It is always hard for another author to take over a series after the original author dies. Ace Atkins in “Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot-A Spenser Novel” shows why he was a perfect choice to continue the Spenser novels. He captures the feel of Spenser with witty dialogue, fast pacing and a plot of a football player’s son who is kidnapped that is a lot more complicated than it first appears to be. Spenser is hired by the father to investigate and hopefully bring back the son. In typical fashion Spenser deals with many interesting characters as he gets involved in the case. Fans of the Spenser novels will love “Cheap Shot.”
Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot- A Spenser Novel
Ace Atkins
Putnam
c/o Penguin Group USA
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
9780399161582, $26.95, www.amazon.com
Only Time Will Tell
Archer’s novels have always been interesting reading but “Only Time Will Tell” begins the Clifton Chronicles that ranks as Archer’s best work. The story begins with two British families, the Barringtons and the Clifton 1919. The main characters of the Barringtons are Hugo, Elizabeth, Giles and Emma. The Cliftons are Maisie, Stanley, and Harry. As the novel opens Harry and Giles become friends at a school they both attend. It is at a birthday celebration of Giles at his home where Harry first meets Giles’ father, who despises Harry. It is also when Emma and Harry first meet. From around the end of the first world war to the year 1940, the novel moves along with solid writing and great character development to its final cliff hanger ending, leaving the door open for many other books about these two families. Fans of Downton Abbey should read and enjoy the series that begins with “Only Time Will Tell.”
Jeffery Archer
St Martin’s Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
9780312539566, $9.99, www.amazon.com
Don’t Go
Scottoline has always written a great legal thriller but now in “Don’t Go,” she combines a legal situation with how do we treat our returning veterans from combat situations. Dr. Mike Scanlon serving in Afghanistan is given the news that his wife is dead. He comes home to find that the life he left is in chaos. He begins to learn about his practice, the wife he left behind and that nothing is as it seems. He later debates whether to go back to Afghanistan or come home for good. He makes a decision that changes the rest of the novel. This is the first time Scottoline has written a male as her lead character and she does it very well. There are several issues that unfold, among them custody of a minor child, what it takes to be a hero and how this country treats anyone who has worn the uniform of the armed forces who comes home from combat. “Don’t Go” is a different type of story by Scottoline that is sure to please her millions of readers.
Lisa Scottoline
St Martin’s Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
9781250010087, $15.99, www.amazon.com
