Hundred-Dollar Baby
By Robert Parker
G. P. Putnam's & Sons
$24.95, hard back, 291 pages, 0-399-15376-4 (2006)
For folks who have been reading Spenser novels for a while (count me in), this book brings back a girl named April Kyle who was featured in the 1982 book Ceremony. At that time, April was a runaway teenager who had turned to prostitution. She was rescued by Spenser and turned over to a Madam in New York City. It wasn't a great resolution to the situation, but it got April out of the "Combat Zone" in Boston.
April is still involved in prostitution and needs Spenser's help. She runs a high-class operation in the city and someone is bothering her customers and threatening to shut her down. Soon her workers are threatened and one is beaten up. A mobster named Ollie DeMars is behind the actions by someone is pulling his strings. April claims not to know what is going on but Spenser keeps digging until he finds out the whole story.
Hawk, as usual, is around to help. The ever-present Susan gives Spenser her perspective on the psychological motives for all the players involved. Spenser is his usual engaging self and it's a wonderful look into a previous character that Spenser has saved in the past.
Yet this book drags. The bad guys aren't nearly bad enough to generate any real interest and April …well, a mess really. You hope that when Spenser saves someone they take stock and smarten up. Not April. The ending is less than satisfying.
Of the thirty-five Spenser novels available, this wouldn't be my first choice.
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