Nobody Runs Forever

Parker #22

by Richard Stark

Seven men came to a meeting in Cincinnati. One wore a wire, and another didn't hesitate to kill him-fast and hard. Now Parker has left that meeting and the murder behind, and gotten involved in a scheme that is stuffed with money and trouble.

In the rural northwestern corner of Massachusetts, Parker and a pal plan to steal an armored car. But the human element gets in the way. From a nervous ex-con and his well-intentioned sister to a bank manager's two-timing wife and a beautiful, relentless cop, too many people have their hands too close to Parker's pie. Then a bounty hunter, who just happens to be hunting the man who never left the Cincinnati meeting, joins the fray.

Parker can see this job turning bad, yet he can't let go of the score. And when guns go off and the heist goes down, the perfect plan will explode with a sound and fury all its own. For Parker, there's always the choice of turning from fight to flight-even if there's nowhere to run...

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Noir, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Hard Boiled

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

A pseudonym used by Donald E. Westlake.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell]

Nobody Runs Forever by Richard Stark racks the stacks as a crackerjack, a rip-roarer, a...dare I say it? - a sizzling sockdolager.

Apologies for going heavy on the superlatives but I wanted to share my excitement for this Parker novel. I'm reading and reviewing all 24 Parker novels in sequence. Nobody Runs Forever is #22 and easily rates ten stars. Once I started reading, it kept me awake until 3am cause I couldn't put the book down til I read the last page.

Nobody Runs Forever features a number of plots and subplots with one caper front and center: a heist in rural Massachusetts when armored cars transport papers and cash (well over one mil in cash) from one bank to another bank to facilitate a bank merger.

There's a particular aspect of the novel where Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark once again proves himself master of the craft: quick character sketches. To emphasize this point, I offer the following comments centered around direct Stark quotes on four players in this unfolding drama:

Rich Bitch
Elaine Langen, daughter of the founder and president of a bank, hates her husband, a guy who married Elaine for her money and to position himself as head banker. No matter, now that her dear dad is dead, Elaine will skunk her hubby by providing the needed info to Parker and his fellow heister, Dalesia, so the boys can rob her husband's bank. Serves him right, the bastard!

Here's Parker on spotting Elaine as she walks to their table at a restaurant to meet the outlaws for the first time:

"The first impression was of a slender, stylish, well-put-together woman in her forties, but almost instantly the impression changed. She wasn't slender; she was bone thin, and inside the stylish clothes she walked with a graceless jitteriness, like someone whose medicine had been cut off too soon. Beneath the neat cowl of well-groomed ash-blond hair, her face was too thin, too sharp-featured, too deeply lined. This could have made her look haggard; instead, it made her look mean. From the evidence, what would have attracted her husband most would have been her father's bank."

Sharp Detective Lookin' Sharp
Now that she's Detective Second Grade, Gwendolyn Reversa decided to change her name from Wendy to Gwen. She figured nobody wanted to deal with a detective by the name of Wendy; anyway, she tells people they can just call her Detective. Detective Gwen makes quite the impression on those she interrogates - whoops!, I meant to say those she questions.

Here's Parker when Gwen comes out of her car after she pulled Parker over on the highway:

"But then at last she did come out, a tall, slender blonde woman in tan slacks and a short leather car coat, and moved forward toward the car.
A cop walks like a cop. Even the woman cops do it. Women walk as though they have no center of gravity, or as though they're all waifs, or angles, but cops walk as though their center of gravity is in their hips, so they can be very still or very fast. To see that kind of body motion on a woman was strange, particularly on a good-looking blonde."

Oh, Parker; oh, Elaine Langen; oh, everybody else connected with the armored car score, will you be able to outsmart Detective Second Class Gwen Reversa? One thing's for sure: beautiful Gwen adds zip and sparkle to Nobody Runs.

Striking Bounty Hunter
Oh, yes, among the colorful cast in Nobody Runs, we're treated to a pair of bounty hunters, including one gal not soon forgotten: Sandra Loscalzo. When our merry band of outlaws meet saucy Sandra, here's what Stark has to say:

"They entered, and the hard-faced blonde was seated at the round table, which she'd pulled back into the front corner opposite the door, leaving the hanging swag light to dangle over air. She wore black leather slacks and boots, a bright green high-neck sweater, and a black leather jacket with exaggerated shoulders. Her left hand was on the table, palm down. Her right hand held a pistol, loosely, pointed nowhere, its butt on the back of her left hand.
"Come in, gentlemen," she said. "I like you all over there.""

Sandra, you're such a sweetie...and as sharp as razor. But, beware, Sandra - you don't want to be too sharp or you might wind up cutting yourself.

Mystery Man
Oh, Parker, the people you'll get to meet in your line of work. Here's a gent Parker needs to size up in a hurry. Why did this guy with the raspy voice give him a call on the phone? Parker's first impressions (and a signature Parker greeting):

"The guy coming toward him wore black work pants, a dark blue dress shirt, an open maroon vinyl zippered jacket, and a self-satisfied smile. He had a big shaven head, a thick neck, small ears that curled in on themselves. He looked like a strikebreaker, everybody's muscle, but at the same time he was somehow more than that. Or different from that.
As Parker thumbed open his window, the guy came up to the car, leaned his forearms on the open windowsill, smiled in and said, "How we doing today?" It was the gravel voice from the phone call. Parker showed him the Beretta. "One step back; I don't want blood on the car.""

As to be expected with a Parker novel, Nobody Runs Forever blasts off with action and more action (hint: the boys firing a bazooka-like weapon causes a real stir). And as any lit lover knows, character drives plot - and using just a scant number of words, few can describe women and men as well as Westlake/Stark.

Besides which, this review gave me an opportunity to use a new word: sockdolager.


American author Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opening grabs you: Seven guys in Cincy play cards, soon to talk about a heist. Parker sees one of the guys is wearing a wire. He takes off his tie, comes from behind the guy and strangles him while the others keep talking poker in the mic that Parker rips off the man's chest. What follows is a bank heist involving six bad guys, 4 armored cars, and sophisticated firepower.

You Can’t Run Forever is the 22nd of 24 Parker books from Richard Stark, and it is a departure in a few ways from the main tradition he developed early on of a brutal, almost non-speaking noir main character and stripped-down plots. The basic approach is that Parker is a guy doing a job, working best with others who also do their jobs, a very working class approach to crime writing and heist life. In this most recent tale, Parker jokes around a bit (a kind of no-no compared to the earlier Parker), he isn’t as brutal as we have come to expect (notwithstanding that opening strangling!), and like it or not, we get the much longer told tale from more perspectives than ever. While I prefer the lean and meaner earlier Parker stories, I also appreciate the more complex telling here, and many characters are really compelling.

The view from Parker himself is rather limited (and Stark finds this perspective limiting, too, as Parker doesn’t like to talk, and isn’t particularly reflective), but we also see things from the perspectives of

1) a female cop, Gwen, who changed her name from Wendy to be taken more seriously; she’s a good cop and comes pretty close to outwitting Parker;
2) a female bounty hunter’s perspective, Sondra, who is just trying to collect money based on information about the whereabouts of that strangled guy;
3) an insider who works in the bank they want to rob, Jake, whom they shoot in the leg so he won’t be under suspicion for helping with the job since he is in the hospital;
4) the wife of the bank owner; she helps with the job and wants out of her marriage; her husband wants out of the marriage, too, and hopes the money that is being transferred will help him divorce her.

So all these folks know the deal is going on (or that something is going on) on this particular night. As the action revs up in the last fifty pages, we cut back and forth from each perspective with increasing speed and efficiency. Stark is one of the best storytellers.

Another thing that is interesting is that the ending of this novel is the least resolved one yet, with (mild spoiler) Parker on the run (with actual feet, not a Lexus), the heist not entirely successful, shall we say, as is usually the case. It feels surprisingly cliff-hangerish!

Film trailer for A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed, referenced in the book, though the film seems comic compared to Stark's book. Stark, a nom de plume of Donald Westlake, writes Parker with as few laughs as possible, but Westlake mostly wrote funny slapstick crime series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSCV_...

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parker and six other hoods are planning a heist when they discover one of the guys is wearing a wire. The job falls apart and Parker gets a line on another job: an armored car robbery. But can Parker stay ahead of the people looking for the dead man who wore the wire?

Yeah, the deeper I get into the post-Butcher's Moon Parker books, I'm not so sure Richard Stark should have picked things up again. Some of Parker's capers go great until the wheels come off somewhere close to the end. In Nobody Runs Forever, it seems like the wheels were never completely on. The caper had a lot of hitches to it and depended on too many amateurs. If it was five or six book earlier in the series, I don't think Parker would have took the job. I bought that Parker's run of bad luck was what convinced him but would everyone still be eager to work with Parker?

Parker himself was the same character, although I still think he seems softer in the post-Butcher's Moon books. Sandra was a good nemesis and I suspect she'll be in the next book. Dalesia and McWhitney were okay but nothing to write home about. The whole caper just seemed like a bad idea from the start.

Not to say it was a bad book. Nobody Runs Forever still had its moments. I loved what happened at McWhitney's bar and I loved the ending. Parker was still his cool self when things started going south.

I enjoyed Nobody Runs Forever but, like most of the post-Butcher's Moon Parker stories, it didn't have the punch of the originals.

[Amos · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final three books of Mr Stark's wildly enjoyable Parker series are each one chapter in a three part saga centered on an armored car robbery committed here in Nobody Runs Forever. This book frustratingly ends in a cliffhanger, which I abhor in most circumstances, but since said series is just about over I can't hate on that aspect too much. I'll focus on the fact that chapter one here was a whole lotta crazy fun, and that I can't wait to continue the madness with chapter two!! Yessir!!

3 Starky-Stark Stars

[John Culuris · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Read in April 2019; Reviewed May 2022]

If you end up writing what turns out to be a long-running series, you needed to finds ways of keeping yourself interested. Evan Hunter, writer of the 87th precinct series as Ed McBain, did what comic books used to call “a change of pace issue.” He would write a novel completely from the criminal’s point of view, or from that of a neighborhood, or he would focus on something off-topic for your standard police procedural: a doll, a dead girl’s diary, calypso music, even ghosts. I’ve always associated Hunter with Donald E. Westlake, the man behind Richard Stark and Parker, even if they started almost a decade apart. To me the passage of time has relegated them to the same era. They also both worked for the same literary agency, though not simultaneously; both could write in any style or voice; both wrote under at least a half a dozen pseudonyms; they had their greatest series success under one of those pseudonyms; had successful forays into Hollywood, both with adaptations of their work and screenplays of their own; and, finally, they made it into the 21st Century when most of their contemporaries had retired or passed on.

Westlake didn’t take the precautions Hunter did; consequently, 12 years into the series, Parker came to an abrupt stop. At least from Westlake’s point of view. He is quoted as saying that one day he had simply lost the Richard Stark voice. I have to believe on some subconscious level he had to know he was coming to the end. Those last three or four books in the initial run read like they were headed toward a definitive conclusion. And it would be twenty-plus years before Westlake would find that voice again, and Stark and Parker would return.

This time the author made sure to keep himself entertained while he entertained us. In small ways at first. Like playing Dominoes with the titles. The first new one, COMEBACK, led to BACKFLASH, then to FLASHFIRE, then FIREBREAK, and then BREAKOUT. That was where the game ended. It was time to attempt a trilogy. Now that’s a challenge! Maybe espionage stories, because of the multiple layers and complexities to be explored, can be stretched out over several books, but generally speaking crime fiction comes with the expectation of a conclusion. Maybe that’s why these final three books--before publication or since--have never been referred to as a trilogy. But the intent seems clear.

To answer his self-challenge Westlake had to use every trick in the book. Literally. Every trick he’s ever used. A single heist story can go smoothly and remain interesting but a series featuring a professional thief needs complications, sometimes while planning the job, sometimes during its execution, sometimes in making the getaway. Sometimes they overlap. Westlake needed them all for the next three books. Plus ancillary characters and subplots.

Like most Parker novels Nobody Runs Forever opens with a sudden act of violence. Seven men in a hotel room, one of them wearing a wire, whom Parker promptly dispatches. It is an act that will later spawn the complications that the novel needs but immediately it leads to the next job. An iffy job to begin with, but even as early as 2004 the world was changing and finding large sums of cash was becoming increasingly difficult. Reservations aside, Parker and his associates go forward. What results is your typical Parker novel. Quick, sparse and engaging. And in due course Westlake passes his first test: How to end the book without ending the story? His answer, from word one, was to write toward a specific conclusion. A conclusion that was not necessarily an ending. Certainly not the ending.

Only in not rising to that particular challenge could he mar everything that preceded it. And so, mark “Part 1” a complete success.

[Still · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the more complicated plots in the Parker series.
What starts out as a fast and simple three man armored car heist (or as simple as such a heist can be -remember after all, Parker hasn't fared well in previous attempted armored car robberies) fairly quickly develops major complications and unwanted secondary characters wanting in on the monkey points.

This one starts out like so:

When he saw that the one called Harbin was wearing a wire, Parker said, "Deal me out a hand," and got to his feet. They'd all come to this late-night meeting in suits and ties, traveling businessmen taking a break with a little seven-card stud. Harbin, a nervous man unused to the dress shirt, kept twitching and moving around, bending forward to squint at his cards, and finally Parker, a quarter around the table to Harbin's left, saw in the gap between shirt buttons that flash of clear tape holding the wire down.

As he walked around the table, Parker stripped off his own tie -dark blue with green stripes- slid it into a double thickness, and arched it over Harbin's head. He drew the two ends through the loop and yanked back hard with his right hand as his body pressed both Harbin and the chair he was in against the table, and his left hand reached over to rip open Harbin's shirt. The other five at the table, about to speak or move or react to what Parker was doing, stopped when they saw the wire taped to Harbin's pale chest, the edge of the black metal box taped to his side.

Exit "Harbin".
How they conclude their obviously overheard game of stud and remove the body of the snitch is worth the price of admission alone.

I might be wrong but there are more female characters in this novel than in previous entries. Claire's here, of course but there are other women as well. Good women; bad women; smart women; greedy, stupid women.
Can't reveal much more.

Once again -this one is a superior entry in the Parker series.
If you're reading the series you're going to have to read this one.
Doesn't really require having read previous entries but it wouldn't kill you to start with and and continue through the next 19 titles.

No one is better than Donald E. Westlake writing as "Richard Stark".

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book of the SPE, the second Parker Epoch 1997-2008, I had not read. Richard Stark AKA Donald E. Westlake returned to his creation Parker after he wrote "Butcher's Moon"in 1974. Like another writer Spillane who returned to his creation Mike Hammer Stark also managed to do so successfully. For some fans the first sixteen books were superiour and the new series less so, but they all agree that it was nice to see the big fella return in books written by the original creator/writer.

This book is easily one of the better books with a beginning in which 7 men come together to plot some heist and before they get there one of them is detected wearing a wire. Which ends any heist immediately as well as wire wearer's life.. All men go their separate ways with no further planning involved by these professionals.
However when one of these men who is known to Parker offers him a go at another score, Parker should have walked out simply due to the large amount of amateurs involved. And then there is this smart female copper and a couple of bounty hunters. The plot and people has a large amount of twists and several times you wonder why Parker does not move on.
A highly entertaining thriller that leaves you wanting more Parker and it is simply one of the better novel from the SPE.

Donald E. Westlake / Richard Stark do gives us an excellent book and this is all me preparing for the new Westlake book that was created form a script meant to be a Pierce Brosnan 007 movie that gets its release this week.

That said the Parker series are well worth your while.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the introduction to "Deadly Edge," Charles Ardai explains that the Parker novels are all rather similar in that they all involve some kind of heist and things go wrong, but they are like jazz tunes that are all familiar in a sense, but no two solos are alike. "Nobody Runs Forever" is the 22nd book in this series ( not counting the four Grofield books) and it is part one of the trilogy that ends the series with "Ask The Parrot" and "Dirty Money" being the other two pieces. Each of these three novels is complete for themselves, but together they are part of a continuous story about an armored car robbery in Western Massachusetts and it's aftermath.

A smaller bank is getting swallowed up by a larger one and all the cash is being moved at night by a high security team in four armored vehicles. An Ex-con has been dating the bank president's wife and she has the inside scoop on when and what route the money is being moved. A perfect chance or is it ever that simple in Parker's world? Maybe you got an inside person, but the absolute worst thing is to have an amateur involved. And, before they even got underway (like on the first few pages) some joker wearing a wire had to be put down and the body hasn't even been laid to rest. At least, you're not attracting the attention of an over zealous woman cop, Detective Reversa. At least, a bounty hunter isn't trying to crash the party. At least the ex-con isn't running from a jealous husband.

It's hard to pick a favorite among the Parker novels as they are all terrific. This is another brilliant work by Mr. Westlake. Well-plotted and simply well done.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great addition to the Parker novels. I wish the library had it on audio, but they don't so I read a print version. Very glad I did as it fills in a lot for the next book, Ask The Parrot. Be prepared to read it immediately after this one since this one ends on a cliff-hanger. I hate/detest that, so it loses a star for that.

Otherwise, this was a top notch, typical Parker novel. As usual, everything goes wrong, but Parker stays cool & takes care of business. He's not a very nice guy; he defines "amoral". He knows what he wants & doesn't much care what happens to the rest of the world so long as they don't get between him & his goal. When they do, he takes the most efficient path through the obstacle. Lots of fun!

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parker finds himself convinced to attempt an armored car heist, even in this day and age. It's been fingered by an amateur and a few professionals he barely knows so things obviously go sideways.

"Nobody Runs Forever" (2004) is a nonstop roller-coaster criminal heist procedural and conspiracy. The central focus of this narrative is the heist itself, which is a welcome return for a series that got a little lost in two recent episodes (in my opinion); Parker's mission is to rob this armored car. All the other stuff going on, while interesting, fun, twisting, and annoying, are mere distractions for the immoral but awesome sociopathic hardcase to deal with.

The fun side characters in this one include a disgruntled ex-con, a too-smart-for-her-own-good detective, some rank amateur wannabe thieves who just want fresh starts with new cushy lives, a bounty hunter on their trail without half the story, and the remote Massachusetts town this caper takes place in.

As we enter the final fourth, things pick up to a breakneck speed that ends in a dang cliffhanger but that's okay. There are two more books in the series.

Verdict: A dangerous heist with a fun cliffhanger finish that makes sense if you know Parker. Nobody runs forever...

Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Running low on cash, Parker goes to a poker game to hear of a job stealing dental gold when he spies a wire on one of the guys and the game turns deadly: a necktie party. One of the players then approaches Parker to rob an armored car during a bank takeover, with the key information provided by a parolee and his paramour, whose husband runs the acquired bank. While there are a few surprising developments, the book suffers from too many extraneous characters although I did like the weaponry provided by Briggs. Things go badly wrong (repeatedly) with the two sources, and Parker and the crew are almost caught because of their stupidity. In my opinion, Stark's books were much better at 225-250 pages, than at 300+.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The later Parker novels are busier than the earlier ones. The prose remains tight, but the plots have more moving parts, as if Starklake has become an increasingly skilled juggler over the years, and he wants to show off. In Firebreak (two books previous), this busyness felt a bit forced, but in Nobody Runs Forever, this busyness feels much more organic. Of course, Parker is an idiot to see this armored-car job through to its lemony end, but that's true of his jobs more often than not. With only two Parkers to go, I had planned to wait a while before the penultimate (Ask the Parrot), but that may not be possible.

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parker and the Armoured Cars
Review of the University of Chicago Press paperback edition (September 2017) of the original Mysterious Press hardcover (2004)

Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of the prolific crime author Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who wrote over 100 books. The Stark pseudonym was used primarily for the Parker novels, an antihero criminal who is usually betrayed or ensnared in some manner and who spends each book getting revenge or escaping the circumstances.

The title of Nobody Runs Forever is a an early telegraph that someone will be caught by the authorities at some point in the book. It surely can't be the master planner Parker? After one heist goes awry due to a wired snitch at a poker game, Parker and associates plan a different one that involves the transfer of one bank's assets to another's. Inside accomplices are involved and that adds further possible leaks. Then a bounty hunter and their partner are also on their trail, looking for the missing snitch. To stop the armoured cars, the gang require military grade weapons. The complications and twists just keep piling on and at the end Parker is on the run in a cliffhanger ending that wouldn't resolve until Ask the Parrot (Parker #23) was released 2 years later.

These final Parker novels from #17 to #24 are stronger and more complex than the original run which was probably due to Westlake/Stark's development as a writer over the years and during the 23 year hiatus. Several of these are strong 4's to 5's (I've actually read or listened to all of them now and am just parceling out the reviews over time). #21 and #22 are my favourites of the Parker novels now that I've read them all. Ironically, they are the only ones not available as audiobooks for some reason.

Nobody Runs Forever (Parker #22) is the 1st book of the final trio of Parker novels which are all tied together by the loot and the escape from one heist. The Parker series concludes with Ask the Parrot (Parker #23) and Dirty Money (Parker #24). The last book was issued in 2008 and Donald Westlake (Richard Stark) passed at the end of that year.

I had never previously read the Stark/Parker novels but became curious when they came up in my recent reading of The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (Sept. 2020) by Nancy Pearl & Jeff Schwager. Here is a (perhaps surprising) excerpt from their discussion with Amor Towles:

Nancy: Do you read Lee Child?
Amor: I know Lee. I had never read his books until I met him, but now I read them whenever they come out. I think some of the decisions he makes are ingenious.
Jeff: Have you read the Parker books by Donald Westlake [writing as Richard Stark]?
Amor: I think the Parker books are an extraordinary series.
Jeff: They feel like a big influence on Reacher, right down to the name. Both Reacher and Parker have a singular focus on the task in front of them.
Amor: But Parker is amoral. Reacher is just dangerous.
Jeff: Right. Reacher doesn't have a conventional morality, but he has his own morality. Parker will do anything he has to do to achieve his goal.
Amor: But to your point, Westlake's staccato style with its great twists at the end of the paragraphs, and his mesmerizing central character - these attributes are clearly shared by the Reacher books.

The 24 Parker books are almost all available for free on Audible Plus, except for #21 & #22 which aren't available at all.

Other Reviews
There is an extremely detailed review and plot summary (in 3 parts) of Nobody Runs Forever (with spoilers obviously) at The Westlake Review, October 2, 2017.

Trivia and Links
The Nobody Runs Forever page at The Violent World of Parker website is not as complete as those for the earlier books, and only shows the cover for the original Mysterious Press edition.

This paperback is part of the University of Chicago Press 2009-2017 series of reprints of the Parker novels and includes a new Foreword by author Duane Swierczynski.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Parker novel.

These just whip right along, every heist coming with numerous complications and mistakes, exemplifying human foibles except for Parker who remains totally amoral and focused only on the job, and who must use his wits to deal with the inevitable screw-ups and unforeseen holes in the road.

To recount the plot would be to layer the review in spoilers. I’ll just whet your interest with four armored trucks, one very smart police detective, a smarmy doctor, two bounty hunters looking for a dead body, some ex-cons, and a church filled with hymnals.

Number 22 in the series. Read them all. Perfect length for a transcontinental flight. You won’t even miss flying over Kansas and Nebraska.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

For various reasons I often end up reading “series books” out-of-sequence. Usually this is only a minor thing: a plot or character development that a later book incorporates as part of the background happens in a book I read some time afterwards. But once in a while there is a more pronounced A, then B relationship that I miss out on.

“Nobody Runs Forever” is the 22nd Parker book and its story and ending lead directly in to the 23rd (“Ask The Parrot”) that I read a few weeks ago. The entire premise of that book and its subsequent storyline are wholly based in this one. Think of “Nobody Runs Forever” as the season-ending cliffhanger and “Ask The Parrot” as the next season opener. Good thing the author wasn’t cancelled during the summer break!

In my limited experience with the Parker books, this is the only 2-parter than I know of. Thinking back to “The Man With The Getaway Face”, it is possible that the opening of that book dovetails to the end of the first book in the series. Otherwise, that book and these two have very little in common.

This book is full of interesting little bits and characters. The opening act with the “heisters” and their problem that Parker spots is a great beginning. The Bounty Hunter Team is another good twist. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see Parker get snagged like that. Using Sandra as to drive the plot and give the reader a twist or two was very good, also. I don’t know if she surfaces again, but she could be a welcome driver to any Parker story.

I also liked the crime and how they arranged to pull it off; successfully getting all that cash and then being stuck with it is a real pity.

No matter how much I liked, I have to rate this book lower than other Parkers. This is the first one that I really felt was “bloated”. Sure, a couple of the others have seemed a little wordy, but this one is by far the fattest. Is it because Stark has given us more descriptions? Maybe. I didn’t do a word count nor did I keep track of description vs. narrative vs. action. In recollection, it seemed that there were too many little diversions - even if they were action and not ‘atmosphere”.

If this book had been edited down by 10 or 20 percent, perhaps the author would have been more economical with his words, background characters, and sub-plots. That kind of interplay works for other authors, other protagonists (think Lew Archer by Ross MacDonald), but not for Parker and Stark.

Although I think I would have noted its length and “dilution” in any case, I may be extra sensitive to it because I read “Flashfire” immediately prior to this. And that book is an amazing choreography of action, action, action with minimal side-stepping, making it resound with who and what Parker is. By no means am I suggesting that anyone skip this book. I think Part 2 moves back into a better rhythm and story for Parker (especially if you read them in order), but I’m only giving this one three (3) stars.

[Harold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! The 22nd Parker book. Two more to go. I'm going to binge it on out. This (#22) was one of the best.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another one that has a lot going at the same time, and so compulsively readable I had to read it all in a day, so I'm bumping it up to five stars. The book stands on its own, but it is in fact only the first part of the three-part storyline that continues in Ask The Parrot and concludes in Dirty Money. A lot of new characters in this one; I'm sure we'll see some of them again.

Stark still has the golden touch. Only two more Parker books to go!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first for this series.....a cliffhanger. Great build up, development, crime and aftermath; I was 5 pages from the end before I realized there wasn't room left to close the story. Bummer! I was counting on a big payday at the end. Guess I'd better Ask The Parrot.

[Mike French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite of this series,but was enjoyable!

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

První kniha z poslední Starkovské trilogie! Zatím byly všechny díly spojené hodně volně (pokud vůbec), tady je provázání mnohem silnější. V první knize dojde ke krádeži, v druhé (Ask the Parrot) se Parker skrývá před policií a ve třetí (Dirty Money) jde o vyzvednutí ukradených peněz. Ale samozřejmě, knihy fungují v pohodě i samy o sobě.
Stejně jako všechny ostatní Parkerovky, i tahle kniha dodržuje předepsaný úzus a je složená ze čtyř části. První část - plánování akce. Druhá (a někdy i třetí) část je braná z pohledu jiných postav než je Parker, většinou lidí, kteří mu chtějí dupnout na krk (často jde o flashbacky) a ukazují se jejich plány. A finální část je pak konfrontace, případně provedení akce.
Tady se kniha rozjíždí opravdu skvěle. Zabitím člověka, který přišel na poradu se štěnicí... což se celé odehrává tak, aby si naslouchající ničeho nevšimli, takže zatímco Parker škrtí oběť, ostatní stále předstírají, že hrají poker. Jenže bohužel to znamená, že akce, kterou měli naplánovanou, je odepsaná, takže Parker musí sehnat jiný džob. I když to znamená dělat něco, co nesnáší - pracovat s amatéry.
Podobně jako v Ask the Parrot, je i tady hlavní náplní děje nikoliv souboj gangsterů, ale spíš snaha profíka zvládnout chování lidí, kteří se zločinem nemají žádné zkušenosti, kteří do toho cpou nějaké emoce... a on je bohužel nemůže jen tak zabít. A do toho se promítá pátrání po uškrceném práskači.
Samotný případ je dost přímočarý a nedá se říct, že by z komplikací vznikly nějaké zajímavé problémy. Navíc je trochu neuvěřitelné, že by Parker, poté, co musel být přesvědčovaný, aby se do akce vůbec pustil, nevycouval okamžitě poté, co by zjistil, kolik nejistých prvků tam řádí. Taky se příběh víc soustředí na ostatní postavy, než na samotného Parkera.
Ne, není to nejlepší Parkerovka, ale pořád to má toho Starkovského ducha a několik skvělých okamžiků. a zajímavých postav. Prostě, pořád je to Parker.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading several books in a series back to back is both good and bad. Good in that each new book does not really lead to confusion when a previous event is referenced and they are slightly quicker reads. On the bad side I find myself speed reading ( back in the 60's we had classes to read fast and comprehend more ) and since this is a fictional tale not really trying to remember every little twist and turn of the plot

[Jeff P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good, Parker has a lot more trouble than usual.

[Michael Martz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've thoroughly enjoyed getting into Richard Stark's Parker series, but 'Nobody Runs Forever' was a bit of a disappointment. Not to say it's bad, just some unexpected action and strange decisions made it a head-scratcher. The writing is still crisp and direct, the action formidable, the dialogue realistic, and the characters well-drawn and lean, but the plot took odd turns.

Nobody Runs begins with Parker noticing a wire on a fellow participant in a card game he's involved in with a bunch of guys he doesn't really know who are planning a heist. He quickly cashes that guy out of the game using a necktie maneuver and the heist planning goes nowhere. Parker is later contacted by a fellow card player about a potential armored car heist at a bank that's changing locations. Parker does his usual thorough due diligence on the project, identifies the risks, mitigates them in his inimitable way, puts his team together, and decides to proceed. However, there are some weak human links involved in the process. The heist ends up going off per plan, but the post-heist activities don't due to several issues, one of which being the aforementioned human links, and Parker and we the readers are left in the middle of nowhere.

Spoiler alert:
Which brings me to the couple problems I had with Nobody Runs. The most obvious is the ending. The heist is done, the money hidden, the robbers (other than Parker) have scattered, but Parker's trying to escape on foot with the police tracking dogs being released and..... it ends. Sets up nicely, I suppose, for the next novel but I wasn't expecting a serial here. The second, and maybe more important issue is the sheer number of potential problems that surface after Parker does the initial planning. My sense is that based on his careful consideration of the initial issues he identified and the way he put them to bed, when the new ones popped up he would've (or should've) ditched the project completely rather than run the risk of ending up in jail for the rest of his life. He, though, sort of went with the flow and they did, indeed, bite him on the butt eventually.

Enjoyed the planning and execution of the job, but I was left with a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered in the follow-up.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't stand it when a writer creates a smart character then has that character make stupid choice for no better reason than to further the plot. More than half this book shows the protagonist making stupid choices or revealing the plot twists that make these choices stupid. Fie on't.

[Kin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questi ultimi di Stark(Westlake) sono meno scoppiettanti di quelli che amavo 50 anni fa. Siamo invecchiati tutt'e due purtroppo.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. A Parker novel. Richard Stark a.k.a. Donald E. Westlake. Parker is one of those criminals you almost have to like. Another splendid noir mystery with a cliff hanger.

[🎰 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
the author keeps on chucking new guys into the plot and the whole time i was like PARKER IT’S TOO MANY COOKS!!!

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 3.5

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sieben Männer in einem Hotelzimmer in Cincinnati beim Kartenspiel. Das Treffen dient dem Planen eines Coups mit Zahngold, doch bevor es dazu kommen kann, wird entdeckt, dass einer der Männer verwanzt ist und dieser wird kurzerhand beseitigt. Schon im ersten Kapitel von Richard Starks Roman "Nobody Runs Forever" ("Keiner rennt für immer") wird klar, dass hier nicht lange gefackelt wird. Parker, ein Mann ohne Vornamen, ist ein cooler Berufsverbrecher, ein eiskalter Mann außerhalb aller Moral.
 
Nach dem Scheitern des ersten Planes tritt sofort ein neuer in Kraft. In der neuenglischen Kleinstadt Rutherford fusionieren zwei Banken, jede Menge Kohle ist unterwegs. Doch Mrs Inside ist die Frau des Bankdirektors und der Tipgeber hat ein Verhältnis mit ihr. Die Sache wird durch die Beteiligung von Amateuren und Emotionen verkompliziert. Jede der am Rande oder mitten in dieser Angelegenheit verstrickten Personen hat zudem noch ein eigenes Süppchen am Kochen, verfolgt eigene Ziele. Erleichtert wird es auch nicht durch das Auftauchen eines Kopfgeldjägers, der hinter dem in Cincinnati verschwundenen Spitzel her ist und eine schlaue und bildhübsche Polizistin, die viel zu viele Verbindungen zwischen den Beteiligten zieht. So müssen Parker und seine Kollegen den Aktionsplan immer wieder über den Haufen werfen und neue Kniffe aushecken, damit garantiert nichts schiefgehen kann. Doch Garantien gibt es in ihrem Beruf für nichts und niemanden...
 
Richard Stark ist das Pseudonym des an Silvester 2008 verstorbenen Autors Donald E. Westlake, der nicht nur Thriller schrieb, sondern sich in vielen sehr unterschiedlichen Genres versuchte. Und obwohl es sich bei "Keiner rennt für immer" um den zweiundzwanzigsten Roman aus der Reihe mit dem amoralischen Helden Parker, der bereits im Jahre 1962 zum ersten Mal auf Papier erschien, handelt, lässt sich dieser als Stand Alone lesen. Diese Romane haben außerdem eine Wirkung, die so gar nicht beabsichtigt war:

"Richard Stark hat sehr viel Post aus dem Gefängnis bekommen. [...] Aus dem State Prison von Walhalla im Bundesstaat Washington schrieb mir mal einer, er habe soundso viele Jahre wegen bewaffneten Raubüberfalls aufgebrummt bekommen und sich eine ganze Reihe meiner Parker-Romane mit ins Gefängnis genommen, um sich mal gründlich fortzubilden." (Quelle: Tagesspiegel)

 
Das Buch ist wegen seiner überwiegend dialogischen Struktur ein kurzweiliges Lesevergnügen. Trocken, gewieft, professionell - man merkt, der Mann ist ein Könner. Doch gleichzeitig ist dies ein Buch, das nicht lange in der Erinnerung verbleiben wird oder Spuren in der Seele hinterlässt, denn auf tiefergehende Personenzeichnung wird weitestgehend verzichtet.

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book in the long-running PARKER series by Richard Stark, aka Donald Westlake.

Parker faces obstacles from all over in this installment. Problems from the law, problems with his partners, problems with civilians, all lead to another well-written novel about our favorite anti-hero.

While definitely not even in my top ten favorites, this is still a strong thriller. Westlake/Stark really knows how to create suspense, and even though this book wasn't among his best, it still contains entire sections that show he could write circles around most contemporary thriller writers. The section at the end, for example, where the multiple threads of the narrative come together is brilliantly written.

Interestingly, this is the first of the Parker novels to end on a cliffhanger. Which means, I suppose, that I'll just have to plow ahead and read the last two books in the series a little sooner than I originally planned.