Bad Boy (2010)

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From New York Times bestselling author Peter Robinson comes this mesmerizing story-within-a-story—that will thrill his fans and bring him many new readers. A distraught woman arrives at the Eastvale police station desperate to speak to Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. But Banks is abroad, and the woman’s revelation of a loaded gun hidden in her daughter Erin’s bedroom leads to a shocking fatality when a police armed-response team breaks into her house. The fallout will have dark consequences for Banks and his partner, DI Annie Cabbot. It turns out that Erin’s best friend is Banks’ own daughter, Tracy . . . who was last seen in the company of the weapon’s actual owner, a very bad boy indeed. Now that his child is on the run with a psychopath, Banks finds himself caught in a bloody tangle of betrayal and murder. But the rogue DCI is a bit of a bad boy himself, and he’ll freely risk his life and career in the cause of love—and vengeance. Thrilling, harrowing, and utterly compelling, Bad Boy showcases Peter Robinson’s masterful writing. ** From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Robinson tries something different in his excellent 19th novel to feature Det. Chief Insp. Alan Banks (after All the Colors of Darkness) by keeping the Yorkshire policeman offstage for the first half of the book. Banks's daughter, Tracy, knows that her friend, Erin Doyle, is dating a bad boy. But she doesn't know how bad Jaff McCready is until the recovery of a gun at Erin's parents' home results in a fatal accident. Before Tracy knows what's happening, Jaff whisks her on an adventure, eventually hiding out at Banks's house while her father is on holiday in America. As Det. Insp. Annie Cabbot searches for Jaff, Tracy's infatuation turns sour when she finds Jaff's suitcase of drugs, money, and a gun, and becomes his hostage. When Banks returns to Yorkshire, he has to balance his roles as a cop and a father. Robinson deftly integrates Banks's personal life with an acute look at British attitudes about police, guns, and violence in this strong entry in a superb series. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Starred Review Robinson’s long-running series starring Alan Banks, now detective chief inspector of the Yorkshire Constabulary, plays off the character of complicated, morose, solitude- and music-loving Banks, a throwback to the depressed detective of classic hard-boiled fiction. This time Banks is not only complicated and depressed, but he’s also completely offstage for about half of the action, on holiday in the American West and seen only briefly. Fans will be disappointed, but the absence of Banks picks up the pace quite a bit. Banks’ sometime lover and longtime ally, Inspector Annie Cabott, fills the void nicely in a case that begins when a former neighbor of Banks’ reports her daughter has a gun in the home. The Armed Response Team arrives and tragically mucks up a tense situation. Part of Robinson’s narrative talent is his ability to convert police procedure and politics into gripping reading. The gun at the scene of the botched police operation belonged to an exotic, handsome young man, boyfriend of the girl holding the gun and acquainted with Banks’ daughter, Tracy. The bulk of the book is an absolutely stunning examination of how Tracy fell for this bad boy, hiding him from police and coming to the horrific awareness that he is a sociopath more than willing to kill her. We don’t really need Banks when he gets back—the character study of Tracy and the tension of her situation drive the book. A change of pace for the series, to be sure, but another outstanding crime novel from Robinson. --Connie Fletcher