BAD BUSINESS

The CEO of Kinergy, a wildly successful energy-trading company, has his eye on the White House rather than his business. Meanwhile, trusted senior executives are cooking the books and makin’ whoopie in a spouse-swapping setup engineered by a free-love radio talk show host. Bad business, indeed! Robert B. Parker’s writing has never been never sharper, matching an engaging plot with Spenser’s famous razor-sharp one-liners. Joe Mantegna, who plays Spenser in the made-for-cable Spenser movies, does a great job giving vocal identity to each of the odd assortment of good guys, bad guys, and ladies of questionable character, using pace and emotion to effectively separate one from another. In this 31st Spenser novel, Parker is still on his game, and Spenser is still the same irrepressible Spenser. T.J.M. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]