School Days, Robert B. Parker
School Days, Robert B. Parker
31 Rating(s)
List: $14.98 | Sale: $10.49
Club: $7.49

School Days

Author: Robert B. Parker

Narrator: Joe Mantegna

Unabridged: 5 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/27/2005


Synopsis

Lily Ellsworth--erect, firm, white-haired, and stylish--is the grand dame of Dowling, Massachusetts, and possesses an iron will and a bottomless purse. When she hires Spenser to investigate her grandson Jared Clark's alleged involvement in a school shooting, Spenser is led into an inquiry that grows more harrowing at every turn. Though seven people were killed in cold blood, and despite Jared's being named as a co-conspirator by the other shooter, Mrs. Ellsworth is convinced of her grandson's innocence. Jared's parents are resigned to his fate, and the boy himself doesn't seem to care whether he goes to prison for a crime he might not have committed.

As the probe goes on, Spenser finds himself up against a number of roadblocks--from the school officials who don't want him asking questions, to Jared's own parents, who are completely indifferent to the boy's defense. Ultimately, Spenser discovers a web of blackmail and some heavy-duty indiscretions--and a truth too disturbing to contemplate. Before the case reaches its unfortunate end, he is forced to make a series of difficult decisions--with fatal consequences.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kemper on January 27, 2013

Spenser gets hired by the grandmother of a teenager accused of being one of two kids who went on a shooting spree in their high school and killed several of the students and teachers. The grandmother is convinced that he is innocent despite being caught at the scene and giving a confession to the po......more

Goodreads review by Bill on June 26, 2019

School Days (2005) is a good mystery, better than most later Spensers. It is perhaps a little dated, now that Sandy Hook and Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas have changed our attitudes toward school violence, but it perfectly captured at least one of America’s moods in the decade after Columbine, when teen......more

Goodreads review by Jenny on May 27, 2019

School Days is book thirty-three in the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker. Private Detective Spenser caught a case of young book Jared Clark accused of taking part in a shooting at his school. Looking at the evidence, Private Detective Spenser thinks there is more to the story and starts to investi......more

Goodreads review by Gloria ~ on February 12, 2017

As usual we enjoyed this installment of Spenser's adventures. My husband and I are reading as many as we can lately. Fast, easy reading, keeping us entertained with his wit, roving eye, and sense of humor. As he is hired by a wealthy older woman to investigate whether her grandson was innocent or no......more

Goodreads review by Brent on January 12, 2017

In book 33 of the Spenser series Parker takes on issues like Columbine. Kids killing other kids in a mass murder rampage by two boys. We learn what was going on at the school that played a part in the kids shooting spree. There was rumors in my high school when I attended of some of the same stuff g......more


Quotes

Praise for School Days

“Crackling prose and juicy repartee.”—Entertainment Weekly“The best Spenser novel since Early Autumn.”—The Associated Press“Plenty of entertainment...The two-fisted P.I. is in good form and his creator in fine fettle here.”—Los Angeles Times“Spenser fans...will be thrilled to have their wise-cracking Boston private eye back again...navigating the perilous shoals of suburban discontent and ripped-from-the-headlines horror stories—with only his fanciful German pointer, Pearl, to keep him company.”—New York Post“Spenser returns! He fights, he flirts, he cooks, he wisecracks, he quotes poetry. This thirty-third outing for the Boston private eye is one of the most psychologically astute and well-choreographed entries in the entire series. This is a high point in one of the genre’s classic series.”—Booklist“A pleasure...another solid installment in this fine, enduring series.”—Publishers Weekly“Vintage Parker...Everyone interested in mystery and contemporary writing in general should read at least one of the Spenser novels.”—Library Journal“Parker is at the top of his game...School Days [is] one of the best and most timely books Mr. Parker has ever written.”—Midwest Book Review“A crackling yarn.”—Boston Magazine