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    Robert B. Parker's Lullaby: A Spenser Novel, Book 40
    Unavailable
    Robert B. Parker's Lullaby: A Spenser Novel, Book 40
    Unavailable
    Robert B. Parker's Lullaby: A Spenser Novel, Book 40
    Audiobook7 hours

    Robert B. Parker's Lullaby: A Spenser Novel, Book 40

    Written by Ace Atkins

    Narrated by Joe Mantegna

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan asks Spenser to look into her mother's murder, he's not completely convinced by her claim that the police investigation four years ago was botched. Mattie is gruff, street-smart, and wise beyond her years, left to care for her younger siblings and an alcoholic grandmother in a dilapidated apartment in South Boston. But her need for closure and her determination to make things right hit Spenser where he lives-they're the very characteristics he abides by.

    Mattie believes the man convicted of the crime is innocent, and points Spenser to the Southie toughs she saw carrying her mother away hours before her murder. Neither the Boston PD nor the neighborhood thugs are keen on his dredging up the past, but as Spenser becomes more involved in the case, he starts to realize that Mattie may be on to something. He will need Hawk's help to find peace for Mattie-a job that's more dangerous than Spenser ever thought.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 1, 2012
    ISBN9780307987747
    Unavailable
    Robert B. Parker's Lullaby: A Spenser Novel, Book 40
    Author

    Ace Atkins

    Ace Atkins is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven books, including ten books in his Quinn Colson series. Handpicked by the Robert B. Parker Estate nearly a decade ago to continue the Spenser series, he's written nine novels about the iconic private eye. He lives and works in Oxford, Mississippi.

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    Reviews for Robert B. Parker's Lullaby

    4/5

    127 ratings18 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Not as good as Parker's Spenser novels when he was at his best, but much better than Parker when he was writing plots that were just too off the wall. Atkins does a great job of capturing Parker's style, dialogue, and it is good to see these characters stay alive a little longer.
    • 4/5
      I hate to say it but this was the best Spenser book in years. I was starting to lose interest towards the end of Parker's series. Very enjoyable, although I still think there was too much Susan. A tiny bit too much of the little girl also.
    • 4/5
      In what I found to be a surprising move, the Spencer series is continuing through a new writer, Ace Atkins. While I was definitely skeptical, he won me over! The best part of the Spencer series has always been the dialogue and the relationships between both friends and foes. The wit continues in the same, well-loved vein. This time out Spencer takes a case for a 14-year-old girl trying to find the "real" murderer of her mother four years ago. Spencer has a weakness for lost youth and takes the case for a fee of a bag of donuts and a large coffee. The investigation takes him back into the lives of the Broz crime family and necessitates the services of Hawk, Spencer's fearless right hand man. Of course the forces of good overcome those of evil (for the most part). I look forward to the next installment of this excellent series.
    • 4/5
      Excellent read. Couldn't put it down, which is unusual for me. Particularly liked the clever word-play at which Parker excelled. Atkins seems to have it down very well.
    • 4/5
      I was looking for a new Parker mystery and picked this one up. I didn't realize till I got home and started it that it was written by Ace Atkins. At first I was skeptical that I would like a 'Spenser' story by someone other than Parker. In the beginning a lot of the dialogue seemed almost to canned as trying to imitate Parker, but that quickly changed and became a very riveting story with the 'Spenser' I knew. I be eager to read another 'Spenser' story by Ace
    • 4/5
      Sometimes I think he's trying to out-Parker Parker, but this one's a keeper, right up to the white-knuckle ending. It's definitely a blessing that Spenser still breathes, even though Parker is gone. Sweet dreams, Robert B.
    • 4/5
      Except for using a whole lot more words to tell the story than Parker would have, Ace Atkins perfectly captured the style of writing and the characters created by Robert B Parker. While I usually cringe at someone carrying on an author's work, Atkins did such a great job, I'm looking forward to the next Spenser novel.
    • 3/5
      God...I really miss Bob Parker. I don't like this trend using deceased author's star power to enrich the greedy publishers and the various family estates. Of course today money/profit is EVERYTHING.
      Atkins is better than most but the Hawk-Spenser dynamic is flawed in this story.
    • 3/5
      Atkins has the formula down pat in this first take on Parker's series. Short chapters, snappy dialogue. Hawk, Susan and even some past characters.
      Everything clicks, the drinks, the weather, the Sox.
    • 4/5
      It might not be Shakespeare but Atkins really mastered Robert B Parker's style.
    • 5/5
      The life of private investigator is never easy. Work is often risky at best and more tedious than admitted. One day you are following a man that is cheating on his wife and the next you are solving a cold case that is twenty years old. This book is about one such detective name Spencer who lives a life of action. He is an ex-boxer with a fearless streak who has a tendency to attract unwanted attention. His side kick is a man named Hawk who is a legend in his own right. This story is about a case that involves a girl named Mattie and her dead mother. Mattie in her desperation hires Spencer to find out who killed her drug addicted mother. Believing this to be a short lived case and wanting to appease the girl, he soon discovers this case is much deeper than he expected. With Hawk at his side and the Fed’s on his tail, Spencer realizes that he might have bitten off more than he can chew. Not letting this stop him from his mission, he proceeds to piss off a lot of people and nearly get killed several times over. Will Spencer manage to find out what really happened to Mattie’s mother? Can he prove the accused murderer innocent and put the right man behind bars? I must first say that I really enjoyed this book and was blown away by the fast pace of the story. I have never read a book by this author and am happy to admit that it was a damn good story. I have always been luke warm at best when it comes to thriller novels, but have found myself being more attracted to this genre. I love the action and variety in personalities that the author brought to the table. I believe this book can be enjoyed by both genders and most age groups. I would highly recommend this book to other women who are looking for something a little different and plan on reading more from this author. Great job author and you have a new fan!
    • 4/5
      Robert B. Parker’s untimely demise has not left his fans abandoned without any new Spenser novels. Ace Atkins has picked up the gauntlet and faithfully replicated Parker’s characters, style, and diction. Spenser, a private detective in the Boston area, is still tough but witty and literate (although I can never figure out why he prefers Susan the psychologist to Rita the lawyer); Pearl, the wonder dog, is just as mute; Hawk is just as minatory, stylish, and promiscuous; and several other underworld and law enforcement characters reappear with no discernible changes in their appearances or behaviors.Spenser is retained by Mattie Sullivan, a 14 year old girl (who reminds me of Lizbeth Salander, the Stieg Larson’s “girl with the dragon tattoo”) to find the true murderer of her mother four years earlier. Mickey Green was convicted of the murder and is in prison, but he was a friend of Mattie's mother, and Mattie believes he was framed. Mattie is penurious, but Spenser (bless his kind heart) agrees to take the case for a dozen donuts. An old mob figure, Jumpin' Jack Flynn appears to be involved as well as Spenser's longtime enemies, the Broz family. Spenser needs the help of super tough side-kick Hawk, friendly mobster Vinnie Morris, and several friends in the FBI and the Boston Police Department (all of whom have appeared in previous Spenser novels) to solve the crime, but justice prevails in the end.Lullaby is a nice homage to Parker. Atkins not only reproduces the ambiance of previous Spenser novels, but he spins a pretty good tale in its own right. (JAB)
    • 3/5
      I admit it; after reading Michael Brandman's continuation of the late Robert Parker's Jesse Stone novels, I decided I wasn't going to do this again. No more books by writers trying to write like famous dead writers. After only two pages, I realized Brandman can't do Parker.

      Then someone left me a copy of Ace Atkin's continuation of Parker's Spenser series, and I gave it a read.

      It is not like Parker at his best, but it's close enough. Atkins does a wonderful job parroting Parker, so while I'll never read another Jesse Stone novel, I probably would read another Spenser book.

      As for the book itself, it's very much Spenser; the dialog is witty and Atkins writes the characters with some care.

      In some ways, it's probably better than the last couple Parker-written Spenser novels, which had grown formulaic and flat. This offers some depth, and you don't necessarily know all the answers in the first ten pages.

      The publishers (Putnam) were probably ecstatic to read this manuscript; Atkins does an excellent job, and whether the series continues to sell will probably speak more to the reaction of Parker's fans to his death than the quality of Atkin's writing.
    • 4/5
      My trepidation over the first Spenser novel written by Robert B. Parker's successor kept me from buying this the moment it hit the bookstores. So I waited for my turn in the queue at the library, and then I let the book sit for several days before cracking the cover. I need not have worried...Spenser is in good hands. There are subtle differences, and over time these may become more pronounced as Atkins makes the character his own, but for now he certainly has captured the essence of the hero and I found myself reading with great pleasure as Spenser took on a very young client with a lot of determination and a sense of justice to equal his own. From a human perspective, this is probably the best story in the series since Early Autumn, which has literary merit above and beyond the genre genius Parker always demonstrated. Where Parker came to rely extensively on dialog to move his novels, Atkins puts more words on the page, without sacrificing the pace or style of the master. Although I liked it, a lot, it remains to be seen how long Atkins can keep the admittedly aging detective on the job. Parker's last completed Spenser novel, Sixkill, had our hero driving west toward his lady love after concluding a case to his satisfaction. As I said at the time, that would have been a fine place to leave him, and I hope Atkins uses good judgment going forward.
    • 3/5
      I don't know if I should be reviewing the story or the author who stepped in to write for Robert B. Parker. I've read Ace Atkins before and I think he's a terrific writer - but writing for RBP, not quite. It seemed as if he was trying to write the dialogue as RBP would have written but it just doesn't come off as smooth. The conversations seem stilted. The story is a good one, though. Perhaps if Ace would write as he would write and leave RBP to rest in peace, the story would be better. But then, it wouldn't be RBP, would it?
    • 3/5
      Toady! That's what I call it. An author dies. His study picks up the ball and writes a pretty good story - but not quite as good as the original. Too much. Way too much 'smart ass' answers by Spenser. He deserved to be shot half way through the story. C'mon. if Parker is dead ... don't con the reader so much with tricky type size and placement. I liked the book, but not as much as if Parker had actually written it.
    • 4/5
      Ace Atkins was a great choice to continue the Spenser series. His essay in Otto Penzler's volume "In Search of Spenser" is a must-read companion to "Lullaby" if for some reason this story itself leaves any doubt. Atkins uses spare prose in a way that does justice to Parker's voicing of Spenser, and in some ways brings back some of the spirit of the earlier Spenser novels. The plot finds Spenser in over his head more frequently than some of Parker's more recent entries, which on the one hand makes the action gripping, while on the other dimming just a bit of the lustre of invincibility seen on Spenser since "Small Vices." The other small faults I would find are that Hawk isn't quite right, nor is Susan. Atkins has them playing the right parts in the story, but the characterization is just a little off. I think this is largely because those characters existed primarily in Parker's head, and we see the edges of them as they intersect with Spenser's perceptions. Parker gave us more of Spenser, so there is more for Atkins to work with, to "get right," I suppose. And he does. In the end, as Spenser would say, "a thing is what it is, and not something else." This isn't a Robert B. Parker Spenser story, but it's a damn fine Spenser story all the same, and I liked the way it sounded.
    • 4/5
      Robert B. Parker passed away just over two years ago. With the blessings of his estate, Parker's iconic characters - Jesse Stone and Spenser will continue to live on the written page. Author Ace Atkins was chosen to continue the tale of Boston P.I. Spenser. It's always a gamble for a publisher to have someone new take on the voice of a character so many have read and loved. I really enjoyed Ace Atkins' first book The Ranger last year and am eagerly awaiting the second. Atkins himself credits Parker with his direction in life. "I got into writing crime fiction because of Bob Parker," Atkins says. "For my 21st birthday, my mom waited in line for an hour at a bookstore in Atlanta to get a signed copy of (Parker's) Double Deuce. It was the greatest birthday present ever, and it shaped what I ended up doing for a living. I wanted to grow up to be Robert Parker." So I had a feeling that things might turn out okay...and I was right. Fourteen year old Mattie Parker stops by Spenser's office, looking to hire him. Her mom was killed four years ago. Although there's a man doing time for her murder, Mattie says he didn't do it. She know who really did - she saw them. Something about the girl - mostly her attitude - radiates with Spenser, so look into her case. And he finds she might be right...... The trademark short snappy dialogue is there from page one and never lets up. Spenser's wry outlook, his witty wise cracking repartee with Hawk and his smooth as silk interactions with Susan all ring true. Spenser's love of food, drink, good music and literature are all lovingly continued and described. Favourite characters make a return - Hawk is just as big and bad as ever, but Atkins gives him a soft spot that was unexpected. We really know nothing of Hawk's past. Mattie's plight leads him to reveal something Spenser wasn't even aware of after twenty odd years. Susan is just as stunning, sexy and wise as always. And Pearl the Wonder Dog hasn't changed a bit. Many characters from previous books are mentioned or appear in Lullaby. So the characters, settings, actions and dialogue are all ringing true. But what about the plot? Well, it was just as good. Mattie was a tough, but vulnerable character in a tough situation. I wonder if she'll be brought back in future books, in the same way that Paul Giacomin was? Short chapters, lots of action and Spenser's unerring sense of justice made this a quick read that ended before I knew it. Spenser lives on - the tough guy with a soft heart. Atkins has chosen to not tinker with the characters too much. Definitely the right decision. No, it's not Robert Parker, but it's really damn close. Kudos to Atkins - he's done a fantastic job. Fans of Spenser will want to pick this one up - and the next one. I will be.