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Spenser #13
Taming A Sea-Horse
In his latest highly acclaimed Spenser novel, Robert B. Parker takes readers into the murky big-city underground where Spenser undertakes an intense search for a beautiful, missing prostitute, and finds himself traveling amidst the sleaze of Times Square where sex is a commodity, and young girls are the currency. This phenomenal bestseller, with a million-copy paperback first printing is supported by national TV advertising and a 6-month backlist reissue program. HC:Delacorte.
250 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
959 people are currently reading
1201 people want to read
About the author
Robert B. Parker
489 books2,289 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Robert B. Parker.
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.
Parker also wrote nine novels featuring the fictional character Jesse Stone, a Los Angeles police officer who moves to a small New England town; six novels with the fictional character Sunny Randall, a female private investigator; and four Westerns starring the duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The first was Appaloosa, made into a film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen.
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.
Parker also wrote nine novels featuring the fictional character Jesse Stone, a Los Angeles police officer who moves to a small New England town; six novels with the fictional character Sunny Randall, a female private investigator; and four Westerns starring the duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The first was Appaloosa, made into a film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 249 reviews
June 4, 2017
Reading the second entry in the sad April Kyle saga within the Spenser canon directly after reading the first, Ceremony, is almost a shock to the system. Because Ceremony came before Valediction, and Taming a Sea-Horse directly after Catskill Eagle, the change in the series is magnified. There is a resonance and depth to Ceremony completely missing in Taming a Sea-Horse. It’s like watching a solid episode of a well-written television series with real characters, then tuning in the next week only to discover it has become a slickly produced animated series. It gives the second April Kyle book a sense of unreality at first.
For the first sixty or seventy pages of this one, Spenser truly is just a wisenheimer, a flip jerk who can’t seem to stop popping off, even when normal conversation is called for. It gets better, but the flippancy continues, and when real moments do occur, it’s as if they’ve been dropped in from another planet. Because Catskill Eagle, the entry where Parker drove a stake into the heart of this series by having Spenser sacrifice lives in order to rescue the unfaithful and vain Susan Silverman from a sexual and moral mess of her own making, anything real or touching here is probably just a hangover from what the series had been, and was no longer going to be.
Four years have apparently passed since Spenser’s morally ambiguous solution to teenage prostitute April Kyle’s dilemma. Spenser is still deluding himself that it was the only logical decision, still thinking perhaps that it turned out okay for Linda Rabb in Mortal Stakes, so it can for April. It won’t be until the final April Kyle entry, that he realizes differently. In this one, the slim and blonde Patricia Utley hires Spenser to find April. Utley believes she has left her string of high-end girls because she has fallen in love with a pimp — something not uncommon among prostitutes. When Spenser does find her, it is just as Patricia Utley thought. But then April disappears completely, prostitute Ginger Buckey is murdered, and the pimp in question is scared. So Spenser keeps annoying people. Because most of this happens in New York, there is a minimum of Susan Silverman at the beginning, and that’s always a good thing.
Though the emotional grit of Ceremony is missing from this entry in the April Kyle saga, there is some good stuff here. The information about girls in the profession who end up at slaughterhouses, where they never get out of bed, is sad. And Ginger Buckey’s terrible history of familial betrayal is quite moving. Yet Parker can’t let that be real for very long, because this has become an animated show. Instead of having Spenser travel to Ginger’s hometown to mete out justice at the end, he has Utley go on about how special Spenser is for wanting to do it. In other words, making it all about Spenser, rather than about Ginger Buckey. It happens in the middle of the book instead, ruining its poignancy and impact. It feels like it’s there to fill pages, just like the smart aleck remarks. The reader doesn’t feel connected on any level more than a superficial one.
Spenser finally pulls a thread that leads him to the mob-connected Lehman, who runs a high-end string of smut clubs across the country. Annoying people some more leads him to St. Thomas, to one of the Crown Prince Club outlets. He brings Susan, and it is a surprisingly enjoyable section of the book. Their interaction is mostly devoid of psychobabble, and almost romantic. But there’s work to do. Spenser discovers that Ginger abandoned a powerful banker client to run off with April’s pimp/love. Soon he is right up against a crime boss so powerful that Tony Marcus doesn’t want to rock that boat. It will finally lead him to April Kyle, which is by far the most moving scene in the book.
It’s glitzy and moves fairly swiftly, but lacks the depth or poignancy of Ceremony. A generally enjoyable read, especially from the two-thirds point on. That’s when Parker seems to remember there should be a plot, and at least a touch of reality, so that the cartoon animation doesn’t swallow up everything the series had once been. Taming a Sea-Horse is almost like a colorful pulp story. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you can tell it’s being written by someone who’s slumming, rather than reaching their potential. I'm rounding up from 3.5 as pure entertainment, but don't equate that as meaning this is as good as Ceremony, because it isn't. That one is a solid four stars on a different level.
Taming a Sea-Horse is still pretty good, and worth a read, but the contrast between Ceremony and Sea-Horse is startling when you read them back-to-back. This is a compromised Spenser, and perhaps Parker too, both trying to find their footing after Catskill Eagle. Both would occasionally, but the footing would never be solid and assured again.
For the first sixty or seventy pages of this one, Spenser truly is just a wisenheimer, a flip jerk who can’t seem to stop popping off, even when normal conversation is called for. It gets better, but the flippancy continues, and when real moments do occur, it’s as if they’ve been dropped in from another planet. Because Catskill Eagle, the entry where Parker drove a stake into the heart of this series by having Spenser sacrifice lives in order to rescue the unfaithful and vain Susan Silverman from a sexual and moral mess of her own making, anything real or touching here is probably just a hangover from what the series had been, and was no longer going to be.
Four years have apparently passed since Spenser’s morally ambiguous solution to teenage prostitute April Kyle’s dilemma. Spenser is still deluding himself that it was the only logical decision, still thinking perhaps that it turned out okay for Linda Rabb in Mortal Stakes, so it can for April. It won’t be until the final April Kyle entry, that he realizes differently. In this one, the slim and blonde Patricia Utley hires Spenser to find April. Utley believes she has left her string of high-end girls because she has fallen in love with a pimp — something not uncommon among prostitutes. When Spenser does find her, it is just as Patricia Utley thought. But then April disappears completely, prostitute Ginger Buckey is murdered, and the pimp in question is scared. So Spenser keeps annoying people. Because most of this happens in New York, there is a minimum of Susan Silverman at the beginning, and that’s always a good thing.
Though the emotional grit of Ceremony is missing from this entry in the April Kyle saga, there is some good stuff here. The information about girls in the profession who end up at slaughterhouses, where they never get out of bed, is sad. And Ginger Buckey’s terrible history of familial betrayal is quite moving. Yet Parker can’t let that be real for very long, because this has become an animated show. Instead of having Spenser travel to Ginger’s hometown to mete out justice at the end, he has Utley go on about how special Spenser is for wanting to do it. In other words, making it all about Spenser, rather than about Ginger Buckey. It happens in the middle of the book instead, ruining its poignancy and impact. It feels like it’s there to fill pages, just like the smart aleck remarks. The reader doesn’t feel connected on any level more than a superficial one.
Spenser finally pulls a thread that leads him to the mob-connected Lehman, who runs a high-end string of smut clubs across the country. Annoying people some more leads him to St. Thomas, to one of the Crown Prince Club outlets. He brings Susan, and it is a surprisingly enjoyable section of the book. Their interaction is mostly devoid of psychobabble, and almost romantic. But there’s work to do. Spenser discovers that Ginger abandoned a powerful banker client to run off with April’s pimp/love. Soon he is right up against a crime boss so powerful that Tony Marcus doesn’t want to rock that boat. It will finally lead him to April Kyle, which is by far the most moving scene in the book.
It’s glitzy and moves fairly swiftly, but lacks the depth or poignancy of Ceremony. A generally enjoyable read, especially from the two-thirds point on. That’s when Parker seems to remember there should be a plot, and at least a touch of reality, so that the cartoon animation doesn’t swallow up everything the series had once been. Taming a Sea-Horse is almost like a colorful pulp story. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you can tell it’s being written by someone who’s slumming, rather than reaching their potential. I'm rounding up from 3.5 as pure entertainment, but don't equate that as meaning this is as good as Ceremony, because it isn't. That one is a solid four stars on a different level.
Taming a Sea-Horse is still pretty good, and worth a read, but the contrast between Ceremony and Sea-Horse is startling when you read them back-to-back. This is a compromised Spenser, and perhaps Parker too, both trying to find their footing after Catskill Eagle. Both would occasionally, but the footing would never be solid and assured again.
August 2, 2019
After a brief detour into cliche and self-indulgence (A Catskill Eagle), Parker returns with a Spenser that, although it does not break new ground, harvests a fine crop in old familiar fields. It is a typical Spenser tale, in which our hero--together with all the things he does well--does the one thing he does best: strive to rescue and reclaim a damaged young person from a perilous, bewildering world.
This time, the y0ung person is one we have met before: April, the teenage hooker from Ceremony. She is in her mid-twenties now, still in the life, but has broken her ties with high class madam Patricia Utley. Utley, afraid April has made a common mistake whores make-- that is, falling for a pimp who "really" loves her--hires Spenser to find the young woman and make sure she is alright. In the course of his quest, Spenser encounters cheap hustlers, exclusive sex clubs, mobsters, bullies, bodyguards, bankers, and very dangerous professional thugs.
And now somebody wants Spenser dead. Good thing he has a friend like Hawk.
As I said, it is a typical tale, but it is told with a briskness and efficiency that reminds me of the best of the first half-dozen or so Spensers. And that places Taming a Seahorse in very good company indeed.
October 20, 2021
Actual rating is 3.5 stars.
This is part of a series. In this one we check in with a character from the previous novel Ceremony. Even with this connection this can be read as a stand alone. In this one, April Kyle has left her escort agency for another one and Spenser checks in on her to see if she is okay. This leads to Spenser being involved in something larger.
I was excited to dive into this one since it was connected to Ceremony. I really enjoyed that book but I also thought it had an unresolved issue. This one started off slow as we see Spenser trying to meet up with April. The beginning seemed off for me as Spenser seemed more flippant for the sake of just being flippant and not being a wise ass for a purpose. When we dive into the actual case is when this book became entertaining. It is pretty straight forward with the investigation as Spenser doesn't have much to go on but never veers off. Also, Hawk enters the picture and that will always put a smile on my face. Seriously, I could read a book with just these two characters sitting at a table and just talking. I enjoyed the resolution and the final scene was terrific and a highlight of this book.
This book follows the typical Spenser formula. He follows his moral code while annoying several people. He enlists Hawk for help and he is in love with Susan. We get the obligatory descriptions of food and clothes from this era. I enjoy this aspect as I am transported back to that time when I was a child. This was a quick read. It was not my favorite but enjoyable and a nice read for several days.
This is part of a series. In this one we check in with a character from the previous novel Ceremony. Even with this connection this can be read as a stand alone. In this one, April Kyle has left her escort agency for another one and Spenser checks in on her to see if she is okay. This leads to Spenser being involved in something larger.
I was excited to dive into this one since it was connected to Ceremony. I really enjoyed that book but I also thought it had an unresolved issue. This one started off slow as we see Spenser trying to meet up with April. The beginning seemed off for me as Spenser seemed more flippant for the sake of just being flippant and not being a wise ass for a purpose. When we dive into the actual case is when this book became entertaining. It is pretty straight forward with the investigation as Spenser doesn't have much to go on but never veers off. Also, Hawk enters the picture and that will always put a smile on my face. Seriously, I could read a book with just these two characters sitting at a table and just talking. I enjoyed the resolution and the final scene was terrific and a highlight of this book.
This book follows the typical Spenser formula. He follows his moral code while annoying several people. He enlists Hawk for help and he is in love with Susan. We get the obligatory descriptions of food and clothes from this era. I enjoy this aspect as I am transported back to that time when I was a child. This was a quick read. It was not my favorite but enjoyable and a nice read for several days.
August 18, 2010
The books where Spenser has to deal with prostitution are always depressing because Parker accurately portrayed it as a nasty and degrading business. But then Spenser usually beats up some pimps so it’s not all bad.
Four years earlier, Spenser went looking for April Kyle in Ceremony and rescued her from a life of prostitution. Sort of. When April falls in love with a music student who just needs her to turn a few tricks to pay his way through school, she leaves a safe situation for her new man. Spenser still feels responsible for her so he makes a trip to New York to prove to April that her new fella is just another pimp. Since love makes you blind (and apparently very, very stupid), April doesn’t listen. Spenser is going to drop the whole thing until someone gets killed and April disappears. Why would anyone go to so much trouble just because Spenser is trying to get a hooker away from a small-time pimp?
I consider this the first book in the third phase of the Spenser series. First was Early Spenser, then came Classic Spenser. Now we’re beginning the Pretty Good But Past His Prime Spenser. (The dreaded Sad Decline of Spenser is still several books away.) Now that Spenser and Susan are reunited in Boston, Parker seems to be trying really hard to get back to the way things were. But it’s a little odd after all the craziness of A Catskill Eagle that it’s just business as usual and Susan and Spenser are lovebirds again. There’s a few lines referencing the bad shit that just happened, but it‘s weird that there wasn‘t a larger impact to the characters‘ lives.
Although this is still a good Spenser book with lots of smart ass dialogue and action, it was a bad omen that Parker brought back April Kyle because it was a warning that the books would begin repeating themselves.
Next up: Spenser tries to find a decent meal in Pale Kings & Princes.
Four years earlier, Spenser went looking for April Kyle in Ceremony and rescued her from a life of prostitution. Sort of. When April falls in love with a music student who just needs her to turn a few tricks to pay his way through school, she leaves a safe situation for her new man. Spenser still feels responsible for her so he makes a trip to New York to prove to April that her new fella is just another pimp. Since love makes you blind (and apparently very, very stupid), April doesn’t listen. Spenser is going to drop the whole thing until someone gets killed and April disappears. Why would anyone go to so much trouble just because Spenser is trying to get a hooker away from a small-time pimp?
I consider this the first book in the third phase of the Spenser series. First was Early Spenser, then came Classic Spenser. Now we’re beginning the Pretty Good But Past His Prime Spenser. (The dreaded Sad Decline of Spenser is still several books away.) Now that Spenser and Susan are reunited in Boston, Parker seems to be trying really hard to get back to the way things were. But it’s a little odd after all the craziness of A Catskill Eagle that it’s just business as usual and Susan and Spenser are lovebirds again. There’s a few lines referencing the bad shit that just happened, but it‘s weird that there wasn‘t a larger impact to the characters‘ lives.
Although this is still a good Spenser book with lots of smart ass dialogue and action, it was a bad omen that Parker brought back April Kyle because it was a warning that the books would begin repeating themselves.
Next up: Spenser tries to find a decent meal in Pale Kings & Princes.
December 2, 2024
Our favorite wise ass, flippant P.I. Is back and this time he’s searching for a missing hooker. Someone he has helped previously and feels he has a special connection with. While it is an interesting journey it is mostly depressing considering the situation.
May 23, 2017
(The word "maroon" appears 8 times in this novel)
4 stars for the writing and pacing, nice to see the "old Spenser" back for a while, at least.
Plus 1 star for credibly working on Spenser's (Parker's) relationship with Susan (wife Joan).
From my life experiences, I say -
The first half of the book presents a strained détente between Spenser and Susan, with his love of her still total, and full of fear and pain. To her, he is vulnerable, and is learning to accept that will never change, and that she is flawed, and might hurt him again. Only his trust in her allows him to continue.
Trust is the key to all relationships. When we hurt each other, the trust suffers, and it will never be possible for Susan and Spenser (Parker and his wife) to recover who they were before Spenser met Candy and she was killed.
All that said, Spenser and Susan make a valiant and at least partly successful progress to restore a balance, and to recover the parts of their love that can be recovered. They gently avoid hatred and fear, mostly. Susan realises that she is always going to belong to Spenser, and that that has so many rewards for who she is and what she needs in life. She knows she will have to live in fear of his violent death, but she is investing in her patients now - a kind of insurance of self-worth. Susan is surely the more mature and clear thinking of the pair.
And she is the finest Spenser could hope for, and he knows it. She continues to allow herself to commit to Spenser, and loves him enough to support and direct his internal struggle to find peace with who and what he is.
I say all of this because there is an important truth here, based on Parker's marriage struggles. I hope deeply that the reconciliation between Spenser and Susan is not falsely contrived for Parker's own needs. I hope that he and his wife made a good life for themselves after their reconciliation, and that they were able to find joy in it, especially through their children.
There are some fine quotes below, some fine honesty and care, and some success and dignity and respect for who they have become.
I will continue for a while, at least, reading the rest of the books Parker wrote.
See my review of Crimson Joy for more Spenser Series opinion...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Notes -
56.0% "... cool, efficient, familiar novel by Parker, but I can't help wondering if the detente/love-affair between Spenser and Susan is not contrived."
57.0% "... do you feel the scenes between Susan and Spenser have a sense of fatalism? Has she surrendered to being owned and loved by Spenser? Is Spenser secure in her love? Is Parker putting a brave face on his own marriage struggle?"
4 stars for the writing and pacing, nice to see the "old Spenser" back for a while, at least.
Plus 1 star for credibly working on Spenser's (Parker's) relationship with Susan (wife Joan).
From my life experiences, I say -
The key to love is trust, and the purpose of love is freedom.
The past is gone, and tomorrow is an illusion. There is only now.
Life is too short, and sometimes brutal,
and in the end we have only each other...
Nothing else matters.
The first half of the book presents a strained détente between Spenser and Susan, with his love of her still total, and full of fear and pain. To her, he is vulnerable, and is learning to accept that will never change, and that she is flawed, and might hurt him again. Only his trust in her allows him to continue.
Trust is the key to all relationships. When we hurt each other, the trust suffers, and it will never be possible for Susan and Spenser (Parker and his wife) to recover who they were before Spenser met Candy and she was killed.
All that said, Spenser and Susan make a valiant and at least partly successful progress to restore a balance, and to recover the parts of their love that can be recovered. They gently avoid hatred and fear, mostly. Susan realises that she is always going to belong to Spenser, and that that has so many rewards for who she is and what she needs in life. She knows she will have to live in fear of his violent death, but she is investing in her patients now - a kind of insurance of self-worth. Susan is surely the more mature and clear thinking of the pair.
And she is the finest Spenser could hope for, and he knows it. She continues to allow herself to commit to Spenser, and loves him enough to support and direct his internal struggle to find peace with who and what he is.
I say all of this because there is an important truth here, based on Parker's marriage struggles. I hope deeply that the reconciliation between Spenser and Susan is not falsely contrived for Parker's own needs. I hope that he and his wife made a good life for themselves after their reconciliation, and that they were able to find joy in it, especially through their children.
There are some fine quotes below, some fine honesty and care, and some success and dignity and respect for who they have become.
I will continue for a while, at least, reading the rest of the books Parker wrote.
See my review of Crimson Joy for more Spenser Series opinion...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Notes -
56.0% "... cool, efficient, familiar novel by Parker, but I can't help wondering if the detente/love-affair between Spenser and Susan is not contrived."
57.0% "... do you feel the scenes between Susan and Spenser have a sense of fatalism? Has she surrendered to being owned and loved by Spenser? Is Spenser secure in her love? Is Parker putting a brave face on his own marriage struggle?"
May 31, 2019
You forget how good Parker was until you go back and read some of the early works. His last few books were so full of drivel between Spenser and Susan that they were hard to read. This book is full of what made Parker one of the greats. The supporting characters are fully drawn and Susan is perfectly placed in the story. One of Parker's best.
December 13, 2022
The Spenser novels keep getting better, as Spenser learns more and more about himself, not in small part through his relationship with Susan Silverman.
This is not an episodic series, where each novel stands alone. Pretty much nothing in Spenser's life fails to interact with every nearly every other part of his life. It gives the feel of a real life being lived and you being a spectator.
Enjoying the hell out of this series, this writer, and this character.
This is not an episodic series, where each novel stands alone. Pretty much nothing in Spenser's life fails to interact with every nearly every other part of his life. It gives the feel of a real life being lived and you being a spectator.
Enjoying the hell out of this series, this writer, and this character.
April 20, 2024
Lucky number 13.
I’m not sure April Kyle warranted another book AND I know she has a third book in this series. Spenser is a sucker for a damsel in distress and one of these times it’s going to lead to his demise or death.
Susan and Spenser are back on track and we’re actually faithful to one another in this book. Progress 🙄 well I care less and less about them in that regard
Utley the fancy madam from NYC hires Spenser to find April. Spenser is like a dog with a bone. He can’t let April get away and honestly some people are beyond help.
He makes a mess as only he can do and pisses off the mob like only he can to get April back. Obviously he succeeds with Hawks help. One of these days Spenser’s 9 lives are going to end. I hope Susan goes first though.
I’m not sure April Kyle warranted another book AND I know she has a third book in this series. Spenser is a sucker for a damsel in distress and one of these times it’s going to lead to his demise or death.
Susan and Spenser are back on track and we’re actually faithful to one another in this book. Progress 🙄 well I care less and less about them in that regard
Utley the fancy madam from NYC hires Spenser to find April. Spenser is like a dog with a bone. He can’t let April get away and honestly some people are beyond help.
He makes a mess as only he can do and pisses off the mob like only he can to get April back. Obviously he succeeds with Hawks help. One of these days Spenser’s 9 lives are going to end. I hope Susan goes first though.
December 6, 2018
An amazing mystery without the relationship drama of the previous novels. A straight up Spenser novel. A sequel to the novel Ceremony. I was happy that Parker made a follow-up to April Kyle's story which seemed very open ended and was hoping they closed off. It doesnt quite do that but hopefully it is addressed in one of the other novels. I always when Parker brings back characters from other novels in the series.
September 15, 2016
This is the 13th book from Parker's Spenser series.
In the novel April Kyle reappears from Ceremony, which was the 9th book of the series. Well, April isn't around in this one much but she is the focus. The young prostitute has left Patricia Utley's stable and has gone off with a different pimp, Robert Ramboux. Patricia asks Spenser to find April. When he starts questioning people about April they begin to die. This includes Robert and another prostitute named Ginger. Spenser keeps his nose to the trail.
This book really didn't have much of a story to it besides Spenser following the trail and getting things resolved in the end. I kept waiting for the bigger shoe to drop but was disappointed in the size of the shoe when it eventually was dropped. It is still Spenser and Hawk with their witty dialogue. There is also a good fight Spenser has with the toughest man in some town in Maine. That was enjoyable.
In the novel April Kyle reappears from Ceremony, which was the 9th book of the series. Well, April isn't around in this one much but she is the focus. The young prostitute has left Patricia Utley's stable and has gone off with a different pimp, Robert Ramboux. Patricia asks Spenser to find April. When he starts questioning people about April they begin to die. This includes Robert and another prostitute named Ginger. Spenser keeps his nose to the trail.
This book really didn't have much of a story to it besides Spenser following the trail and getting things resolved in the end. I kept waiting for the bigger shoe to drop but was disappointed in the size of the shoe when it eventually was dropped. It is still Spenser and Hawk with their witty dialogue. There is also a good fight Spenser has with the toughest man in some town in Maine. That was enjoyable.
August 15, 2021
This was a very enjoyable quick read! Spenser is a very like able character with quick wit and a good heart. He shares some similarities with Elvis Cole. Highly recommend!
February 8, 2014
Finding an old Spenser that I haven't read is much akin to finding literary gold. A fine book and a great way to pass part of the weekend!
December 8, 2025
Not one of his best but still entertaining.
September 29, 2024
Below Average Spenser
The first Spenser (1986) after the 3 part series of Susan leaving Spenser for a monster's son. I wanted to read this one to see how Susan's character developed immediately after her treachery - spoiler alert, it was like nothing happened even though it had only been a few weeks. The premise of this adventure is weak as well. Overall not nearly up to the Spenser standard I am accustomed to reading but I do view the series differently since I no longer like Susan.
The first Spenser (1986) after the 3 part series of Susan leaving Spenser for a monster's son. I wanted to read this one to see how Susan's character developed immediately after her treachery - spoiler alert, it was like nothing happened even though it had only been a few weeks. The premise of this adventure is weak as well. Overall not nearly up to the Spenser standard I am accustomed to reading but I do view the series differently since I no longer like Susan.
February 11, 2016
We were not particularly thrilled with “Ceremony”, the 9th of Parker’s original 39-book Spenser set, about prostitute April Kyle whom he “improves” to a better situation from Boston to NYC. “Taming” (#13) is somewhat of a sequel, in that Spenser is once again hunting for Kyle after her pimp gets beat up and later killed, following the death of another hooker (“Ginger”) in whom Spenser took an interest. Moreover, Susan is back in Boston, and already an established psychotherapist; and things are rosy with her and our hero – both of which developments seem illogical after the trials and tribulations in the just prior novel, “Catskill Eagle”, in which Hawk and Spenser rescue the damsel from her West Coast entanglements with another man and his family…
Spenser spends most of the story annoying various thugs until he finally gets some serious leads to what is going on with Ginger’s death and Kyle’s disappearance. But with the exception of the scene in which Spenser visits Ginger’s father, there wasn’t much fun throughout the tale; and the open-ended denouement will leave most dissatisfied.
So a stale plot and an illogical sequence of events with Susan did little to endear this novel to us readers, making “Taming” perhaps one to just skip.
Spenser spends most of the story annoying various thugs until he finally gets some serious leads to what is going on with Ginger’s death and Kyle’s disappearance. But with the exception of the scene in which Spenser visits Ginger’s father, there wasn’t much fun throughout the tale; and the open-ended denouement will leave most dissatisfied.
So a stale plot and an illogical sequence of events with Susan did little to endear this novel to us readers, making “Taming” perhaps one to just skip.
April 10, 2017
Surprisingly for a Spenser, I actually had trouble getting in this one. I wasn't sure if I'd read it before or if it was just too like the previous April Kyle book but it dragged for me. The second half felt better paced and by the end I was enjoying myself but, altogether, not really a high one on my list.
I think Parker could have done something different if he just HAD to revisit these characters and the idea of prostitution as a life choice.
I think Parker could have done something different if he just HAD to revisit these characters and the idea of prostitution as a life choice.
August 12, 2021
Another fine Spenser novel, wished for more action and don't want to sound bloodthirsty, but I wanted Spenser and Hawk to blast the baddies at the end, didn't get that. Still a good one.
August 29, 2019
This solid entry in the Spenser series is essentially a sequel to Ceremony, the ninth book in the series. In that book, Spenser was searching for teenage runaway April Kyle. He succeeded in locating her, but she was enmeshed in the sordid world of prostitution and had no interest in returning home. Spenser reluctantly agreed that it wouldn’t be in her best interest to go back. Faced with a dilemma that was morally ambiguous at best, Spenser arranged for April to move into a high-class New York City brothel run by Patricia Utley, a woman he had met on a previous case (Mortal Stakes, book 3). At least it would be safer.
Now, though, April has disappeared from Patricia’s brothel, and Patricia has called Spenser asking him to locate April once again. He finds her soon enough, but again discovers that she doesn’t want to be rescued, this time from a pimp she thinks is in love with her. Spenser doesn’t buy it and decides to check out the pimp. Once he does, things start unraveling. Not only has April disappeared once more, but now people are being murdered, seemingly in response to Spenser’s persistent efforts on her behalf. Naturally, that increases Spenser’s desire to find April and uncover the truth, no matter how many powerful people are in his way.
Taming A Sea-Horse contains most of the usual hallmarks of the series. Spenser engages in plenty of banter with friend and foe alike, he eats and cooks good meals, drinks a lot of beer, works out at Henry Cimoli’s health club, runs along the river, and has several fights in the line of duty. At first it seems that Spenser will handle this case on his own, but fortunately for the reader, he brings in Hawk in the second half of the book.
As I’ve mentioned in other Spenser series reviews, I have issues with the Susan Silverman character (as do numerous other readers), or more precisely, with Spenser’s idolization of her. That’s a factor in this one too. (I’m also irked by her sometimes stilted manner of speech: “‘Have you a plan?’ Susan said.” In fairness to Susan, I’ll add that other Parker characters, usually female, and including Patricia Utley, also speak this way.)
But I will say that psychologist Susan is a good vehicle for Parker to express insights into Spenser’s character that might otherwise be difficult to convey as explicitly. Two examples:
First: “What has always made me respect you, even in the bad times, was your ability to look out at the world and see what’s there. Not what you’d like to see, or even what you need to see, but simply what’s there.” This is a good rationale for Spenser’s willingness in some circumstances, such as in April Kyle’s case, to make a choice even if it’s not unambiguously the most moral one.
Second: “You’re a violent man. You wouldn’t do your work if you weren’t. What makes you so attractive, among other things, is that your capacity for violence is never random, it is rarely self-indulgent, and you don’t take it lightly. You make mistakes. But they are mistakes of judgment. They are not mistakes of the heart.” Spenser fans do indeed know that his heart is what motivates him. That’s a big part of why we’re fans.
Now, though, April has disappeared from Patricia’s brothel, and Patricia has called Spenser asking him to locate April once again. He finds her soon enough, but again discovers that she doesn’t want to be rescued, this time from a pimp she thinks is in love with her. Spenser doesn’t buy it and decides to check out the pimp. Once he does, things start unraveling. Not only has April disappeared once more, but now people are being murdered, seemingly in response to Spenser’s persistent efforts on her behalf. Naturally, that increases Spenser’s desire to find April and uncover the truth, no matter how many powerful people are in his way.
Taming A Sea-Horse contains most of the usual hallmarks of the series. Spenser engages in plenty of banter with friend and foe alike, he eats and cooks good meals, drinks a lot of beer, works out at Henry Cimoli’s health club, runs along the river, and has several fights in the line of duty. At first it seems that Spenser will handle this case on his own, but fortunately for the reader, he brings in Hawk in the second half of the book.
As I’ve mentioned in other Spenser series reviews, I have issues with the Susan Silverman character (as do numerous other readers), or more precisely, with Spenser’s idolization of her. That’s a factor in this one too. (I’m also irked by her sometimes stilted manner of speech: “‘Have you a plan?’ Susan said.” In fairness to Susan, I’ll add that other Parker characters, usually female, and including Patricia Utley, also speak this way.)
But I will say that psychologist Susan is a good vehicle for Parker to express insights into Spenser’s character that might otherwise be difficult to convey as explicitly. Two examples:
First: “What has always made me respect you, even in the bad times, was your ability to look out at the world and see what’s there. Not what you’d like to see, or even what you need to see, but simply what’s there.” This is a good rationale for Spenser’s willingness in some circumstances, such as in April Kyle’s case, to make a choice even if it’s not unambiguously the most moral one.
Second: “You’re a violent man. You wouldn’t do your work if you weren’t. What makes you so attractive, among other things, is that your capacity for violence is never random, it is rarely self-indulgent, and you don’t take it lightly. You make mistakes. But they are mistakes of judgment. They are not mistakes of the heart.” Spenser fans do indeed know that his heart is what motivates him. That’s a big part of why we’re fans.
December 18, 2021
"[...] maybe I had seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker.
I called Susan at home.
'I'm sitting in my office with only one light on,' I said, 'and I'm quoting Prufrock to myself.'
'My God,' she said, 'tell me about it."
In Taming a Sea-Horse (1986), the 13th installment of the Spenser series, Robert B. Parker relies on character continuity to set up the plot. Patricia Utley, the owner of a call-girl business, whom we first met in Mortal Stakes, hires Spenser to find April Kyle (see Ceremony), who disappeared from her stable of "girls." When Spenser talks with April, she seems to be in love with a certain Robert Rambeaux, a Juilliard music student. Rambeaux stupidly tries to outmacho Spenser, and our hero needs to beat him up a little. I appreciate the author's pun of getting a Rambo beaten up. Yet the entire Rambeaux episode reads like a fragment of a 1940s noir.
The plot is typically implausible and quite silly, but at least Spenser does not have all those governmental agencies helping him this time around. There is a lot about the sex business and Spenser uses his muscles, stamina, and boxing training to do his trademark righteous things. The plot even takes him to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.
With Susan Silverman permanently back with Spenser, the reader can enjoy their banter:
Two stars.
I called Susan at home.
'I'm sitting in my office with only one light on,' I said, 'and I'm quoting Prufrock to myself.'
'My God,' she said, 'tell me about it."
In Taming a Sea-Horse (1986), the 13th installment of the Spenser series, Robert B. Parker relies on character continuity to set up the plot. Patricia Utley, the owner of a call-girl business, whom we first met in Mortal Stakes, hires Spenser to find April Kyle (see Ceremony), who disappeared from her stable of "girls." When Spenser talks with April, she seems to be in love with a certain Robert Rambeaux, a Juilliard music student. Rambeaux stupidly tries to outmacho Spenser, and our hero needs to beat him up a little. I appreciate the author's pun of getting a Rambo beaten up. Yet the entire Rambeaux episode reads like a fragment of a 1940s noir.
The plot is typically implausible and quite silly, but at least Spenser does not have all those governmental agencies helping him this time around. There is a lot about the sex business and Spenser uses his muscles, stamina, and boxing training to do his trademark righteous things. The plot even takes him to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.
With Susan Silverman permanently back with Spenser, the reader can enjoy their banter:
"'Dr. Silverman,' I said [...] 'You are a highly educated Jewish psychotherapist approaching middle years. And here, in this sophisticated island hideaway, I find you talking dirty and giggling like an oversexed teenage shiksa.'For me, the best thing about the novel is not the silly plot or the series of beatings but the reference to T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. I had not known that poem, and I am thankful to Mr. Parker for getting me to read it!
'Talk to me, baby,' Susan murmured, 'whisper in my ear'"
Two stars.
June 3, 2024
Taming A Sea-Horse (Spenser #13) by Robert B. Parker
First published in 1986
Brief thumbnail -
In his latest highly acclaimed Spenser novel, Robert B. Parker takes readers into the murky big-city underground where Spenser undertakes an intense search for a beautiful, missing prostitute, and finds himself traveling amidst the sleaze of Times Square where sex is a commodity, and young girls are the currency.
My thoughts -
Continuing with my effort to read books that have been lingering on my shelves (some for decades), I chose this Robert Parker novel as I have usually always thoroughly enjoyed them, whether a Spenser or Jesse Stone mystery. Going into this one I had serious doubts that I would like it as it centers around sex trafficking, prostitution, mafia control of vice, and sexual abuse of female children. Surprisingly, Parker handles all of this in typical no holds barred fashion and serves up a tale of the triumph of good over evil, if only to a limited extent.
The story also contains a good amount of Hawk and Susan in furtherance of those characters. The novel takes us from Spenser's homebase in Boston to New York City, rural Maine, and St. Thomas. Well done and fully deserving of my 4-star rating - Very Good - better than most.
First published in 1986
Brief thumbnail -
In his latest highly acclaimed Spenser novel, Robert B. Parker takes readers into the murky big-city underground where Spenser undertakes an intense search for a beautiful, missing prostitute, and finds himself traveling amidst the sleaze of Times Square where sex is a commodity, and young girls are the currency.
My thoughts -
Continuing with my effort to read books that have been lingering on my shelves (some for decades), I chose this Robert Parker novel as I have usually always thoroughly enjoyed them, whether a Spenser or Jesse Stone mystery. Going into this one I had serious doubts that I would like it as it centers around sex trafficking, prostitution, mafia control of vice, and sexual abuse of female children. Surprisingly, Parker handles all of this in typical no holds barred fashion and serves up a tale of the triumph of good over evil, if only to a limited extent.
The story also contains a good amount of Hawk and Susan in furtherance of those characters. The novel takes us from Spenser's homebase in Boston to New York City, rural Maine, and St. Thomas. Well done and fully deserving of my 4-star rating - Very Good - better than most.
April 2, 2018
Well. There is certainly a reason the front cover of this book has a stiletto heel through money on it. And we have prior players working again with Spenser and Hawk having his 6 and Hawk having Spenser's 6.
I also have a problem with it seems like Susan and Spenser don't have much of a problem in this book which pisses me off which is my problem, not theirs, obviously. One of these days I will have that little talk with Robert B. Parker. Have 3 more books so I better get started on buying more. Probably Amazon would be the best way to buy them. I will check.
I also have a problem with it seems like Susan and Spenser don't have much of a problem in this book which pisses me off which is my problem, not theirs, obviously. One of these days I will have that little talk with Robert B. Parker. Have 3 more books so I better get started on buying more. Probably Amazon would be the best way to buy them. I will check.
August 7, 2020
In this one, it's all persuasion and clever, dogged detecting; nobody shoots anybody! Susan's back, wiser and more loving than before her recent adventure, and our Spenser is at his best. I am always amazed at how quickly I read these books -- helps that this one (hardbound, from the library) is practically double spaced with very sparse pages (dialogue, notably short sentences) -- so they're practically long short stories that Parker cranked out with regularity. However, this doesn't diminish my enjoyment of his stories.
October 21, 2022
"My motto is if at first you don't succeed, the hell with it."
I like Spenser. This book did not disappoint. It was interesting to have April Kyle reappear and I'm looking forward to seeing where she goes in the future. I'm always tickled by the clothing descriptions Spenser makes. I'm looking forward to the next installment.
I like Spenser. This book did not disappoint. It was interesting to have April Kyle reappear and I'm looking forward to seeing where she goes in the future. I'm always tickled by the clothing descriptions Spenser makes. I'm looking forward to the next installment.
October 22, 2017
Gentler than a book.
January 18, 2018
I didn't quite "get" this book, but it's Spenser, and it's Hawk, so.
July 21, 2021
Spencer is looking for a young woman that's a prostitute who he has helped before and in the process tries to help another young prostitute.
I love the was Spencer and Hawk communicate!!
I love the was Spencer and Hawk communicate!!
March 28, 2022
Parker knew how to convey cool in his writing. This is not one of the weightier books in the series yet it packs a compelling punch. This series stands the test of time.
August 29, 2024
I was challenged to reread a book I read a long time ago. Picking up a Robert Parker-authored mystery from nearly 40 years ago and I re-enjoyed the book. Spenser is looking for one prostitute, befriends another, and shakes up a collection of health clubs masquerading as brothels. When the girl he befriends is murdered and her pimp is murdered, Spenser up the heat on the Health Club.
July 26, 2022
Opens up with the return of Patricia Utley and April Kyle, now age 20.
April’s left Patricia’s comfy, high-class game and is in trouble … along the way of finding her, Spenser of course manages to attract the attention of some major high-end pimps and stumble upon a murder that needs solving.
Makes for a fun, intriguing read.
5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Audio:
This narrator … is okay. While he does NOT bother with a Boston accent, there is a vibe to his vintage-y sound and being 5 books in now, I’m getting used to him. :)
First edition cover:
Spenser Reading Order:
1. The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
2. God Save the Child (1974)
3. Mortal Stakes (1975)
4. Promised Land (1976)
5. The Judas Goat (1978)
6. Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)
7. Early Autumn (1980)
8. A Savage Place (1981)
9. Ceremony (1982)
10. The Widening Gyre (1983)
11. Valediction (1984)
12. A Catskill Eagle (1985)
13. Taming a Seahorse (1986)
14. Pale Kings and Princes (1987)
15. Crimson Joy (1988)
16. Playmates (1989)
17. Stardust (1990)
18. Pastime (1991)
19. Double Deuce (1991)
20. Paper Doll (1993)
21. Walking Shadow (1994)
22. Thin Air (1995)
23. Chance (1996)
24. Small Vices (1997)
25. Sudden Mischief (1998)
26. Hush Money (1999)
27. Hugger Mugger (2000)
28. Potshot (2001)
29. Widow's Walk (2002)
30. Back Story (2003)
31. Bad Business (2004)
32. Cold Service (2005)
33. School Days (2005)
34. Dream Girl (2006)
35. Now and Then (2007)
36. Rough Weather (2008)
36.5 Chasing the Bear (2009)
37. The Professional (2009)
38. Painted Ladies (2010)
39. Sixkill (2011)
39.5 Silent Night (2013)
Spenser: A Mysterious Profile (2022)
continued in the series by Ace Atkins
April’s left Patricia’s comfy, high-class game and is in trouble … along the way of finding her, Spenser of course manages to attract the attention of some major high-end pimps and stumble upon a murder that needs solving.
Makes for a fun, intriguing read.
5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Audio:
This narrator … is okay. While he does NOT bother with a Boston accent, there is a vibe to his vintage-y sound and being 5 books in now, I’m getting used to him. :)
First edition cover:
Spenser Reading Order:
1. The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
2. God Save the Child (1974)
3. Mortal Stakes (1975)
4. Promised Land (1976)
5. The Judas Goat (1978)
6. Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)
7. Early Autumn (1980)
8. A Savage Place (1981)
9. Ceremony (1982)
10. The Widening Gyre (1983)
11. Valediction (1984)
12. A Catskill Eagle (1985)
13. Taming a Seahorse (1986)
14. Pale Kings and Princes (1987)
15. Crimson Joy (1988)
16. Playmates (1989)
17. Stardust (1990)
18. Pastime (1991)
19. Double Deuce (1991)
20. Paper Doll (1993)
21. Walking Shadow (1994)
22. Thin Air (1995)
23. Chance (1996)
24. Small Vices (1997)
25. Sudden Mischief (1998)
26. Hush Money (1999)
27. Hugger Mugger (2000)
28. Potshot (2001)
29. Widow's Walk (2002)
30. Back Story (2003)
31. Bad Business (2004)
32. Cold Service (2005)
33. School Days (2005)
34. Dream Girl (2006)
35. Now and Then (2007)
36. Rough Weather (2008)
36.5 Chasing the Bear (2009)
37. The Professional (2009)
38. Painted Ladies (2010)
39. Sixkill (2011)
39.5 Silent Night (2013)
Spenser: A Mysterious Profile (2022)
continued in the series by Ace Atkins
Displaying 1 - 30 of 249 reviews