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Fiction · 2003 · PG-13

Back Story

by Robert B. Parker

Spenser digs into a 1968 antiwar bank robbery and discovers secrets a killer wants buried

Thirty years after an unsolved bank robbery leaves a woman dead, Paul Giacomin, whom Spenser regards like a son, and Daryl Gordon, the son of the robbery victim, turn to Spenser to seek out clues about the crime.

For14+GenreFictionLength306 pagesRead time~7.5 hours

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Content snapshot

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

Some

Moderate violence including a cold-case murder and present-day threats to witnesses

Language

Some

Hard-boiled language throughout

Sexual Content

Barely any

Brief adult relationship references consistent with the series

Substance Use

Barely any

Social drinking typical of the series

Emotional Intensity

Some

Themes of political radicalism, identity, and the long reach of past choices

What this book is about

A woman asks Spenser to find out who killed her mother during an antiwar bank robbery in 1968. The cold case leads him through the ghosts of the radical left and into the present, where someone is still willing to kill to keep those secrets hidden. Parker blends nostalgia for a turbulent era with crisp modern plotting and his signature moral clarity.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

political violence in a historical context

murder threats to living witnesses

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