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Parker Robert B Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Parker Robert B Quizzes, Trivia

Robert B Parker Trivia

Robert B Parker Trivia Quizzes

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As well as his forty novels about the private detective Spenser, which were the basis for the television series "Spenser: For Hire", Robert B PArker wrote nine novels based on the character Jesse Stone and six novels based on the character Sunny Randall.
6 quizzes and 60 trivia questions.
1.
  Robert B. Parker, R.I.P.   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
In honor of one of my favorite authors. He died at his desk on Jan. 18, 2010. Rest in peace.
Average, 10 Qns, john_sunseri, Jan 22 10
Average
john_sunseri
497 plays
2.
  Spenser's World   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Robert B. Parker's private eye Spenser, whose first name is unknown to his readers, is an elegant and witty tough guy from Boston. He lacks living blood relatives, but has close relationships with a number of people. Can you identify them?
Average, 10 Qns, austinnene, Aug 12 13
Average
austinnene
305 plays
3.
  The Novels of Robert B. Parker   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
America lost a national treasure when Robert Brown Parker, best-known for his "Spenser" series, passed away January 18, 2010. He wrote over 60 novels and as soon as I finished each one, my eager anticipation for his next would begin. Enjoy!
Average, 10 Qns, paulmallon, Jul 18 13
Average
paulmallon gold member
218 plays
4.
  Spenser Series Matchups    
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Robert B. Parker wrote around 40 novels centered on a Boston private eye, known only as Spenser. See if you can match these characters from the Spenser works to their descriptions. Warning: if you haven't read many of the books, this could be tough.
Average, 10 Qns, austinnene, Dec 26 16
Average
austinnene
120 plays
5.
  Robert B. Parker's Spenser    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Named for an Elizabethan poet, but still the toughest, wittiest detective in Boston.
Average, 10 Qns, astorian, Sep 14 23
Average
astorian
Sep 14 23
1446 plays
6.
  The Boxer and the Spy    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This young adult book by Robert B Parker was awesome, but do you know it?
Average, 10 Qns, weaselbox, Jan 25 09
Average
weaselbox
151 plays
trivia question Quick Question
Who are the villains of the Spenser novel "Pale Kings and Princes"?

From Quiz "Robert B. Parker's Spenser"




Related Topics
  Mystery & Detective Fiction [Literature] (105 quizzes)


Robert B Parker Trivia Questions
1. What's the boy who is dead, Jason's, last name?

From Quiz The Boxer and the Spy

Answer: Green

Jason Green was a boy who was shy and studied landscape design.

2. This ultra-hip, self-possessed, and quite dangerous man is Spenser's most frequent companion in the pursuit of miscreants. What is the name of Spenser's closest associate, a sometime miscreant himself, who tends to date MDs and Harvard types?

From Quiz Spenser's World

Answer: Hawk

Hawk, who also appears to have only one name, moves in and out of Spenser's life, but is his closest male friend. Sometimes he's around, sometimes off playing or working. When he is not working with Spenser, it's best not to make close inquiries into his activities. We never see where Hawk lives, but we do get treated to a succession of expensive and powerful automobiles belonging to him, and we know he spends time crashing with his current, always ephemeral, lady friend.

3. In his younger days, Spenser was a professional heavyweight boxer. Which former heavyweight champ did he once lose a match to?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: Jersey Joe Walcott

Jersey Joe, whose real name was Arnold Cream, was the oldest man ever to win the heavyweight title, before George Foreman.

4. Another regular member of the ensemble cast of characters is Spenser's friend, ally and "muscle", who at one time, as we learn, was a professional boxer. What is his sobriquet?

From Quiz The Novels of Robert B. Parker

Answer: Hawk

The intimidating presence of Hawk first loomed in the fourth "Spenser" book, "Promised Land" (1976). His seemingly indestructible sidekick saves Spenser too many times in the series to count, and the back-and-forth banter between the two of them is priceless. They first came to know each other when they fought in a boxing match that each claims to have won. Spike is the best friend of another Parker series lead character, Sunny Randall.

5. In Robert B. Parker's books, what is the detective Spenser's first name?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker, R.I.P.

Answer: It is never mentioned

Originally, Spenser's name was to have been 'David' (after Parker's older son), but the writer didn't want to leave his son Daniel out, so he left his detective's first name unsaid. In 1990's "Stardust", the actress Jill Joyce has this exchange with Spenser: "Do you have a first name, Mr. Spenser?" Jill said. She had a soft girlish voice with just a hint of huskiness at the edges. I told her my first name. "I don't like it," she said. "I was afraid you wouldn't," I said. "I've been worried about it all month."

6. Who was Terry's boxing coach?

From Quiz The Boxer and the Spy

Answer: George

Terry was still training at the end of the book and he got into fights, where his training came in handy.

7. In which novel does Spenser become a father figure to a teenage boy with ambitions of becoming a ballet dancer?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: Early Autumn

One of Parker's own sons followed the same career path and became a ballet dancer.

8. What was Kip Carter?

From Quiz The Boxer and the Spy

Answer: football player

Kip Carter was one of the people Terry got in a fight with. Terry won the fight.

9. What does Spenser's girlfriend, Susan Silverman, do for a living?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: Psychologist

Susan often seems in need of a good psychologist (or psychiatrist) herself!

10. On an early venture to Los Angeles which ends in failure for Spenser, he meets two thugs who work for a local crime boss. One is a Native American. What is his name?

From Quiz Spenser's World

Answer: Bobby Horse

Bobby Horse is a man of very few words. He helps Spenser only on orders from his boss. Bobby takes part in the California desert enterprise along with several other of Spenser's associates, and is one of their party who sustains injuries after its culmination.

11. At what sporting event must Spenser and Hawk foil a terrorist atack in "The Judas Goat"?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: the Olympics

A racist organization is targeting black African athletes at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

12. Robert B. Parker won two awards from the Mystery Writers of America--in 1977 his book "Promised Land" took home the Best Novel Award, and in 2002 he won the Grand Master Award for his lifetime of work. What is the MWA award known as?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker, R.I.P.

Answer: Edgar

The full name is the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and the name honors the American writer (better known for his horror stories) who is popularly supposed to have invented the detective story with his "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The awards honor the best in detective, crime and mystery fiction, non-fiction, film, radio, theater and television; Parker and his wife Joan shared a nomination in 1990 for writing a television episode for the show "B.L. Stryker".

13. What was the tattoo of on the woman Mr. Bullard had an affair with?

From Quiz The Boxer and the Spy

Answer: blue butterfly

The woman who Mr. Bullard had an affair with was running for mayor of the town.

14. The center of Spenser's world is his woman. They've been together with only one separation (but it was a doozy!) for years. She's a conglomeration of superlatives, but she has a few endearing warts as well. Who's THE woman for our hero?

From Quiz Spenser's World

Answer: Susan Silverman

Susan's it. She's an ex-guidance counselor turned shrink (with a degree from Harvard, no less), and Spenser adores her. They do not live together, but they share custody of a pet - or rather, serial pets - and after each of them strays once, they keep firmly to a monogamous relationship. Susan is a buff, black-haired, stylish knockout who nibbles food in tiny bites and has no talent for home cooking. Her fridge usually contains a couple of beers - for Spenser - and some spoiled broccoli.

15. Who is Spenser hired to protect in "Looking for Rachel Wallace"?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: a radical lesbian author

Spenser slips up and allows an attacker to get to Rachel Wallace- luckily, the assailant's only weapon is a cream pie, not a gun.

16. Robert B. Parker (and Spenser) served in the US Army during what conflict?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker, R.I.P.

Answer: Korea

Parker served from 1954 to 1956, after which he attended Boston University and finished his M.A. in English in 1957. He worked as a management trainee, then became the co-owner of an advertising agency. He went back to Boston U. to get his doctorate, and taught college English until 1979, after which time he was financially secure enough to switch to full-time writing. According to Parker, "I didn't like it (Korea) at all. I was there for sixteen months and we had intrusions from the other side and did security for the Neutral Nations Inspection Team. We were up on the DMZ and the Truce Zone there for a while and there was a certain amount of danger..."

17. What puzzled Terry about Jason's death?

From Quiz The Boxer and the Spy

Answer: Terry didn't think Jason took steriods, but the tests showed he did

Everyone said Jason took steroids, but Terry and his friends knew he didn't.

18. The Spenser adventure "A Catskill Eagle" takes its title from a passage in which classic American novel?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: Moby Dick

In "Moby Dick", Herman Melville describes the Catskill eagle as a bird that soars above all other creatures, even when descending into the deepest, darkest gorge.

19. In the end, who called the police on Mr. Bullard?

From Quiz The Boxer and the Spy

Answer: George

The kids were in George's gym when Mr. Bullard almost took them away, but then George and Mr. Bullard fought. George won and then called the fuzz.

20. Who are the villains of the Spenser novel "Pale Kings and Princes"?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: Colombian drug dealers

The title of the novel came from John Keats' poem, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci".

21. In "Gunman's Rhapsody" (2001) Robert B. Parker tells the tale of one of the Old West's most famous characters. The book is set in the 1880s. Who is this legendary figure from back in the day?

From Quiz The Novels of Robert B. Parker

Answer: Wyatt Earp

"Gunman's Rhapsody" is the first stand alone foray into the genre of western fiction for Mr. Parker. (He had earlier started the Cole/Hitch western series.) In it he tells of events surrounding Wyatt Earp and his brothers that culminate with the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1881). He shows that even gunmen have soft spots and hearts that can be broken when he writes of Wyatt Earp's love for the local Tombstone showgirl, Josie Marcus.

22. Kip Carter was there when Mr. Bullard was taken in to jail, right?

From Quiz The Boxer and the Spy

Answer: Yes

Kip was telling his story to the police there.

23. Robert B. Parker won the prestigious Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1977. Which of his wondrous works won him that award? Hint: The setting for the book is Cape Cod.

From Quiz The Novels of Robert B. Parker

Answer: Promised Land

"Promised Land" was the fourth book in the "Spenser" series. "Mortal Stakes", the third in the series was published in 1975. "Melancholy Baby" (2004) was the fourth Sunny Randall tome and "Painted Ladies" (2010) was the penultimate novel featuring his most famous character, just Spenser. Interesting fact: In addition to The Edgar Award, Robert B. Parker was granted the title of Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2002. In 2008 he was given The Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award.

24. So what's the name of the book, published in 2001, that sports a convention of the aforementioned thugs who've lined up to help Spenser save an entire town?

From Quiz Spenser's World

Answer: Potshot

Potshot is a tiny town in the California desert, dominated by a gang of bad guys bleeding the town dry (no pun intended!) Spenser rounds up all the help he can get to eradicate the criminal element. With seven of our heroes against a mere forty-some of the enemy, could there be any doubt about the outcome of the venture?

25. What Boston police detective must Spenser regularly butt heads with?

From Quiz Robert B. Parker's Spenser

Answer: Martin Quirk

If Quirk were half as tough as he pretends, he'd have locked up Spenser about 25 years ago!

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