Bonus Content
A note from the Author: "First, the disclaimer: I do not have a plan. I do not know what the next chapter in my current book will be, let alone what I'll do in some future book, so read my answers in that context... I never said I had foresight. Joan has not said that of me, either." -Robert B. Parker
In your latest book, Spenser and Susan seem to be as strong as ever. You've discussed marriage for them in the past. Do you think they will ever tie the knot?
I doubt that they will ever marry. They are the kind of people whom you'd expect it of, but somehow it doesn't seem quite proper, at the moment, anyway. They tried living together in DOUBLE DEUCE, and the conflicting force of their equal and individual autonomy made that arrangement not really workable. They seem to have found a way to love each other and be together with out quite being submerged in each other.
Do you plan on ever having Hawk find a "Susan," someone to lean on? He came close with Cecile in COLD SERVICE, will she return?
Hawk doesn't lean on anyone, and is quite unlikely to start. Cecile, aside from her value to the plot of COLD SERVICE, was also a way of assessing whether Hawk was capable of a Susan. He, at least, concluded that he is not. From my perspective, again, it doesn't seem to work.
In THE PROFESSIONAL, we meet a new character, Zell, who seems to fall under the same code of ethics some of Spenser's other acquaintances possess. Will he, like Chollo and Teddy Sapp, appear again?
ell will reappear if there's an occasion for him to do so (see disclaimer above). I never create a character for future use, but if they're around in the future and a use for them develops, I re-employ them. Thus Vinnie, Chollo, Bobby Horse, Teddy Sapp, Tony Marcus, etc. were all created ad hoc (as was Hawk in PROMISED LAND) and come and go as they are needed. Their loyalty to Spenser is, of course, a way of reminding the reader how compelling Spenser is.
Will Spenser ever meet your two other characters, Jesse Stone or Sunny Randall? Speaking of Sunny Randall, will there be a new book in that series?
Spenser and Hawk have briefly met Jesse Stone in BACK STORY and Sunny Randall receives ongoing psychotherapy from Susan Silverman. Sunny is now appearing with some regularity in the Jesse Stone novels, as Jesse's main squeeze. I don't know what the future holds. I think it is particularly interesting to see Susan through the eyes of an intelligent and admiring patient. It does for Susan what I think Vinnie and Chollo et al do for Spenser (see #3 above).
You've started exploring Spenser's past with the Young Spenser series-do you think you will ever do a Young Hawk book? His childhood experiences would be fascinating to learn.
I don't know enough about Hawk, including his childhood, to do a standalone Hawk book. He works best when seen through Spenser's eyes, as he was in HUSH MONEY, where we do learn something about his early years.
Will Paul Giacomin ever provide Spenser and Susan with a grandchild?
I doubt that we will encounter Spenser or Susan as a grandparent. They are ageless and I would prefer to keep them so. Although if I become a grandparent (despite my obvious youth), I may change my mind.
Sixkill
“You know about Jumbo Nelson?”
“The actor,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Here shooting a movie,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“You guys think he murdered a young woman,” I said.
“He’s a person of interest,” Quirk said.
I looked at him. I’d known him a long time.
“And?” I said.
“Lemme fill you in,” Quirk said.
I got up and poured myself more coffee, and warmed Quirk’s up. Then I put the pot on the burner, sat down in my chair, and leaned back with my feet up.
“Do,” I said.
“Real name’s Jeremy Franklin Nelson,” Quirk said. “Ever seen him?”
“Seen his photograph,” I said. “Never seen a movie.”
“Photo’s enough,” Quirk said. “You can see where the nickname came from.”
“I can,” I said.
“He’s in town,” Quirk said, “shooting a movie. Which you know.”
“As yet untitled,” I said.
“Frazz tell you that?” Quirk said.
“I’m adventurous,” I said. “Sometimes I read other stuff.”
“F-- media’s treating this like it was the Lindbergh kidnapping.”
“Lotta media to fill,” I said.
“Too much,” Quirk said. “Always was. Anyway, Jumbo is in town, travels with a bodyguard, an Indian.”
“A Native American?”
Quirk nodded.
“Like I said.”
“Could be an India Indian,” I said.
“This guy’s American Indian,” Quirk said. “Wait’ll you get a load of him.”
“Dangerous?” I said.
“I dunno,” Quirk said. “Looks good.”
“Bodyguard involved?” I said.
“In the crime? Not that I know of,” Quirk said.
“Press tells me that Jumbo raped and murdered a young woman and should be beheaded at once.”
“Yeah,” Quirk said. “That’s what they tell me, too. What everybody tells me.”
“You have doubts?”
Quirk shrugged.
“Here’s what I know,” he said. “Girl’s name is Dawn Lopata, twenty years old, graduated last year from Bunker Hill Community College, was not employed.”
Quirk sipped some coffee.
“More sugar,” he said.
He went to the coffeemaker on the file cabinet and got some, and stirred it in, and sat back down. He took another sip and nodded.
“She’s watching them shoot a scene outdoors on the Common, near Park Street Station, and Jumbo spots her. He sends a production assistant over to invite her to have lunch with him in the commissary. She’s thrilled.”
“As I would be,” I said.
“Yeah,” Quirk said. “Me too. So she has lunch with all the stars and the movie crew, and Jumbo gets her phone number and says maybe they can get together later, and she says oh-wow-yes.”
“Do you know she said that?”
“The oh-wow-yes?” Quirk said. “No. So he calls her that night and she goes over to his hotel. They drink some champagne. They do some lines. They have sex. When they get through, they get dressed. Jumbo excuses himself for a moment while he goes to the bathroom. And while he’s gone she lies back down on the bed and dies.”
“I was having sex with Jumbo Nelson,” I said, “I might consider it myself.”
“It was after,” Quirk said.
“Maybe she died of shame,” I said.
Copyright © 2011 by The Estate of Robert B. Parker
Sixkill
Jumbo Nelson is a Hollywood superstar, and his appetite for food, booze and sex is as big as his name. So when a young woman is found dead in Jumbo’s Boston hotel room, both media and authorities are eager to hang him on the spot. The girl, fully dressed on the actor’s bed, appears to have been strangled, but something doesn’t smell right to the Boston P.D. And until further evidence turns up, they know they won’t be able to get a conviction. Spenser is just the man to dig up what they need.
Jumbo has a formidable retinue. His lawyer is top-notch and hard as nails. His agent has some shady connections. And his bodyguard could stop Spenser’s investigation in its tracks. A Native American ex-footballer, Zebulon Sixkill acts tough, but the P.I. sees something more in the young man.
The word “protégé” isn’t in Spenser’s lexicon, yet despite the odd circumstances, the two forge an unlikely alliance, with Spenser serving as Sixkill’s mentor. And as the case grows darker and secrets come to light about both Jumbo and the dead girl, Spenser could do worse than have Sixkill at his side.
Robert B. Parker may be gone, but Sixkill shows that Spenser lives on in this hearty, quick and whip-smart mystery.
Hardcover : 304 pages
Publisher: Putnam Pub Group/Member, Penguin Putnam ( May 03, 2011 )
Item #: 13-327326
ISBN: 9780399157264
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.687inches
Product Weight: 12.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Well paced read 
July 09, 2011
Thoroughly enjoyed the latest Spenser novel. I am just so sad to say Goodbye to the Spenser, Jesse Stone and Sunni Randall series. I loved reading all of them over the years and I will miss his quick witted Boston dialouge unmatched by anyone else. I will truly miss him
Reviewer: Dory
Sixkill 
May 25, 2011
Robert Parker might be gone.... OK then who wrote the book?
Reviewer: Mary
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