Bad Boy: An Inspector Banks Novel

Book Review by Reader Maid

My friend Reader Maid based this review on a copy provided by the publisher through an early review program.

Bad Boy: An Inspector Banks Novel - by Peter Robinson

DCI Alan Banks, on leave from the Major Crimes Unit of the Western Area Headquarters in Eastvale, is thoroughly enjoying his visit to the United States, so he isn't there when his former neighbor, Juliet Doyle, arrives at the police station seeking his help over what to do about a gun she has found in her daughter's bedroom. Instead, DI Annie Cabot interviews Mrs. Doyle and that, as they say, makes all the difference.

Jaff McCready, the titular bad boy of this story, is the son of a wealthy Englishman and successful Bollywood actress. He desperately wants to be a player in the organized crime operation headed by "The Farmer," who sees him as a possible to successor to his empire.

Jaff has been dating Erin Doyle, the childhood friend and current roommate of Banks's daughter, Tracy. When Erin catches Jaff kissing Tracy on the dance floor, she decides to get even by stealing a gun from Jaff's apartment--a gun Jaff was instructed by the Farmer to destroy--and hiding it in her old bedroom at her parents' house where she has retreated to lick her wounds.

Once her mother discovers the weapon and reports her daughter to the police, all hell breaks loose beginning with a botched police raid on the Doyle's home. Jaff takes Tracy hostage as he flees both the police and the wrath of The Farmer, who wants the drugs and cash Jaff has taken returned and Jaff silenced. When Banks arrives back from America, he finds the entire police force trying to locate Jaff and Tracy. He must use all his mental and physical resources to try to save his daughter.

Whether or not you have read any previous Inspector Banks novels, you will thoroughly enjoy "Bad Boy," Peter Robinson's latest offering in this popular British crime series. Banks makes a sympathetic if somewhat flawed hero--unlucky in love, sometimes too wrapped up in his job, and not afraid to break a few rules to get results.

Tracy also comes across as real--the "good girl" who wants to be noticed and loved by her father. Although the constant drip of brand names seems a bit too obvious at times, the various music titles and artists mentioned make for a silent but interesting soundtrack to this great read.