Robert B. Parker's Kickback (Spenser Book 43)

jI was looking forward to reading this new Spenser novel since I really enjoyed Ace Adkins' two previous efforts (Wonderland and Cheap Shot). Unfortunately, this third novel in the reboot of the series is not as good as the other two. Make no mistake, Adkins has Parker's voice nailed. You can hardly tell the difference in the writing between the two, and Adkins shows the proper respect for the characters. He also seems to be taking on some of the bad habits that Parker indulged in at the end of his career. This book has several third person passages from the point of view of a young juvenile who runs afoul of the corrupt Blackburn, Mass judicial system. These passages seem to be inserted to beef up the page count. While they do boast the suspense a tad, I found myself dreading them whenever I came to a new third person section. The plot is a bit far fetched. Not only are the cops inept and corrupt, but they could never get away with the kind of stuff portrayed in this novel. Neither could the corrupt judges, who are in bed with organized crime. The third person sections have a brutal corrections officer nicknamed "Robocop." The villains in this one are so mean and evil, they're virtually caricatures. The plot really moves well in the Spenser passages, and Adkins has the redoubtable detective, and his pal, Hawk, partake in the customary fist and gun fights. These are handled with Adkins' usual aplomb, but the ending slows to a shuffle and meanders into an anticlimax. Don't get me wrong. If you're looking for pure Spenser, you probably won't be disappointed because, as I said, Adkins has captured Parker's characters and voice perfectly. But this one is not up to his usual standards.

Since Robert B. Parker's death in 2010, I've sorely missed reading his work, and probably always will. No one can truly replace him or his writing, but I do appreciate Atkins' take on Parker's tough but sensitive Boston private eye.In this novel, Spenser is recovering from knee surgery and almost back to his fighting weight when Sheila Yates from Blackburn, a small town north of Boston, asks Spenser to help her teenage son Dillon who has been incarcerated in a juvenile detention center for a school prank. He's the latest in a long line of kids facing harsh sentences for minor infractions by Judge Joe Scali, a man famous for his stance of zero tolerance for bad behavior. But Sheila suspects Scali's motives are not so noble and hires Spenser to find the truth.Spenser uncovers corrupt judges and a mysterious corporation that runs New England's private prisons, both with links to Boston's criminal underworld. All the while, Dillon befriends a new arrival at the detention center, a young teenager who refuses to bend to the harsh treatment, particularly from one guard known only as "Robocop."As Spenser and Hawk do battle with a variety of criminals, ranging from powerful judges to the latest line of Boston mobsters, the race is on to save the boy, along with countless others languishing on an island purgatory.Atkins keeps the story moving at a brisk clip, with colorful characters old and new, and saucy dialogue throughout the novel. Though Spenser's age has slowed to a crawl (his Army service in the Korean war is no longer mentioned), the shadows of time and mortality pop up again and again in the story, from Spenser's troublesome knee to missing Boston landmarks to once powerful criminal figures like Joe Broz or Tony Marcus either dead or diminished.All in all, a good entertaining read. Ace Atkins isn't quite on Parker's level, but he's probably as close as anyone is likely to get.

Let me start by saying this is the 45th Spenser novel, not the 28th, Atkins has written the last four and gotten better with each one. When Robert Parker died, I was in the process of rereading all of the novels in the order they had been written, and was starting #33, School Days. I thought about all the characters he had created and wondered if they would die as well. I left the last two Painted Ladies and Sixkill unread to be sure I kept them alive. When the first Atkins “Spenser” novel was released, I read it and thought “Spenser Lives,” after his second novel, read the last two Parker books, comfortable that Atkins was up to the task of keeping my favorite characters alive.Kickback is a Spenser fan’s treat. The rhythm of the narrative is perfect, Hawk was back, characters from previous books are in the mix, including Iris Milford from the very first Spenser novel, and the relationship between Spenser and Susan continues to make me a bit jealous. The plot was very “Spenser.” Once again he was rescuing kids in trouble, protecting them from the corruption around them. I was pleased to see Spenser and Hawk deal with the bad guys the way they always had, what’s a dead body or two.Way to go Mr. Atkins! Robert Parker left his characters in good hands. I look forward being reacquainted with old friends in the future.

I have been a fan of Robert Parker and the Spenser series from the first book. Parker improves and developed better characterization as the books continued. Sometimes he was too involved in the over blown love with Susan and Spenser displaying what an intellectual thug read and said. But with each novel there seemed to be an improvement in style, dialogue and plot. Spenser is not exactly great literature, but always an enjoyable reading experience. Ace Atkins has done a commendable rendition with his take on the franchise. If you didn’t know that Parker was dead, you would assume this to be a Parker original. Its a good book for the genre...buy it...read it.

Damn. I'm beginning to think that Ace Atkins writes these Spenser novels via ouija board. I heard the voice of the late Robert B. Parker throughout this book's pretty much note perfect portrayal of his timeless characters. The wordplay between Spenser, Hawk, and Susan seemed utterly right, as if penned by the great man himself. Mr Atkins is an avowed fan, one reason the Parker estate chose him to continue the series. Apparently they offered to send him the entire back catalogue so he could get a feel for the style before penning his first Spenser novel. No need, as it turned out. He already had them all. Mr Atkins is also doing the tricky job of updating the series. So old style bad guys such as Gino Fish and Tony Marcus are gone. These were the kind of gangsters that probably never existed - they had a code of sorts and Mr Parker's Boston underworld always had a curiously old-fashioned feel to it. Of course, the Spenser character himself started out in the early books referencing the Korean War and by-now-forgotten heavyweight boxers he tangled with in the ring before becoming a private eye. According to the real-world timeline Spenser must be approaching his 80s but for many years in the novels he has been stuck around middle age. Mr Atkins continues that, even describing him as middle aged at one point, although the progress of time is acknowledged by his recently rebuilt knee and various aches and pains. But he can still pack a mean punch as various bad guys find out in this novel. Spenser is called in by the mother of a teen given a harsh custodial sentence for creating a fake internet site to poke fun at his school head teacher. Investigations show that a particular judge in a small town near Boston is sending hundreds of youngsters to detention for minor infractions. Why? The kids all end up in facilities run by a private prison company. And the judge and his confederates all seem to have a suspiciously high lifestyle....The plot is obviously inspired by a recent real-life US case where a rural judge was receiving kickbacks from a private prison company for sending inmates its way. Mr Atkins spins his plot round that, bringing in some new-style gangsters, dummy corporations, crooked lawyers and a modernising Boston backdrop. It all works most satisfactorily. Criticisms? There's nothing really new on show and some of the characters feel a shade underwritten, especially the bad guys - the novel is a crisp 223 pages, perhaps not unconnected with that. And in a world where US gangs have automatic weapons and backgrounds from Jamaica to El Salvador the Boston underworld still seems in a time warp and - let's face it - kind of incompetent. In the real world Spenser would have been blown away years ago if he had crossed as many gang bosses as he has over the years. Anyway, top notch entertainment and an interesting contrast to Mr Atkins' work in his own right, especially the Quinn Colson novels.

Disappointed with this one. Although it's certainly topical and you can see it's based on a real case of extraordinary corruption, Atkins unfortunately takes the opportunity to do some axe-grinding (the main villain is a Judge Scali - oh really? Meant to remind us of anyone we might know?)He's taking the opportunity to do some fence-mending (Spenser and Vinnie Morris are reaching a cautious rapprochement) and introduce a new villain or two, and the Spenser-Hawk relationship continues to be a solid delight (I do think Atkins is winding the clock back a bit here; the Hawk we see in these pages reminds me more of 80s style Hawk in his mannerisms), and there is both a gentle mockery of and nostalgic look back at the history of the Spenser books (he encounters again someone he met in "The Godwulf Manuscript").But this time I skipped a lot of the book because the plot never got off the ground. The people we meet who are the little fish in the villainy are all cartoon grotesques (fat, stupid, lazy, greedy, venal) and we get nothing for the main villains (the judges are all corrupted by greed and power, the new criminal boss is only out to make easy money and take over territory). But on the other hand we get characterisation as paper-thin for the 'good guys'; so he's shut down the (genuinely bad racket) of sending troubled kids to what is quasi-prison camps, but what happens those kids later? And the ones who come after them? Having a row with your step-mother may not warrant being sent to jail but at the same time being a bigger, stronger, young male who is verbally and physically violent to her is not the same as "I did nothing".Spenser and Hawk are what you'll read this for, and there's not really enough of them in it. Next time, a little less obvious political stumping and a bit more ambiguity on the part of who are the bad guys/good guys, without using convenient bogey-men from real life, and it'll go down a lot smoother.

Atkins is in my opinion possibly the best of the post-Parker publishing writers. He expertly captures Parker's style and slips effortlessly into the skins of Spenser, Susan and Hawk. The only reason I'm holding back that final star is that, when I closed the book, I found I couldn't quite believe the concept underlying the plot. Fantastic read, though!

Not sure. Something missing maybe. Perhaps not quite smooth enough. Who knows? It was fine. Absolutely okay, worth the effort.

This is a good read. The mood of Spencer is caught well, but clearly not quite as good as the original. I would have liked more of Susan Silverman, but the continuation of the genre is a great bonus.