Great story. Kept me reading even during Spenser’s rehab, which was well written. I’ve really come to enjoy the Susan/Spenser relationship. It’s weathered many storms but they are solid- good thing for the baby, Pearl, that is.

I cannot imagine what the title or the cover image mean ... neither seems to have anything to do with the story. Which is a fine Spenser-Hawk story, but should have been called "The Gray Man," for this is the great showdown and the long painful aftermath of it. Since it is Spenser, all is for the outcome of justice and truth. Good read--how people get framed for crimes and how they are lucky if Spenser is in their corner. Susan is at her most annoying, though, alas.

90 out of 100 for 2010

This may be my favorite of the entire Spenser series. By the mid-Ninties, he had grown a bit predictale, not stale but not fresh. In the early novels, Spenser was vulnerable--tough, lost fights, and, except for the fact that it was series fiction, his fate was in doubt--you knew Spenser could lose, and his vulnerability made him more interesting. By the Nineties, he'd grown invulnerable, and, p'raps, a bit less inteesting.

Then came 'Small Vices.' Spenser loses, and nearly dies; he does NOT win in a final shoot out (doesn't actually kill anyone, either), an the murder that started the case proves not to be a murder.


All the great stuff you expect in a Spenser, along with a genuinely interesting plot.

A bit boring so skipped some pages, story develops very slowly moreover I'm not a big fan of Super man.