Double Play
| Double Play |
UPC:
978042519963 Avg. Rating:
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In a brilliant novel about a very real man, Parker tells the story of the 1947 baseball season--when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier--through the eyes of a difficult, brooding, wounded man hired to guard Robinson. |
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Double Play Specs:
| Product Name | Double Play |
| Manufacturer | |
| Retail Price | $7.99 |
| EAN-13 | 0978042519963 |
| UPC | 978042519963 |
| Deal first added on: | 17-November-2004 |
Latest 6 Reviews
Here is what people are saying about the Double Play
 "Great Buy & Services" | 2009-05-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: ACWUF9NCLI0DW |
| This was a book that I had checked at serveral book stores without success. I found it on amazon .com great price and excelent services, thanks will be bsck. |
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| "Ultimate Parker for non-Spenser fans" | 2009-05-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: AR82WIW7G4S8J |
| Wonderful examination of the era when Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the major leagues. Very little baseball in it, so don't worry if you are not a sports fan. It's about a man and a woman, he physically wounded in WWII, she psychologically wounded by circumstance and experience, their struggles to survive, and the eternal search for love. Throw in as hard a hard-boiled private eye as ever existed in literature, and you've got something for everyone. |
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 "Fun Summer Read" | 2008-08-30 |
| - Reviewed By bitman16 |
| I had seen some of the movies based on Parker's Jesse Stone, but this was the first book of his I read. I really enjoyed it. While it was a novel, I enjoyed it being based around real people like Jackie Robinson. I really enjoyed the way Parker revealed and developed Burke's character. I was a little surprised by the amount bedroom time for a book about baseball. |
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| "Gritty thriller of redemption" | 2008-05-27 |
| - Reviewed By lorenellroy |
I am not an expert on baseball -the sport is not big in my native UK and receives minimal TV exposure .I am pleased to say however ,that despite its being marketed as a baseball themed book it is perfectly possible to enjoy this novel as a taut thriller in its own right without possessing a great knowledge of the sport and its history.If you do possess this interest then it will enhance your appreciation but this is not a prerquisite of enjoyment .
It revolves around the first season in the majors of Jackie Robinson ,the first black player to play in a Major League team .Joseph Burke ,a World war 2 veterran ,wounded on Guadalcanal is hired by the franchise owner to act as bodyguard to Robinson .The book here explores familiar Parker territory -the relationshsip between Robinson and Burke evokes that between Hawk and Spencer in Parker's PI series about Spencer and Burke has many things in common with Spencer.Both are ex boxers ,both are widely read and intelligent men ,both are involved in a relationship with an intelligent if somewhat prickly woman and both are called upon to display above average levels of physical toughness in their jobs.
While the book does delve into the history of the baseball season ,to the extent of publishing box scores of the games Robinson was involved in ,the sport is secondary to the relationship and mutual respect between Robinson and Burke .Most prominence however is given to Burke's relationship with Lauren ,an unsatble woman whose father is a luminarty on the local social scene .This relationship is anathema to her father and to Louis Boucicoult the son of a local mobster who wants her for himself and is not above using enforcers from his father's mob to get his way .Burke must protect not only Robinson but himself as their enemies gather
I learned very little of Robinson as a baseball player -the box scores were as meaningless to me as a "wagon wheel" for a cricket innings would be to the average American -but I did get a sense of him as a person and the pressures he faced as a pioneer in the racial integrataion of sport.The book is best enjoyed as a Parker novel not a baseball novel and the virues of all his books are present -smooth redable prose ,good dialogue and a brisk pace
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 "A short pop out to right." | 2008-03-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3K398ZEWJ6TY9 |
| Not a bad book for a bargain pick up but nothing really special here. No real intensity and really no care for the main character. A quick read if that's something your looking for. |
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| "Good Look at Baseball and Jackie Robinson" | 2007-12-17 |
| - Reviewed By drebbles |
It is 1947 and Jackie Robinson has broken baseball's color barrier, but it has not been easy. The Dodgers decide he needs a bodyguard and they hire World War II Vet Joseph burke to protect him. Burke's wife left him while he was in the hospital recovering from war wounds and since then he hasn't cared much about anything or anyone except his job. Lauren Roach comes closes to stealing his heart, but she's trouble. Burke knows guarding Robinson may be dangerous but he doesn't realize that working with Robinson will change Burke's life in ways he never imagined.
"Double Play" is an enjoyable change from Robert Parker's Spenser series. There are some similarities - the relationship between Burke and Robinson will remind readers of Spenser and Hawk - but the fact that the novel is based on real life events adds a lot to the novel. The book starts off slowly, Robinson isn't introduced until almost halfway through and I didn't find Burke all that interesting a character, but once Robinson is introduced the book picks up. For the most part, Parker does a good job with the historical parts of the novel and the prejudice on both sides is eye opening. However, Parker isn't into deep writing and the book is mostly dialogue driven. Since the book is from Burke's viewpoint, readers do get a sense of what makes him as a character, but he's not a deeply layered character and his relationship with Lauren didn't move me in any particular way. Robinson is not as deep a character, which is a shame because I would have liked to know more about what he was thinking and feeling during that tumultuous first year. Outside of reminiscences by "Bobby" (no doubt Parker himself, and which I could have done without since they don't add to the plot) and some box scores, the baseball aspects of the book are surprisingly thin and I wish they had been better developed.
"Double Play" is a good, if somewhat light read about baseball and Jackie Robinson.
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