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Parker #17, #19
Comeback / Flashfire
1st Omnibus edition paperback, vg++
Paperback
Published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 26, 2012
I've had the hardest time tracking down Richard Stark/Parker novels. I've read some of the first few and enjoyed them. I was curious to see how Parker held up in the 2000s.
Comeback wasn't a terribly interesting story. It just seemed pretty standard. Parker is involved in a job. Somebody tries to rip Parker off. Parker gets even.
I guess, now that I think about it, it is the plot to every Parker novel. They were entertaining bits of pulp fiction.
There isn't a whole lot else to say, I guess. They were Parker novels. What more can you expect or ask for?
Comeback wasn't a terribly interesting story. It just seemed pretty standard. Parker is involved in a job. Somebody tries to rip Parker off. Parker gets even.
I guess, now that I think about it, it is the plot to every Parker novel. They were entertaining bits of pulp fiction.
There isn't a whole lot else to say, I guess. They were Parker novels. What more can you expect or ask for?
August 15, 2026
Excellent introduction to the character Parker, here created by Donald E. Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. These two novels show a professional criminal navigating an underworld that provides him with the money to lead a comfortable life with a woman who knows what he does and just accepts him for what he is.
"Comeback" sees him as part of a team robbing that modern day phenomenon, the charismatic evangelical preacher who earns a good living from the donations of his gullible "flock". Parker is part of a crew comprising three men and a woman who rob the cash office of said preacher. The robbery is a success but then Parker has to cope with the attention of the local police, the preacher's thuggish security service. another set of robbers intent on hijacking the proceeds of the robbery and,finally, a turncoat within his crew who wants all the robbery proceeds. It is simply thrilling to watch Parker cope with all this. His quick thinking and use of violence in three outstanding episodes of the book - the robbery, the interaction with the preacher's "security" and the cat-and-mouse stalking of the turncoat in the darkened ruin of a showpiece house - all show what a master of crime fiction Westlake was.
In "Flashfire", Parker is brought in as a replacement for one member of a bank robbery crew.After the successful robbery, the other three members of the crew take Parker's share of the proceeds, telling him they need it to finance their next big score. Parker just wants his money but does not get it. The rest of the novel shows him going after these men to get back his share.It is quite a colourful world of forgers, wheeler-dealers, hit men and the forces of law and order, as well as ordinary citizens that cross his path while he does this. What is most absorbing is the way Westlake gives a short, potted history of the relevant characters before they cross Parker's path, which explains their actions when they engage with him. His professionalism would get him normally to his goal but this time he has to cope with being seriously wounded along the way. You just have to sit back and admire what an excellent piece of crime fiction you hold in your hands.
"Comeback" sees him as part of a team robbing that modern day phenomenon, the charismatic evangelical preacher who earns a good living from the donations of his gullible "flock". Parker is part of a crew comprising three men and a woman who rob the cash office of said preacher. The robbery is a success but then Parker has to cope with the attention of the local police, the preacher's thuggish security service. another set of robbers intent on hijacking the proceeds of the robbery and,finally, a turncoat within his crew who wants all the robbery proceeds. It is simply thrilling to watch Parker cope with all this. His quick thinking and use of violence in three outstanding episodes of the book - the robbery, the interaction with the preacher's "security" and the cat-and-mouse stalking of the turncoat in the darkened ruin of a showpiece house - all show what a master of crime fiction Westlake was.
In "Flashfire", Parker is brought in as a replacement for one member of a bank robbery crew.After the successful robbery, the other three members of the crew take Parker's share of the proceeds, telling him they need it to finance their next big score. Parker just wants his money but does not get it. The rest of the novel shows him going after these men to get back his share.It is quite a colourful world of forgers, wheeler-dealers, hit men and the forces of law and order, as well as ordinary citizens that cross his path while he does this. What is most absorbing is the way Westlake gives a short, potted history of the relevant characters before they cross Parker's path, which explains their actions when they engage with him. His professionalism would get him normally to his goal but this time he has to cope with being seriously wounded along the way. You just have to sit back and admire what an excellent piece of crime fiction you hold in your hands.
September 16, 2012
Two novels in a single volume that cost me the princely sum of £1 in a well-known chain of shops where everything costs that amount - what's not to like?
As it turned out, there were aspects not to like, but to balance the scales there were some things to like. I liked the pace of the novels -the plot clipped along at a steady pace, chapters were short making me want to read just one more before putting the book down. The heists were clever, the crooks cunning.
On the more negative side, I felt that the books were all plot and no characterisation - even after reading two books about him I didn't really know anything about Parker. I also wasn't hugely keen on the fact that all the female characters are very much subordinate to the men and wasn't a fan of the leve of violence.
However, I think these criticisms are probably more of the pulp genre than of Stark's writing. I found Comeback and Flashfire quick, involving reads, but I don't feel the need to read any more of his work.
As it turned out, there were aspects not to like, but to balance the scales there were some things to like. I liked the pace of the novels -the plot clipped along at a steady pace, chapters were short making me want to read just one more before putting the book down. The heists were clever, the crooks cunning.
On the more negative side, I felt that the books were all plot and no characterisation - even after reading two books about him I didn't really know anything about Parker. I also wasn't hugely keen on the fact that all the female characters are very much subordinate to the men and wasn't a fan of the leve of violence.
However, I think these criticisms are probably more of the pulp genre than of Stark's writing. I found Comeback and Flashfire quick, involving reads, but I don't feel the need to read any more of his work.
May 25, 2013
Westlake had a way of writing that was just too good, and even in lesser works, still could be fun. This is one. Parker novels are really about the sixties, and it was hard having him do his heists and crimes in 2000. The book had some strong problems, the criminals that crossed Parker are so stupid, their plan would have failed, even without Parker's interference. And for a while, Parker was out of the story, and the supporting cast were featured, and that's a mistake because a Parker novel is really about only thing, Parker. With all that, still love Parker books
January 29, 2017
Two books in one pretty interesting...thumbs up for Richard he did a good job on this book. The flow was great and the plots were greatly planned. I think I need more of Parker
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews