Bad Boy [Paperback]

The phrase “this time, it’s personal” is among the hoariest of jacket-copy clichés, yet that’s what popped into my head after finishing Peter Robinson’s 19th Inspector Banks novel. The most recent entries in the series explored acute changes in Banks’s personal life, from the mysterious death of his brother to the ebb and flow of his romantic relationships. But before Bad Boy, Banks hasn’t been cut to the quick, nor has he acted out of such primal fury.

He is driven to greater extremes than ever thanks to the vortex of trouble his daughter Tracy finds herself in after some nasty business involving her roommate, Erin, and a charismatic young man named Jaff whom both women fancy. Following a shabby series of events involving a stolen gun and a death caused by a police Taser, Tracy and Jaff find themselves on the run. Jaff soon reveals the cruelty lurking behind his surface charm, but Tracy finds she has little choice but to stick with him.

Robinson does an admirable job describing Tracy’s confused motives and the very real danger she is in, contrasting the growing suspense of her plight with Banks’s dawning realization of the lengths he’ll go to in order to rescue her.

Whereas the previous Banks novel, All the Colours of Darkness, suffered from a plot that tended to meander, Bad Boy has a greater sense of control: the disparate plot threads fuse dramatically and dare the reader to put the book down before the dark yet hopeful ending.

"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." 
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Just try putting the book down after a chapter or so: you'll have a problem." 
—The Independent

"Robinson's writing is clear and clean, like a running stream. However, like a stream, there are also distortions, eddies and hidden perils at play. . . . If you like intelligent mysteries and love a good read, join me as new inductees in the Peter Robinson/Alan Banks fan club. It will be well worth our while." 
—Toronto Sun

"It is this warts-and-all portrayal of lives on the brink that makes Robinson among the best there is in modern crime fiction." 
— Edmonton Journal

"Once again, an experienced and accomplished writer demonstrates how even a long-established series character can grow and change as altered circumstances demand." 
— reviewingtheevidence.com