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PI Spenser, knight-errant of the Back Bay, takes on corruption in the justice system in this stellar New York Times bestselling thriller in Robert B. Parker´s series.

What started out as a joke landed seventeen-year-old Dillon Yates in a lockdown juvenile facility in Boston Harbor. When he set up a prank Twitter account for his vice principal, he never dreamed he could be brought up on criminal charges, but that´s exactly what happened. This is Blackburn, Mass., where zero tolerance for minors is a way of life.

Leading the movement is tough-as-nails judge Joe Scali, who gives speeches about coming down hard on today´s wild youth. But Dillon´s mother, who knows other Blackburn kids who are doing hard time for minor infractions, isn´t buying Scali´s line. She hires Spenser to find the truth behind the draconian sentencing. From the Harbor Islands to a gated Florida community, Spenser and trusted ally Hawk follow a trail through the Boston underworld with links to a shadowy corporation that runs New England´s private prisons. They eventually uncover a culture of corruption and cover-ups in the old mill town, where hundreds of kids are sent off to for-profit juvie jails.

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Praise for Robert B. Parker´s Kickback

"It´s great to see Spenser tackle a social evil with its roots in real life."-Kirkus Reviews

"A topical plot line propels bestseller Atkins´s engrossing fourth Spenser novel...Once again, Atkins has done a splendid job of capturing the voice of the late Robert B. Parker." -Publishers Weekly

"Atkins does a wonderful job with the characters created by Parker. To loyalists it may be heresy, but a case can be made for the Atkins novels being better than some of the last Spenser mysteries penned by Parker. A top-notch thriller."-Booklist

"Classic Spenser-the Spenser of wry wit, tasty food and drinks, hard workouts and lethal confrontations...Once again, Atkins has delivered a thriller that evokes the best of Parker´s Spenser series, not least the punchy back-and-forth of the dialogue."-Associated Press

"Written in impeccable style by Ace Atkins...Robert B. Parker is smiling down on this brilliant Spenser adventure. It´s full of everything we´ve come to expect from the Boston Private Investigator-action, smart-mouthed sarcasm, the assistance of Hawk and most of all, justice."-Suspense Magazine

Praise for Ace Atkins and the Spenser Series

"Handpicked by the Parker estate to be the keeper of the flame for the Spenser franchise, award-winning author Ace Atkins rises flawlessly to the occasion. In addition to the signature dialogue, all the familiars are fully resurrected: Susan, the sexy shrink; Pearl, the wonder dog; Hawk, the wonder sidekick; good cop Quirk, and, of course, Spenser himself, that consummate knight errant for the twenty-first century."-Kirkus Reviews

"It´s a feat when a writer creates characters who live and breathe on the page and make readers care and keep coming back for more. To manage that with someone else´s characters, let alone with an icon like Spenser, is a minor miracle. Ace Atkins pulls it off."-Chicago Sun-Times

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