Silent Night

A Spenser Holiday Novel

By: Robert B. Parker, Helen Brann

Narrated by: Joe Mantegna

It’s December in Boston, and Spenser is busy planning the menu for Christmas dinner when he’s confronted in his office by a young boy named Slide. Homeless and alone, Slide has found refuge with an organization named Street Business, which gives shelter and seeks job opportunities for the homeless and lost. Slide’s mentor, Jackie Alvarez, is being threatened, and Street Business is in danger of losing its tenuous foothold in the community, turning Slide and many others like him back on the street. But it’s not a simple case of intimidation - Spenser, aided by Hawk, finds a trail that leads to a dangerous drug kingpin, whose hold on the at-risk community Street Business serves threatens not just the boys’ safety and security, but their lives as well.

Unfinished at the time of his death, Silent Night was completed by Parker’s longtime agent, whose decades-long association with Parker’s work gives her unique insight and perspective to his voice and storytelling style. Her contribution also speaks volumes about their enduring friendship.

©2013 Helen Brann (P)2013 Robert B. Parker

Critic reviews

"This is the perfect holiday treat for crime readers needing another Spenser fix." (Library Journal)

"Brann does a seamless job.... Diehard Parker fans will be delighted." (Publishers Weekly)

A good read but not all Robert Parker

This author has the general idea of Spencer and Hawk but does not quite have all of Robert Parker's the net. The characters are not as holistic and deep as Parkers.

Silent Night

I found this Robert B Parker book an excellent audible book, with very good narration.

A fitting goodbye

This episode of the Spenser chronicles is in the long tradition of serial novelists who write a Christmas story. However grimy the stories may be, they tend to have a gentler ending, and to show the protagonists at their ethical best, and that is the case here. Parker (and Brann) pulled out all the stops to show Spenser, Hawk, and even Vinnie as human beings with complicated lives and feelings, and with sometimes inexplicable decency.
But what we are reading, we all know now, is Parker's last word about these people he created. After Parker's death, his series were sold to other authors, and while sometimes the new writers produce credible plots with familiar characters, they cannot write authentically, cannot produce in the reader that same satisfaction, because Parker's characters came from his heart and his mind and his experience and his fantasies, and no one else's.
So, if we have to say goodbye to Parker, let it be with this lovely novel, filled with the people we know making bad things come out right. It is a story of hope in a season of hope. And it's OK to be thankful for it.

Great Spencer in the Parker style

I have always loved Robert Parkers Spencer detective series. I listen to many of these as audiobooks narrated by Joe Mantegna in the 90s. This book follows in that wonderful tradition. It’s a good story, not too sentimental, and with all the hallmarks of a traditional Spencer story. Joe Mantegna is wonderful as narrator.

Enjoyed the Characters

I enjoyed the characters "Slide" and "Carmen" and enjoyed the lack of blood and guts.

Touching

I thought everyone worked well together and the main characters deepened their friendship and love.

Nice to see Spenser again!

Would you consider the audio edition of Silent Night to be better than the print version?

Yes. Joe Mantegna is the perfect voice for Spenser, Hawk and the rest of the gang.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Silent Night?

I always love the banter between Spenser and Hawk.

What does Joe Mantegna bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Joe Mantegna brings out the smart ass in Spenser. When I read Spenser novels, I read it with Joe's voice in my head.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I didn't have any extreme reaction to Silent Night. It wasn't my favorite Spenser novel, but, like the others that I've read, I thoroughly enjoyed it and was sad to see the "time remaining" indicator on my audiobook tick down to the end.

Any additional comments?

I've read or listened to every Spenser novel that there is and consider myself a big fan of Robert B. Parker and especially of the Spenser Novels. Silent Night is no exception. Like Ace Atkins, I think that Helen Brann has done a great job bringing us another Spenser story. I look forward to more in the future.

Silent Night

Another well told Spenser tale. Spenser and Hawk are further developed. If you are a fan of the Spenser series, you will enjoy this one.

AWESOME BOOK! WELL WRITTEN!!

I am so Sorry Robert passed. However- Joan did an EXCELLENT job finishing this book!

I miss Robert Parker

He was a stalwart of my childhood. It was tremendous that mrs Brann finished and she did a fantastic job!!