Self-sufficiency. Courage. Honor. Doing what’s right. Male friendship. Tough men who quote literature. Funny dialogue. Characters who don’t know how to act like a man and will therefore always lose. The one true love. And the lack of any real threat.
In the last two days I read two of Robert B. Parker’s recent books, “Chasing the Bear” (a young Spenser novel) and “Resolution,” the second in his Everett Hitch western series. Guess what the themes were?
I love his books. I reread the Spenser series every couple of years, love the Jesse Stone series. Never got into the Sunny Randall books. Like the westerns. I tend to get his stuff in hardback soon after they come out because I know they’ll be passed around the household.
But…
More and more I’m starting to feel like I’m reading the same book over and over. In the earlier Spenser books Spenser got shot, beat up, lost a woman he was protecting, lost his true love and had to rescue her, struggled to win. Lately? He gets a job and then he does the job, calling in Hawk or Vinnie Morris or Chollo or any of a half dozen other guys who are all the best fighters, shooters, or both, in the world whenever he needs some backup. When he predicts the bad guys will do something they do exactly that, and he wins. At least the last Jesse Stone book had a big step forward for the main character, and I was damn glad to finally see it. But has anything threatened Spenser in 10 years?
The cops respect him. The crooks respect him. His love life is settled, enthusiastic and deeply affectionate. Frankly, it’s getting kind of old. After 37 Spenser books I’m tired of hearing Susan tell him, again, exactly why he’s a white knight with his own code of honor. I got it, OK? I think we all do. I’m starting to think Spenser books are like guy romance novels, providing the same repetitive things over and over to readers who like knowing what to expect.
I know, series books tend to stick with a pattern, and authors tend to stick with themes. If I buy a Spider Robinson book I already know the protagonist will like Bushmill’s, the Beatles, Ray Charles, pot, and be fiercely protective of his/her privacy while also yearning for total mental communication. But couldn’t Susan get pregnant, or Hawk beaten, or Spenser outwitted, even temporarily? Have a long-lasting supporting character die? Maybe a new police chief who isn’t impressed by a local gumshoe who got thrown off the force? Isn’t it about time for a mob boss to come along that’s at least as smart and tough as Spenser? Hell, Spenser’s gotta be getting older, could we see some of that?
Why read ’em if they bug me? At this point, I’m paying for the dialogue. It still cracks me up, still makes me love those characters. And I’ll probably still keep buying them, one by one, as they hit the shelves.
But I’m starting to root for the bad guys, and that’s rarely a good sign. Just sayin’.