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Pale Kings and Princes
Robert B. Parker Book Review

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Plot Summary of Pale Kings and Princes
"This book is part of a series starring Spencer, a private detective. This series is the basis for the TV series called Spencer for Hire, starring Robert Urich. Spencer lives in Boston, used to be a cop, but now is a private detective. He is hired by a local newspaper to find out what happened to one of their reporters. He was investigating the cocaine traffic in a nearby small town called Wheaton when he was killed. But the police all seem to be on the take and won't cooperate. It seems that local produce farmer Esteva is the ringleader of a drug ring, but how will Spencer prove it? Things get a little dicey and he brings his psychologist lover Susan Silverman and his enforcer friend Hawk to Wheaton to help him figure out the puzzle."
BethG, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Pale Kings and Princes
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain? - Somewhat obvious
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant
Kind of investigator - hard boiled/private eye
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - small businessman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
City? Yes
City: - Boston

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Pale Kings and Princes
Ninth Square by Gorman Bechard
Death Watch by John Sandford
A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block
Murder a la Mode by G.A. McKevett
All or Nothing by Elizabeth Adler


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Robert B. Parker Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Lydie Barquet  

SCHOLARS:
BethG  Eric Raybon  michael watson  Deborah Spaulding  danzel  Kevin R. Tipple  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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