Mark Timlin is a British author best known for his series of novels featuring Nick Sharman, a former Metropolitan Police officer who takes up the profession of private investigator in South London. He is also a renowned book reviewer and literary commentator. His most recent work is REAP THE WHIRLWIND. In his early years he did various jobs including work as a member of the road crew for THE WHO, including working backstage at Woodstock in the 1960s on the lighting cranes
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Let’s get a couple of things straight from the start. Firstly, I love the Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker. I should do. I’ve nicked enough from them to be had up for grand larceny. I’ve even read and enjoyed the posthumous novels by Ace Atkins and Michael Brandman. Pretty good, but not Parker. Secondly, Mark Wahlberg is my favourite movie star de jour. But he’s not Spenser. Spenser, like his creator is a bear of a man. Wahlberg, though toned and gymed up to the eyeballs is not Spenser.
Anything else wrong with Spenser Confidential? Just a few bits. Spenser never went to jail. Pearl the wonder dog is the wrong breed. Spenser never drove a Buick Riviera. Hawk is not bald, and just not hawkish enough. And as for Susan Silverman. She’s been airbrushed out of history, which is not a bad thing considering she must be the most annoying girlfriend in crime fiction. Unfortunately, she’s been replaced by, what you might describe as a dodgy boiler named Cissy, who loves dogs, which is a plus, but enjoys rough sex in public toilets and persists with talking with her mouth full. No. The Spenser I know and love has more class. (Any mistakes in my previous criticism is totally my fault, so don’t bother to mention them)
So, did I enjoy the film? Yes, I did as a matter of fact. It has enough crash, bang, wallop to satisfy a fifteen year old, which is about my mental age theses days. As it goes, better to read the original novels.
Talking of Netflix, why not try Bordertown? A Finnish cop saga. Now, you may ask, how many Finnish cop sagas do you need? My answer, after bingeing on two series, is where’s series three? The lead cop is a bloke who, when faced by a dead body hides in a closet, but solves crime by mere intellect. Wonderful stuff.
Then, there’s Real Detective. An interminable series of one-off drama documentaries, narrated by the real cops who solved the cases, and played by a bundle of American character actors you’ve seen countless time before. The episode with Michael Madsen as a grizzled Texas Ranger is particularly memorable. Look out for them.
