ROBERT B. PARKER’S LITTLE WHITE LIES
Ace Atkins
Spenser Book 45
May 2, 2017
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
ROBERT B. PARKER’S LITTLE WHITE LIE by Ace Atkins is another winner. Having taken over writing the Spenser novels nothing has been lost with this smart aleck character.
Using his past experience as a journalist Atkins created an engaging story. Spenser’s long time girlfriend psychologist Susan Silverman has referred one of her clients, Connie Kelly, to him. Thinking she found the perfect man on an on-line dating site Connie eagerly wrote him a check for hundreds of thousands of dollars for a real estate investment. The problem is he vanished with all of the money.
Enter Spenser to try to make things right. He finds out that this cad, M. Brooks Welles, is actually a con man, owing plenty of money to others as well. In fact, everything about him is phony including his resume. A self-proclaimed military hotshot and former CIA, Welles had been a frequent guest on national news shows speaking with authority about politics and world events. The rest of the book has Spenser trying to track him down and get back the money of those Welles swindled.
Atkins noted, “When I worked as a journalist I covered stories of con men and was fascinated with their personalities and motivations. I made Welles a compilation of those I covered as well as Wayne Simmons. He was a Fox news analyst, claiming to be a CIA spy who also swindled a woman out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. I wanted to point out how the backgrounds of these TV talking heads are never vetted. Money is only part of the con. They also enjoy the respect and the feeling of importance. The reason many use the CIA as a profession is because the Agency will not confirm or deny employment.”
One of Parker’s best characters is Dr. Susan. In this novel she is front and center, which makes the story even more enjoyable. It is fun to have her work with Spenser, where her toughness and intelligence are highlighted. But a newer character that is also getting more airtime is Boston PD Captain Glass.
Atkins wrote Glass “to bring to the Spenser world more women characters. Also, I wanted to have someone in the police more skeptical of his involvement with them. Instead of being a friend, I wanted someone to question him more, where there will be friction between him and the police.”
The relevance of the plot should not be lost on the readers. Within an entertaining story this book has fake news, spinning lies, and how facts can be spun.
Elise Cooper
