The Boxer and the Spy by Robert B. Parker

• 01/16/2014
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The Boxer and the Spy
Robert B. Parker
Philomel Books (2008)
ISBN 9780399247750
Reviewed by Dylan James (age 12) for Reader Views (10/08)

Terry is a boxer, a spy, an admirer, and above all else, a teenager.  A prominent boxer, Terry takes lessons every day at school. He never could have thought how much he might need those lessons until he snoops around.  Something terrible has happened at Terry’s school. Someone that Terry and several other people at school knew well has been found washed up on the beach, stone dead. The common thought is that he was on steroids and the drug had crazed him out, but Terry didn’t think that was likely.  Terry and his crush work together in an inspiring tale of courage and curiosity. But they’d better hurry; killers don’t wait long before becoming restless.

This is a fast-moving adventure filled with curiosity, learning, and fighting. This would be an almost ideal book for teenagers in high school.  It broaches on how the main character acts around his crush, when to go learn about something (like steroids), and that there are dangerous people out there. Some parents might be worried about their kids reading this book though, because of the casual ways Terry’s friend’s smoke, or talk about sex. But I think most parents would be okay with this book, because Terry, the main character, doesn’t do anything bad. Even if someone like the principle looks nice and easygoing, that may not be the case. The flow of this story could have been better; the movement from slow investigating to fast results shook me a little.

This story could really draw me in, not the way where maybe I care about the characters but in the way that I just simply couldn’t put this book down; I HAD to know what was going to happen.  I was drawn in from the beginning; it instantly throws in suspense. What really happened to this kid?  “The Boxer and the Spy” by Robert B. Parker is a great mystery/adventure, and I think even people that normally dislike mystery will be satisfied with this book. I know I was.