Small Vices

A Spenser Novel

By: Robert B. Parker

Narrated by: Burt Reynolds

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Ellis Alves is no angel. But his lawyer says he was framed for the murder of college student Melissa Henderson...and asks Spenser for help.

From Boston's back streets to Manhattan's elite, Spenser and Hawk search for suspects, including Melissa's rich-kid, tennis-star boyfriend. But when a man with a .22 puts Spenser in a coma, the hope for justice may die with him.

©1997 Robert B. Parker (P)2005 Phoenix Audio, All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

"Robert B. Parker is a tough act to follow." (The New York Times Book Review)

Small Vices has one major vice: the sound quality

This is the first Audible recording I am having serious difficulty listening to on my computer due to the sound quality. I don't object to Burt Reynolds, but my computer can't handle the bass/treble mix and this diminishes the book. This needs to be fixed -- or go back to Joe M as the narrator.

Burt Reynolds gives a great read

Mr. Reynolds creates characters that are nearly as I imagined them to be. His character delineation and the life he brings to each one is superb.
The story, itself, is classic Spencer.

Great book bad Reading

This is a normal Parker book, but Burt Reynold's reading is horrendous. I like Burt as an actor but he reading of this book was hard to listen to at times. I had to listen to parts two or three times before understanding what he was saying. This made the story have no flow and made the 8 hrs seem longer. Otherwise, the book was a normal Parker book. I am look forward to the next book but I hope for a different reader.

Great Story But I wish he’d had stuck to being the Bandit

Whomever let Burt Reynolds read these books should be taken out back and shot. He’s just plain bad at it. He’s good at other stuff, but at this he is bad. Not David Dukes bad (he himself should be taken out back and shot), but still grueling to listen to. I liked this story though, just like I did 20 years ago when I read it.

Crying out to be re-mastered

Any additional comments?

While I enjoy the writing and love Burt Reynolds' narration, the book is ruined by the musical accompaniment, of which there is a lot. I don't generally like musical accompaniment in audiobooks, and I specifically don't like the music selected for this title. I can't fathom the connection of the musical selections to the themes of the text.Those are subjective judgements that you may or may not share. The part that is probably relevant to most listeners is that the relative sound levels of the music and narration are off. The music is much louder than you'd expect and makes the narration difficult to understand. Sometimes the music overlaps with the start of a passage, sometimes the end. I listened to the whole thing, but it would have been much more frustrating if I hadn't read this book in text format first.

Horrible reader!

Would you try another book from Robert B. Parker and/or Burt Reynolds?

Yes Robert B. Parker, NO Burt Reynolds

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hawk, dropping everything and traveling cross country to take care of Spenser

How could the performance have been better?

Get a reader who doesn't mumble, can pronounce "Library", and will breathe LIFE into the characters, like Joe Mantegna does later in the series!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The book is wonderful and Spensers come back inspired hope in me

Any additional comments?

Burt Reynolds was, once upon a time a good comedic actor. He should not read audio books. He doesn't enunciate or emote. All of the characters were dead on the page.

No more Burt, please

I was interested in this book mainly to find out about the gray man, who appeared in a later book (I'm encountering the books out of order), and the book, itself, was not a disappointment.

The narration, however, was abominable. Reynold's mumbling required me to increase the treble and decrease the bass and backtrack occasionally to try to hear what he said. I was amazed at how many cops in the Boston area had good ol' boy southern accents, and Reynold's renditions of Ives and others were lame. Vinnie and Fish sounded like Rick from Casablanca.

Please, let Joe Mantegna do Spenser. Though his rendering of women is sometimes weak, it's ok, and the others are usually very good. And audible.

Not a thriller

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The story was very slow. There was hardly any suspense in it. Most of the story centered around Spenser's relationship with his girlfriend and his dog, Pearl. They were trying to decide if they should adopt a child. I was expecting a suspensful, action-packed thriller. This definitely was not suspenseful. I did like Burt Reynold's reading, but unfortunately the content was not very exciting.

Small Vices

Burt Reynolds is a terrible narrator. The book loses the flavor of a Joe Montegna narrated Spencer.

How bad can you get

I tried to listen to this book. I really did. I made it about 10 minutes. The combination of the dimestore novel prose and matching reader's voice was too distracting. Perhaps if I gave it an hour I would like it, but life is too short. I gave it one star, but that is really one too many.