Synopsis: 'Young Spenser is tough. No double about it. After all, he's being raised by his father and uncles - three of the toughest men in town. He knows how to fight, and he's had to prove it. But his father taught him something far more valuable: sometimes the toughest thing a guy can do is walk away from a fight.
So when Spenser sees his friend Jeannie being taken in a boat downriver by her abusive father, he knows he has a had decision to make. Should he trust his gut and risk his own life to save Jeannie's? And if so, how can he overcome such a bear of a man?" From book jacket

Review: Interesting prequel told from Spenser's point of view. It sort of explains his attitude toward his job, and the world. ( )

This is a fine young adult novel with action and also a discussion of what it means to be an adult. For those adults who like Spenser novels, it is enjoyable to see how Parker conveives of thso eyouthful experiences that shaped the detective. ( )

Review: Chasing The Bear by Robert B Parker.

This is an amazing read and I wished I would have read it a long time ago. It’s a young adult novel that shares a message to all young boys how issues were handled years ago. I appreciate the way Robert Parker addressed the issue of what we face today with young teens.

The story is about Spenser’s character as a young boy being reared by his father and two uncles. He was brought up in a Man’s world and never new his mother who died during child-birth. The reader gets to know Spenser’s father Sam and his two uncles Cash and Patrick who are his deceased mother’s brothers. They all live together and Spenser at fourteen is treated as an adult. Each man is consistent with chores, cooking, and Spenser also gets boxing lessons every night, along with reading, fishing, hunting, and carpentering lessons while going to school on a regular bases. He also learns about bravery, how to efficiently avenge the issue of racial prejudice, bullying, and fighting.

The events that occur throughout the story had no vulgarity in the context so it was comfortable read and I recommend this book for mothers who have young sons to read out loud this story to her son so he can understand that there are different ways to handle tough decisions. I read it out loud and felt refreshed when the story ended….




( )

Too short, loved it. Can never, ever get enough Spenser. RIP Robert B. Parker, you are greatly missed. ( )

It took me a long time to get around to reading Chasing The Bear. A young adult look at Spenser’s past? Hmm. I wasn’t really interested. But I’d reached the point wherein all I had left to read were books written by other people under Parker’s name (or at least continuing his series, I forget if they say things like “Parker’s Spenser” or the like), some non-series books that include words like “love” in the title, and two or three young adult novels (plus one Spenser novel which either escaped my reading, or escaped my rating of it).

So . . . I read Chasing the Bear instead of any of those other options. Especially as I liked how the Jess Stone and Sunny Randall series ended (that’s two different series, what’s the plural of series? Series? Seriesss . . serii), and didn’t want to read what some other author thought of Jess Stone. Since he seemed have tossed Randall out of the series, despite how the last Parker written Stone book ended.

Ok, the premise. Spenser and Susan are walking and sitting in a park. There are pigeons and squirrels begging for food. Neither Spenser nor Susan has food to give them. Susan asks Spenser to tell more about his past. After some bantering Spenser actually travels back in time and begins telling some stories from when he lived with his father and his dead mother’s two brothers (though he describes it as his father and two uncles).

Stories from Spenser’s teen years are mentioned. Then back to the “present” wherein Susan and Spenser talk. Then back to teen year stories.

While I was reading the book I thought of the concept. The young adult concept. This book was sold as a young adult book. I pictured a young adult seeing the book and trying it. And being quite bored. At least with the present day bantering, which kept interrupting the teen years stories.

The book is quite interesting for a reader with deep knowledge with Spenser, and desirous of reading more about his past. It should not be, though, read by someone as a first Spenser book. No action, other than bantering, takes place with adult Spenser. All action with teen Spenser, while interesting, is a little too short to be a satisfying book. Hence my determination that this is a much better book for someone already familiar with and desirous of learning about Spenser’s past.

Which comes back to this book being labeled young adult. Seems to lead to the issue of who is the intended market? While nothing occurs that would remove the book from that category, the book itself doesn’t really appear to be complete enough as a stand-alone young adult book. Meanwhile, adults who read the Spenser series may not have a desire to read a young adult book about Spenser. An adult book about young Spenser maybe but not necessarily a young adult book. ( )