Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Boston Globe 1-A

It wasn’t just the detective sitting in his office at the corner of Berkeley and Boylston, munching on a doughnut and “drinking coffee with a little milk and sugar,’’ that got to Joan Parker.

Sure, she loved the first paragraph of the new manuscript. It was vintage Robert B. Parker, describing his alter ego, the iconic detective Spenser, and Joan had always been her husband’s first reader and biggest fan.

But there was also the author’s name: Ace Atkins. To Parker’s widow, that was an omen. When she’d met him in college, her husband-to-be was known as Ace Parker, a nickname that arrived in prep school and stayed for decades. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

Permanent Link | posted by Ace @ 9:35 AM 1 Comments |

Monday, March 12, 2012

PW Raves for Ace's First Spenser

Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby:
A Spenser Novel

Ace Atkins. Putnam, $26.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-399-15803-2

Even the most fanatical Parker fans would be hard pressed to identify any aspect of this Spenser novel that doesn’t read as if it were penned by Spenser’s late creator. Mattie Sullivan, a street-hardened 14-year-old, asks the Boston PI to solve a cold case—the stabbing murder, four years earlier, of her mother, Julie, even though a male friend of Julie’s is doing time for the killing. Mattie witnessed two drug dealers hustle her mom into a car, but couldn’t get anyone to take her seriously. Spenser accepts the assignment from the endearingly feisty Mattie, agreeing to be paid in doughnuts. Atkins (The Devil’s Garden) hits all the familiar marks—bantering scenes with Spenser’s girlfriend, fisticuffs, heavy-duty backup from the dangerous Hawk—as he offers familiar pleasures. At the same time, he breaks no new ground, avoiding the risk of offending purists and the potential rewards of doing something a bit different with the characters. Agents: Helen Brann, the Helen Brann Agency, and Esther Newberg, ICM. (May)

Permanent Link | posted by Ace @ 11:05 AM 4 Comments |

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Location Scouting for Robert B. Parker's Lullaby

This is the first in a series of photos on recent trips to Boston. Many of these were taken last year when work just started on ROBERT B. PARKER'S LULLABY. Long-time readers should be familiar with many of the locations -- including Spenser's office and Susan's home in Cambridge. A sack of Dunkin' Donuts is always nearby along with Spenser's new pair of steel-toed Redwings -- perfect for mixing it up with Southie toughs.