Robert B. Parker's Wonderland -- Ace Atkins

I've yet to meet an author who has given us more than one book who won't confess to liking some of their own novels more than others, so I don't feel it's necessary to apologize for liking one book by a favorite author just a little less than another. Such is the case here.

As mentioned here recently I was a no-show for Robert B. Parker's 40 book Spenser series, and am a real late comer to the two novels the very fine-in-so-may-ways Ace Atkins has added to that list. I'm playing catch-up before his third (Cheap Shot) hits the store on May 6.

Here in list form are the reasons that, while I'm glad to have read Wonderland, it didn't grab me in quite the same way as did Lullaby.

1.  As much as I enjoyed getting to know Spenser's sidekick-in-training Zebulon "Z" Sixkill, I really missed Hawk. 

2.  I have a thing about novels where most of the story revolves around white collar criminals and land and real estate and stuff. I tend not to pick them up in the first place, but make exceptions in rare cases, like this one...but they all tend to have greed as their motivation, and I prefer to go into a whodunit clueless about the who and the why. 

3. I got slowed down reading Wonderland due to circumstances beyond my control, and certainly that's not anything I can pin on Atkins. These are novels to be read at a fast clip. You're meant to be on a runaway roller-coaster when you read tough-guy stuff--not on one of those sissy floating boat rides--and because I had to put the book aside more often than I wanted, I lost the momentum a few times. Nobody's fault but mine. 

Still in all, I enjoyed Robert B. Parker's Wonderland just fine, and I'm giving it ***out of *****.