
      Love Parker
    • 4/5
      Robert B. Parker wrote 40 novels featuring the Boston- based one-named private detective, Spenser (with an “s”, like the English poet). Cold Service is the 32nd of the series. Several of the characters in these novels appear in many of the others. Perhaps none of his characters is more riveting than Hawk, a large, somewhat enigmatic, preternaturally tough, sexually irresistible, black man who occasionally is found on the wrong side of the law, but who serves as Spenser’s companion, occasional body guard, and foil for witty repartee. Hawk is nearly indestructible in all the other novels in which he appears, but this one begins with Hawk in the hospital recovering from three gunshot wounds he received while serving as a body guard for a bookie, Luther Gillespie. Not only was Hawk grievously injured and left for dead, but Gillespie, his wife, and three of his four children were murdered by the same assailants. Needless to say, Hawk is not amused by these developments, and he vows to wreak vengeance on the Ukrainian mobsters who perpetrated the crime. Hawk enlists the aid of his very tough associate, Spenser, and our two vigilante heroes embark on a scheme that involves temporary alliances with the F.B.I., a black vice gang, the Boston Italian mafia, and a multilingual hit man who nearly killed Spenser in an earlier novel. In addition, there is a great deal of soul searching analysis, the destruction of a crime syndicate, and a lot of shooting. The real charm in this, as in all of Parker’s oeuvre, is the snappy, terse dialog. When Spenser meets F.B.I. agent Epstein for lunch, the verbal exchange goes as follows:Epstein drank the last of his coffee, looked sadly at the empty pudding dish, and pushed his chair back.“Thanks for lunch,” he said.“I gather I paying?’“How nice of you to offer,” he said.“I’m very patriotic,” I said." The novel is more than a tale of vengeance. It is a study in Hawk’s motivation. It shows how a man of his stature in the tough guy universe simply cannot ignore an insult of this magnitude. Before the final action scenes, Hawk has lunch with Rita Fiore, a well-know Boston defense attorney:“Hell, Hawk,” Rita said. She leaned forward slightly, as if, for the moment, she seemed to have forgotten her libido. “They shot you in the back; how can it be your fault?”“I ain’t supposed to get shot in the back.”“For crissake,” Rita said. “You’re a man, like other men. You can be hurt. You can be killed.”“Ain’t supposed to be like other men,” Hawk said.Rita looked at him for a moment.“Jesus,” she said. “It must be hard being you.”Hawk was quiet for a time, then he smiled at her, which was nearly always a startling sight.“Worth it, though,” he said."This book, like the other 15 or so Parker novels I have read, moves quickly. I have never taken more than 2 days to finish one. I don’t read them in order but it doesn’t matter. What is important, however, is that one not take seriously or find offensive the somewhat dated variety of what one might call: hipster, I’m white, you’re black, isn't that cool, interaction.(JAB)
    • 4/5
      Cold Service revolves around Spenser helping Hawk instead of vice versa, which is usually the case. Written in the swift take no nonsense Parker style, Cold Case is another great read for Parker or detective fiction fans.
    • 5/5
      With Parker's perennial trio of Spenser, Hawk and Susan, what's not to love about Cold Service? Parker's inclusion of the Ukrainian syndicate and sinister minor characters makes this book a compelling read. This author manages to blend chivalry, wit and a capacity for violence into a likable lead character. Spenser and Hawk are, once again, friends we'd like to have and men we'd like to love.
    • 3/5
      While trying to protect a bookie, Hawk is shot and nearly killed by the Ukrainian mob. The mob also kills the bookie and all the members of his family except for his youngest son who was in day care at the time. It will take Hawk quite a while to recover from his injuries, but when he does, he vows to kill each member of the mob, plus the ringleader. He'll have plenty of help from Spenser and some other familiar faces, but before he does, he wants to make sure the bookie's young son is taken care of financially for the rest of his life. Robert Parker's Spenser books are fun but frustrating at times to read. The fun part comes with the witty dialogue between the characters, especially Spenser and Hawk (and there's a lot of Hawk in this book). The city of Boston itself is a character, and it's easy for Bostonians to imagine Hawk, Spenser and Susan actually walking down the city streets. The books are always exciting, quick reads. The frustrating part is that Spenser and his long time love, Susan Silverman, seem to have the same conversations in every Spenser book as Susan insists on analyzing both Spenser and Hawk. After so many years together, she should know by now that Spenser is who he is and Hawk is, well, Hawk is Hawk. I have not read "Small Vices" (although it looks like I should) so I was a bit lost as to who The Gray Man was and what part he played in Spenser's past. Also, the book is a chapter too long, Parker should have ended it with the scene at the shopping mall, which would have been a perfect ending, rather than yet another conversation between Spenser and Susan about Spenser and Hawk's actions. Fans of Robert Parker will enjoy this book, as long as they don't expect anything new.
    • 3/5
      I read this previously, perhaps in 2005 or 2006. It is a solid Spenser & Hawk, in the modern line with Susan offering commentary on Spenser and Hawk as knights errant. Very bloody, with Hawk and Spenser decimating Ukrainian gangsters in suburban Boston.
    • 4/5
      What can be said of a Spencer Novel that hasn't already been said? Robert Parker has spent over two decades fleshing out is quick witted, fearless, tough guy private eye. Spencer novels are always fun, quick reads.In this installment Spencer's life long friend and ocassional partner Hawk, faces a near death experience after being shot by a new Ukranian mob ring that is attempting to stake its claim on the streets of Boston. It takes Hawk awhile to recover from the shooting. Now he is back at full strength and has channeled all of his rehabilitation efforts on tracking down the people responsible for trying to end his life.Spencer and Hawk begin shaking trees in the seedy underbelly of Boston's most noturious crime lords turf. Needless to say, said crime lords are taking offense. Blood will be sheed and lives will be lost. The biggest question is, will Spencer and Hawk be among the group requiring funeral arrangements?
    • 2/5
      Nothing spectacular about this one.
    • 4/5
      This is the book that got me into Robert Parker's Spenser mysteries. If you like Chandler or Hammett, you will like Parker's style. One of the things I really admire is the author's spare, but specific way of writing. He gives you three lines and you can clearly visualize the characters. In this book, Hawk is shot while trying to protect a bookie and he and Spenser track down the shooters. Other strong entries in the Spenser series: Chance, Pastime, Potshot, Hush Money.
    • 4/5
      It's the worst book so far of the excellent Spenser detective series. Rating 7.
    • 3/5
      Hawke is almost killed in a job to protect a local merchant. Once recovered he and Spence seek revenge.
    • 3/5
      Didn't Parker write this book once already? In Small Vices, Spenser gets shot, and Hawk has to nurse him back to health so that Spenser can get revenge. That's the exact plot of this book as well, except that Hawk's the one getting shot. It's not actually bad, but it shows again how RBP is running out of ideas.
    • 4/5
      This is a different type of Spenser story, since he isn’t really the main focus of the story. Although told in his first person narration, he plays a secondary role to his sidekick, Hawk, who was shot down while providing bodyguard services to a bookie. Spenser nurses Hawk back to health and helps him out when he plots retribution on those who gunned him down. Their investigation leads to the city of Marshport, where a gang of Ukrainians led by their boss, Boots Podolak, control the city and are in involved in trafficking heroin with Afghans. They plan to pit a group of black gangsters against Podolak and the Ukrainians, while Hawk picks his spots to kill off the men responsible for nearly killing him.There were some good twists and turns in the novel. I can’t say that all of what happened here was terribly realistic. There were some plot points that worked to further the story, but wouldn’t work in real life. I enjoyed the suspense and the tension. I also thought the conversational tone of the writing worked well. I didn’t find the ending entirely satisfying. The climactic moments of the story all occur off the page. I thought it would have added to the thrill of the novel if they occurred on the page. Nonetheless, this was a fun read that I would recommend.Carl Alves – author of Conjesero