Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker's résumé is familiar to most of his readers. Born and raised in Massachusetts, graduated from Colby College in Maine, married Joan Hall, had two sons, earned his Ph.D. at Boston University, taught at Northeastern University, and wrote nearly seventy books.

There are other factoids about him that are less well known. Bob's talent for rhythm was first put to work when the U.S. Army sent him to Korea as a Morse code radio operator. He always wanted to be a writer, but he needed a steady income to support his young wife and, later, his sons. Bob was hired as a technical writer first for Raytheon and then for Curtiss-Wright, which soon laid him off. He next worked as editor of a magazine for Prudential insurance agents and freelanced as a partner in Parker/Farman, the "world's smallest advertising agency."

Robert B. ParkerUnable to take any more of corporate America, and with no interest in advertising, Bob returned to school. The plan was to earn a doctorate, get a job teaching, and have the time to start writing seriously. While going to school, he held down as many as five college teaching jobs at once, often took care of his sons, and did odd jobs for a consulting company. Fortunately for the family, Joan had a job in education that paid well.

The plan worked, and as a teacher at Northeastern University, Bob found the time to write. He was one of four authors of an anthology textbook, The Personal Response to Literature, published in 1971. Two years later, the first Spenser novel, The Godwulf Manuscript, appeared.

Bob was renowned for his Spenser novels, featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye, which earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim. He also launched two other bestselling series featuring, respectively, Massachusetts police chief Jesse Stone and Boston private detective Sunny Randall. In addition, he authored four Westerns. Bob's bestselling Western novel Appaloosa was made into a major motion picture by New Line, starred Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen, and was a box office hit in 2008. Long acknowledged as the dean of American crime fiction, he was named Grand Master of the Edgar Awards in 2002 by the Mystery Writers of America, an honor shared with earlier masters such as Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen.

Books By Robert B. Parker

Sixkill
SKU: 9780399157264
Painted Ladies
SKU: 9780399156854
Split Image
SKU: 9780399156236
Looking for Rachel Wallace
SKU: 9780385285582
The Professional
SKU: 9780399155949
Night and Day
SKU: 9780399155413
The Judas Goat
SKU: 9780891903710
The Godwulf Manuscript
SKU: 9780395180112
The Widening Gyre
SKU: 9780440087403
Paper Doll
SKU: 9780831753320
Stone Cold
SKU: 9780399150876
Pale Kings and Princes
SKU: 9780385295383
Rough Weather
SKU: 9780399155192
Taming a Seahorse
SKU: 9780385294614
Sudden Mischief
SKU: 9780399146961
Thin Air
SKU: 9780399140631
Promised Land
SKU: 9780395247716
Brimstone
SKU: 9780399155710
Stranger in Paradise
SKU: 9780399154607
Now and Then
SKU: 9780399154416
Resolution
SKU: 9780399155048
Edenville Owls
SKU: 9780399246562
High Profile
SKU: 9780399154041
Hundred-Dollar Baby
SKU: 9780399153761
Spare Change
SKU: 9780399154256
Sea Change
SKU: 9780399152672
Blue Screen
SKU: 9780399153518
School Days
SKU: 9780399153235
Appaloosa
SKU: 9780399152771
Double Play
SKU: 9781842431399
Cold Service
SKU: 9780399152405
Bad Business
SKU: 9780399151453
Back Story
SKU: 9780399149771
Widow's Walk
SKU: 9785559608730
Shrink Rap
SKU: 9780399149306
Mortal Stakes
SKU: 9780762188758
Death in Paradise
SKU: 9780399147791
Potshot
SKU: 9780786232321
Perish Twice
SKU: 9780399146688
Hugger Mugger
SKU: 9780399145872
Hush Money
SKU: 9780606200981
Trouble in Paradise
SKU: 9780708991374
Family Honor
SKU: 9780399145667
Small Vices
SKU: 9780399145476
Night Passage
SKU: 9780399143045
Chance
SKU: 9780399146886
Walking Shadow
SKU: 9780399139611
A Savage Place
SKU: 9780440180951
Stardust
SKU: 9780517086063
Double Deuce
SKU: 9780399137549
Pastime
SKU: 9780399136306
Playmates
SKU: 9780399134630
Crimson Joy
SKU: 9780385296687
A Catskill Eagle
SKU: 9785551009993
Ceremony
SKU: 9780385281270
Early Autumn
SKU: 9780385282420
God Save the Child
SKU: 9780395199558
Gunman's Rhapsody
SKU: 9780399147623
Chasing the Bear
SKU: 9780399247767
Love and Glory
SKU: 9780385292610
Melancholy Baby
SKU: 9780719562983
Perchance to Dream
SKU: 9780399135804
The Boxer and the Spy
SKU: 9780399247750
Wilderness
SKU: 9780385291088