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Robert B. Parker's Kickback: A Spenser Novel
Unavailable
Robert B. Parker's Kickback: A Spenser Novel
Unavailable
Robert B. Parker's Kickback: A Spenser Novel
Audiobook7 hours

Robert B. Parker's Kickback: A Spenser Novel

Written by Ace Atkins

Narrated by Joe Mantegna

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

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.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 19, 2015
ISBN9780553398182
Unavailable
Robert B. Parker's Kickback: A Spenser Novel
Author

Ace Atkins

Ace Atkins is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven books, including ten books in his Quinn Colson series. Handpicked by the Robert B. Parker Estate nearly a decade ago to continue the Spenser series, he's written nine novels about the iconic private eye. He lives and works in Oxford, Mississippi.

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Reviews for Robert B. Parker's Kickback

Rating: 4.02542372881356 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Atkins continues to do a good job with this series, and I admire the fact that he owns up to how long our man Spenser has been at his rough profession by letting age impair him just a little bit. This story line is based on real events that are very familiar to me---the "kids for cash" scandal that played out in a neighboring county to mine in 2008. Two county judges were convicted of accepting money from the builder of private, for-profit youth centers for the detention of juveniles, in return for contracting with the facilities and imposing harsh sentences on juveniles brought before the judges for minor, sometimes non-criminal offenses. (While the lawfirm I worked for never dealt with juvenile matters, or much criminal law at all, the set-up of our local courts often had judges hearing both civil and criminal cases, and several of our attorneys appeared before both of the judges involved in this scandal at one time or another.) In the book, as in real life, one boy was sentenced to 18 months detention without the benefit of counsel (parents were persuaded to sign away their children's rights in the hope of getting lesser sentences) for setting up a fake social media account in his school principal's name and posting embarrassing messages. Atkins has moved this whole ugly mess from Northeastern Pennsylvania to the suburbs of Boston, and made the detention center a sort of Alcatraz on a landfill island in the harbor. I think he has taken great license with the conditions there, as I don't recall hearing that the juveniles were treated brutally or that their lives were endangered as happens in the novel, but the other details stick pretty close to the facts, proving once again that you don't NEED to make this stuff up. Naturally, when the mother of one of the boys sent off to "Fortune Island" seeks Spenser's assistance, the jig is up, and justice eventually prevails.I listened to some of this on audio, and Joe Montegna (who played Spenser in some TV movies) does a decent job of the narration.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fun read with a side order of criticism of for-profit prisons. Ace Atkins does a great job channeling Parker.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Joe Montagna is the only voice that is perfect for Spencer . The story was not the best, but I enjoyed it overall.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Robert B. Parker’s Kickback. Ace Atkins. 2015. Jim and I love Parker’s Spencer novels so I was hesitant to read Atkins’ Spencer novels even though I have enjoyed the books by Atkins I’ve read. That was a mistake. Kickback is very good. Atkins almost has it, not quite but close enough. Parker’s client’s son has been arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center because of a prank he played on his assistant principal. As Parker investigates he runs into crooked judges, thugs, mob members, and the usual bullies he always manages to find. Hawk appears in the nick of time to help him and together they untangle the mess and save the day. Susan and Pearl play their roles, and the descriptions of meals and beer make you want to catch the next plane to Boston.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first book by Atkins that made me feel that someone other than Parker was doing the writing. I think it had to do with Spenser's smart ass remarks, seems like there were many more than usual. The plot fell apart a little bit at the end of the book. Even noting these few minor quibbles, I will still be looking forward to Atkins next Spenser book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Robert B. Parker's KickbackLove the series as it's based out of Boston area towns. This one is about a teen boy who sets up a Twitter account for the high school principle and then the cops arrest him.His mother sways Spenser to take the case and she becomes his secretary. There are said the kid also has terrorism threats, etc.He questions the kids to help find proof that the kid shouldn't be in jail. Problem is the judge is one to think it's their parents that are to blame for not raising them right and that sending them off to jail will be the best thing for them.Love how up to date this book is (Molly drug, etc) like how he unearths the corruption in the court system when he is just trying to find the answers to why the kids are not granted one call to a lawyer.Alternating chapters from Dylan and his problems in juvy prison. Fast paced as clues arise and they travel to get more information.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a story of injustice perpetrated on the youth of Blackburn MA by a judge. Spenser is asked to look into the case of Dillon Yates who was sent to a lockdown juvenile facility on Fortune Island because of a false Twitter account he set up in the name of his schools vice principal. With the aid of his friend Hawk, Spenser seeks the truth behind Judge Scali's hard line on sentencing youth for minor infractions, without their being represented by a lawyer.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pretty good entry in the post-Parker version of Spenser, I thought it got off to a slow start, then got better as it went along. Also, I was sure I wasn't going to be happy with the ending, and I was right. Above and beyond the story, this one seems to be trying to make a point about the juvenile justice system in general.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Kickback – Another Brilliant Spenser NovelOnce again Ace Atkins has captured the essence of Robert B. Parker’s Private Eye Spenser who works the mean streets of Boston and the wider Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Once again Ace Atkins does not waste words, but delivers maximum suspense like Rocky Marciano used to deliver punches.What started out as a social media joke, making fun of his high school’s vice principal, Dillon Yates has been arrested and sentenced to a juvenile prison out in Boston bay. When Dillon’s mother makes contact with Spencer, she wants to look at ways he can help her get her son back. Nobody should be going to jail for a joke, Judge Joe Scali disagrees and is leading a movement of being tough on crime and juveniles.When Dillion Yate’s mother appears in Spenser’s office with a sandwich and a request to help her get her boy back there is only going to be one inevitable out course. Spenser will travel to Blackburn Massachusetts to find out what is really happening up there. When kicking over the stones in Blackburn to see what crawls out soon has the Blackburn PD and other shady people turning up at his office.Little did Spenser know that the case about juvenile detention would take him from the cold of Blackburn to the warmth and sun of Tampa. The city of sun has some interesting stories to tell about corruption of the judicial system up in Blackburn, and as for the judge’s yacht! Spenser and his trusted ally Hawk are kicking ass and taking names between Florida and Massachusetts all in the name of finding the truth.Ace Atkins has once again delivered a gritty and tough Spenser novel following in the tradition of Robert B Parker. The way in which he is able to mimic the originals is stunning and so delivers a punch novel that will deliver for all readers.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When Dillon Yates pulls a thoughtless teen prank, he’s hauled before Blackburn’s no-nonsense judge where he’s charged with terrorism and promptly sentenced to an extended term at a youth facility. Other teens coming before Judge Scali have suffered the same fate; in his courtroom, he’s known for having zero tolerance, lawyers for the teens are a rarity, and sentences for minor infractions are draconian. Dillon’s distraught and angry mother turns to Spenser for help. His investigation takes him from Boston to Florida as he uncovers a tangled web of corruption and kickbacks through the for-profit juvenile detention center. Will Spenser be able to get Dillon off Fortune Island? Will he find the evidence he needs to expose the scheme and rescue the many boys who have been unfairly confined there?Spenser, in his usual sardonic manner, narrates the tale; third person narratives describing Fortune Island and the horrific fate of the boys imprisoned there serve as a counterpoint and help to build suspense. Series aficionados will be pleased to find Hawk, Susan Silverman, and Pearl along for the ride; readers will be pulled into the action from the very first page of Spenser’s latest adventure. Highly recommended.