**Old friends. Small favors. Bitter rivals. Stirred together, it all makes for one explosive cocktail. Spenser can feel the heat stretching from Boston to Vegas—and people are about to get burned. **

Henry Cimoli and Spenser have been friends for years, yet the old boxing trainer has never asked the private eye for a favor. Until now. A developer is trying to buy up Henry's condo on Revere Beach—with a push from local thugs. Soon Spenser and his apprentice, Zebulon Sixkill, are on the trail of a mysterious woman, a megalomaniacal Las Vegas kingpin, and a shady plan to turn a chunk of land north of Boston into a sprawling casino. As alliances shift and twisted dreams surface, the Boston political machine looks to end Spenser's investigation one way or another—and once and for all.

**“Atkins…has managed to nudge this venerable series in a new direction while staying true to its core, seemingly channeling its creator at every turn. It’s a magnificent accomplishment that is not to be missed.” —Bookreporter.com**

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### From Publishers Weekly

Atkins's second novel based on the late Robert B. Parker's famous series finds private detective Spenser and young apprentice Zebulon Sixkill sleuthing their way into a scheme involving the beachfront property occupied by the shuttered Wonderland dog track. Narrator Joe Mantegna has long been associated with the popular Spenser series, portraying the title character in several TV adaptations and narrating numerous audiobooks. That he has done so with Parker's blessing is understandable. The novel contains large sections of fast-paced dialogue—which Mantegna deftly handles. Additionally, the narrator perfectly captures Spenser's sarcastic and flippant tone. And when dealing with friends during times of trouble, Spenser—as interpreted by Mantegna—drops his brittle attitude and becomes more compassionate and less hardboiled. A Putnam hardcover. (May)

### From Booklist

Boston PI Spenser and Henry Cimoli, owner of a Boston gym, formerly a haven for boxers but now supported by spandex-clad exercisers, have been friends for years. Now Henry needs help. Developers are bullying the mostly older occupants in Henry’s condo in an attempt to make them sell cheap. So far it’s been mostly intimidation, but folks are scared. Hawk, Spenser’s longtime cohort, is out of town, so the PI enlists the assistance of Zebulon Sixkill, an intern of sorts. They send the developer’s thugs on their way and then negotiate a lucrative buyout for Henry and his neighbors, but it could be all for naught when the developer is decapitated and a plethora of greedy, jealous, and ambitious players attempt to take control. After an uneven start at re-creating Spenser (Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby, 2012), Atkins finds his footing this time, settling into the character more comfortably and concocting a fairly complex caper with urban development, organized crime, and sex all playing roles. Atkins still isn’t Parker, of course, but this is quite a good crime novel. --Wes Lukowsky