Looking for Rachel Wallace

1980 novel by Robert B. Parker
0-440-04764-1OCLC5412051
Dewey Decimal
813/.5/4LC ClassPZ4.P244 Lo PS3566.A686Preceded byThe Judas Goat Followed byEarly Autumn 

Looking for Rachel Wallace is the sixth Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, first published in 1980.

Plot summary

Spenser is hired to protect a lesbian, feminist activist, the eponymous Rachel Wallace. Spenser defends her more vigorously than she would like and she fires him. Shortly afterwards, she is kidnapped and the police have almost nothing to go on. Though no longer officially employed to protect her, Spenser feels duty-bound to find her because he could have protected her if he had followed her orders and held onto the job.

His investigation leads him to an organization that is fiercely anti-communist, anti-gay, and loosely affiliated with the local Ku Klux Klan. Spenser gets free rein to operate because the police know that he can be more persuasive than they can in finding Rachel. A snowstorm paralyzes Boston and Spenser has to go on foot if he wants to get to Rachel Wallace before they kill her.

Characters

  • Spenser: Boston private investigator
  • Rachel Wallace
  • Susan Silverman
  • Julie Wells (Rachel Wallace's lover)
  • Lawrence English
  • Martin Quirk
  • Frank Belson
  • Mingo Mulready
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Novels by Robert B. Parker
Spenser novels
Novels
  • The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
  • God Save the Child (1974)
  • Mortal Stakes (1975)
  • Promised Land (1976)
  • The Judas Goat (1978)
  • Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)
  • Early Autumn (1981)
  • A Savage Place (1981)
  • Ceremony (1982)
  • The Widening Gyre (1983)
  • Valediction (1984)
  • A Catskill Eagle (1985)
  • Taming a Sea-Horse (1986)
  • Pale Kings and Princes (1987)
  • Crimson Joy (1988)
  • Playmates (1989)
  • Stardust (1990)
  • Pastime (1991)
  • Double Deuce (1992)
  • Paper Doll (1993)
  • Walking Shadow (1994)
  • Thin Air (1995)
  • Chance (1996)
  • Small Vices (1997)
  • Sudden Mischief (1998)
  • Hush Money (1999)
  • Hugger Mugger (2000)
  • Potshot (2001)
  • Widow's Walk (2002)
  • Back Story (2003)
  • Bad Business (2004)
  • Cold Service (2005)
  • School Days (2005)
  • Hundred-Dollar Baby (2006)
  • Now and Then (2006)
  • Rough Weather (2008)
  • Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel (2009)
  • The Professional (2009)
  • Painted Ladies (2010)
  • Sixkill (2011)
Adaptations
Jesse Stone novels
  • Night Passage (1997)
  • Trouble in Paradise (1998)
  • Death in Paradise (2001)
  • Stone Cold (2003)
  • Sea Change (2006)
  • High Profile (2007)
  • Stranger in Paradise (2008)
  • Night and Day (2009)
  • Split Image (2010)
Other
  • Wilderness (1979)
  • Love and Glory (1983)
  • Poodle Springs (1989)
  • Stardust (1990)
  • Perchance to Dream (1991)
  • All Our Yesterdays (1994)
  • Family Honor (1999)
  • Perish Twice (2000)
  • Gunman's Rhapsody (2001)
  • Shrink Rap (2002)
  • Melancholy Baby (2004)
  • Double Play (2004)
  • Appaloosa (2005)
  • Blue Screen (2006)
  • Spare Change (2007)
  • Now and Then (2007)
  • Edenville Owls (2007)
  • The Boxer and the Spy (2008)
  • Resolution (2008)
  • Brimstone (2009)
  • Blue-Eyed Devil (2010)


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