[.ca] Chance (ISBN 0425157474)

snake eyes:
Robert B. Parker is an excellent author -- he could pull three stars out of a description of Spenser getting audited on his income taxes. Maybe four. But of his recent work, Chance is a bit of a disappointment. Mystery? There isn't really a mystery here the reader can solve. Character? The new characters are all rather shallow, structureless, and uncompelling. This may be a statement about the type of people attracted to Vegas, a city which plays a promonent role in the story, yet no insight is gained into the shallowness, no real new perspective is offered. Suspense? There really isn't much. Drama? No, not much of that either. Really there isn't much here, globally. Locally, it's better. The interactions between Spenser and the others is, as usual, a joy to read. And Spenser's verbal quips, cultural references, and interesting insights are worth the read. But the book needs a bit more. And Parker's shown before that he can provide it. Note : This review is based on the book as a part of the Spenser series. The Spenser books are best read in chronological sequence. As a standalone book, this is probably only two stars.

Read for characters, not plot:
Another Spenser story. Again, the plot is fun, though simple; Spenser and Hawk, to a degree, carried by events rather than determining them. The case, this time, involves the disappeared gambling son-in-law of a mob ruler in Boston, whom Spenser is hired to find. Gradually we are drawn into the underlife of Boston, there is a power struggle going on there, and this son-in-law is, remotely, involved in it. Again, though, plot is of less importance than the interplay between Spenser, Hawk, and Susan, and Spenser and Hawk and the assorted bad guys they take on, including their client, and their contacts, to whom they go for information.

Hard to find someone to care about here:
The strength of many Spenser novels lies in Parker's skill of getting you involved with at least one of the characters. This one opens with a brief look at the gal we're supposed to care about in the prologue, but we don't see her again until we're near the halfway point, and by then it's easy to have forgotten those first two pages and not recognize her. Either way, Parker somehow fails to evoke caring for the gal. He's succeeded before in getting us to care for characters we might not even like at first introduction, but not this time. Therefore, this being a fast read isn't that bad, but not that good either. If you're into the Spenser series, do read this one, but don't expect a whole lot out of it.

Dull characters, sharp observations:
I had a good enough time with this book -- partly because I always enjoy Spenser and partly because I recently travelled to Vegas for the first time in a decade. Parker's observations on the Strip and its denizens are very accurate, and very funny. And all the essentials that give the Spenser saga its charm are all here: banter between Spenser and Hawk, Susan's idiosyncracies, even Pearl eating Chinese food. It's the mystery, such as it is, and the characters that are lacking. Shallow, dumb thugs and their pathetic womenfolk get themselves all tangled up, and Hawk and Spenser unravel it. Yawn.

Chance is no gamble:
No need to gamble when you pick up a Spenser novel. You know the tough wisecracking hero and his supercool sidekick Hawk will beat the odds and come out fine. Spenser stirs up the entire Boston mob scene, and takes some of them along on a junket to Vegas in this highly entertaining yarn. Fights and dead bodies pop up almost as frequently as Hawk's sage advice to Spenser. One thing you can bet on - Spenser's justice will prevail. Anybody who has ever enjoyed a Spenser novel will certainly not be dissappointed.