Spenser is hired by a California television jopurlnalist to protect her while she investigates mob involvment in the film industry. Spenser is very funny as usual. The plot is fast moving and the story is a little over 180 pages.The tv journalist wants to be taken seriously but, she doesn't hestitant to use sex to get what she wants. The story is told in such a light hearted way that the ending loses alot of its poignancy.
Parker understands the people in his novels, but something gets lost.

A SAVAGE PLACE is the eighth Spenser novel, and it's a very solid entry.

In this book, Spenser is hired to act as a bodyguard for Candy Sloan, a Los Angeles television newscaster who is on the verge of breaking a story involving the mob. Needless to say, Sloan's life is in constant danger, and Spenser has his hands full in trying to protect her while she aggressively pursues the story that could make her career.

A SAVAGE PLACE is rather unique for a Spenser book. The novel takes place in LA instead of Boston, which means that Spenser is completely on his own. Hawk and Susan Silverman do not make appearances, and Spenser has no connections with the local police force. This makes for fresher, more exciting story overall, since Spenser acts much more like a lone wolf.

I also found the ending of A SAVAGE PLACE to be surprising and terrifically dark. The final "showdown" in the book is absolutely gripping, and it's one of my favorite moments in any Spenser book.

The only slight downside of this book is the character of Candy Sloan. She is not a particularly admirable character, and speaks more like a psychologist than a reporter in many scenes. As another reviewer pointed out, she's kind of a watered-down version of Rachel Wallace, a character from a previous Spenser novel. Unfortunately, I didn't find her particularly likable or believable for the most part.

Overall, though, this is a solid entry in the series and I highly recommend it.

To this point, Spenser's adventures have been (relatively) light-hearted - some kidnappings, shake-downs, things of that nature. However, when he travels to Tinseltown to work as a bodyguard for Candy Sloan, an up-and-coming young investigative reporter on the trail of corruption in a movie studio who has been threatened, things turn very serious, very fast. The very first night he is in town, after Candy drops him off at his hotel - assuring him she will be fine on her own this first night - she gets grabbed off the street and beat up. Not too much later, a man she has been seeing is murdered. I don't want to get into more than this, as I do not want to ruin the story for those who have not read it - but this is not a story with a shiny-happy feel to it - this is detective noir at its grittiest. Beautifully envisioned, wonderfully written - filled with Spenser wise-cracks - but dark and gritty nonetheless.

I loved it. This is life. Thank you, Robert Parker, for giving us this day our Spenser.

Why is it one of my least favorite of the series?

The strengths and weaknesses of the book are pretty much wrapped up in the pschotheraputic dialogue between Spenser and Candy Sloan, Spenser's client. Spenser is in L.A. for this one, pulling bodyguard duty for a TV reporter bent on pursuing a dangerous story.

Sloan is introduced to us by Rachel Wallace, an earlier client and ultra-feminist. Due to this connection, I think that Spenser was trying to create an ultra-sexy, go-getter, perky Rachel Wallace with some L.A. spin and zip. Largely, he fails and the ongoing dialogue between Spenser and Sloan about male/female relationships, sexism and the "boy's club" attitude in the TV news business gets repitive and stale. That said, at times, especially early on, this line of dialogue is clever and insightful.

But...Parker drags it out too long and it takes on the character of the worst of the Spenser/Silverman self-exploration dialogues that are featured in many later Spenser novels. I quickly tired of Sloan. Sloan, with her half-thought-out notions, is no Rachel Wallace.

Good one-liners still abound and the action is good.

So, I give this one a grade of C+.

Who could wash clean in a savage place. Who decided Spenser was too perfect. Parker? A reader? An editor? Who would have the John Galt clarity to dictate Spenser's path through literary annals and genre pitfalls. Galt would have the clarity but, by character, couldn't dictate.

Whatever the concept or motivation, the result was another good story; I can go with perfect or imperfect. This one was a soul wash, and left me pensive long past the last lines.

Paul Giacomin's EARLY AUTUMN (# 7 in series) had blown away with crisp golden leaves. He was off-stage developing his dance; the Shrug had Shuffled. New York was yesterday; today it was L. A., in THE SAVAGE PLACE, # 8 in series. Spenser's views of cultural geographics were, of course, always a gas. A kick. A fun farce of the first fizz water. Until the heavy rain drained the fizz, the fuzz did the dilemma, and Spenser flew. Yeah, there was symbolism in that, which came quietly when the read was done.

Candy Sloan was a good name for a California blond "bimbo" who slid out of the stereotype by not being broke in the brawny brains bailiwick. Would she escape her feminine fate? Since Spenser was again playing the bodyguard, this time to a News Anchor, SAVAGE gave an interesting contrast to LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE (# 6 in series), especially since Rachel referred Spenser to the case (giving a small, scrumptious sample of their past repartee ripping along phone lines). How many different angles could the X Chromosome carry? Only Spenser would know? His Shadow was still sleuthing.

The relationship between Candy and Spenser developed with sensual starts, spurts, and a few "slim pickings," providing contrasts to his so far female connections, and expanding the underpinnings of his soul-mate code. I was intrigued by the way Parker played the Spenser ethics off "his and hers" choices, actions, and justifications. Candy was as different as "day-and-night," blond and brunette, etc., compared to Suze, and who could help comparing? Observing the differences I flashed to Brenda Loring and the previous novel's mention of Spenser's receipt of an invitation to her wedding, which he noted studying for a long time. Of course all that caused a care to contrast the three characters.

Given Parker's established subtle complexities of composition, I continued to wonder how much the name Candy would relate to cultural implications of the term. Was she a contrast to the salt developing with Susan? Was she a sweet to balance the sour of losing Brenda, even though Spenser realized that his life partnerships were evolving as they should and must?

And, of course you had the social-situational-tragicomedies, the thematic surety. Here was an ambitious news anchor lady working beyond her name to get a name. When she bagged her serious "mob bought" story would she change her name to Caramel? To Creme Brulee?

One of my favorite scenes which was worked toward a chapter's closing line, occurred in SAVAGE, about individuals with great differences in DNA, experiential dance, and dogma being able or not to comprehend each other's angst. You won't want to miss this (mid-book) chapter end, which Spenser wraps with, "You wouldn't understand." Having that line ahead won't spoil it. The prescience should enhance the pithy punch, and it's a punch which deserves this preface. Spenser has mastered his timing for slipping in zingers which rarely fail to get the out loud guffaw. The zap is best when he takes a few pages to work and tweak the preparation.

This plot seems more complicated than those which precede it, though the course of convolutions doesn't quite surface until the end, washing to a miasmatic surface with a heavy, hard rain.

Another contrast from a Master.

Linda Shelnutt