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meferguson75 's review for:
Robert B. Parker's Cheap Shot
by Ace Atkins
I received an advanced reader copy of "Cheap Shot" through a Goodreads Give Away. Having read all of Robert B. Parker's Spenser editions and Ace Atkins's versions so far, I was excited to read this next installment. Cheap Shot was good, the premise of a kidnapped child of a pro football player is an interesting hook. It gave ample opportunity for our well loved cast of players - Spenser and his sidekicks of Hawk and Z - to exercise their code of ethics while hunting down the bad guys. As in other Atkins's editions of the series, Spenser's love Susan Silverman plays a lesser role, which I prefer.
I enjoyed that Spenser has started to show his age, with young Z introducing some technology to the tailing of persons of interest. You also see that Spenser no longer knows all the players in the Boston gangs. This adds an interesting edge to the detection he must do, as he relies more on his partners for entry into the underworld.
My only dislike, and the reason that this review is 3 instead of 4 stars, was related to the ending. I felt the ending was convulted and didn't move Spenser's storyline arc forward. Parker's conclusions could show you the dirty underside that we all make do with but you had a sense that Spenser had conquered the case and everyone was at least as good, if not slightly better than they had started. I didn't get that satisfaction from this, or Atkins's other installments. Maybe we're all becoming more cynical as we get older, but I miss that bit of justice that ran through the series.
I enjoyed that Spenser has started to show his age, with young Z introducing some technology to the tailing of persons of interest. You also see that Spenser no longer knows all the players in the Boston gangs. This adds an interesting edge to the detection he must do, as he relies more on his partners for entry into the underworld.
My only dislike, and the reason that this review is 3 instead of 4 stars, was related to the ending. I felt the ending was convulted and didn't move Spenser's storyline arc forward. Parker's conclusions could show you the dirty underside that we all make do with but you had a sense that Spenser had conquered the case and everyone was at least as good, if not slightly better than they had started. I didn't get that satisfaction from this, or Atkins's other installments. Maybe we're all becoming more cynical as we get older, but I miss that bit of justice that ran through the series.