This story demonstrates Spenser at his best, doing what he perceives he can, even when Susan does not agree. The premise is that April Kyle, a young woman from what appears to be a fine suburban home has gone missing and Spenser is asked to find her. It turns out that April has entered the world of prostitution and she was not forced.
Spenser digs deep into the background of April and learns that her action is under the control of tough crime boss Tony Marcus. The soldiers in Marcus' crime army make the mistake of threatening Susan Silverman, causing the police to come to Spenser's aid. With the help of Hawk, Spenser makes a dirty deal with Marcus to allow April to leave his stable and shut down the man that is feeding young women to Marcus for prostitution.
This then allows Spenser to make a deal where April does not have to leave the life of prostitution if she does not want to, just relocate to a higher rung in the ladder of the profession. It is a decision that Susan does not like, yet she can think of no other viable option that will benefit April.
The reader gets a valuable look into the relationship between Spenser and Hawk, as elucidated by Susan. It is a powerful bromance of two men capable of using violence and deadly force in order to meet their objectives. It establishes much of what is to come in the lives of these two men that fit the hero/sidekick genre, but only to a light approximation, for they are very different men in their outlook on life.
