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Back Story
- Narrated by: Joe Mantegna
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
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Publisher's summary
In 1974, a revolutionary group calling itself the Dread Scott Brigade held up the old Shawmut Bank in Boston's Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing traveler's checks, was shot and killed. No one saw who shot her. Despite security camera photos and a letter from the group claiming responsibility, the perpetrators have remained at large for nearly three decades.
Enter Paul Giacomin, the closest thing to a son Spenser has. Twice before, Spenser has come to the young man's assistance, and now that Paul is in his 30s, his troubled past is behind him. When Paul's friend Daryl Gordon -daughter of the long-gone Emily - decides she needs closure about the matter of her mother's death, it's Spenser she turns to. The lack of clues and the fact that an FBI intelligence report is missing force Spenser to reach out in every direction - to Daryl's estranged hippie father; to Vinnie Morris and the mob; to the mysterious Ives - and test his resourcefulness and courage.
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With novels like Mystic River and Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane has dramatically altered the landscape of the crime thriller—while boldly overstepping the boundaries that have long separated mystery from literature. Now two of his sensational early novels have been combined in a single volume—two gritty and mesmerizing masterworks of suspense featuring the private eye duo of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.
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White Bread
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-30-12
By: Dennis Lehane
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Vengeance
- By: Stuart M. Kaminsky
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Three years ago Lew Fonseca quit his job as a process server with the State Attorney's Office in Cook County, Illinois, and drove his rattling Toyota south to escape the memories of his beloved late wife. Headed for Key West, the Toyota broke down in a Dairy Queen parking lot in Sarasota, Florida. Buoyed by the friendship of a few trustworthy souls, Lew settled there, making ends meet by doing some investigative work for local attorneys.
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Unexpectional!
- By Ted on 09-17-17
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Big City, Bad Blood
- By: Sean Chercover
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Disillusioned newspaper reporter-turned-private detective Ray Dudgeon doesn't want to save the world; he just wants to do an honest job well. But when doing an honest job threatens society's most powerful and corrupt, Ray's odds of survival make for a sucker's bet.
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Quintessentially Chicago
- By Eva Gannon on 09-21-09
By: Sean Chercover
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Iron Lake
- Cork O'Connor, Book 1
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Anthony Award-winning author William Kent Krueger crafts this riveting tale about a small Minnesota town’s ex-sheriff who is having trouble retiring his badge. Cork O’Connor loses his job after being blamed for a tragedy on the local Anishinaabe Indian reservation. But he must set aside his personal demons when a young boy goes missing on the same day a judge commits suicide—and no one but O’Connor suspects foul play.
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Great New Series
- By Lia on 06-01-18
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The Blue Hour
- Merci Rayborn, Book 1
- By: T. Jefferson Parker
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Tim Hess is a semiretired veteran cop staring at a death sentence - his own. Detective Merci Rayborn, young enough to be his daughter, is brash, impatient, and not someone from whom Hess wants to be taking orders. He certainly isn't planning on falling in love with her. Together, they must track down a psychopathic killer who's been abducting beautiful young women from the malls of Orange County.
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Outstanding book, exceptional reader
- By Jan on 03-24-10
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Short Squeeze
- By: Chris Knopf
- Narrated by: Deanna Hurst
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet smart-aleck Southampton attorney Jackie Swaitkowski. Her business relies on constant movement of Hamptons' real estate market. After making an odd request to evict his sister-in-law from his home, one of her clients turns up dead. Jackie would have expected that to be the end of it, but an envelope found on the corpse contains an item so unusual that she finds herself working on something bigger, and more dangerous, than real estate.
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Great Listen - Good Series
- By Patricia on 02-15-10
By: Chris Knopf
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The Winter of Frankie Machine
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Frank Machianno is a late-middle-aged ex-surf bum who runs a bait shack on the San Diego waterfront. An affable Italian with a love of people and life, he's a stand-up businessman, devoted father, and a beloved fixture in the community. He's also a hit man - specifically, a retired hit man. Back in the day when he was one of the most feared members of the West Coast Mafia, he was known as Frankie Machine.
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Five stars straight across the board
- By Eric Taylor on 06-28-12
By: Don Winslow
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Quarry
- A Quarry Novel, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Quarry doesn't kill just anybody these days. He restricts himself to targeting other hitmen, availing his marked-for-death clients of two services: eliminating the killers sent after them, and finding out who hired them…and then removing that problem, as well. So far he's rid of the world of nobody who would be missed. But this time he finds himself zeroing in on the grieving family of a missing cheerleader. Does the hitman's hitman have the wrong quarry in his sights?
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The great Max Allan Collins
- By Bradley Paul Valentine on 09-25-16
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The Last Place You Look
- By: Kristen Lepionka
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Nobody knows what happened to Sarah Cook. The beautiful blonde teenager disappeared 15 years ago, the same night her parents were brutally murdered in their suburban Ohio home. Her boyfriend, Brad Stockton - black and from the wrong side of the tracks - was convicted of the murders and is now on death row. Though he's maintained his innocence all along, the clock is running out. His execution is only weeks away when his devoted sister insists she spied Sarah at an area gas station.
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Alcoholic PI
- By Karwyn on 05-17-18
By: Kristen Lepionka
What listeners say about Back Story
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- bebe
- 04-29-10
excellent Spencer story and production
I really loved this book. Spencer's "adopted" son, Paul, is in the story and I love Paul. He was introduced to us in the Spencer series book, "Early Autumn" . In my opinion, it would be good to have already read or listened to Early Autumn so that you know all about Paul before you listen to Back Story, but it is not necessary since this story can stand on its own. Hawk and Susan are in the story line of Back Story, which helps make it a great book. Also, Spencer meets Jesse Stone in this book. Stone appears in as the Police Chief of the town Paradise. At the first of this book It is revealed in the first of this book that Pearl the wonderdog has passed away - amazingly, Susan and Spencer get a puppy, the same breed as Pearl, to help get over the grief. To make things even more "fun", the story line brings back the memory of the hippie movement and free love. As you can see, in addition to the main story line of a 28 year old cold case murder which Spencer is attempting to solve, there is a lot going on! The reader, Joe Mantegna does his usual great job reading the book. I loves his interpretation of Spencer and of the reoccuring characgers of Susan, Hawk, Quirk, Belson, etc. I expecially love his interpretations of the very well written, witty conversations between Spencer and Hawk.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mikay
- 10-02-12
Joe Mantegna is Spencer
I love the Spencer books, and Joe Mantegna makes him come alive for me. The story is "good trumps evil" even it does smash a few folks around and maybe leaves some not-so-alive. The story was a great read and a small escape into the land where "everything works out in the end".
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Overall
- Nina
- 12-26-04
another winner for Robert Parker
I've listened to most of Parker's books as I'm unable to use my eyes, and never even noticed the "he said, she said" thing until this other reviewer mentioned it. It still isn't a problem. On the contrary, I think it's part of the rythym of his repartee. But, it might not be to everyone's taste. It's very, very dry. Brut supreme and supreme writing, IMHO.
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Overall
- Sharlene
- 08-15-03
Delightful
This detective mystery had several strong points. The length was just right. The narrator imitated well a Northeastern cop, making the story believable from the beginning. The book was intriguing from the beginning up to the surprise ending. The only negative comment I have is that I don't like profanity, even though I realize it is part of some characters' personalities.
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- Ruth
- 04-30-03
...he's Baa-a-ack!
okay: I haven't enjoyed a Parker novel in awhile, but this one, although not the most innovative, is fun and witty. His last few books have felt forced and written "just because..." Narrator is also excellent and gives each character a voice of his own.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Colin
- 01-25-06
Robert B. Parker does it again
What can I say but another great book from Mr. Parker. As always, he puts you right there on the street with his characters. The research he does is incredible. If you were from the city he puts his characters in and were familiar with that part of the city he's using as background, you'd know exactly where you are in your mind's eye. Mr. Parker doesn't just write, he paints a mental canvas.
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Overall
- Bob
- 05-07-03
Review of Back Story
This is my first story with this author. I like the straightforward language and the good, interesting story. I've been listening to other thriller/detective stories, and this is a good mix of straightforward writing, good, interesting plot, and understandable characters. It's engaging and complete without a lot of wasted words.
He gets at meaningful interactions between characters without wasting words. The reader gets the picture without the author's having to waste words and time with a lot of description and dialogue. I suspect this kind of writing is tough to accomplish, and it's good to read.
So it's 4 stars: good story, concise writing, interesting and tightly drawn characters, and that interesting dialogue: lots of tough guy lingo, and you can see the various characters sizing each other up and staring each other down. And shooting each other.
Mantegna is a good listen, too.
Bob
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 08-24-03
Parker's Spenser is the best
Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels are best read in chronological order, and this is the latest in the series. The character of Spenser has grown amazingly in the tellings and has become not only a hard-boiled dectective, but the kind of man you want as your best friend. Parker is also to be commended on his fine and subtle sense of sarcasm in the use of dialogue. If ever there was a series that is suited to the audio format the Spenser books are it! There is a wit and charm going on that may not come off in hardcopy if you haven't first heard these books done well; and they are narrated VERY well by Joe Mantegna!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Bob
- 05-08-03
you know what you're gonna get
I think that I have listened to every "Spenser" novel that's available on Audible. It isn't so much that they are fantastic books... it's more that they are predictable in their high-quality. I tend to listen to these short Robert B. Parker novels between larger books... enjoying a mostly mindless story before undertaking another long listen.
Joe Mantegna continues his entertaining portrayal as Spenser... one that he's also become known for in made-for-TV movies. As a side-note, the voices that he gives his female characters in his readings never fail to amuse me. I particularly enjoy when he attempts to pull off a rendition of a woman trying to seduce Spenser. Those laughs alone make the commute fly by quickly.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Brian
- 09-23-12
Superman, Batman, Spencer
Any additional comments?
Classic Parker. Spencer does it again. Mantegna hits the nail on the head.
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