MT Review: Robert B. Parker's Kickback (Spenser)

I've finished "Kickback" the 28th book in his Spenser series by Robert B. Parker.

Product Description

P.I. Spenser, knight-errant of the Back Bay, returns in this stellar addition to the iconic New York Times–bestselling series from author Ace Atkins.

What started out as a joke landed seventeen-year-old Dillon Yates in a lockdown juvenile facility in Boston Harbor. When he set up a prank Twitter account for his vice principal, he never dreamed he could be brought up on criminal charges, but that’s exactly what happened.

This is Blackburn, Massachusetts, where zero tolerance for minors is a way of life.

Leading the movement is tough-as-nails Judge Joe Scali, who gives speeches about getting tough on today’s wild youth. But Dillon’s mother, who knows other Blackburn kids who are doing hard time for minor infractions, isn’t buying Scali’s line. She hires Spenser to find the truth behind the draconian sentencing.

From the Harbor Islands to a gated Florida community, Spenser and trusted ally Hawk follow a trail through the Boston underworld with links to a shadowy corporation that runs New England’s private prisons. They eventually uncover a culture of corruption and cover-ups in the old mill town, where hundreds of kids are sent off to for-profit juvie jails.

Product Details
Series: Spenser (Book 28)Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons; First Edition edition (May 19, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399170847
ISBN-13: 978-0399170843

My Review:

I'm really happy that Spenser brought down the villains because they were really despicable and ruthless with no care in the world except for their own gain.

I'm glad that Spenser didn't back down from his investigation and fulfilled his promise to his client even though he was paid a visit and threatened by the villain's goons.

It's so much fun reading about Spenser and Hawk bantering and ribbing each other.

4/5

MT Review: Robert B. Parker's Cheap Shot (Hardcover)

I've finished "Cheap Shot" the 43rd book in Robert B. Parker's Spencer series by Ace Atkins.

The iconic, tough-but-tender Boston PI Spenser returns in an outstanding new addition to the New York Times-bestselling series from author Ace Atkins.

Kinjo Heywood is one of the New England Patriots’ marquee players — a hard-nosed linebacker who’s earned his reputation as one of the toughest guys in the league. When off-field violence repeatedly lands Heywood in the news, his slick agent hires Spenser to find the men who he says have been harassing his client.

Heywood’s troubles seem to be tied to a nightclub shooting from two years earlier. But when Heywood’s nine-year-old son, Akira, is kidnapped, ransom demands are given, and a winding trail through Boston’s underworld begins, Spenser puts together his own all-star team of toughs. It will take both Hawk and Spenser’s protégé, Zebulon Sixkill, to watch Spenser’s back and return the child to the football star’s sprawling Chestnut Hill mansion. A controversial decision from Heywood only ups the ante as the clock winds down on Akira’s future.

Product Details
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (May 6 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399161589
ISBN-13: 978-0399161582

My Review:

3/5

MT Review: Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot (Hardcover)

I've finished "Blind Spot" the book in Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series by Reed Ferrel Coleman.

Police Chief Jesse Stone is back in the remarkable new installment of the New York Times–bestselling series.

It’s been a long time since Jesse Stone left L.A., and still longer since the tragic injury that ruined his chances for a major league baseball career. When Jesse is invited to a reunion of his old Triple-A team at a hip New York city hotel, he is forced to grapple with his memories and regrets over what might have been.

Jesse left more behind him than unresolved feelings about the play that ended his baseball career. The darkly sensuous Kayla, his former girlfriend and current wife of an old teammate is there in New York, too. As is Kayla’s friend, Dee, an otherworldly beauty with secret regrets of her own. But Jesse’s time at the reunion is cut short when, in Paradise, a young woman is found murdered and her boyfriend, a son of one of the town’s most prominent families, is missing and presumed kidnapped.

Though seemingly coincidental, there is a connection between the reunion and the crimes back in Paradise. As Jesse, Molly, and Suit hunt for the killer and for the missing son, it becomes clear that one of Jesse’s old teammates is intimately involved in the crimes. That there are deadly forces working below the surface and just beyond the edge of their vision. Sometimes, that’s where the danger comes from, and where real evil lurks. Not out in the light — but in your blind spot.

Product Details
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (Sept. 9 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399169458
ISBN-13: 978-0399169458

My Review:

3/5

MT Review: Silent Night: A Spenser Holiday Novel Hardcover

I've finished "Silent Night" the book in his Spenser series by Robert B. Parker.

A special treat for the holiday season – a rumination on Christmas, family, and the meaning of home as conceived by Robert B. Parker.

It’s December in Boston, and Spenser is busy planning the menu for Christmas dinner when he’s confronted in his office by a young boy named Slide. Homeless and alone, Slide has found refuge with an organization named Street Business, which gives shelter and seeks job opportunities for the homeless and lost. Slide’s mentor, Jackie Alvarez, is being threatened, and Street Business is in danger of losing its tenuous foothold in the community, turning Slide and many others like him back on the street. But it’s not a simple case of intimidation – Spenser, aided by Hawk, finds a trail that leads to a dangerous drug kingpin, whose hold on the at-risk community Street Business serves threatens not just the boys’ safety and security, but their lives as well.

Unfinished at the time of his death, Silent Night was completed by Parker’s longtime agent, whose decades-long association with Parker’s work gives her unique insight and perspective to his voice and storytelling style. Her contribution also speaks volumes about their enduring friendship.

About the Author

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) has long been acknowledged as the dean of American crime fiction. His novel featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye Spenser earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim, typified by R.W.B. Lewis' comment, "We are witnessing one of the great series in the history of the American detective story" (The New York Times Book Review). In June and October of 2005, Parker had national bestsellers with APPALOOSA and SCHOOL DAYS, and continued his winning streak in February of 2006 with his latest Jesse Stone novel, SEA CHANGE.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Parker attended Colby College in Maine, served with the Army in Korea, and then completed a Ph.D. in English at Boston University. He married his wife Joan in 1956; they raised two sons, David and Daniel. Together the Parkers founded Pearl Productions, a Boston-based independent film company named after their short-haired pointer, Pearl, who has also been featured in many of Parker's novels.

Parker began writing his Spenser novels in 1971 while teaching at Boston's Northeastern University. Little did he suspect then that his witty, literate prose and psychological insights would make him keeper-of-the-flame of America's rich tradition of detective fiction. Parker's fictional Spenser inspired the ABC-TV series Spenser: For Hire. In February 2005, CBS-TV broadcast its highly-rated adaptation of the Jesse Stone novel Stone Cold, which featured Tom Selleck in the lead role as Parker's small-town police chief. The second CBS movie, Night Passage, also scored high ratings, and the third, Death in Paradise, aired on April 30, 2006.

Parker was named Grand Master of the 2002 Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America, an honor shared with earlier masters such as Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen.

Parker died on January 19, 2010, at the age of 77.

Product Details
Series: Spenser
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1st Printing edition (October 22, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157883
ISBN-13: 978-0399157882

My Review:

3.5/5

MT Review: Robert B. Parker's Damned if You Do (A Jesse Stone Novel) Hardcover

I've finished "Damned If You do" the 12th book in his Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker.

Police Chief Jesse Stone returns in another outstanding entry in the New York Times-bestselling series.

The woman on the bed was barely out of her teens. She wasn’t exactly beautiful, but she’d tried to make the most of her looks. And now, alone in a seedy beachfront motel, she was dead.

Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone doesn’t know her name. Whoever she is, she didn’t deserve to die.

Jesse starts digging, only to find himself caught in the cross hairs of a bitter turf war between two ruthless pimps. And more blood will spill before it’s over.

Product Details
Series: A Jesse Stone Novel (Book 12)
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1ST edition (September 10, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399159509
ISBN-13: 978-0399159503

My Review:

I enjoyed this fast-paced Jesse Stone book because I really like once Jesse is determined to bring someone down he is relentless in his pursuit and finds a way to bring them to justice.

3.5/5

MT Review: Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice (A Jesse Stone Novel) [Hardcover]

I've finished "Fool Me Twice" a book in the Jesse Stone series originally by Robert B. Parker but now written by Michael Brandman.

Product Description

Summer in Paradise, Massachusetts, is usually an idyllic season — but not this time. A Hollywood movie company has come to town, and brought with it a huge cast, crew, and a troubled star. Marisol Hinton is very beautiful, reasonably talented, and scared out of her wits that her estranged husband's jealousy might take a dangerous turn. When she becomes the subject of a death threat, Jesse and the rest of the Paradise police department go on high alert.

And when Jesse witnesses a horrifying collision caused by a distracted teenage driver, the political repercussions of her arrest bring him into conflict with the local selectment, the DA, and some people with very deep pockets. There's murder in the air, and it's Jesse's reputation as an uncompromising defender of the law — and his life — on the line.


About the Author

Robert B. Parker was the author of more than fifty books. He died in January 2010. Michael Brandman is the author of the New York Times bestseller Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues. He is the award-winning producer of more than thirty motion pictures, and collaborated with Robert B. Parker for years on movie projects, the Spenser TV movies, and the Jesse Stone series of TV movies starring Tom Selleck. Brandman cowrote the screenplays for Stone Cold, No Remorse, and Innocents Lost, and supervised the screenplay adaptations of Night Passage, Death in Paradise, and Sea Change. He lives in California.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (September 11, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399159495
ISBN-13: 978-0399159497

My Review:

A big movie crew has arrived in town to shoot a film with popular actress Marisol Hinton.  Marisol has recently divorced her husband (he's also an actor) and uses this opportunity to get away from him (he's been stalking her).  He has no money and he is determined to get revenge by killing her and receiving the life insurance.  Jesse has suggested a bodyguard and Wilson Cromartie (aka Crow) is hired by his recommendation.

Meanwhile Jesse has witnessed a car accident between a young debutante teenager who is on the phone texting instead of paying attention to the road.  He decides to go all out to get her while everyone around him to leave her alone since her family is wealthy.  He soon realizes she is troubled and hopes he is able to reach out to her and tear down her walls.

Also Jesse has received some phone calls their water bills have been higher than usual.  The thing is there is no mention of any rate increases.

This is a very fast read with a lot of dialogue which kept the plot moving.  Jesse seems more caring and sensitive in this one.

3.5/5

Thanks Penguin Canada for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

Sixkill (Spenser Mystery) [Hardcover]

I've finished "SixKill" the 39th book in his Spencer series by Robert B. Parker.

Product Description
 
An extraordinary new Spenser novel from the beloved New York Times-bestselling author.

On location in Boston, bad-boy actor Jumbo Nelson is accused of the rape and murder of a young woman. From the start the case seems fishy, so the Boston PD calls on Spenser to investigate. The situation doesn't look good for Jumbo, whose appetites for food, booze, and sex are as outsized as his name. He was the studio's biggest star, but he's become their biggest liability.

In the course of the investigation, Spenser encounters Jumbo's bodyguard: a young, former football-playing Native American named Zebulon Sixkill. Sixkill acts tough, but Spenser sees something more within the young man. Despite the odd circumstances, the two forge an unlikely alliance, with Spenser serving as mentor for Sixkill. As the case grows darker and secrets about both Jumbo and the dead girl come to light, it's Spenser-with Sixkill at his side-who must put things right.

About the Author

Robert B. Parker was the author of more than fifty books. He died in January 2010.

Product Details
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (May 3, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157263
ISBN-13: 978-0399157264

My Review: 

A young girl is found dead in film actor Jumbo Nelson's hotel room and Lt. Quirk is convinced that he is being framed for crime.  He asks Spencer to do his detective work and find out what happened and who could be involved.  Rita Fiore is also in for the ride and still flirting with Spencer (which is a treat).

Along the way he meets SixKill better known as Z a Cree Indian bodyguard of Jumbo.  Spencer beats him in a boxing fight and takes him under his wing.  He brings him to his friend Henry who owns a gym who is willing to train boxing to him.  We also learn of Z's earlier years which Parker inserts inbetween his training with Henry and Spencer.

There were cameos by some of Spencer's deadly friends (Tony Marcus and T Bop and Junior, Victor Del Rio, Chollo, Bobby Horse, Lt Samuelson and of course Captain Quirk).  Hawk is still in Eastern Asia.

This book goes out with a big bang and the last book Parker wrote since he died last January.  He is missed!

4/5

Thanks Laura from Penguin Canada for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

Painted Ladies (Spenser Mysteries, No. 39) [Hardcover]

I've finished "Painted Ladies" the 39th and last book in his Spencer series by Robert B. Parker.

Product Description

The brilliant new Spenser novel from the beloved New York Times-bestselling author Robert B. Parker.

Called upon by The Hammond Museum and renowned art scholar Dr. Ashton Prince, Spenser accepts his latest case: to provide protection during a ransom exchange-money for a stolen painting.

The case becomes personal when Spenser fails to protect his client and the valuable painting remains stolen. Convinced that Ashton Prince played a bigger role than just ransom delivery boy, Spenser enters into a daring game of cat-and-mouse with the thieves. But this is a game he might not come out of alive...

Completed the year before he passed away, Painted Ladies is Spenser and Robert B. Parker at their electrifying best.

About the Author

Robert B. Parker was the author of more than fifty books. He died in January 2010.
 
Product Details
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (October 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399156852
ISBN-13: 978-0399156854
 
My Review:
 
I highly recommend this series if you like a light mystery series with a hero who can cook, fight and love!
 
Storyline:  At the beginning of the book the art professor that Spencer is bodyguarding gets blown to bits right in front of him.  Spencer being Spencer is determined to find out why and who killed him.

Characters:  I have always like Spencer with his witty comments, sleuthing abilities and his love for only Susan.  I also like Susan (I know alot of people hate her) because she's very helpful, also has witty comebacks and has only loved Spencer too (they did split up in a couple of earlier books) and I'm glad that she realized she was wrong!

Romance:  I have always liked the romance between Spencer and Susan right from the beginning because they understand each other and you can feel the love they have for each other!  They have been together for a long time.

Killer:  The killer doesn't care who gets in their way and will do anything to make sure they don't get caught or found out!

4/5

Thanks Laura from Penquin Canada for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

Split Image (Jesse Stone, No. 9) [Hardcover]

I've finished "Split Image" the 9th book in his Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker.

Product Description

Family ties prove deadly in the brilliant new Jesse Stone novel from New York Times-bestselling author Robert B. Parker.

The body in the trunk was just the beginning.

Turns out the stiff was a foot soldier for local tough guy Reggie Galen, now enjoying a comfortable "retirement" with his beauti­ful wife, Rebecca, in the nicest part of Paradise. Living next door are Knocko Moynihan and his wife, Robbie, who also happens to be Rebecca's twin. But what initially appears to be a low-level mob hit takes on new meaning when a high-ranking crime figure is found dead on Paradise Beach.

Stressed by the case, his failed relationship with his ex-wife, and his ongoing battle with the bottle, Jesse needs something to keep him from spinning out of control. When private investigator Sunny Randall comes into town on a case, she asks for Jesse's help. As their professional and personal relationships become intertwined, both Jesse and Sunny realize that they have much in common with both their victims and their suspects-and with each other.

About the Author

Robert B. Parker is the author of more than fifty books.
 
My Review:
 
Storyline:
 
Characters:

Romance:

Killer(s):

5/5

The Professional (Spenser) (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "The Professional" the 37th book in his Spenser series by Robert B. Parker.

Product Description

A knock on Spenser's office door can only mean one thing: a new case. This time the visitor is a local lawyer with an interesting story. Elizabeth Shaw specializes in wills and trusts at the Boston law firm of Shaw & Cartwright, and over the years she's developed a friendship with wives of very wealthy men. However, these rich wives have a mutual secret: they've all had an affair with a man named Gary Eisenhower- and now he's blackmailing them for money. Shaw hires Spenser to make Eisenhower "cease and desist," so to speak, but when women start turning up dead, Spenser's assignment goes from blackmail to murder.

As matters become more complicated, Spenser's longtime love, Susan, begins offering some input by analyzing Eisenhower's behavior patterns in hopes of opening up a new avenue of investigation. It seems that not all of Gary's women are rich. So if he's not using them for blackmail, then what is his purpose? Spenser switches tactics to focus on the husbands, only to find that innocence and guilt may be two sides of the same coin.

My Review:

Glad to see Susan's input when matters became more complicated.

Always happy to see Spenser cooking and love his double-entendre's with Susan.

Yeah Hawk and Vinnie are back!

4/5

Night and Day (Jesse Stone) (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Night and Day" the 8th book in his Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker.

Product Description

Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone confronts a town’s darkest secrets in the shocking new novel from the New York Times–bestselling author and “America’s greatest mystery writer” (The New York Sun).

Things are getting strange in Paradise, Massachusetts. Police Chief Jesse Stone is called to the junior high school when reports of lewd conduct by the school’s principal, Betsy Ingersoll, filter into the station. Ingersoll claims she was protecting the propriety of her students when she inspected each girl’s undergarments in the locker room. Jesse would like nothing more than to see Ingersoll punished, but her high-powered attorney husband stands in the way. At the same time, the women of Paradise are faced with a threat to their sense of security with the emergence of a tormented voyeur, dubbed “The Night Hawk.” Initially, he’s content to peer through windows, but as times goes on, he becomes more reckless, forcing his victims to strip at gunpoint, then photographing them at their most vulnerable. And according to the notes he’s sending to Jesse, he’s not satisfied to stop there. It’s up to Jesse to catch the Night Hawk, before it’s too late.

About the Author

Robert B. Parker is the author of more than fifty books.

Rough Weather (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Rough Weather the 36th book in his Spencer series by Robert B. Parker.

Product Description

A hurricane hinders a kidnapping and Spenser goes on a search for the man responsible— the infamous Gray Man, who has both helped and hunted Spenser in the past.

Heidi Bradshaw is wealthy, beautiful, and well connected —and she needs Spenser’s help. In a most unlikely request, Heidi, a notorious gold digger recently separated from her latest husband, recruits the Boston P.I. to accompany her to her private island, Tashtego. The reason? To attend her daughter’s wedding as a sort of stand-in husband and protector. Spenser consents, but only after it is established that his beloved Susan Silverman will also be in attendance.

It should be a straightforward job for Spenser: show up for appearances, have some drinks, and spend some quality time with Susan. But when Spenser’s old nemesis Rugar—the Gray Man—arrives, Spenser realizes that something is amiss. A storm, a kidnapping, and murder tear apart what should be a joyous occasion, and Rugar is seemingly at the center of it all. The only thing is that the sloppy kidnapping is not Rugar’s style—as Spenser knows from past encounters. With six dead bodies and more questions than he can process, Spenser begins a search for answers—and the Gray Man.