In bestseller Atkins's tepid ninth contribution to Parker's Spenser franchise (after 2019's Angel Eyes), 22-year-old Mattie Sullivan, Spenser's "occasional secretary, part-time assistant, and sleuthing apprentice," needs his help. The younger sister of a friend of Mattie's, 15-year-old Chloe Turner, agreed to give a massage to a man at a swanky Boston club, but when the man began to masturbate in front of her, Chloe fled, leaving her backpack and laptop behind. When Mattie tried to retrieve the backpack and laptop, she was turned away at the club door. After Spenser gets involved, he learns that the pervert's name is Peter Steiner, a Jeffrey Epstein clone, complete with a female accomplice who procures underage girls for him and a private island in the Bahamas beyond the reach of law enforcement. Spenser devotes himself to taking Steiner down, confronting an old enemy en route to the pat ending. The ripped-from-the-headlines plot doesn't generate much suspense, and pulled punches dilute what could have been a memorable climax. Atkins seems to be going through the motions in this one. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM Partners. (Jan.)

In this latest in his continuation of Robert B. Parker's beloved Spenser series, Atkins continues to do the late author proud. Atkins again captures the Boston PI's brash, principled, action-oriented personality to near-perfection, complete with Spenser's signature smart-alecky humor. Here Spenser takes on a particularly nasty case, when his new associate, Mattie, asks him to help bust a pedophile ring run by billionaire Peter Steiner and his wife, Poppy. The Steiners recruit teen and preteen girls to cater to very wealthy men with "unusual" tastes, and clients include high-profile movers and shakers--politicians, cops, bankers. Steiner also has a nice little blackmail business going to make sure his clients don't tell. Spenser is determined--with the help of Mattie and sidekick Hawk--to derail Steiner's stomach-churning enterprise, rescue the young victims, and make sure the pedophile can never again prey on underage women. With similarities to the Jeffrey Epstein case adding resonance, the talented Atkins delivers another engrossing thriller.

Iconic PI Spenser is back, watching over assistant Mattie Sullivan as she investigates the murder of childhood chum Chloe from the South Boston projects. Soon, it's clear that Chloe is one of dozens of impoverished girls who have vanished after forging ties with a powerful billionaire on Commonwealth Avenue. Parker keeps kicking in Atkins's capable hands.