A Savage Place

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A Savage Place
A Savage Place cover.jpg
First edition
Author Robert B. Parker
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Spenser
Genre Detective fiction
Publisher Delacorte Press
Publication date
1981
Pages186
ISBN 0-385-28951-0
Preceded by Early Autumn (Robert B. Parker novel)  
Followed by Ceremony (Robert B. Parker novel)  

A Savage Place is a detective fiction novel by American writer Robert B. Parker, the 8th book in the Spenser series.

Contents

The title is from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan". The book's epigraph is an excerpt from the poem, from "And there were gardens" to "A savage place! as holy and enchanted / As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted / By woman wailing for her demon lover!"

The story follows Spenser, a private investigator in Boston. Spenser, who served as an infantryman in the 1st Infantry Division during the Korean War [1] and as a former State trooper, who acts as a bodyguard for television reporter Candy Sloan in Los Angeles as she investigates a corrupt movie studio. They travel to various locations around the city and Spenser makes repeated reference to forgotten Hollywood figures such as Dale Evans, Mala Powers, Tom Conway, Nina Foch, and Rudd Weatherwax to Sloan's incomprehension. They sleep together once, but not later, because Spenser felt the first time was not a betrayal of his love Susan Silverman but the later times would be. Near the end of the novel, Sloan is shot and killed, a death that haunts Spenser in later novels. Spenser holds her killers hostage and forces an on-camera confession from the businessman involved. The Los Angeles police detective Spenser meets during Sloan's investigation and death, Mark Samuelson, is sympathetic to Spenser's actions and helps him leave for Boston without arrest. Samuelson becomes a recurring character in later novels.

Recurring characters

Related Research Articles

Spenser is a fictional private investigator created by the American mystery writer Robert B. Parker. He acts as the protagonist of a series of detective novels written by Parker and later continued by Ace Atkins and Mike Lupica. His first appearance was in the 1973 novel The Godwulf Manuscript. He is also featured in the 1980s television series Spenser: For Hire and a related series of TV movies based on the novels. In March 2020 he was featured in the Netflix thriller film Spenser Confidential.

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Robert Brown Parker was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies was also produced based on the character. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. The Spenser novels have been cited as reviving and changing the detective genre by critics and bestselling authors including Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane.

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<i>Potshot</i> (novel) 2001 novel by Robert B. Parker

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<i>The Judas Goat</i> 1978 novel by Robert B. Parker

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<i>Thin Air</i> (Parker novel) 1995 novel by Robert B. Parker

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Widening Gyre (novel)</span>

The Widening Gyre is a 1983 novel by Robert B. Parker, featuring his private detective character Spenser. The title comes from the first line of W. B. Yeats poem "The Second Coming".

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Lullaby is the 41st novel featuring Robert B. Parker's fictional detective Spenser. It is the first official Spenser novel not written by Parker, but by Ace Atkins. Atkins was asked to write the novel after Parker's death in 2010.

<i>Taming a Sea-Horse</i> 1986 novel by Robert B. Parker

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References

  1. Robert B. Parker, A Savage Place, Dell Books, 1987, page 91: "The time, not the person. It was in Korea. He was just a shape on a night patrol".