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duparker's review against another edition
3.0
So so. Interesting let down from the last one. This was like the basic book I stopped reading this series because. The premise is fine, but the execution was phoned in.
mgsantoro's review against another edition
3.0
This book was ok. It was interesting to read about places in Boston.
stevem0214's review against another edition
5.0
Good book...I kept waiting on Hawk to show up and was a little worried. Not to be alarmed...he plays a strong role, just a little later in the book. I know I've skipped several of the Spenser books, but these guys are keeping the tradition alive. This one involves a couple of crooked judges, a gang and both making money by locking up kids for cash.
papidoc's review against another edition
4.0
Spenser brings down a "recruiting" scheme for a for-profit prison, with the help of a few old and new pals. Atkins does a pretty good job, though I don't think he has accurately captured the Hawk/Spenser dynamic yet.
jbarr5's review against another edition
4.0
Robert B. Parker's Kickback
Love 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).
Love 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).
constantreader471's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars for another enjoyable read in the Spenser series started by Robert B. Parker and now written by Ace Atkins with a license from Parker's estate. Atkins writes in Parker's style, short sentences, short chapters and a fast moving plot. I recommend this series to fans of the Spenser tv series. This book is number 43 in the series, but it can be read as a stand alone.
The narrative alternates between kids in a juvenile facility set on an island in the Boston harbor and Spenser as he takes on a case at the request of a mother who thinks her son has been unfairly sentenced to this facility for a minor offense that should that merited school detention at best.
Spenser investigates and is threatened by cops and thugs, because there is a web of corrupt cops, judges and mobsters who don't want their profitable scheme to end.
I read this library book in 2 days.
The narrative alternates between kids in a juvenile facility set on an island in the Boston harbor and Spenser as he takes on a case at the request of a mother who thinks her son has been unfairly sentenced to this facility for a minor offense that should that merited school detention at best.
Spenser investigates and is threatened by cops and thugs, because there is a web of corrupt cops, judges and mobsters who don't want their profitable scheme to end.
I read this library book in 2 days.
jonmhansen's review against another edition
5.0
This one was particularly good. Atkins has this down cold.
"Everyone in Blackburn says I'm an outsider," she said. "They tell me to let this all play out. Keep my mouth shut. Don't piss people off."
"Let me piss 'em off," I said.
"I heard you're good at that."
"Yeah," I said. "I've had years of practice."
"Everyone in Blackburn says I'm an outsider," she said. "They tell me to let this all play out. Keep my mouth shut. Don't piss people off."
"Let me piss 'em off," I said.
"I heard you're good at that."
"Yeah," I said. "I've had years of practice."
kayeness's review against another edition
3.0
Traditional detective thriller. If you like this kind of thing, you will find this the kind of thing you like.
benfiretag's review against another edition
4.0
A Spenser novel – where our hero is called upon to find out why a kid was sent to an island on a misdemeanor where his mother cannot see him. Turns out a lot of other kids are being sent to the same corporate rehabilitation island – enough to pay for the judge to get a nice mansion in Florida and a share in a fishing boat. But Spenser can’t let a thing like that go, even if the mob is involved.
nonna7's review against another edition
3.0
It's always enjoy to kickback with a Parker/Atkins book. But having it CALLED "Kickback," made it just a little more fun. The books is based on the real life story of the Pennsylvania judge who recently went to jail. He was convicted of getting payments from a private boys' "rehabilitation center." It's a phony. They advertise education and wholesome meals and nature walks. What they really do is eat slop, stare at old workbooks that are already filled in and pick up trash that has washed ashore on the island where the facility is located. A zero tolerance policy started by a weasel-like Judge Scali puts boys in the facility for even minor infractions: things that in the past would have merited detention and, perhaps, counseling. The town where this is going on is Blackburn, MA, a place that has seen better days and is mainly populated by working people with little education and immigrants who don't understand the system. Both are afraid to make waves. Some think that Judge Scali is the only person preventing the town from descending into chaos from gangs and drugs. When a boy creates a fake twitter account in the school principal's name and tweets outrageous tweets, he is arrested. His divorced mother allows the boy's grandfather to take him to court. He signs a waiver that he doesn't understand which means that her son is waiving his right to an attorney. She is determined to get him out. She has a young Harvard Law grad attorney working in Rita Fiore's office. (If you've read others, you know who Rita is.) They tell her to contact Spenser. Both the attorney and Spenser, of course, do he case pro bono. The book is really interesting with a lot of detail. Atkins writes in Parker's style, but with the detail that Parker stopped using in his later books. For instance Susan, who is a psychotherapist in addition to being Spenser's very sexy long term love, comments that while juvenile crime is down, juvenile incarcerations have remained the same. This is a thought provoking book that made me angry after reading it. Don't miss it.