Rough Trade: A Boo and Junior Gig

Robinson’s rough-and-tumble sequel to 2013’s The Hard Bounce finds William “Boo” Malone and his crew of survivors from St. Gabriel’s Home for Boys—Junior, Ollie, and Twitch—hanging tight as adults and bearing the scars of their upbringing. Boo and Junior are bouncers at the Cellar, a Boston rock and roll club, where skirmishes with unruly patrons are common. A confrontation with employees of IronClad Security leads to a fight with IronClad’s physically formidable boss, Ian Summerfield. As Boo accurately notes, “our whole scene was one big fight club.” Meanwhile, Boo and Junior beat jazz musician Byron Walsh as a favor to coworker Ginny and as a warning for him to leave her alone, but when Byron turns up dead, Junior is fingered for the killing. With help from Twitch and Ollie, Boo works to clear Junior in a gritty tale leavened by some raucous humor. [em](Aug.) [/em]