tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post2857297314878239402..comments2024-03-28T13:37:53.397-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: The Psycho SidekickLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-83734787813562462372021-05-22T09:51:40.095-04:002021-05-22T09:51:40.095-04:00I find the psycho sidekick way too useful. If Spe...I find the psycho sidekick way too useful. If Spenser can't kill the guy, Hawk'll do it for him, easy peasy, and it's no skin off Spenser's nose nor does it have to trouble his conscience, because Hawk did it. I read a lot of the Spenser novels, and I got tired of Spenser's conscience leaving the hard decisions up to Hawk. Own up to your own deeds, your own desires. Having it done by someone else doesn't leave you with clean hands. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-28760024641483502682021-05-21T22:15:11.730-04:002021-05-21T22:15:11.730-04:00I watched only a few of the television series (no ...I watched only a few of the television series (no TV, remember?), but I like Hawk much better than Spenser, partly because I didn't fully buy into the actor who played Spenser. It makes me think of the Man from UNCLE series, where I liked Illya Kuryakin far more than Napoleon Solo. Solo posed… Kuryakin got the work done.<br /><br />When it comes to sole protagonists, The Continental Op remains my favorite. Hell, we still don't know his name.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-27685335414843385572021-05-21T12:42:04.602-04:002021-05-21T12:42:04.602-04:00In one of Parker's novels (Early Autumn?) a ba...In one of Parker's novels (Early Autumn?) a bad guy keeps trying to kill Spenser, gets caught, and promises not to do it again. Then he does it again. Spenser's code leaves him with no way to deal with such a person. Hawk just shoots him in the head, solving the dilemma. These characters are often from hard backgrounds, giving a possible explanation/excuse for their behavior, but Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar has an unusual sidekick: Win Horne III, a wealthy WASP who loves beating up bullies. Earl Emerson coined my favorite term for Horne/Bubba/Pike characters: the Sociopathic Sidekick, or SS. His Thomas Black novels feature a sidekick named Snake who may be intended as a satire on the SS. Snake has the necessary lack of ethics but Black spends more time rescuing him than the other way around. Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-71928669434526872002021-05-21T10:25:04.780-04:002021-05-21T10:25:04.780-04:00Good point. I enjoyed Hawk's character. What...Good point. I enjoyed Hawk's character. What I hated in the Spenser series was Susan Silverman - not because I objected to him having a love interest, but to take her seriously as a psychologist when she was consistently shown to have no understanding or comprehension of the Hawk/Spenser bond, always asking, in various wordings, "But how do you know you can trust each other?" It was really clumsy exposition in my opinion. Could not believe it for a second. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.com