The Judas Goat by Robert B. Parker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"I put on jeans, a white Levi shirt, and white Adidas Roms with blue stripes. I didn't want the goddamned limeys to think an American sleuth didn't know color coordination."

The reader will also learn how to remove blood stains from fabric:

"I got a can of Spot-lifter off the top closet shelf and sprayed the blood stains on the rug.
'That stuff work?'
'Works on my suits,' I said. 'When it dries I just brush it away.'"

Such a handy yet simple hack! Oh, and raw herring!

"Hawk bought a raw herring from the stand. The woman at the stand cut it up, sprinled with raw onions and handed it to him. Hawk tried a bite.
He smiled. 'Not bad,' he said. 'Ain't chitlins, but it ain't bad.'"

I wholeheartedly agree with Hawk! These three nice passages plus vignettes from Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Montreal during the Olympics are, to me, the highpoints of Robert B. Parker's The Judas Goat (1978), the fifth installment in the Spenser series. The rest of the novel is utterly unremarkable.

Spenser's client is Mr. Dixon, a very rich lawyer, an international-scale genius for business and finance. His wife and two daughters were killed in a terrorist bombing in London, while he himself was horribly maimed. He hires Spenser as a bounty hunter, to deliver at least some of the terrorists dead or alive.

Most of the plot happens in London: thanks to Mr. Dixon's wide-ranging influence, not only are Spenser's activities tolerated, but also the local police share all information with him. To ensure success, Spenser hires Hawk, whom Mr. Parker introduced in the fourth installment ( Promised Land ) (It's fun to see how Hawk, painted mostly as a "baddie" in the previous novel, morphs into an almost half-good guy here.)

Spenser puts an ad in the Times to lure a member of the terrorist group to serve as the "Judas goat," an animal that leads the entire flock to slaughter (by the way, what an apt metaphor for people spreading misinformation in times of the pandemic!)

The novel is strong on brawl and violence and very weak on characterization. The terrorists are pure paper caricatures. Spenser is the usual pastiche of a witty, manly, charming, wise, and strong arm of justice. Even Susan's portrayal is weaker than in the previous novels.

Well, onto the next installment, in the - so far unsuccessful - search for quality.

One-and-three-quarter stars.

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