Mortal Stakes

Mortal Stakes  

First Edition
Author(s) Robert B. Parker
Language English
Series Spenser
Genre(s) Detective novel
Publisher Houghton Mifflin
Publication date 1975
Media type Print (Paperback)
Pages 172 pp
ISBN 0-395-21969-8
OCLC Number 1530701
Dewey Decimal 813/.5/4
LC Classification PZ4.P244 Mo PS3566.A686
Preceded by God Save the Child
Followed by Promised Land

Mortal Stakes is the third Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, first published in 1975. The story centers on the Boston private eye being hired by the Red Sox to find out if their lead pitcher, Marty Rabb, is on the take. The investigation quickly takes him into a deeper, and more dangerous, blackmail plot involving pimps, high class madams and the mob.

Literary significance and criticism

"Despite appearances at the beginning, this tense and well-plotted story is not about baseball. Spenser ... finds two couples -- a blackmailer and his parasite and a man and wife (the ballplayer ménage) with whom he becomes friendly. These four principals are admirably done; the slut's transgression is not treated in the routine manner that might have been expected; and the final, violent settlement of accounts by Spenser is first-rate."[1]

References

  1. ^ Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. A Catalogue of Crime. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8

External links

Spenser novels
Novels
The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)  • God Save the Child (1974)  • Mortal Stakes (1975)  • Promised Land (1976)  • The Judas Goat (1978)  • Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)  • Early Autumn (1981)  • A Savage Place (1981)  • Ceremony (1982)  • The Widening Gyre (1983)  • Valediction (1984)  • A Catskill Eagle (1985)  • Taming a Sea Horse (1986)  • Pale Kings and Princes (1987)  • Crimson Joy (1988)  • Playmates (1989)  • Stardust (1990)  • Pastime (1991)  • Double Deuce (1992)  • Paper Doll (1993)  • Walking Shadow (1994)  • Thin Air (1995)  • Chance (1996)  • Small Vices (1997)  • Sudden Mischief (1998)  • Hush Money (1999)  • Hugger Mugger (2000)  • Potshot (2001)  • Widow's Walk (2002)  • Back Story (2003)  • Bad Business (2004)  • Cold Service (2005)  • School Days (2005)  • Hundred-Dollar Baby (2006)  • Now and Then (2006)  • Rough Weather (2008)  • Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel (2009)  • The Professional (2009)  • Painted Ladies (2010)  • Sixkill (2011)
Adaptations
Other
Wilderness (1979)  • Love and Glory (1983)  • Poodle Springs (1989)  • Stardust (1990)  • Perchance to Dream (1991)  • All Our Yesterdays (1994)  • Night Passage (1997)  • Trouble in Paradise (1998)  • Hush Money (1999)  • Family Honor (1999)  • Perish Twice (2000)  • Gunman's Rhapsody (2001)  • Death in Paradise (2001)  • Shrink Rap (2002)  • Stone Cold (2003)  • Melancholy Baby (2004)  • Double Play (2004)  • Appaloosa (2005)  • Blue Screen (2006)  • Sea Change (2006)  • Spare Change (2007)  • Now and Then (2007)  • Edenville Owls (2007)  • High Profile (2007)  • Stranger in Paradise (2008)  • The Boxer and the Spy (2008)  • Resolution (2008)  • Brimstone (2009)  • Night and Day (2009)  • Split Image (2010)  • Blue-Eyed Devil (2010)