ROBERT B. PARKER – Thin Air. Spenser #22. G.P. Putnam’s sons, hardcover, 1994. Berkley, paperback, April 1996. Reprinted many times. TV Movie: 2000, with Joe Mantegna as Spenser.

   One impolite way of describing this book is to say it isn’t the air that’s thin, but the plot, which if it were a song, it would consist of only one note: Sgt. Frank Belson is a cop and a good friend of Spenser’s and his wife Lisa is missing. Belson’s wife, that is. Spenser is not married, of course, but he does have Susan, and between them they own a dog named Pearl.

   Let’s back to Lisa. Spenser agrees to start looking for her. He may be able to look in places where Belson may have difficulty, and when the latter is shot three times and seriously injured, Spenser takes the job a lot more seriously. He does mot believe much in the idea of coincidence.

   And he is right. Lisa has been kidnapped by a former lover, a Latino gang lord who has taken her captive and who believes he can win her back.

   I am not telling you anything I should not be telling you. Parker tells the story from two perspectives, in alternating chapters: Spenser’s, as he tries to find her, and Lisa’s (in italics), as a prisoner.

   With all of any inherent mystery gone, it is up to Spenser to be clever, witty and charming enough to keep the pages turning. I’d say he does, but I know many friends who are not Spenser fans, and if you are one of them, you are free to disagree. I could say more about the story, but going back and reading what I’ve said before, I think I’ve already said the gist of it. From here on, you’re on your own.