Robert B. Parker's Little White Lies (Spenser) - Atkins, Ace Review & Synopsis

Synopsis Boston PI Spenser and right hand Hawk follow a con man's trail of smoke and mirrors in this thrilling entry in Robert B. Parker's long-running series. Connie Kelly thought she'd found her perfect man on an online dating site. She fell so hard for handsome, mysterious M. Brooks Welles that she wrote him a check for almost three hundred thousand dollars, hoping for a big return on her investment. But within weeks, both Welles and her money are gone. Her therapist, Dr. Susan Silverman, hands her Spenser's card... A self-proclaimed military hotshot, Welles had been a frequent guest on national news shows speaking with authority about politics and world events. When he disappears, he leaves not only a jilted lover but a growing list of angry investors, duped cops, and a team of paramilitary contractors looking for revenge. Enter Spenser, who quickly discovers that Welles' name, r�sum�, and client list are nothing but an elaborate fraud. As he follows the mystery man's trail from Boston to backroads Georgia, Spenser will need help from trusted allies Hawk and Teddy Sapp to make sure Welles's next con is his last. Review Robert B. Parker was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring police chief Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole-Everett Hitch westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010. Ace Atkins is the New York Times bestselling author of the Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which-The Ranger and The Lost Ones-were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel (he also has a third Edgar nomination for his short story, "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"). In addition, he is the author of several New York Times bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times, a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and, in college, played defensive end for the undefeated Auburn University football team (for which he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated). He lives in Oxford, Mississippi.1 Dr. Silverman thought you might help," Connie Kelly said. "She said you're the best at what you do." "I do many things for Dr. Silverman," I said. "Although my chosen profession is the least important of them." "So I take it you're more than friends?" I nodded, adding water to the new coffeemaker sitting atop my file cabinet. I'd recently upgraded from Mr. Coffee to one of those machines that used pre-measured plastic cups. I placed my mug under the filter, clamped down the lid, and returned to my desk. Demonic hissing sounds echoed in my office. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? "God," Connie said. "I feel like the biggest idiot in Boston." "I wouldn't worry about that." "Why?" "That's quite an elite club," I said. "The line stretches all the way from Mass Ave down to Mattapoissett." "I thought I loved him." "Did he say he loved you?" "Of course," she said. "That's how I found myself back in �therapy. I haven't been to see Dr. Silverman for years. I thought I was cured." "Dr. Silverman might say therapy isn't a cure," I said. "It's a �process." "She's a very intelligent woman." I gave Connie a big smile, letting her know I echoed the sentiment. When the hissing and spitting ceased, I retrieved the mug and a carton of milk, a few packs of sugar, and a clean spoon. I set them on the desk near her and returned to my seat. "I've worked a lot of unusual jobs," I said. "But I have to admit, helping with relationships isn't my specialty." "I don't want help," Connie Kelly said. "I need to know who he really is." "You mean deep down?" "I know he's a phony, a liar, and a two-timing, backstabbing son of a bitch." "Yikes." She busily added sugar and milk to her coffee with shaking hands. Despite her mood, Connie Kelly was dressed in a white sleeveless silk top with a black pencil skirt adorned with chrysanthemums and a pair of black open-toe heels that highlighted her shapely calves. Her toes had been painted a festive red. "As true as that might be . . ." I said. "Wait," she said. "There's more." Being a trained investigator and a master listener, I waited. Pleasant city sounds drifted up from Berkeley Street on a cool, almost fall-like breeze. I leaned back in my chair, resting my hands on my thighs, still dressed in a sweaty gray T-shirt and running shorts. I had intended to check my mail, not meet with a client. But she'd been there waiting before I opened the door. "He has two hundred and sixty thousand dollars of my money," she said. "He swindled it from me and then disappeared." I withheld from snapping my fingers and saying, "Now we're talking." Instead, I nodded with grave understanding. The promise of money made me quite attentive, especially after a slow summer and losing my apartment and all my worldly possessions in a recent fire. "I don't even know if M. Brooks Welles is his real name." "That name sounds familiar," I said. "Should I know him?" "Are you a member of many social clubs?" "Does the corner barstool at the Tennessee Tavern count?" "Hardly," she said. "When we were together, he seldom passed on a charity event or dinner invitation. Come to think of it, I never saw him pick up a check. People loved being around a guy who got his face on TV." "Actor?" "Worse," she said. "Pundit." She ran down the names of several cable news channels where Welles had appeared as an expert. I inquired about his area of expertise. "He said he was in the CIA," she said. "He spoke on terrorism, military affairs, politics. Mainly how we'd failed to keep our country safe. He was a very popular speaker after the marathon bombings. He said the current administration and their liberal policies had failed us." "How, when, and under what pretense did Mr. Welles take your money?" Connie let out a long breath and reached for the coffee with both hands. She sipped and with great care returned the mug to the desk. "It's so naked and awful," she said. "It was two months ago. Real estate." "Let me guess," I said. "A foolproof investment?" "Land up near Walden Pond," she said. "He said he'd hunted there as a boy and the place had given him great solace." "The only thing I knew people to hunt around Walden Pond were rats." "I didn't ask many questions," Connie said, shaking her head, her eyes growing moist. "I didn't ask him anything at all. I met very few of his friends and no family." "Love is blind," I said. I toasted her with my mug. She smiled for the first time since entering my office. "Bryn Mawr. English." "You and Kate Hepburn." I reached for a yellow legal pad and my pen. "What is it that you'd like me to do?" "I want you to run a background check on him." I shrugged. "You could do that online. You don't need me." "And," she said, "I want my goddamn money back and his ass hanging out to dry." "Ah." I wrote down a few notes, taking care with the details about his ass drying out. I put down the pen and drank some coffee. After running five miles, I was having fantasies about stopping off at Kane's for a couple of old-fashioneds to replenish my carbs. "I'm four hundred dollars a day," I said. "Plus expenses." She didn't flinch, and instead reached into her purse for a checkbook. The checks were sandwiched between handsome alligator covers. "I'd be glad to pay for a week in advance." "I don't know how long it will take," I said. "And I can't promise any legal action or justice. Although I do know a very competent and very mean redheaded attorney." "I understand." "Just the facts, ma'am." "The Bard and Joe Friday?" "I am one literate son of a gun." "I heard you often amuse yourself." "Can't put anything by ol' Doc Silverman." "Shall I tell you everything I know about M. Brooks Welles?" I nodded. "I don't know much, but I do think he might be dangerous," she said. "Very dangerous. I think back on things he told me and they make me shudder. He confided in me that he's killed many men." I shrugged and thought about flexing my biceps or showing off the .357 Magnum I kept in my right-hand drawer. But doing so might seem gauche to a gal from Bryn Mawr, so I just listened. "I asked for it," she said. "We met each other through an �Internet dating site. He told me that after Vietnam, he joined the CIA and then went on to write books and produce movies. I saw him several times on television, so I trusted he was telling me the truth." "Do you have a photo?" She reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of a man in his sixties with silvery hair and a saltwater tan, wearing expensive duds. Starched white shirt wide open at the throat, navy blazer with brass buttons. Connie Kelly was seated beside him at some waterfront restaurant. They were laughing and looked very happy. I didn't wish to judge, but he looked a bit long in the tooth for her. "I wanted a tall, successful, and interesting man. Someone who liked to travel and took time to enjoy sunsets." "Pi�a coladas and getting caught in the rain?" "I should have said honest but ran out of room on my profile," she said. "I guess I left the door wide open for this kind of thing. My husband left me two years ago for a flight attendant from Dallas. I am not what you'd call a stunner, but Brooks made me feel very beautiful. I do know I'm smart and very good at what I do." "What do you do?" "I work as an administrator for Jumpstart," she said. "Are you familiar with the organization?" "Very," I said. "They do great work. Do you have children?" She shook her head. She didn't touch the coffee again. But she ripped out the check and dropped it on my desk. "Let me see what I can do." She smiled again. "You're different than Dr. Silverman described you." "Bigger? More stunning?" "Quieter," she said. "More self-contained." "I tried to put that on the business cards," I said. "But ran out of room." 2 I drove home to my new digs in the Charlestown Navy Yard and made breakfast. As I ate two poached eggs with a side of locally cured bacon from the Public Market, I pulled up YouTube clips of M. Brooks Welles doing his thing. It was liberating doing my job in a terry-cloth robe while munching on bacon. I wondered why I didn't begin every day like this. Skip the workouts, head right to the breakfast meats and sleuthing. Pearl sat by my side as I worked. Her yellow eyes were dutiful and glowing. She wanted either to show me her love or me to share. I pinched off a piece of bacon and tossed it to the floor. On my computer, Welles was introduced as a former Navy SEAL, Vietnam vet, and CIA operative. Special consul to foreign affairs committees. He was sleek and confident. He spoke in a gravelly, knowing voice filled with authority and wore an American flag pin on his lapel. I resisted the urge to salute my MacBook. He called the president at the time a clown and a fraud. He claimed he knew of dozens of Muslim paramilitary training camps within the United States. He said, based on his experience, that tougher immigration standards and screening processes needed to be put in place or we'd be visiting 9/11 all over again. He talked a lot about his time in the CIA, offering vague comments about his mission in South America making tough calls and doing the work in the shadows. Over the years, I had known men and women who'd done that kind of work. They seldom spoke of it. Even in vague terms. Welles relished in it. More talk about working with Air America, battling the Communist threat, and now looking at a battlefront at home. As the interview continued, Welles was intercut with images of the marathon bombing. I had enough and closed the screen. Pearl looked up at me. Ever vigilant, she knew I still had half a piece of bacon left. I tossed it to her and walked back to get dressed. Pearl trotted beside me, still not confident in the new place. The old shipping warehouse had been built not long after the Civil War and had a nice view of the yards and the U.S.S. Constitution, with tall ceilings and a big plate-glass window, exposed brick walls, and floors fashioned from the decks of old ships. Rustic. Susan found it amusing I resided so close to Old Ironsides. I slipped into a pair of jeans, a blue pocket T-shirt, and Nikes and went back to the laptop propped on the kitchen counter. I ran Welles's name through the Department of Motor Vehicles and a LexisNexis search. Nothing. Connie Kelly had passed on one of Welles's business cards for a company called EDGE. I ran the company through the Secretary of the Commonwealth database and found an address in Cambridge. Tally-ho. I slipped my .38 just below my right hip, reached for my Braves cap, and grabbed my car keys. Pearl and I were off to Central Square. Her long brown ears blew in the wind as we drove along Memorial Drive against the Charles. Rowers rowed, joggers jogged, and bench sitters sat. It was mid-�September and the air had turned crisp. The leaves had already started to turn red and gold, shining in Technicolor upon the still water. The address led me to a narrow, wedge-shaped building where Western Avenue joined with River Street. There was a directory by a locked door with Lilliputian type. Undeterred, I slipped on a pair of cheaters and searched for any mention of Welles or EDGE. Nothing. Two real-estate firms, a lawyer, and a classic-car broker. I slipped the cheaters back into my shirt pocket and called the building's management company from my cell. Twenty minutes later, a heavyset woman in a dark blue pantsuit crawled out of a small silver BMW. She had a cell phone screwed tightly into her ear and wore an abundance of gold jewelry. I knew her name was Joanne D'Ambrosio and she had an office in the North End. I told her I was a prospective renter. "Alfred LaRue," I said. "Friends call me Lash." "And what's your business, Mr. LaRue?" "I vanquish foes." She was half listening, looking at the number of someone who was calling. "We have three units available," she said. "How much square footage to you need? And how soon do you need it?" She unlocked the front door and we walked down a narrow hallway. The carpet was beige, threadbare, and spotty as a Dalmatian. The walls were scuffed with black marks and badly in need of paint. I ran my hands along some uneven spackling. "The landlord looks to make improvements at the first of the year," she said. "The building had been in bankruptcy. That should all be worked out soon. Do you live in Cambridge?" "No," I said. "But I keep a toothbrush here. I heard about this building from my old pal, Brooks Welles. He said it was quiet and reasonable." If she recognized the name, it didn't register. She stood in the hall, checking messages on her phone. "Is he still on the first floor?" "I'm sorry," she said. "What's that again?" "M. Brooks Welles," I said. "He runs a company called EDGE." Her eyes narrowed. She lifted her chin and took a more solid glance my way. She was inspecting me. "I thought I might pop in and say hello." "How friendly are you?" "Well," I said. "To be honest, I only just met him." "He's no longer in this building," she said. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but Mr. Welles left with four months of unpaid rent." "Say it ain't so." "Oh, it's so," she said. "And he left all his garbage for me to clean up. He left me a goddamn Post-it note saying we could have his �furniture. Gee, thanks. A Salvation Army desk and a chair with a broken arm. You met him? Did he ever tell you what he did for a living?" "A little of this," I said, "a little of that." "A four-flusher," she said. "That's what my father called people like him." "Did he leave anything else in the office?" "Like I said," she said. "Garbage." "Any bills?" I said. "Files? Documents?" "What did you say your name was?" she said, eyeing me. She crossed her arms and checked me out from ball cap to Nikes. I shrugged, reached into my pocket, and handed her my business card, the real one with the skull and crossbones to let people know I was serious. I offered her the full-wattage smile. Robert B. Parker's Revelation Itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch return to confront an escaped criminal in the grittiest entry yet in Robert B. Parker’s New York Times bestselling series. Territorial marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch figured things had finally settled down in Appaloosa when Boston Bill Black’s murder charge was dropped. But all that changed when Augustus Noble Driggs was transferred to a stateside penitentiary just across the border from Mexico. Square-jawed, handsome, and built like a muscled thoroughbred stallion, Driggs manages to intimidate everyone inside the prison walls, including the upstart young warden. In a haunting twist of fate, Driggs and a pack of cold-blooded convicts are suddenly on the loose—and it’s up to any and all territorial lawmen, including Cole and Hitch, to capture the fugitives and rescue the woman kidnapped during their escape. But nothing is ever quite what it seems with the ever-elusive Driggs. Finally free, he’s quickly on his own furious hunt for a hidden cache of gold and jewels—and for the men who betrayed him and left him for dead. With an unlikely and unconventional Yankee detective by their side, Cole and Hitch set off on a massive manhunt. As horses' hooves thunder and guns echo deadening reports, Driggs discovers one of the lawmen on his trail is none other than a fellow West Point graduate he'd just as soon see dead. Ruthless and willing to leave a bloody path of destruction in his wake, Driggs seeks vengeance at any cost. Itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch return to confront an escaped criminal in the grittiest entry yet in Robert B. Parker’s New York Times bestselling series." Robert B. Parker's Blackjack Itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch return in the gritty new installment of the New York Times–bestselling series. Appaloosa, the hometown of Territorial Marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, continues to prosper, but with prosperity comes a slew of new trouble: carpetbaggers, gamblers, migrants, peddlers, drifters, thieves, and whores, all boiling in a cauldron of excess and greed. And there’s a new menace in town: a wealthy, handsome easterner—and the owner of Appaloosa’s new casino—Boston Bill Black. Boston Bill is flashy and bigger than life. He’s a prankster and a notorious womanizer, and with eight notches on the handle of his Colt, he’s rumored quick on the draw. When he finds himself wanted for a series of murders, he quickly vanishes. Cole and Hitch locate and arrest him, but Boston Bill escapes once again. Another murder sets the duo on his trail, eventually taking them back to Appaloosa—where one woman in particular may, or may not, prove to be the apple of Boston Bill’s eye. Itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch return in the gritty new installment of the New York Times–bestselling series." Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay All is quiet in Paradise, except for a spate of innocuous vandalism. Good thing, too, because Jesse Stone is preoccupied with the women in his life, both past and present. As his ex-wife, Jenn, is about to marry a Dallas real-estate tycoon, Jesse isn't too sure his relationship with former FBI agent Diana Evans is built to last. But those concerns get put on the back burner when a major Boston crime boss is brutally murdered. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Jesse suspects it's the work of Mr. Peepers, a psychotic assassin who has caused trouble for Jesse in the past. Peepers has long promised revenge against the Mob, Jesse, and Suit for their roles in foiling one of his hits - and against Jenn as well. And though Jesse and Jenn have long parted ways, Jesse still feels responsible for her safety. Jesse and Diana head to Dallas for the wedding and, along with the tycoon's security team, try to stop Peepers before the bill comes due. With Peepers toying with the authorities as to when and where he'll strike, Jesse is up against the wall. Still, there's a debt to pay and blood to be spilled to satisfy it. But whose blood, and just how much? 'Farrel Coleman's writing soars, his prose boiled to perfection' - Promoting Crime Fiction 'Coleman, best known for his Moe Prager series... successfully emulates the tone and style of the late Robert B. Parker's nine Jesse Stone novels' - Publishers Weekly Search for the Spenser series and the Sunny Randall series to meet Robert B. Parker's other iconic detectives!" Playmates Spenser goes back to school--to investigate corruption in college town. Taft University's hottest basketball star is shaving points for quick cash. And if Spenser doesn't watch his own footwork, the guilty parties will shave a few years off his life... Spenser goes back to school--to investigate corruption in college town." Sudden Mischief When Susan's ex-husband, Brad, appears after a decades-long absence, nearly broke and the object of a sexual-harassment suit, Spenser reluctantly agrees to help. As he investigates the circumstances surrounding the suit, he discovers that fund-raiser Brad is swimming in very deep water: mobsters, who were using his fund-raising campaigns to launder money, have discovered he was cooking the already cooked books and aren't at all pleased. The deeper Spenser digs, the more bodies he uncovers and the more culpable Brad appears to be. 'Robert B Parker's Spenser is one of the best private detectives in fiction' - Sunday Telegraph Robert B Parker . THE SPENSER NOVELS The Godwulf Manuscript Chance God Save the Child Small Vices* Mortal Stakes Sudden Mischief* Promised Land Hush Money* The Judas Goat Hugger Mugger * Looking for Rachel Wallace Potshot* Early Autumn ..." Promised Land Private investigator Spenser leaves Boston for summertime Cape Cod where he and his friend Susan Silverman find themselves involved with fools and villains whose concerns are extortion, robbery, and murder. Private investigator Spenser leaves Boston for summertime Cape Cod where he and his friend Susan Silverman find themselves involved with fools and villains whose concerns are extortion, robbery, and murder." Robert B. Parker's The Bridge The next gritty, gun-slinging entry in the New York Times–bestselling series, featuring itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. Territorial Marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are back in Appaloosa, where their work enforcing the law has been exceptionally quiet. All that is about to change. An ominous storm rolls in, and along with it a band of night riders with a devious scheme, who show up at the Rio Blanco camp, where a three-hundred-foot bridge is under construction. Appaloosa’s Sheriff Sledge Driskill and his deputies are the first to respond, but as the storm grows more threatening, news of troubles at the bridge escalate and the Sheriff and his deputies go missing. Virgil and Everett saddle up to sort things out but before they do the hard drinking, Beauregard Beauchamp arrives in Appaloosa with his Theatrical Extravaganza troupe and the promise of the best in lively entertainment west of the Mississippi. With the troupe comes a lovely and mysterious fortune-teller who is set on saving Everett from imminent but indefinable danger. The trouble at the bridge, the missing lawmen, the new arrivals, and Everett’s shoot-out in front of Hal’s Café aren’t the only things on Cole and Hitch’s plate as a gang of unsavory soldiers ease into town with a shady alibi, shadier intentions, and a soon-to-be-discovered wake of destruction. As clouds over Appaloosa continue to gather, things get much worse for Cole and Hitch… The next gritty, gun-slinging entry in the New York Times–bestselling series, featuring itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch." Robert B. Parker's Cheap Shot “Atkins gives Robert B. Parker’s long-running series one of its best installments to date” (Bookreporter.com) as Spenser investigates the kidnapping of a football player’s son. Kinjo Heywood is one of the New England Patriots’ marquee players—a hard-nosed linebacker who’s earned his standing as one of the toughest guys in the league. He may be worth millions but his connection to a nightclub shooting two years before is still putting a dangerous spin on his life, and his career. When Heywood’s nine-year-old son, Akira, is kidnapped, 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. Because Heywood’s next unpredictable move puts everyone in jeopardy as the clock winds down on Akira’s future. “Atkins gives Robert B. Parker’s long-running series one of its best installments to date” (Bookreporter.com) as Spenser investigates the kidnapping of a football player’s son." Valediction The most dangerous man to cross is one who isn't afraid to die. But the most deadly is one who doesn't want to live. And Spenser has just lost the woman who made life his #1 priority. So when a religious sect kidnaps a pretty young dancer, no death threat can make Spenser cut and run. Now a hit man's bullet is wearing Spenser's name. But Boston's big boys don't know Spenser's ready and willing to meet death more than halfway. The most dangerous man to cross is one who isn't afraid to die." Now and Then Investigating a case of infidelity sounds simple—until it plunges Spenser and his beloved Susan into a politically charged murder plot that’s already left three people dead. Investigating a case of infidelity sounds simple—until it plunges Spenser and his beloved Susan into a politically charged murder plot that’s already left three people dead." Early Autumn (A Spenser Mystery) Boston PI Spenser is back with his most dramatic case yet, in Robert B Parker's acclaimed and bestselling Spenser series. A bitter divorce results in a father ordering the kidnapping of his own son. PI Spenser is hired by the mother to get her boy back. But when Spenser senses the lay of the land, he decides to do some kidnapping of his own, and soon finds there is a contract out on his own life. 'When it comes to detective novels, 90 per cent of us admit he's an influence, and the rest of us lie about it' HARLAN COBEN Robert B . Parker ... Thin Air Chance Small Vices Sudden Mischief Hush Money Hugger Mugger Potshot Widow's Walk Back Story Bad Business Cold Service SchoolDays HundredDollar Baby Now &Then Rough Weather The Professional Painted Ladies ..." Hugger Mugger When Spenser is approached by Walter Clive, president of the Three Fillies Stables, to find out who is threatening his horse, Hugger Mugger, he can hardly say no: he's been doing pro bono work for so long his cupboards are just about bare. Disregarding the resentment of the local Georgia law enforcement, Spenser accepts the case. But it soon takes a deadly turn when the attacker claims a human victim, and Spenser must revise his impressions of the Three Fillies organisation - and watch his own back as well. 'Robert B Parker's Spenser is one of the best private detectives in fiction' - Sunday Telegraph 'Robert B Parker's Spenser is one of the best private detectives in fiction' - Sunday Telegraph" Robert B. Parker's Someone to Watch Over Me In the latest thriller featuring the legendary Boston PI, Spenser and his young protégé Mattie Sullivan take on billionaire money manager running a network of underaged girls for his rich and powerful clients. Ten years ago, Spenser helped a teenage girl named Mattie Sullivan find her mother's killer and take down an infamous Southie crime boss. Now Mattie--a college student with a side job working for the tough but tender private eye--dreams of being an investigator herself. Her first big case involves a fifteen-year-old girl assaulted by a much older man at one of Boston's most prestigious private clubs. The girl, Chloe Turner, only wants the safe return of her laptop and backpack. But like her mentor and boss, Mattie has a knack for asking the right questions of the wrong people. Soon Spenser and Mattie find ties between the exploitation of dozens of other girls from working class families to an eccentric billionaire and his sadistic henchwoman with a mansion on Commonwealth Avenue. The mystery man's wealth, power and connections extend well beyond Massachusetts - maybe even beyond the United States. Spenser and trusted ally Hawk must again watch out for Mattie as she unravels a massive sex-trafficking ring that will take them from Boston to Boca Raton to the Bahamas, crossing paths with local toughs, a highly-trained security company, and an old enemy of Spenser's--the Gray Man--for a final epic showdown. In the latest thriller featuring the legendary Boston PI, Spenser and his young protégé Mattie Sullivan take on billionaire money manager running a network of underaged girls for his rich and powerful clients." Robert B Parker's Damned if You Do 'Nobody does it better than Parker' - Sunday Times 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. Now, defiled and alone in a seedy beachfront motel, she was dead. And Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone doesn't know her name. Whoever she is, she didn't deserve to die. State police captain Healy's resources turn up nothing helpful, and Gino Fish, who knows his way around dark places, is characteristically uncooperative. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Jesse continues digging his own way, only to find himself caught in the crosshairs of a bitter turf war between two ruthless pimps, Thomas Walker and Fat Boy Nelly, and a beautiful woman to whom they both lay claim. Jesse tries for a diplomatic solution, but more blood will be spilt before it's over. 'Robert B. Parker is one of the greats of the American hard-boiled genre' - Guardian Look out for the other novels in the Jesse Stones series published by No Exit Press: Night Passage, Trouble in Paradise, Death in Paradise, Stone Cold, Sea Change, High Profile, Damned If You Do, Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot, Robert B. Parker's The Devil Wins, Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay, Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet, Robert B. Parker's Colorblind and Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill Finished all the Jesse Stone mysteries? Search for the Spenser series and the Sunny Randall series to meet Robert B. Parker's other iconic detectives! Search for the Spenser series and the Sunny Randall series to meet Robert B. Parker's other iconic detectives!" Potshot Boston P.I. Spenser returns—heading west to the rich man’s haven of Potshot, Arizona, a former mining town reborn as a paradise for Los Angeles millionaires looking for a place to escape the pressures of their high-flying lifestyles. Potshot overcame its rough reputation as a rendezvous for old-time mountain men who lived off the land, thanks to a healthy infusion of new blood and even newer money. But when this western idyll is threatened by a local gang—a twenty-first-century posse of desert rats, misfits, drunks, and scavengers—the local police seem powerless. Led by a charismatic individual known only as The Preacher, this motley band of thieves selectively exploits the town, nurturing it as a source of wealth while systematically robbing the residents blind. Enter Spenser, who has been hired by the comely Mary Lou Buckman to investigate the murder of her husband. The Buckmans, a pair of L.A. transplants, moved to Potshot and started a modest outdoor tour service. It is Mary Lou’s belief that when her husband refused to pay The Preacher and his men protection money he was killed. Without any witnesses, Spenser has little to go on, and it’s clear the local police chief won’t be doing much to help. Calling on his own cadre of tried-and-true cohorts, including Vinnie Morris, Bobby Horse, Chollo, Bernard J. Fortunato, Tedy Sapp and the redoubtable Hawk, Spenser must find a way to beat the gang at their own dangerous game. Potshot overcame its rough reputation as a rendezvous for old-time mountain men who lived off the land, thanks to a healthy infusion of new blood and even newer money." Robert B Parker's Kickback Spenser is as tough and funny as ever, and Atkins has become a worthy successor' - Booklist 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. 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 hard-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. THE SPENSER NOVELS The Godwulf Manuscript God Save the Child Mortal Stakes Promised Land The Judas Goat Looking for ... Girl (aka HundredDollar Baby)* Now & Then* Rough Weather The Professional Painted Ladies Sixkill Lullaby (by Ace ..." Cold Service When his closest ally, Hawk, is beaten and left for dead while protecting a bookie, Spenser embarks on an epic journey to rehabilitate his best pal, body and soul. But that means infiltrating a ruthless mob—and redefining his friendship with Hawk in the name of vengeance... “Cold Service moves with the speed of light.”—Orlando Sentinel When his closest ally, Hawk, is beaten and left for dead while protecting a bookie, Spenser embarks on an epic journey to rehabilitate his best pal, body and soul." Pastime Emotionally scarred Paul Giacomin begs Spenser, a tough-guy private eye, to help rescue his mother, and the request sets Spenser off on an emotional and dangerous journey When Paul's mother vanishes, he begs Spenser to help him rescue her from the clutches of her boyfriend." Rough Weather A high society wedding ends unhappily ever after in this mystery starring Boston PI Spenser—“the timeless hero of American detective fiction” (The New York Times Book Review). Hired as a bodyguard at an exclusive wedding, Spenser witnesses an unexpected crime: the kidnapping of the young bride, which opens the door for murder, family secrets, and the reappearance of an old nemesis. A high society wedding ends unhappily ever after in this mystery starring Boston PI Spenser—“the timeless hero of American detective fiction” (The New York Times Book Review)." In Pursuit of Spenser When Robert B. Parker passed in early 2010, the world lost two great men: Parker himself, iconic American crime writer whose books have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, and his best-known creation, Spenser. Parker's Spenser series not only influenced the work of countless of today's writers, but is also credited with reviving and forever changing the genre. In Pursuit of Spenser offers a look at Parker and to Spenser through the eyes of the writers he influenced. Editor Otto Penzler-- proprietor of one of the oldest and largest mystery specialist bookstores in the country, New York's The Mysterious Bookshop, and renowned mystery fiction editor whose credits include series editor for the Best American Crime Writing and Best American Mystery Stories, among many others (and about whom Parker himself once wrote, "Otto Penzler knows more about crime fiction than most people know about anything")-- collects some of today's bestselling mystery authors to discuss Parker, his characters, the series, and their impact on the world. From Hawk to Susan Silverman to Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall, from the series' Boston milieu to Parker's own take on his character, In Pursuit of Spenser pays tribute to Spenser, and Parker, with affection, humor, and a deep appreciation for what both have left behind. From Hawk to Susan Silverman to Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall, from the series' Boston milieu to Parker's own take on his character, In Pursuit of Spenser pays tribute to Spenser, and Parker, with affection, humor, and a deep appreciation ..." Ceremony The house looked right. And the neighborhood was perfect. And everything else was wrong. So Spenser took the parents' money and went after a runaway girl. Unfortunately, April Kyle had already traveled two lifetimes from her suburban home. Now she was caught up in a web of pinps, criminals, and exploiters—the kinf of people who won't listen to anything but money, or a gun. . . . Praise for Ceremony “Sizzling.”—The Pittsburgh Press “Pick of the crop, this one. Genuinely involving.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer Now she was caught up in a web of pinps, criminals, and exploiters—the kinf of people who won't listen to anything but money, or a gun. . . . Praise for Ceremony “Sizzling.”—The Pittsburgh Press “Pick of the crop, this one." Sea Change When the body of a divorced Florida heiress washes ashore in Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone learns of the woman's past appearances in an erotic video and finds it suspicious that the victim's family seems unaffected by her death. After the death of a Florida heiress, Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone faces the case of his career in the newest novel of Parker's bestselling series." Thin Air Her name is Lisa St. Claire. Her husband's a cop. Her whereabouts are unknown. Spenser thought he could help a friend find his missing wife. Until he learned the nasty truth about Lisa St. Claire. For starters, it's not her real name... Her name is Lisa St. Claire. Her husband's a cop. Her whereabouts are unknown. Spenser thought he could help a friend find his missing wife. Until he learned the nasty truth about Lisa St. Claire. For starters, it's not her real name..." Walking Shadow A murder draws Boston PI Spenser into the dramatic world of theater in this New York Times bestseller in Robert B. Parker’s long-running series. In a shabby waterfront town, an actor is shot dead onstage. Granted, the script left much to be desired. But there's more behind the scenes than an overzealous critic—and Spenser and Hawk are combing Port City’s underworld to find it... “Great fun...[Spenser] is still the cockiest and wittiest P.I. on the block.”—The New York Times A murder draws Boston PI Spenser into the dramatic world of theater in this New York Times bestseller in Robert B. Parker’s long-running series." Robert B. Parker: The Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch Novels 1 - 4 Four outstanding novels set in the Old West, featuring the "smart and resourceful"* gun-slinging duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch--from the New York Times bestselling author of the Spenser, Jesse Stone, and Sunny Randall novels. (*Publishers Weekly) Includes: Appaloosa Resolution Brimstone Blue-Eyed Devil Four outstanding novels set in the Old West, featuring the "smart and resourceful"* gun-slinging duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch--from the New York Times bestselling author of the Spenser, Jesse Stone, and Sunny Randall novels. ..." A Catskill Eagle “His best mystery novel”—Time Susan's letter came from California: Hawk was in jail, and she was on the run. Twenty-four hours later Hawk is free, because Spenser has sprung him loose—for a brutal cross-country journey back to the East Coast. Now the two men are on a violent ride to find the woman Spenser loves, the man who took her, and the shocking reason so many people had to die. . . . “His best mystery novel”—Time Susan's letter came from California: Hawk was in jail, and she was on the run." Looking for Rachel Wallace “Crackling dialogue, plenty of action, and expert writing.”—The New York Times Rachel Wallace is a tough young woman with a lot of enemies. Spenser is a tough guy with a macho code of honor, hired to protect a woman who thinks that kind of code is obsolete. Privately, they will never see eye to eye. But when Rachel vanishes. Spenser is ready to lay his life on the line—to find Rachel Wallace. “A rare kind of book.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Crackling dialogue, plenty of action, and expert writing.”—The New York Times Rachel Wallace is a tough young woman with a lot of enemies." Taming a Seahorse A high-class New York madam hires Spenser to find a missing hooker, But when Spenser tracks down April Kyle, he uncovers the murder of yet another prostitute. Now Spenser is searching through a world of sex for sale. Because somewhere between Boston and a kinky Caribbean club, someone has a taste for young women, big money, and murder. . . . Praise for Taming a Seahorse “Irresistible!”—The Bergen Record “A winner.”—The Chicago Tribune Because somewhere between Boston and a kinky Caribbean club, someone has a taste for young women, big money, and murder. . . . Praise for Taming a Seahorse “Irresistible!”—The Bergen Record “A winner.”—The Chicago Tribune" Robert B Parker: The Jesse Stone Novels 1-5 "The new series by the creator of the hugely successful Spenser books has a great deal going for it: an empathetic, painfully flawed protagonist; an atmospheric small-town setting rife with corruption; and a whole new set of fascinating secondary characters" (Booklist). Don't miss the first five novels featuring Jesse Stone, police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts, by New York Times bestselling author Robert B. Parker. Includes: Night Passage Trouble in Paradise Death in Paradise Stone Cold Sea Change "The new series by the creator of the hugely successful Spenser books has a great deal going for it: an empathetic, painfully flawed protagonist; an atmospheric small-town setting rife with corruption; and a whole new set of fascinating ..." Robert B. Parker: The Sunny Randall Novels 1-6 "In some ways, Sunny is a female Spenser. Like him, she's a former cop, now a Boston PI, quick with a pistol and a quip...promises to be a series for the ages."* These six novels feature the New York Times bestselling author's first female protagonist--Sunny Randall, "the real deal" (*Publishers Weekly). Includes: Family Honor Perish Twice Shrink Rap Melancholy Baby Blue Screen Spare Change Like him, she's a former cop, now a Boston PI, quick with a pistol and a quip...promises to be a series for the ages."* These six novels feature the New York Times bestselling author's first female protagonist--Sunny Randall, "the real deal ..." Painted Ladies Spenser had a simple job-protect an art scholar during a ransom exchange for a stolen painting. No one was supposed to die. But the scholar had secrets no one knew, and uncovering them will endanger Spenser as well. Spenser had a simple job-protect an art scholar during a ransom exchange for a stolen painting. No one was supposed to die. But the scholar had secrets no one knew, and uncovering them will endanger Spenser as well." Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues A Boston-based crime organization is in the process of expanding its activities. Their next stop: Paradise, Massachusetts. One that, if Paradise police chief Jesse Stone has his way, will be their last. A Boston-based crime organization is in the process of expanding its activities. Their next stop: Paradise, Massachusetts. One that, if Paradise police chief Jesse Stone has his way, will be their last." Death in Paradise “[Parker's found] the pitch-perfect voice for a guy who is straining every muscle to cut down on the booze, hang on to his new job as police chief, and not get rattled by the body of a teenage girl”(The New York Times) in this bestselling mystery in the Jesse Stone series. Robert B. Parker takes readers back in Paradise, where Detective Jesse Stone is looking for two things: the killer of a teenage girl—and someone, anyone, who is willing to claim the body... The local cops haven't seen anything like this, but Jesse's L.A. past has made him all too familiar with floaters. This girl hadn't committed suicide; she hadn't been drowned: she'd been shot and dumped, discarded like trash. Before long it becomes clear that she had a taste for the wild life; and her own parents can't be bothered to report her missing, or even admit that she once was a child of theirs. All Jesse has to go on is a young man's school ring on a gold chain, and a hunch or two. Filled with magnetic characters and the muscular writing that are Parker's trademarks, Death in Paradise is a storytelling masterpiece. “[Parker's found] the pitch-perfect voice for a guy who is straining every muscle to cut down on the booze, hang on to his new job as police chief, and not get rattled by the body of a teenage girl”(The New York Times) in this ..." The Widening Gyre The adoring wife of a senatorial candidate has a smile as sweet as candy and dots her "i's" with little hearts. A blond beauty, she is the perfect mate for an ambitious politician, but she has a little problem with sex and drugs--a problem someone has managed to put on videotape. The big boys figure a little blackmail will put her husband out of the race. Until Spenser hops on the candidate's bandwagon. But getting back the tape of the lady's X-rated indiscretion is a nonstop express ride to trouble--trouble that is deep, wide and deadly. The adoring wife of a senatorial candidate has a smile as sweet as candy and dots her "i's" with little hearts." Chasing the Bear For almost forty years, Robert B. Parker's inimitable private investigator Spenser has been solving cases and selling millions of books worldwide. Now, for the first time, see how it all began as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master sheds light on Spenser's formative years spent with his father and two uncles out West. This is an event book for every fan of Spenser, and a revelation for teens about to discover an American icon. This is an event book for every fan of Spenser, and a revelation for teens about to discover an American icon." Stardust Spenser's never had a client like Jill Joyce, the star of TV's Fifty Minutes. She's beautiful, bitchy, sexy--and someone is stalking her. Spenser can hardly blame the would-be assassin...until he means the true meaning of "stage fright." Spenser's never had a client like Jill Joyce, the star of TV's Fifty Minutes. She's beautiful, bitchy, sexy--and someone is stalking her. Spenser can hardly blame the would-be assassin...until he means the true meaning of "stage fright."" Melancholy Baby When Sunny Randall helps a young woman locate her birth parents, she uncovers the dark truth about her own past. When Sunny Randall helps a young woman locate her birth parents, she uncovers the dark truth about her own past." Perish Twice Spenser creator Robert B. Parker returns with his newest heroine, Boston P.I. Sunny Randall, coming to the aid of three very different women in three very dangerous situations. One is for business. One is for a friend. One is for family. And all could be fatal… Spenser creator Robert B. Parker returns with his newest heroine, Boston P.I. Sunny Randall, coming to the aid of three very different women in three very dangerous situations."