Someone to Watch Over Me

Ace Atkins was chosen by the Robert B. Parker estate a decade ago to continue Parker's "Spenser" series; this is the latest of the "Robert B. Parker's Spenser" novels by Atkins. For the most part, I would say he maintains the characters, action, settings and dialog. I did, however, in this book run across a piece of dialog that was from characters in another series (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch) that was just jarring when uttered by Spenser.  Dialog has always been so key to the charm of the Spenser series and defines both individual characters and relationships between them. 

Here is the plot summary from the Robert B. Parker website. "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."

Publishers Weekly offers a less than laudatory review, calling this book a "tepid...contribution" to the Spenser series. However, Library Journal asserts that "Parker keeps kicking in Atkins's capable hands." I did enjoy meeting new character Mattie and she may develop into an interesting character on her own. The person who recruits the teenagers for the wealthy billionaire is indeed formidable. The billionaire is obviously a stand-in for Jeffrey Epstein.