Spenser, a former boxer, is a private detective from Boston. He is a very down
to earth man, who likes to have fun in his work. He is very humorous and takes
life as a fun ride. There is a point in the story where a larger man who
attempts to intimidate Spenser, who responds by taking the large man down with
one kick, all the while laughing at the man. Susan-Spenser’s girlfriend who
has a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard. She is a clinical psychologist, who has
been romantically involved with Spenser for many years. She often helps him on
his cases when he is dealing with a disturbed or possibly dangerous person. She
helps Jill Joyce overcome her problems in this novel. Jill Joyce-typical
overzealous television star. She is extremely pampered and feels that it is her
right to be waited upon. She has lead an extremely rough life, from abandoning
her parents to having an illegitimate child. She has tried to keep this from
ruining her reputation, so she is very quiet when it comes to her past. Hawk-is
a large, intimidating black man who was born in a ghetto, served with the French
Foreign Legion, and was a boxer during the same period as Spenser. His
occupation is 'enforcer', collector for loan sharks; he will murder for money,
which he makes a lot of. Plot Synopsis- Spenser is hired by Zenith Meridien
Television to guard Jill Joyce. She has experienced harassment in the recent
past, and the company wishes for her to feel safe on the set. Spenser finds that
Jill is a troubled, alcoholic, drug addicted, egocentric annoyance that is lost
in life. The morning after they meet, a Mr. Rojack and his thug, Randall try to
get Jill to go with them. Jill declines their offer, at which point, Randall
attempts to attack the smaller Spenser, only to find himself on the ground
within moments. Later that week, Spenser tracks down Rojack, who turns out to be
quite wealthy and discovers that Rojack and Jill had more or less gone steady
for a couple years. He also learns of Winfred Pomroy, a man who had been
“bothering” Ms. Joyce. He makes plans to visit this man, as it may provide
an idea to the identity of the assailant. The following morning, Spenser and
Jill discover Babe Loftus, who was Jill's stunt double, murdered in her dressing
room. This provokes spenser to take quicker action, and he sets out for
Pomroy’s home. While he is gone, he has a friend of his, Hawk, look after the
starlet. When Spenser visits Pomroy, he finds a recovered alcoholic, living with
three dogs. He had been married to Jill 25 years ago and seems to be slightly
obsessed with Ms. Joyce at the present. Spenser journeys to the San Diego area
in search of more of Jill’s past, where he finds her mother. Through her, he
learns Jill conceived a daughter with a man Del Rio. Del Rio has since adopted
Jill's daughter, who is now 20 years old. Spenser also tracks down Jill's
father, who hasn't seen her since she was four. He briefly questions the poor,
troubled man and returns home. Spenser returns to Boston only to find that Jill
has run away, Then Del Rio calls and informs Spenser that Jill has escaped to
see him. Spenser travels to retrieve Jill. She talks about the man harassing
her. Spenser suggests they bring the father in to see Jill. Spenser then accuses
him of killing Babe Loftus, the stunt-woman, to which he confesses, then tries
to pull a gun on Spenser. Spenser kills him before he can do anything. Spenser
and Jill return to the peaceful setting of Susan's cabin in Maine and she seems
to be in hopeless condition. Susan comes, bringing the 3 dogs that Wilder Pomory
had. and when they come to Jill, she responds to them, and as the story ends,
she and Spenser have walked around the lake with the dogs, Jill is showing signs
of emerging from her condition, where Susan may be able to help her, in fact
Jill expresses interest in being treated by Susan. Opinion-This book was
wonderfully written. The characters were all realistic, and they reacted as you
would expect to see a person react in real life. The amount of descriptive
writing that is in this book is amazing, I could very easily picture the entire
story, and Boston came to life in my mind. The relationships between characters
in the book was also done very well, Hawk and Spenser responded to each other
the way that old friends would do. This was a very fun book to read, because it
was real, the people in it were real, and the story was real.