God Save The Child by Robert B. Parker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"She said, 'Come in, Mr. Spenser. I'm Susan Silverman.' [...]When she shook hands with me, I felt something click down back of my solar plexus.
I said hello without stammering and sat down. "

Probably the most exciting thing about Robert B. Parker's God Save the Child (1974), the second novel in the Spenser series, is the first appearance of Susan Silverman, who will become one of the mainstays of the series. Other than that, I find the novel quite weak; in a most generous mood, I would call it utterly unremarkable. However, I have accidentally found the website https://www.ranker.com/list/best-robe..., where God Save the Child is ranked as the very best Spenser book. Huh? HUH? What's wrong with me? Is there a therapy to straighten my understanding of reading material?

Mrs. and Mr. Bartlett, a well-to-do people from Boston suburbs, hire Spenser to find their 15-year-old son, who disappeared from home, along with his pet guinea pig. The Bartletts are pure caricatures, they are as far from real people as I am from youth. I wouldn't think it possible, but the portrait of Chief Trask is even less realistic - a cartoon of a corrupt, stupid, bad cop. Spenser himself? Well, the author is working too hard on making the detective a uniquely insolent wise-ass. This does not jibe with Spenser's inner sensitivity, intelligence, and charm. Only the character of Susan Silverman exhibits some semblance of realism.

The novel escapes the very bottom rating because of several well-written or funny passages. For instance:

"She laughed. Her laugh sounded like I'd always imagined the taste of mead."

Mr. Parker can write well, but this early in the series he has not yet mastered the craft of characterization.

I laughed out loud when I read

"Two sailors went by with a fat barelegged girl between them. One of the sailors said something I couldn't hear and slapped the girl on the fanny. Both sailors laughed. The girl said, 'Oh, piss on you,' and they went by. Ah, to be young and in love."

Indeed. I am in a generous mood now so I will rate the novel with

One-and-three-quarter stars.


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