Plot summary
A reclusive millionaire, Hugh Dixon, hires Spenser to find the nine members of a terrorist group that bombed a London restaurant where he and his family were dining, resulting in the deaths of his two daughters, his wife and leaving him a paraplegic. Spenser is promised USD$2,500 a head for the apprehension of each of the nine terrorists responsible, dead or alive. Spenser heads to London, England to start his investigation. Running an ad for information in The Times results in two assassination attempts on Spenser. Spenser foils the attempts resulting in the deaths of two gunmen and the capture of another.
London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its territories per the United States Constitution since 1792. In practice, the dollar is divided into 100 smaller cent (¢) units, but is occasionally divided into 1000 mills (₥) for accounting. The circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars.
The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently, and have only had common ownership since 1967.
Spenser enlists the help of his friend Hawk, a powerful ally. Spenser tracks one of the members of the terrorist group, Liberty, and uses her as a Judas goat to lead him to other members.
A Judas goat is a trained goat used in general animal herding. The Judas goat is trained to associate with sheep or cattle, leading them to a specific destination. In stockyards, a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter, while its own life is spared. Judas goats are also used to lead other animals to specific pens and onto trucks. They have fallen out of use in recent times, but can still be found in various smaller slaughterhouses in some parts of the world, as well as conservation projects.
"Katherine," the name she is operating under, flees to Copenhagen with Hawk and Spenser in pursuit. Spenser allows himself to be captured by Katherine's allies just to be rescued by Hawk before they can kill him. The rescue leads to the deaths of three more members of the group, but Katherine (also called Kathie) and the leader of the group, Paul, escape.
Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. As of July 2018, the city has a population of 777,218. It forms the core of the wider urban area of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Copenhagen is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand; another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.
The group turns out to be an anti-communist/white-supremacist group trying to keep control of African countries away from the native Africans and in the hands of white countries and leaders. The bombing of the restaurant Dixon and his wife were in was more or less a random act of violence against the United Kingdom because of its backing of black majority rule in Africa.
Africa is the world's second largest and second most-populous continent, being behind Asia in both categories. At about 30.3 million km2 including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. The majority of the continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere, with a substantial portion and number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere.
The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but more commonly known as the UK or Britain, is a sovereign country lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.
Tired of running from Spenser and Hawk, Paul leaves the corpses of the last two members responsible for the bombing in Spenser and Hawk's hotel room. The last member, Kathie, is tied up on a bed. A note from Paul says these are the last members of the bombing, which was executed without his involvement. He couldn't kill Kathie because he had been intimate with her for some time. Hawk and Spenser untie Kathie and interrogate her, but she doesn't know where Paul has fled. Upon further reflection, she recalls he may be at the Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Even though his obligations to Dixon are completed, the three of them fly to Montreal and rent a private home near the games. That night Kathie tries to seduce Spenser, but he rebuffs her.
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially called the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event in Montreal, Quebec, in 1976, and the first Olympic Games held in Canada.
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.
Spenser flies to Boston to tell Dixon what is happening and asks him to assist them in stopping Paul. He tells Dixon he doesn't expect him to pay for it but Dixon insists on paying because he has great wealth but, since his family died, nothing worthwhile to spend it on. He also arranges to get Spenser tickets to the Olympic games. Spenser spends the night with his lover, Susan Silverman, and flies back to Canada the next day.
With little to go on, Hawk, Spenser and Kathie attend the games at the Stadium looking for Paul and a huge man, a former weightlifter, who Kathie warns may be with him: Zachary. Spenser spots Paul on their second day and observes him setting up a mark for a sniper. The next day Spenser spots Paul, accompanied by Zachary, assembling a sniper rifle to shoot athletes during an Olympic medal ceremony as a terrorist act.
All four men are armed, but Hawk quickly knocks out Paul. Zachary, a huge bodybuilder standing six foot seven and over three hundred pounds, attempts to shoot Spenser, but loses his gun in the scuffle. Trying to take down Zachary, the three remaining men all lose their weapons. Zachary flees the stadium pursued by Hawk and Spenser. He is eventually beaten into unconsciousness by them after a brutal fight a short distance from the stadium. The Montreal Police arrive and take Spenser and Hawk to a hospital. Spenser also has a broken left arm and nose; Hawk has a busted lip and one eye swollen shut. They learn Kathie shot Paul "as he attempted to flee," but both know she shot him the first chance she got for abandoning her.
When a Montreal police detective, Morgan, attempts to interrogate Spenser, he calls one of Dixon's men for instructions. It isn't long before Dixon arrives at the hospital and pays Spenser twice his promised fee, $50,000. Spenser offers half to Hawk, but he declines, just billing Spenser for his original fee ($150 per day plus expenses). Spenser lies to Dixon, saying Kathie is not part of the original nine responsible for the bombing and gets Dixon to have her released from jail. Dixon suspects the truth, but pays the fee anyway. The book concludes with Spenser and Susan vacationing together in London.
Spenser—his first name is never officially revealed—is a fictional character in a series of detective novels initially by the American mystery writer Robert B. Parker and later by Ace Atkins. He is also featured in a television series and a series of TV movies based on the novels.
Spenser: For Hire is an American crime drama series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder and starring Robert Urich, was broadcast on ABC from September 20, 1985 until May 7, 1988.
Paper Doll is the 20th Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. The story follows the Boston-based PI Spenser as he tries to solve the apparently random killing of the well-regarded wife of a local businessman.
Promised Land is the fourth Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, first published in 1976. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1977.
Hundred-Dollar Baby is the 34th Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. The novel was also alternatively titled, Dream Girl ISBN 1-84243-186-2. The story follows Boston-based PI Spenser as he tries to help an old runaway prostitute he helped several years earlier, April Kyle.
School Days (2005) is a work of detective fiction by American author Robert B. Parker, the 33rd in his acclaimed Spenser series.
Potshot is the 28th Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. The story follows the fictional Boston-based PI Spenser as he tries to identify the killer of a widow's husband. As is often the case, Spenser's probing uncovers much more than just a simple—or single—murder.
Bad Business is a detective novel by Robert B. Parker first published in 2004. It features Parker's most famous creation, Boston-based private investigator Spenser, and is the 31st novel in the series. In this novel, Spenser is hired by a wealthy woman to gather evidence on her husband's infidelity. Soon, due to Spenser's investigation, homicides start occurring.
Early Autumn is a Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. It is the seventh novel in the Spenser series.
Ceremony is the ninth Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, first published in 1982. It is the first of three Spenser novels involving the character April Kyle, who returns in Taming a Sea-Horse and Hundred-Dollar Baby.
Looking for Rachel Wallace is the sixth Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, first published in 1980.
A Catskill Eagle is the 12th Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, first published in 1985. The title comes from a quote from Herman Melville.
Double Deuce is the 19th Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. The story follows Boston-based PI Spenser as he and his friend Hawk butt heads against a street gang while attempting to unravel the murder of a teenage mother and her young daughter.
Pastime is the 18th Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. The story follows Boston-based PI Spenser as he attempts to find a man's missing mother.
"The Ballad of Booth" is the 133rd episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It is the twenty-second episode of the show's sixth season and aired on May 9, 2010.
Thin Air is the 22nd Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. The story follows Boston-based PI
Spenser as he searches for the wife of his longtime associate, Sgt. Frank Belson of the Boston Police Department.
Back Story is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the 30th novel in his Spenser series.
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".
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.
