|
| Spare Change (Sunny Randall) | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert B. Parker
Publisher: Large Print Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $7.94
You Save: $6.01 (43%)
New (7) Used (8) from $6.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 1191046
Format: Large Print
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 1594132542
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781594132544
ASIN: 1594132542
Publication Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book with Minor Shelf wear. Buy with Confidence! We have been selling online since 1998.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Boston P.I. Sunny Randall joins forces with the most important man in her life-her father-to crack a thirty-year-old case.
Hi Phil,
You miss me? I got bored, so I thought I'd reestablish our relationship. Give us both something to do in our later years. Stay tuned.
Spare Change
When a serial murderer dubbed "The Spare Change Killer" by the Boston press surfaces after three decades in hiding, the police immediately seek out the cop, now retired, who headed the original task force: Phil Randall. As a sharp-eyed investigator and a doting parent ("You're smart. You're tough. You, too, are a paradigm of law enforcement perfection, and you're my kid"), Phil calls on his daughter, Sunny, to help catch the criminal who eluded him so many years before.
Sunny is certain that she's found her man after interviewing just a handful of suspects. Though she has no evidence against Bob Johnson, she trusts her intuition. And she knows the power she has over him-she can feel the skittishness and sexual tension that he radiates when he's around her-but persuading her father and the rest of the task force is a different story.
When the killer strikes a second and third time, the murders take a macabre turn, as the victims each eerily resemble Sunny. While her father pressures her to drop the case, Sunny's need to create a trap to nab her killer grows.
In a compelling game of cat-and-mouse, Sunny uses all her skills to draw out her prey, realizing too late that she's setting herself up to become the next victim.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
Interior Motivations June 7, 2007
30 out of 34 found this review helpful
SPARE CHANGE, the sixth Sunny Randall novel, shouldn't be read as an entry to the series. Too much subtext from earlier novels is needed for the reader to competently understand all the dynamics of family and self that are going on in this one.
The plot is simple. Sunny and her dad Phil attempt to close out a cold case he had before he left the Boston Police. The case had suddenly turned hot again as a new victim is discovered. The serial killer known as Spare Change (named so because he leaves a nickel, dime, and quarter behind at each murder scene) has struck again. Phil gets called out of retirement to advise on the case and he brings his private-eye daughter with him.
The solution of the murders is the plot that drives Parker's theme: his examination of families, how they work together and how they shape the individuals within them.
On many levels, Parker succeeds admirably. Fans of the Sunny Randall series (of which I am one) will love seeing some of the changes. But a few of them, like the change with her ex-husband, comes out of left field. And that one, to a degree, gets dropped to hang around for the next book. I think the extended views into the dynamics of Sunny's family, and especially the exploration of character between father and daughter, is great and a lot of readers are going to find parallels in their own lives. Always an amazing experience for readers.
However, the story of the serial killer resonates the same theme, but misses the boat because it doesn't offer quite the same reveals.
Parker's writing is as smooth and exciting as ever. I sailed through this book and the pages kept turning. I was drawn as much by the character development and insights as I was the homicide investigation.
Parker is also cross-pollinating his series with characters from other books. Martin Quirk, who's known primarily from the Spenser novels, was present. And Dr. Susan Silverman has been a mainstay for a while in Sunny's series as her counselor. But Frank Belson, Healy, and Lee Farrell were also onboard this one for a while.
I love Parker's books even when they're more comfortable than groundbreaking. Reading one is like sitting down with a friend and catching up on events in that person's life. Long-time fans will enjoy the book and already know what the score it, but new readers would best be advised to at least have read some if not all of the other Sunny Randall novels.
 Sunny Randall Investigates a Serial Killer and Her Own Emotions June 5, 2007
14 out of 20 found this review helpful
This is the sixth novel in Robert Parker's series featuring Boston P.I. Sunny Randall. While it is another police procedural in the Parker tradition, the case involved is used as the springboard for Sunny to closely examine some of the elements in her life which have caused her such distress in the previous installments of the series - especially her ambivalence regarding her former husband Richie and her relationship with her mother Emma and sister Elizabeth. In addition, the characters Spike, Quirk and of course Rosie the terrier, all familiar to series readers, play small but meaningful roles; they are joined in cameo appearances by such Parker stalwarts from the Spenser series as Belson and Healey and Richie's Uncle Felix is important even in absentia. Finally, the insights developed during her bi-weekly analysis sessions with Susan Silverman are essential not only to Sunny's continued attempts to understand her own ambivalent emotions, but also because Susan serves as a sounding board to discuss Sunny's intuition regarding the identity of a serial killer who is terrorizing Boston.
The novel begins with Sunny and her father Phil, examining twenty-year-old crime-scene photos (not thirty-year-old as the dust jacket erroneously claims) from a series of seemingly identical but totally random murders performed twenty years ago. The murderer was dubbed the Spare Change Killer by the press because three random coins were always left next to the victims as a signature. Phil Randall was the lead Homicide Investigator at the time; the murders abruptly stopped and the case was never solved. Now Phil, who retired years ago, has been asked to act as a consultant to the Boston PD when a new murder occurs which involves al the elements of those murders twenty years ago, including a taunting letter addressed to Phil by "Spare Change". He immediately asks Sunny to join his efforts, and, as both a former Boston cop and a daughter anxious to be the #1iobject of her father's affection, she enthusiastically accepts.
Further murders soon ensue; and very early in the story a combination of good police work and luck lead to a potential suspect who Sunny's intuition convinces her is the killer. However, first convincing the task force of the accuracy of her identification and then assembling the evidence necessary to convict and arrest him leads to both the use of questionable tactics and then to Sunny deliberately deciding to put herself in potential danger in repeated attempts to goad him into making a mistake. Thus, the story gradually becomes not a whodunit but rather a why-did-he-do-it and how-do-they-entrap-him. It is a trademark Parker story, fast moving and hard to put down but short enough so that isn't necessary - I finished it in two sittings just over twenty-four hours after I had started it.
In summary, THIS IS ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE STORY OF SUNNY RANDALL'S LIFE , BUT AN ESPECIALLY SIGNIFICANT ONE. Working so closely with her father on such a psychologically demanding case leads her to several significant insights regarding the conflicts which have recently plagued her emotional life, and while all the loose ends of the case (with one very minor exception) are tied up extremely satisfactorily by the end of the story, the reader will have to await Sunny's next case (or maybe Jesse Stone's or Spenser's) to discover the next step in Sunny's resolution of her personal problems. My rating of FIVE STARS for this book in based on my extreme enjoyment and feeling of satisfaction at its conclusion; while I admit that I am a Parker fan I still believe that some of his almost throw away asides and psychological insights in this story are among the best in his recent work. And while stories concerning serial killers are never uplifting, the focus on Sunny made this a much less depressing story than any of the recent books in all of Parker's series, especially SEA CHANGE, HIGH PROFILE, and HUNDRED-DOLLAR BABY. However, my rating does not imply that this is either wonderful thriller or a great police procedural, and readers who are interested in those genres rather than a series rich in character development can find many better reads. Also, while there is sufficient background so that this can be read as a standalone story, it probably only deserves 3 stars on that basis. Thus, if you don't know Sunny Randall, Richie, Rosie and Susan Silverman - definitely read some of Parker's earlier books first, particularly HIGH PROFILE (the immediately preceding Jesse Stone book). In fact, since this is a relatively recent series, preferably you can start at the beginning, since if you don't like the earlier stories there is no reason to believe that you would enjoy this one. Hopefully, you will enjoy this story as much as I did, and conclude by anxiously awaiting the next chapter of Sunny's life while not regretting the considerable amount of SPARE CHANGE that you spent to purchase the book.
Tucker Andersen
Another Satisfying Read from Robert Parker June 6, 2008
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Spare Change by Robert Parker teams up Sunny Randall and her father in a case involving a serial killer who drops coins next to the bodies of his victims. Although Parker's dialogue is always razor sharp and his characters well delineated, there's a certain perfunctory quality about the plot that perhaps comes from writing too many crime dramas over the years. You won't be disappointed by this book, but you won't necessarily remember it as one of Parker's best, either. A good airport read. You'll enjoy yourself between the soft drinks and the on board movie.
Donald Gallinger is the author ofThe Master Planets
GRAND MASTER PARKER IS GRAND AGAIN July 15, 2007
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
While this is Parker's sixth Sunny Randall novel, first-time readers needn't be at all shy about dropping in. They'll soon feel right at home, and home is a carefully chosen word as so much of Parker's story revolves around family and the importance of familial relationships.
The banter between Sunny and her father, retired cop Phil Randall, is a joy to read. The characters are real, authentic and you'll quickly find yourself caring about each of them, even Rosie, Sunny and ex Richie's bull terrier (they share custody).
Some 20 years ago a serial killer was on the loose. Boston newspapers dubbed him the Spare Change Killer because he left three coins by his victims after shooting the unsuspecting behind the right ear. At that time Phil was the lead investigator in the case, taunted by notes from the killer. Phil doesn't much care for unsolved cases, and this one really bothered him. Now, after two decades, there's another note and another killing.
"Hi, Phil," it reads. "You miss me? I got bored, so I thought I'd reestablish our relationship. Give us both something to do in our later years. Stay tuned. Spare Change."
The original killer surfacing after all this time or a copy cat? Police immediately call upon Phil to consult on the case and he calls upon Sunny to help him. She is, of course, pleased to be asked. As she says, "I loved my father. My sister and I had competed with my mother for his attention all our lives. I was thrilled to have him sharing space with me."
Very soon the arduous task of interviewing suspects is begun, and Sunny has her eye on one man. No one agrees with her but this is a determined woman. She sets out to bait a trap for the man, little realizing the danger she's putting herself in.
As is often the case, the outcome isn't much of a surprise but it's such a pleasure getting there! For this reader, Parker is tops.
- Gail Cooke
 What the #%$@*??? June 11, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Ok. I have read and enjoyed Mr. Parker's books for as long as I can remember but I am seriously wondering if writing 3 series is too much for him. What's the deal with the continuity issues???
SPOILER ALERT-PLEASE DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ THIS BOOK!!
In Blue Screen, the last Sunny Randall novel, Sunny learned that Richie's wife was PREGNANT. Now all of a sudden, Richie decides he loves Sunny and leaves his wife and there is absolutely no mention of his wife being pregnant in this book??? What the heck??? That's beyond sloppy and a slap in the face of loyal readers who deserve more respect. I am very disappointed...where oh where did the quality of A Catskill Eagle or Valediction go???
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
