I have thirty-five novels of Parker's Spenser novels, most of which I have read. "Pastime" is, in my opinion, undoubtedly the best of all the novels I have read. It is a shame he died last year because he was still producing good novels among those of his later years, not "Pastime" which is an earlier effort. It is not worth comparing the Jesse Stone or Sonny Randall books, I have never been able to figure out why he wrote them; if he thought he had a story to tell inappropiate for Spenser then write it as an independent novel; he did this in a series of his westerns. Could he have written another story as well or as compelling or as insightful as "Pastime" in another venue? We will never know.
I think "Pastime" draws some of its interest from the small portions doled out in parts of the book about Spenser's origin. The Wyoming start is outlined broadly in just a few short sentences which, if collected in a single paragraph would have lacked the impact they gathered in the way they were presented, as explanations for some of his presnt behavior and personality. It also served as an explanation, as opposites, for Paul Giacomin's behavior and drives. Some of it was questionable, such as the four men coming East to help form more of Spenser's personality in a fitting manner, to a better purpose.
The general plot was a search for Paul's mother, with no income generated in the doing. Three people were contrasted, not in side-by-side comparison but in developing the story. There was Spenser as one, Paul as two, and the crime lord's son, Gerry, as the third and the contrast in all three and how they developed. The plot itself was rather thin, almost an afterthought, as the main pupose definitely seemd to be an analysis of personalities and there was no real ending to the search, Paul's mother was found fairly early but the story went on, with Spenser singled out as a target for the criminals involved. The ending here was foreseeable and trite, no suspense, no mystery and very little interest generated, not even in the master criminal's actions. So why did I give it a five star rating? Forget the plot and study the characters. Parker developed his characters in this novel much better than in any of his other works, so go with the flow. It is worth reading and helps in reading the other novels as well.
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Top reviews from other countries
Judy Dinning
Spenser is the best. Great Read.
Reviewed in Canada on November 10, 2020
