The Godwulf Manuscript

I've gone years without attempting the Spenser series. I decided to take up the task of trying to read all the books in the series in order. This book is a great start. Without spoiling anything, you get a sense of Spenser's humor while getting a great mini mystery. Yes the book is unabridged and great for a quick trip but the reader is wear it counts. At first his narration comes off as dull but you start to enjoy his interpretation of the character. The story is nothing revolutionary but the plus side is that you can tell Parker respects the likes of Chandler, Hammett etc...which adds to the feel of the novel.

Overall the book is a solid 4 out of 5 stars. Not the best, not the worst. If you're a completest like me then read it, if not still read it because it's the introduction of Spenser who is one of the greats in detective fiction.

Ahh, 1973. The good old days BC (before cell phones), when the left-wingers and not the right-wingers were the ones calling for the overthrow of the government, and ostentatious consumerism was still considered tacky. A college secretary wears a purple suede garment that Spenser notes is ???too short to be a skirt and too long to be a belt.??? She has paired it with a shiny red shirt with wide lapels. I think I may have owned both those items once upon a time, although if I ever wore them together I???ve repressed the occasion.

In this First Chronicle of Spenser, the erudite but self-educated boxer-turned-cop-turned-tough-PI takes on effete academia at the height of the hell-no-we-won???t-go era. I enjoyed it, but it really is a period piece. I found it interesting to compare ???Godwulf??? with later Spenser books in which college administrations play a significant role??????Playmates,??? ???Hush Money,??? and ???Small Vices??? come immediately to mind, and I think there are others. Perhaps there???s a thesis there: ???The Evolution of the University in the Spenser Novels.???

Ave atque Vale, Robert B. Parker!

Honestly, this is NOT great literature, and the setting is SO burned into the late sixties (pre-women's lib, post sexual revolution, mid-hippies) that I felt like I was in a time machine. But it is entertaining and archetypical private eye mystery material. Spenser is sensitive but macho, sexy but uninvolved, Scotch-drinking but health-conscious -- how can you not love this little bite of a book? Readers under 30 may not know what the heck is going on, but I enjoyed it.

I love Spenser but this narrator was terrible. Don't waste your credits. He bores you to death. I really would like my credit back.

I'm a big fan of Parker's "Jesse Stone" series, but I'd never listened to any of the Spenser books, so when I saw this one in the $4.95 sale I decided to give it a try. It was ok, I didn't struggle through it or anything, but it was a very basic detective story. I didn't like the reader, and it took me awhile to get used to him, but I eventually did. Can't really recommend this book, as I didn't like it that much, but I can't really knock it either as it was an ok listen. If you like basic detective stories, or you want to start the Spenser books from the beginning then this book isn't too bad a choice.

A very entertaining and amusing book. The detective is a nice but tough guy who gives as much punishment as he gets. He suffers no fools and has no patience with "put offs." Once started I could not turn the book off until the end. The action is continuous.

The book is just okay, even though Robert B. Parker is one of my favorite authors.

No

I guess I was expecting Robert Urich!

Yes

No

I'm a Spenser and I thought it would be good to go back to the beginning and see how all this started. I enjoyed the first time perspective of this novel and it was fun to see Spenser stretch his legs. However, I'm not too much of a fan of the "Grandfather reads a book" style of narration. I much prefer the story telling actor narration of, say, Scott Brick or Simon Vance. I think I will avoid the rest of the Michael Prichard Spensers and put them on my Kindle instead.

I have and will again. This is the first Spenser, and all that comes after has this as the foundation.

NO! NO! NO! The television show was awful, and I can not imagine that a movie would be better.

This is the first in the Spenser series. It is interesting how his character has changed over the years.
I am now starting with this 1st book and will continue on in sequence. I wish I had read this one first instead of skipping around.
Love Spenser Series. Sorry to hear Mr. Parker has passed.