How about the wrong crowd," I said. "You getting in with them?" "Not much luck," Paul said. "I'm trying like hell, but the wrong crowd doesn't seem to want me." "Don't quit," I said. "You want something, you go after it. I was nearly thirty-five before I could get in with wrong crowd.

Burke and Alfonse Ruggiero Jr. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. In addition to Parker's introduction excerpts from several of the Spenser novels were included.

Robert Brown Parker (September 17 1932 – January 18 2010) was an American crime writer. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also produced.