Pale Kings and Princes
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

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Published
Random House Publishing Group , 2009.
Status
Available from Libby/OverDrive

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Description

“Ebullient entertainment.Time A hotshot reporter is dead. He'd gone to take a look-see at “Miami North”—little Wheaton, Massachusetts—the biggest cocaine distribution center above the Mason-Dixon line. Did the kid die for getting too close to the truth . . . or to a sweet lady with a jealous husband? Spenser will stop at nothing to find out.Praise for Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels “Like Philip Marlowe, Spenser is a man of honor in a dishonorable world. When he says he will do something, it is done. The dialogues zings, and there is plenty of action . . . but it is the moral element that sets them above most detective fiction.”Newsweek“Crackling dialogue, plenty of action and expert writing . . . Unexpectedly literate—[Spenser is] in many respects the very exemplar of the species.”The New York Times   “They just don’t make private eyes tougher or funnier.”People   “Parker has a recorder’s ear for dialogue, an agile wit . . . and, strangely enough, a soupçon of compassion hidden under that sardonic, flip exterior.”Los Angeles Times   “A deft storyteller, a master of pace.”The Philadelphia Inquirer   “Spenser probably had more to do with changing the private eye from a coffin-chaser to a full-bodied human being than any other detective hero.”The Chicago Sun-Times   “[Spenser is] tough, intelligent, wisecracking, principled, and brave.”The New Yorker

More Details

Format
eBook
Street Date
09/16/2009
Language
English
ISBN
9780307569905

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Published Reviews

Publisher's Weekly Review

The TV series Spenser: For Hire is based on Parker's bestselling series of mysteries starring a Boston private detective, and this taut thriller will no doubt match its predecessors' success. The murder of newspaper reporter Eric Valdez takes Spenser to Wheaton, Mass., where Valdez was investigating a Colombian cocaine operation. After a meeting with the police chief, Bailey Rogers, the detective is waylaid by thugs whom he beats handily. Spenser confirms his suspicions that a grocery wholesaler, Felipe Esteva, is dealing the drug and paying off the police. The next murder victim, however, is Rogers, whose young son drives a truck for Esteva. Spenser daringly hijacks a fortune in cocaine and offers to sell it to Esteva, as dangerous a ploy as the macho detective has ever attempted. When his only ally, a state trooper, is ``reassigned,'' Spenser brings his lover Susan to help with psychological warfare and his sidekick Hawk to face Esteva's mob. Parker keeps the reader's adrenalin pumping overtime until Spenser and company claim the victory. Mystery Guild dual main selection; Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club alternate. (June 5) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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School Library Journal Review

YA Parker's story has a timely plot revolving around cocaine smuggling through a Massachusettes town from a syndicate in South America. Spenser comes to town to probe the death of a newspaper reporter who knew too much. It soon becomes apparent that the chief of police is involved in the drug operation. After a second murder, Susan, his psychologist girlfriend; Hawk, a man of special skills; and Lindquist, the cooperative state trooper, join forces against the drug kingpin. Lots of action, some violence, and a little romance keep the plot moving right along. Easy, fast-paced reading that should appeal to teen mystery fans. Anne Paget, Episcopal High School, Bellaire (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

Spenser vs. drug-smugglers and corrupt cops in a small Massachusetts town: a fast, straightforward, unpretentious addition to one of mystery fiction's most uneven series. Central Argus reporter Eric Valdez went to Wheaton, Mass., to investigate rumors of massive cocaine-distribution there. . .and wound up murdered. So the Argus' publisher now sends Spenser to Wheaton--where the food is awful, the cops are hostile, and the townsfolk (one-third of them Colombian) are taciturn. Eventually, however, Spenser zeroes in on a local Colombian produce-tycoon, his sexy wife, and the town's non-Colombian police chief--who then becomes murder victim #2. And it soon turns out that the easy part is fingering the bad guys. The hard part is protecting the innocent from self-destruction (psychologist-girlfriend Susan zips in for a consultation) and staying alive (tough-guy Hawk offers help in that area). Parker hasn't come up with a strong or original plot since Promised Land over 10 years ago--and the storyline this time is paper-thin. But, unlike many recent Parker efforts, it's crisply paced, divertingly peopled, quietly amusing, and occasionally touching--with only a few eruptions of the maudlin staginess and preachy self-congratulation that have made the 1980's Spenser so trying. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

The TV series Spenser: For Hire is based on Parker's bestselling series of mysteries starring a Boston private detective, and this taut thriller will no doubt match its predecessors' success. The murder of newspaper reporter Eric Valdez takes Spenser to Wheaton, Mass., where Valdez was investigating a Colombian cocaine operation. After a meeting with the police chief, Bailey Rogers, the detective is waylaid by thugs whom he beats handily. Spenser confirms his suspicions that a grocery wholesaler, Felipe Esteva, is dealing the drug and paying off the police. The next murder victim, however, is Rogers, whose young son drives a truck for Esteva. Spenser daringly hijacks a fortune in cocaine and offers to sell it to Esteva, as dangerous a ploy as the macho detective has ever attempted. When his only ally, a state trooper, is ``reassigned,'' Spenser brings his lover Susan to help with psychological warfare and his sidekick Hawk to face Esteva's mob. Parker keeps the reader's adrenalin pumping overtime until Spenser and company claim the victory. Mystery Guild dual main selection; Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club alternate. (June 5) Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.

Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
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School Library Journal Reviews

YA Parker's story has a timely plot revolving around cocaine smuggling through a Massachusettes town from a syndicate in South America. Spenser comes to town to probe the death of a newspaper reporter who knew too much. It soon becomes apparent that the chief of police is involved in the drug operation. After a second murder, Susan, his psychologist girlfriend; Hawk, a man of special skills; and Lindquist, the cooperative state trooper, join forces against the drug kingpin. Lots of action, some violence, and a little romance keep the plot moving right along. Easy, fast-paced reading that should appeal to teen mystery fans. Anne Paget, Episcopal High School, Bellaire Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.

Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Parker, R. B. (2009). Pale Kings and Princes . Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Parker, Robert B. 2009. Pale Kings and Princes. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Parker, Robert B. Pale Kings and Princes Random House Publishing Group, 2009.

Harvard Citation (style guide)

Parker, R. B. (2009). Pale kings and princes. Random House Publishing Group.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Parker, Robert B. Pale Kings and Princes Random House Publishing Group, 2009.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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