A Headline Ripping Spenser

Robert B. Parker’s Kickback – Ace Atkins – (Putnam)

Law and order is always an easy sell; keeping in line those who choose to paint outside the lines of the law. In an effort to keep delinquent teens in line a supposedly by the book judge is taking said book and tossing it squarely at those wrong doers. The problem…the judge seems to be writing his own book and isn’t playing by the rules himself. These so-called criminals get sent in droves to a mysterious, privately owned island prison camp.

Magically the judge seems to be living well beyond his means; is something nefarious afoot? Bestselling author Ace Atkins artfully fills the substantial shoes of legendary tale-spinner Robert B. Parker in his latest Spenser outing, Robert B. Parker’s Kickback by ripping a page straight out of recent headlines.

For unfortunate parents and residents who call Central Pennsylvania home, this story may ring all too familiar. The so-called cash for kids scandal involved a pair of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas judges; President Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan, who were found guilty of accepting cash payments in excess of $2.5 million in exchange for feeding a steady stream of youthful offenders to a privately owned incarceration facility.

Zero tolerance is the order of the day in Blackburn, Massachusetts and teens convicted of minor or non-existent crimes find themselves being shipped off to an island prison camp. When a parent raises questions about the whole process, Spenser once again rides the rescue looking to right wrongs and put bad guys in their place. Atkins does a nice job of mixing classic Parker’s characters into the mix along the way. This one is a tight read and a perfect Spenser-ish story line.   

Ace Hits His Stride

 Robert B. Parker’s - Cheap Shot - Ace Atkins (Putnam Publishing)

Back in 1989 Raymond Chandler’s estate selected with Robert B. Parker to finish he partial manuscript for a book called, Poodle Springs that Chandler left upon his passing. Parker was a solid choice to finish off the book featuring the hardboiled detective Philip Marlowe. At the time fans cried foul, complaining that Parker could never live up to standard Chandler had set.

Flash forward a few decades and now its Parker fans who grouse about the authors selected to continue the stories featuring Parker’s collection of memorable characters. Ace Atkins finds himself firmly in the least enviable position of picking up the reins of the series featuring Parker’s most famous character, Boston private investigator Spenser.

As a confirmed Parker fanatic I always approach these new efforts with a mix of excitement and trepidation that I temper with the clarity that no one can truly replace Parker. With his third outing carrying on the Spenser series entitled Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot Atkins really hits his stride. While to two prior efforts were chock full of references to familiar places and faces from Spenser’s world, this one keeps in place that cast while generating an original storyline that has a ripped from the headlines quality.

Take one highly paid NFL superstar, add some nightclub gun play, a dead body, shake with a curvy trophy wife who has substance issues and a checkered porn past and throw in a kidnapped son and the story is off to the races. Spenser is on the case weaving his way through the Boston underground to track down not only the kidnappers, but also the truth.

Rather than exercising his ability to simply name drop, Atkins uses those familiar characters to weave an entertaining tale anchored firmly by Spenser’s do the right thing moral compass.