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Parker #8
Run Lethal
#6 in the "Parker"series
Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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October 7, 2015
When Parker finally settled his differences with the Outfit, he didn’t expect to get any job offers from them. However, a guy named Baron has set up a profitable casino operation on his own private island in the Gulf of Mexico, and the head of the Outfit can’t stand that they aren’t getting a piece of the action so he enlists Parker to rip off Baron and burn down his operation.
Since he needs cash after the events of the last couple of books, Parker agrees and begins planning his own version of D-Day with a small crew of stick-up men invading the island. As usual, Parker will have to contend with people he can’t trust and a twist that puts him on the radar of the U.S. government.
Another short but solid Parker adventure. The thing I continue to enjoy the most about these books is Parker’s blunt but efficient nature. The thief continues to be annoyed at anything he considers a waste of time like small-talk or details he doesn’t need to do the job. Despite being a ruthless pragmatist who will kill or double-cross anyone that he thinks can’t be counted on, this book again has Parker going to some trouble and risk to save one of his crew when he could have easily left the man to die. But when he’s thanked for it, Parker can’t grasp why anyone would make a big deal out of it.
The story starts with the standard Richard Stark formula of Parker getting pitched on an odd robbery, the recruiting of a crew, the planning and gathering of equipment, the concerns about someone double-crossing them, and a job that doesn’t go as expected. Then the plot takes some detours and has a different ending than I was expecting, and it was fun having the ending be so far off from where I guessed it’d go.
Since he needs cash after the events of the last couple of books, Parker agrees and begins planning his own version of D-Day with a small crew of stick-up men invading the island. As usual, Parker will have to contend with people he can’t trust and a twist that puts him on the radar of the U.S. government.
Another short but solid Parker adventure. The thing I continue to enjoy the most about these books is Parker’s blunt but efficient nature. The thief continues to be annoyed at anything he considers a waste of time like small-talk or details he doesn’t need to do the job. Despite being a ruthless pragmatist who will kill or double-cross anyone that he thinks can’t be counted on, this book again has Parker going to some trouble and risk to save one of his crew when he could have easily left the man to die. But when he’s thanked for it, Parker can’t grasp why anyone would make a big deal out of it.
The story starts with the standard Richard Stark formula of Parker getting pitched on an odd robbery, the recruiting of a crew, the planning and gathering of equipment, the concerns about someone double-crossing them, and a job that doesn’t go as expected. Then the plot takes some detours and has a different ending than I was expecting, and it was fun having the ending be so far off from where I guessed it’d go.
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November 28, 2020
The Handle takes its place as Parker #8 in the list of 24 Parker novels by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark.
The Handle is a rip-roaring crime thriller with twists and spins and Parker action aplenty.
Here's the frame: It’s 1966 and a man known as the Baron, a former Nazi, art thief and all around swindler, has been running a casino/illegal entertainment center on an island forty miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas - Gulf of Mexico waters beyond the reach of the USA’s federal jurisdiction.
For the past six years, a nationwide crime syndicate calling itself The Outfit has been demanding the Baron cut them in on a slice of the action. Knowing he has the support of Cuba (the Baron performs espionage for the Communists) and also knowing he’ll never leave his well-fortified, heavily armed island, The Baron thumbs his nose and tells the Outfit boys to go to hell.
Enough is enough, time to eliminate the competition. Outfit kingpin Karns needs an expert robber to pick the Baron clean and burn his island kingdom to the ground. Karns calls Parker with a deal, tells Parker the Outfit will supply all the needed maps, boats, guns and explosives - you wipe out the Baron and all the loot on the island is yours, guaranteed minimum $200,000.
Parker analyzes the heist, agrees to Karns' terms (actually, Parker sets the terms) and begins assembling his crew. Parker fans will be please to know Grofield and Salsa enter the picture. But then the unexpected: two federal agents approach Parker and propose their own deal: bring the Baron back to the US where they can prosecute him and we'll let you go free (the feds have enough on heister Parker's past to send him to the slammer).
And we're off. Donald E. Westlake, master storyteller, mixes enough ingredients into his hardboiled crime stew to keep readers in suspense and guessing at every step. The highlight reel includes:
Camera Chic
Parker tells the Outfit he wants to check Baron's island out for himself, go there as just another tourist. He says he needs a woman with him, someone capable of snapping photos from a hidden camera. The Outfit provides Parker with a tall, slender looker for the purpose. "Her nose was narrow, flanked by prominent cheekbones,and her eyes were large and brown and innocent and liquid, like the eyes of a Walt Disney fawn. She said her name was Crystal, which had to be a lie, and it was impossible she was a brainless as she seemed."
Usually Parker doesn't mix women and sex with his working on a job. But there are those exceptions. Will Crystal entice Parker enough to qualify as an exception? For each reader to find out.
Thief and Thespian
Heister Grofield is almost the opposite of Parker. Loquacious, handsome, erudite, Grofield came into crime to support his acting in live theater. "The two professions complemented one another. The robberies helped him in his characterizations of the roles he was so often given to play, and the acting ability more than once had come in handy in the course of a robbery." The inclusion of Grofield adds great color and spark.
Baron Wolfgang Friedrich
We're provided with detailed backstory and personal psychology of the Baron, a man who was definitely a member of the Nazi party but, more than pro-Nazi, pro-Germany or pro anything else, the Baron was and has always been pro-Baron, a man at all times adhering to the motto: Looking Out for Number One. However, if we read closely, we can detect some of those old Nazi tendencies popping up in the now fifty-something Baron.
The Baron dabbled in art theft (mostly from France) and has a hand in international espionage - no surprising since many crime fiction writers, including Mr. Westlake, wanted to cash in on the 1960s James Bond bonanza.
Not 007
Here’s what one literary critic and avid Westlake fan has to say about The Handle: “So that’s Parker’s Bond novel. And what have we learned? That you can put Parker into any situation, and he’ll remain himself. He adapts, but he doesn’t change his way of thinking. For all his seeming independence and individualism, Bond is an organization man, a hireling–something Parker could never be. For all his seeming amorality, Bond is a hero, a solid Victorian gentleman, packed with the same sterling values that motivated Tom Brown or Horatio Hornblower. Ian Fleming just added a few scars and peccadillos to make him more interesting, more modern. Still the same old stock character underneath.”
Worth repeating: Parker is no James Bond, no organization man, no hireling. Parker even tells Karns, “I don’t kill for hire.” Even when one of those Federal agents says to Parker, “You’re talking like a man with a choice,” Parker shoots back, “I’ve always got a choice.” And when one of the Feds suggests they join Parker on the job, Parker almost laughs them off, outlining what he does takes expertise, ingenuity, savvy and having a couple of government types around would only louse things up.
Similar to those Outfit men back in The Hunter and The Outfit, the Federal agents come off as a bunch of dull order takers, lackeys. At one point, Grofield reflects, “Federal agents were all alike; uptight, honest, courteous, kind, self-righteous, and humorless.” Organizations, be they a huge syndicate or government agency or corporation, have a definite tendency to turn people into stooges, stripping them of ingenuity, individuality, independence and creativity.
The Handle provides Mr. Westlake with yet again another fresh opportunity to explore the character of Parker. Parker, human on the outside, wolf on the inside. Parker, according to Dennis Lehane, the greatest antihero of American noir.
Pick up The Handle and do your own exploration.
American author Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008
March 19, 2024
"Parker and 'the Outfit' had one thing in common; they both worked outside the law. But the Outfit lived on gambling and narcotics and prostitution; the Outfit lived by finding customers for illegal products and services. Parker simply went where the money was and took it away." -- on page 39
The antiheroic master thief Parker gets stuck between two would-be keepers in The Handle, thus jazzing up the usual 'heist-gone-sideways' plot that is a hallmark of the long-running 60's-set crime series. The boss at 'The Outfit' - the nationwide criminal syndicate - wants Parker and a handpicked crew to spitefully disrupt, rob, and then destroy a private casino on a small remote island off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. Equally, a squad of eager federal agents desire for Parker to deliver said island's kingpin - a cowardly former Nazi officer grandiosely calling himself 'The Baron' (villains don't come much more prefabricated than THAT 😉) - into their handcuffs for past war crimes since he resides outside of U.S. jurisdictional boundaries, in return for the agents looking the other way at Parker's vast criminal history. It goes without saying that the big planned heist goes swimmingly until it doesn't, with a plethora of shootings, explosions, and double-crosses in the latter half of the narrative. (I also enjoyed the way one repulsive turncoat character of shifting allegiances was quickly dispatched by Parker after causing nothing but trouble.) I think a significant hook for these books is shadowing the laconic character as he cleverly stays one step ahead of everyone else.
The antiheroic master thief Parker gets stuck between two would-be keepers in The Handle, thus jazzing up the usual 'heist-gone-sideways' plot that is a hallmark of the long-running 60's-set crime series. The boss at 'The Outfit' - the nationwide criminal syndicate - wants Parker and a handpicked crew to spitefully disrupt, rob, and then destroy a private casino on a small remote island off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. Equally, a squad of eager federal agents desire for Parker to deliver said island's kingpin - a cowardly former Nazi officer grandiosely calling himself 'The Baron' (villains don't come much more prefabricated than THAT 😉) - into their handcuffs for past war crimes since he resides outside of U.S. jurisdictional boundaries, in return for the agents looking the other way at Parker's vast criminal history. It goes without saying that the big planned heist goes swimmingly until it doesn't, with a plethora of shootings, explosions, and double-crosses in the latter half of the narrative. (I also enjoyed the way one repulsive turncoat character of shifting allegiances was quickly dispatched by Parker after causing nothing but trouble.) I think a significant hook for these books is shadowing the laconic character as he cleverly stays one step ahead of everyone else.
December 31, 2020
Parker, who looks like he is “made of chunks of wood” (I like that), is a meticulous, logical and unemotional planner of thefts. Most of the action is straightforwardly narrated; we get to see, if we're interested, and who isn't?-- how a thief with other thieves might pull off a job; hey, it’s a continuously tough economy! You never know what kind of information might be useful! I’m kidding, but there IS an interesting ethical angle to these books, actually; we cheer for a sociopathic anti-hero; what does that make us?
For a guy most people describe as “the strong, silent type,” Parker gets into some over-the-top capers. In The Seventh he and some guys rob a football stadium for the gate receipts during a big game; he takes on the mob in The Outfit; he and a large group knock off a whole North Dakota city! In The Handle he takes on a casino on a small island.
The Baron owns this island in the Gulf of Mexico, to the annoyance of The Outfit, who can’t get at any of the money, and who in this case hires Parker to knock off the casino and put The Baron out of business. One positive feature of this one is that the engagingly funny actor Alan Grofield returns, yay, and the job, while it doesn’t quite go as they planned, does work out entertainingly at the end. Grofield says to Parker: “Talking to you is like talking to one of those statues on Easter Island!” Appropriately amusing.
When Grofield is hurt, we are surprised to see Parker actually goes out of his way to take care of him; Parker likes him!? But it's about loyalty, and Parker is loyal and fair-minded to his team. But we as readers like Grofield, who is as much a professional as Parker, but the opposite of his personality. He becomes so popular as a character and such a favorite of Stark’s that he actually creates four books with Grofield as the main character. Yes, they are worth reading, especially in contrast to the Parker books as a kind of change.
Another attractive feature of this one is that we switch from Parker’s perspective to The Baron’s, who escapes his island by boat with the cash and diamonds to Mexico. He manages to walk with his two suitcases across 21 barren miles inland from the Mexican coast until he meets an old indigenous Mexican. What ensues is worth your time. Everything that happens AFTER the blown heist is better than the action sequences of the heist itself, in my opinion. But over all it is well worth your time.
For a guy most people describe as “the strong, silent type,” Parker gets into some over-the-top capers. In The Seventh he and some guys rob a football stadium for the gate receipts during a big game; he takes on the mob in The Outfit; he and a large group knock off a whole North Dakota city! In The Handle he takes on a casino on a small island.
The Baron owns this island in the Gulf of Mexico, to the annoyance of The Outfit, who can’t get at any of the money, and who in this case hires Parker to knock off the casino and put The Baron out of business. One positive feature of this one is that the engagingly funny actor Alan Grofield returns, yay, and the job, while it doesn’t quite go as they planned, does work out entertainingly at the end. Grofield says to Parker: “Talking to you is like talking to one of those statues on Easter Island!” Appropriately amusing.
When Grofield is hurt, we are surprised to see Parker actually goes out of his way to take care of him; Parker likes him!? But it's about loyalty, and Parker is loyal and fair-minded to his team. But we as readers like Grofield, who is as much a professional as Parker, but the opposite of his personality. He becomes so popular as a character and such a favorite of Stark’s that he actually creates four books with Grofield as the main character. Yes, they are worth reading, especially in contrast to the Parker books as a kind of change.
Another attractive feature of this one is that we switch from Parker’s perspective to The Baron’s, who escapes his island by boat with the cash and diamonds to Mexico. He manages to walk with his two suitcases across 21 barren miles inland from the Mexican coast until he meets an old indigenous Mexican. What ensues is worth your time. Everything that happens AFTER the blown heist is better than the action sequences of the heist itself, in my opinion. But over all it is well worth your time.
July 24, 2025
"If the boat sank, Parker knew the girl would be hysterical and drown with her anyone she could get her hands on. If the boat sank, Parker would get as far from her as he could as fast as possible. But he said, "I'll help you. Don't worry about it."
Not the best Parker. Something about the setting - robbing an island casino wasn't right. I could not imagine Parker in a nautical thriller. Parker himself feels cloistered at the start of the novel, when he is on a boat doing a reconnaissance of the island. The drunken character Yancy, used to underscore YET AGAIN that Parker does not like small talk did not work either.
Things improve when Crystal, a girl provided by The Outfit (who has hired Parker to do the hit on the rival casino) makes an entry. Parker breaks the no screwing around during the planning and execution of a heist rule with her. It gets better when Alan Grofield makes an appearance. Salsa from The Score is another member of the heist crew and Crystal, who is a photographer wants to click him naked. He asks Parker for permission. Parker doesn't give a shit. Not even when Grofield flirts with Crystal.
The Handle does get really good towards the end. Especially Baron's flashback and the part where Baron is on the run. Also, Parker and Grofield's Mexican adventures were fun to read. The last conversation between Parker and Grofield is used to remind the reader that Parker does not believe in things like loyalty or anything. He often does things like helping his mates to save his own ass.
There are many clever twists in the novel's last fifty pages. It's so damn far fetched far fetched but I liked it. Just that it is not in the same league as the other Parker novels that I have read so far.
This edition comes with notations whenever the writer refers to events or characters in the previous novels. Sometimes there are summaries of past events (like Parker's plastic surgery), I guess aimed at readers who might have picked up this book as their first foray into the world of Parker.
Not the best Parker. Something about the setting - robbing an island casino wasn't right. I could not imagine Parker in a nautical thriller. Parker himself feels cloistered at the start of the novel, when he is on a boat doing a reconnaissance of the island. The drunken character Yancy, used to underscore YET AGAIN that Parker does not like small talk did not work either.
Things improve when Crystal, a girl provided by The Outfit (who has hired Parker to do the hit on the rival casino) makes an entry. Parker breaks the no screwing around during the planning and execution of a heist rule with her. It gets better when Alan Grofield makes an appearance. Salsa from The Score is another member of the heist crew and Crystal, who is a photographer wants to click him naked. He asks Parker for permission. Parker doesn't give a shit. Not even when Grofield flirts with Crystal.
The Handle does get really good towards the end. Especially Baron's flashback and the part where Baron is on the run. Also, Parker and Grofield's Mexican adventures were fun to read. The last conversation between Parker and Grofield is used to remind the reader that Parker does not believe in things like loyalty or anything. He often does things like helping his mates to save his own ass.
There are many clever twists in the novel's last fifty pages. It's so damn far fetched far fetched but I liked it. Just that it is not in the same league as the other Parker novels that I have read so far.
This edition comes with notations whenever the writer refers to events or characters in the previous novels. Sometimes there are summaries of past events (like Parker's plastic surgery), I guess aimed at readers who might have picked up this book as their first foray into the world of Parker.
December 29, 2024
Fantastic!
Parker gets an unlikely invitation from the Outfit to rob an island casino and Grofield steals the show!
Highly recommended.
Parker gets an unlikely invitation from the Outfit to rob an island casino and Grofield steals the show!
Highly recommended.
May 24, 2011
Parker, Grofield, and Salsa are hired by the Outfit to rob an island casino and burn it to the ground. Only the feds get wind of the plot and force Parker to either bring back the man running the casino or go to jail himself. Can Parker get the handle and bring in the Baron?
As usual, Stark weaves a serpentine tale of scheming, violence, and double crosses. Things start going south at the beginning but Parker's motivation to continue was believable considering he lost most of his money when the Willis cover was blown. It might just have been honor amongst thieves but it looked like Parker actually likes Grofield.
The Handle had more tension than most, especially with all shooting going on. When Baron made his escape, even though I knew there are lot more books in the series, I actually wondered if Parker was going to make it for a second or two.
The Handle is a top notch crime thriller, not to be missed by Parker fans.
As usual, Stark weaves a serpentine tale of scheming, violence, and double crosses. Things start going south at the beginning but Parker's motivation to continue was believable considering he lost most of his money when the Willis cover was blown. It might just have been honor amongst thieves but it looked like Parker actually likes Grofield.
The Handle had more tension than most, especially with all shooting going on. When Baron made his escape, even though I knew there are lot more books in the series, I actually wondered if Parker was going to make it for a second or two.
The Handle is a top notch crime thriller, not to be missed by Parker fans.
June 17, 2023
From 1966
Of course there's a robbery, this time of an Island casino. Everything goes wrong, Parker has to go find the money in Mexico. Some of the thieves from the Score are here, most die, one who is also in Mexico lives.
The title, the Handle, is about finding hidden suitcases of money.
Of course there's a robbery, this time of an Island casino. Everything goes wrong, Parker has to go find the money in Mexico. Some of the thieves from the Score are here, most die, one who is also in Mexico lives.
The title, the Handle, is about finding hidden suitcases of money.
April 21, 2024
one of the better parker books.
twists and turns abound, plus grofield really steals the show.
👌🏽
twists and turns abound, plus grofield really steals the show.
👌🏽
May 27, 2015
Number 8 in the series that Richard Stark wrote about "Parker" who on screen have been played by Lee Marvin in "Point Blank", Jason Statham in "Parker" & Mel Gibson in "Payback". All movies are worth your while and fairly true to the character that Richard Stark wrote about.
After having his identity and modus operandi burned in the previous book Parker is in need of some serious cash. So wisely of not he accepts a job from the outfit in robbing a casino on an island outside of the US territories. The job is twofold: take the money and burn the place to the ground. If it were up to the feds the job would be threefold and Parker is not really in the position to say NO. At least to their faces. So the proprietor of the island also becomes a target and as nobody likes a former Nazi war criminal he is the one with everything to lose.
Stark aka Westlake really has the skills to tell a straight forward tale in a way that makes the story more exciting than it actually is. Which is something I greatly admire and enjoy reading. Once again a strong story in the Parker series and looking forward to the next installment which coincidentally lies ready to be read.
After having his identity and modus operandi burned in the previous book Parker is in need of some serious cash. So wisely of not he accepts a job from the outfit in robbing a casino on an island outside of the US territories. The job is twofold: take the money and burn the place to the ground. If it were up to the feds the job would be threefold and Parker is not really in the position to say NO. At least to their faces. So the proprietor of the island also becomes a target and as nobody likes a former Nazi war criminal he is the one with everything to lose.
Stark aka Westlake really has the skills to tell a straight forward tale in a way that makes the story more exciting than it actually is. Which is something I greatly admire and enjoy reading. Once again a strong story in the Parker series and looking forward to the next installment which coincidentally lies ready to be read.
January 12, 2011
the Outfit hires parker to head to a cuban controlled island/casino off the coast of galveston, texas not just to rob it, but to burn it the hell to the ground. the american cops track parker's every move, but leave him be: a case, i suppose, of 'the devil we know (parker) over the devil we don't (commie-financed ex-nazi and casino boss baron von altstein)'
grofield, parker's crime buddy, offers a flamboyant contrast to parker's cold-as-ice existential anti-hero, and that's where most of the fun lies in this particular chapter in parker's life. there's also some nice bits trudging through the deserts of mexico and with crystal, parker's new gal, a small time whore working for the Outfit. a lesser parker novel, perhaps, but one that must be read if you're doing the entire parker series <-- and let's face it, folks: there ain't nothing you should be doing rather than blasting through the entire parker series.
next up: the seventh
grofield, parker's crime buddy, offers a flamboyant contrast to parker's cold-as-ice existential anti-hero, and that's where most of the fun lies in this particular chapter in parker's life. there's also some nice bits trudging through the deserts of mexico and with crystal, parker's new gal, a small time whore working for the Outfit. a lesser parker novel, perhaps, but one that must be read if you're doing the entire parker series <-- and let's face it, folks: there ain't nothing you should be doing rather than blasting through the entire parker series.
next up: the seventh
April 6, 2021
Dollar bills and diamonds, double crosses and deaths, diabolical dealers and dames, dead-eyed stares and detectives caught unawares... Must mean Mr Parker is back on his grind here in Richard Stark's novel number nine!!
Runoutandgogetyousomeofthishereposthasteyo
Runoutandgogetyousomeofthishereposthasteyo
October 28, 2023
This is a strong section of the series where the heists are interesting and the journey unexpected. This time the leader of the outfit, Karns, asks Parker do him the favor of knocking off a rival offshore casino. The favor comes with a guarantee of 200K. Alan Grofield returns as a compatriot to Parker which is always a welcome addition. As you would expect things do not go as planned. The casino owner is a German and a Nazi of convenience when such a thing would help your ambition. The feds also want a piece of the German and try to sway Parker to play ball. You wouldn't blame parker for retiring after such a strain as this one.
January 25, 2020
★★1/2
This book had a lot to live up to after the last installment, The Seventh, which I thought was the best Parker book to date. So maybe I'm not being fair when it comes to my opinion. But this one was just... alright. I can see myself easily forgetting this in a few weeks. To be honest, it's not at all terrible, it's just a bunch of ideas we've already seen before in other books. Parker gets a job, has doubts, forms a team, fucks a girl, discovers some obstacles along the way, and then must deal with the heist falling apart. But what really bummed me out was how boring and anticlimactic the resolution was. Oh well, on to the next one.
This book had a lot to live up to after the last installment, The Seventh, which I thought was the best Parker book to date. So maybe I'm not being fair when it comes to my opinion. But this one was just... alright. I can see myself easily forgetting this in a few weeks. To be honest, it's not at all terrible, it's just a bunch of ideas we've already seen before in other books. Parker gets a job, has doubts, forms a team, fucks a girl, discovers some obstacles along the way, and then must deal with the heist falling apart. But what really bummed me out was how boring and anticlimactic the resolution was. Oh well, on to the next one.
April 27, 2018
Parker is asked by the Outfit to put a guy out of business permanently, who runs a casino on a private island. Of course, he's no killer, but he will burn/bomb the place to hide his theft. He's a cool cucumber in negotiating the economics of his heist. The planning is great, with Parker's usual no nonsense approach, and of course, things go wrong, putting everyone in grave danger (is there any other kind? :-)) A 4-star story with a 2-star ending although Parker does go all out, and then some, to rescue his crew.
January 27, 2015
The second Parker novel I have read. This series is written by one of my favorite authors-Donald Westlake under the pen name Richard Stark. Until I joined Goodreads,I didn't know of their existence. Now I am on a quest to read them all!
April 21, 2013
4 ½ stars. Several times I laughed or enjoyed something surprising or unexpected.
Parker is on a job. Things go wrong. How he and his partners respond is neat to watch.
A fun scene: The Outfit assigned Crystal to help Parker with part of the job. They were on a boat going to an island. She talked too much. Parker discovered the way to handle her. When she paused he grunted. She turned his grunts into whatever words she wanted to hear and went on with her monologue again. She’s deathly afraid of water. She asked Parker “If this boat sinks or anything you won’t leave me or anything will you? You’ll help me get to shore?” If the boat sank Parker knew this girl would be hysterical and would drown with her anyone she could get her hands on. If the boat sank, Parker would get as far from her as he could as fast as possible. But he said “I’ll help you. Don’t worry about it.”
The narrator Stephen R. Thorne was good, but I wish he had a rougher, darker, or more menacing voice for Parker. His Parker voice was too clean cut and normal sounding.
THE SERIES:
This is book 8 in the 24 book series. These stories are about bad guys. They rob. They kill. They’re smart. Most don’t go to jail. Parker is the main bad guy, a brilliant strategist. He partners with different guys for different jobs in each book.
If you are new to the series, I suggest reading the first three and then choose among the rest. A few should be read in order since characters continue in a sequel fashion. Those are listed below (with my star ratings). The rest can be read as stand alones.
The first three books in order:
4 stars. The Hunter (Point Blank movie with Lee Marvin 1967) (Payback movie with Mel Gibson)
3 ½ stars. The Man with the Getaway Face (The Steel Hit)
4 stars. The Outfit.
Read these two in order:
5 stars. Slayground (Bk #14)
5 stars. Butcher’s Moon (Bk #16)
Read these four in order:
4 ½ stars. The Sour Lemon Score (Bk #12)
2 ½ stars. Firebreak (Bk #20)
(not read) Nobody Runs Forever (Bk #22)
2 ½ stars. Dirty Money (Bk #24)
Others that I gave 4 or more stars to:
The Jugger (Bk #6), The Seventh (Bk#7), Deadly Edge (Bk#13), Flashfire (Bk#19)
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook length: 4 hrs and 27 mins. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: 3 sex scenes vaguely referred to, no details. Setting: 1966 Galveston, Texas, and island in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico. Book copyright: 1966. Genre: noir crime fiction.
Parker is on a job. Things go wrong. How he and his partners respond is neat to watch.
A fun scene: The Outfit assigned Crystal to help Parker with part of the job. They were on a boat going to an island. She talked too much. Parker discovered the way to handle her. When she paused he grunted. She turned his grunts into whatever words she wanted to hear and went on with her monologue again. She’s deathly afraid of water. She asked Parker “If this boat sinks or anything you won’t leave me or anything will you? You’ll help me get to shore?” If the boat sank Parker knew this girl would be hysterical and would drown with her anyone she could get her hands on. If the boat sank, Parker would get as far from her as he could as fast as possible. But he said “I’ll help you. Don’t worry about it.”
The narrator Stephen R. Thorne was good, but I wish he had a rougher, darker, or more menacing voice for Parker. His Parker voice was too clean cut and normal sounding.
THE SERIES:
This is book 8 in the 24 book series. These stories are about bad guys. They rob. They kill. They’re smart. Most don’t go to jail. Parker is the main bad guy, a brilliant strategist. He partners with different guys for different jobs in each book.
If you are new to the series, I suggest reading the first three and then choose among the rest. A few should be read in order since characters continue in a sequel fashion. Those are listed below (with my star ratings). The rest can be read as stand alones.
The first three books in order:
4 stars. The Hunter (Point Blank movie with Lee Marvin 1967) (Payback movie with Mel Gibson)
3 ½ stars. The Man with the Getaway Face (The Steel Hit)
4 stars. The Outfit.
Read these two in order:
5 stars. Slayground (Bk #14)
5 stars. Butcher’s Moon (Bk #16)
Read these four in order:
4 ½ stars. The Sour Lemon Score (Bk #12)
2 ½ stars. Firebreak (Bk #20)
(not read) Nobody Runs Forever (Bk #22)
2 ½ stars. Dirty Money (Bk #24)
Others that I gave 4 or more stars to:
The Jugger (Bk #6), The Seventh (Bk#7), Deadly Edge (Bk#13), Flashfire (Bk#19)
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook length: 4 hrs and 27 mins. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: 3 sex scenes vaguely referred to, no details. Setting: 1966 Galveston, Texas, and island in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico. Book copyright: 1966. Genre: noir crime fiction.
March 2, 2011
Maybe one day soon I'll be inspired to write some longer Parker reviews again, but really there is only so much I have to say about them without giving a book report.
In this one Parker and his buddies are hired by the Outfit to rob and destroy an off-shore casino run by an ex-Nazi. This is the most far-fetched Parker novel so far (I enjoyed his knocking over a riverboat casino in his 1990's reincarnation better) and the mob would have done better to go hire the heavies from Tiger Cab for this kind of anti-Cuba / pro-Mob work, but Parker doesn't live in the world of Pete Bourdant. I think they would have gotten along amazingly well though. Maybe James Ellroy could knock off some Parker novels in between writing whatever it is he's working on now.
In this one Parker and his buddies are hired by the Outfit to rob and destroy an off-shore casino run by an ex-Nazi. This is the most far-fetched Parker novel so far (I enjoyed his knocking over a riverboat casino in his 1990's reincarnation better) and the mob would have done better to go hire the heavies from Tiger Cab for this kind of anti-Cuba / pro-Mob work, but Parker doesn't live in the world of Pete Bourdant. I think they would have gotten along amazingly well though. Maybe James Ellroy could knock off some Parker novels in between writing whatever it is he's working on now.
October 23, 2014
Another good adventure with plenty of twists & turns. There were a few things that didn't sit all that well, such as but overall it was a lot of fun.
While I have the next 4 books in audio book format, I think I'll take a break & listen to a different author for a while.
While I have the next 4 books in audio book format, I think I'll take a break & listen to a different author for a while.
June 22, 2016
One of the reasons these books are so great to read is Parker's unwavering 'all business' manner when he's planning and executing a job. This heist goes wrong, but sorting out complications make the story for me.
November 21, 2016
Well, that was an unexpected treat!
I thought I’d read all the Parker novels, but in the higgledy-piggledy, out of order way I consumed them, clearly one feel through the cracks. So, this is a genuine Richard Stark Parker novel I’ve never read. Oh, happy days!
Certainly, if I had read it, this one would have lingered in the old noggin. As this feels as close to breaking the tried and trusted Parker formula that Stark was ever going to get. For this is a Parker novel shot through the prism of James Bond movies.
There’s a European super villain who has his own private island and a small army of goons. There’s also a secret government agency with its own agenda trying to control Parker, while the stand out section is a daring raid with lots of explosions. Along the way Parker even gets to play a few hands of chemin de fer and has a gorgeous woman throw herself at him (although, to be fair, that last one isn’t uncommon in Parker novels). If it wasn’t for our anti-hero’s single minded focus on the loot, long-term readers might wonder what the hell is going on.
The result – I greatly enjoyed it. I’m going to guess that some hard-core fans will rate this low down their list of favourite Parker novels as it is so atypical, but I like it’s attempts to expand the format. It’s pushing, but importantly never breaking it. As even with all the ‘Man from Uncle’/’Saint’/Sixties glamour man stuff going on, it’s still very much a Parker novel. And it’s a sign of the genius with which these books were written, that Stark/Westlake can be this playful, but still create a book that’s vastly entertaining and true to the series.
I thought I’d read all the Parker novels, but in the higgledy-piggledy, out of order way I consumed them, clearly one feel through the cracks. So, this is a genuine Richard Stark Parker novel I’ve never read. Oh, happy days!
Certainly, if I had read it, this one would have lingered in the old noggin. As this feels as close to breaking the tried and trusted Parker formula that Stark was ever going to get. For this is a Parker novel shot through the prism of James Bond movies.
There’s a European super villain who has his own private island and a small army of goons. There’s also a secret government agency with its own agenda trying to control Parker, while the stand out section is a daring raid with lots of explosions. Along the way Parker even gets to play a few hands of chemin de fer and has a gorgeous woman throw herself at him (although, to be fair, that last one isn’t uncommon in Parker novels). If it wasn’t for our anti-hero’s single minded focus on the loot, long-term readers might wonder what the hell is going on.
The result – I greatly enjoyed it. I’m going to guess that some hard-core fans will rate this low down their list of favourite Parker novels as it is so atypical, but I like it’s attempts to expand the format. It’s pushing, but importantly never breaking it. As even with all the ‘Man from Uncle’/’Saint’/Sixties glamour man stuff going on, it’s still very much a Parker novel. And it’s a sign of the genius with which these books were written, that Stark/Westlake can be this playful, but still create a book that’s vastly entertaining and true to the series.
June 6, 2019
Good hard nosed crime story, written in '66. Parker, needing to rebuild his finances after the debacle in the last novel, is pulled into a scheme that pits him on the side of his nemesis, the Outfit. An upstart is in cahoots with Cuba, starting a high stakes casino on an island off the coast of Texas, out of US jurisdiction.
Great ensemble cast with Grofield and Salsa returning, along with spicy bad girl Crystal.
Great ensemble cast with Grofield and Salsa returning, along with spicy bad girl Crystal.
August 1, 2025
Maybe the weakest Parker novel so far with an Bond-like twist to the heist situation, but the last quarter won me over and featured the dispassionate competence I like so much about Parker.
April 13, 2017
This is a great series of books. More tough guy noir. It's going to wind up where all my reviews are going to be the same so I may or may not write another one, and I'm not one for summarizing the plot anyway. This book was at the same time totally engrossing yet one more in what is essentially a cookie cutter series (as is Perry Mason, etc.) and a cookie cutter series isn't necessarily bad when as entertaining as this
October 3, 2020
“One thing I know. Some nights, the handle in that place is a quarter million bucks.”
Parker is back, and this time he’s taking on an island! An island names Cockaigne, off the coast of Texas. And he's doing it on behalf of the Outfit? Makes for strange bedfellows indeed... But throw in ol’ Alan Grofield, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a caper!
But, like most Parker books, it’s a bit of a rocky ride, especially for Alan! “For the fifth time tonight, for the fifth time in his life, Grofield had been shot. This one, he was afraid, this one was was much worse than the other four.” Yeesh. It's a short, quick read, but fun and exciting! In my opinion, you can never go wrong with a Parker novel!
Parker is back, and this time he’s taking on an island! An island names Cockaigne, off the coast of Texas. And he's doing it on behalf of the Outfit? Makes for strange bedfellows indeed... But throw in ol’ Alan Grofield, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a caper!
But, like most Parker books, it’s a bit of a rocky ride, especially for Alan! “For the fifth time tonight, for the fifth time in his life, Grofield had been shot. This one, he was afraid, this one was was much worse than the other four.” Yeesh. It's a short, quick read, but fun and exciting! In my opinion, you can never go wrong with a Parker novel!
June 2, 2017
PROTAGONIST: Parker
SETTING: Island off Galveston, TX
SERIES: #9 of 25
RATING: 4.0
WHY: Parker specializes in robberies. He's a natural choice for the mob to hire when they want to hurt a competitor who's running a casino on an island off the coast of Texas. As he begins the planning, the Feds get on to the scheme. They want him to bring them "The Baron" who is running the island. Parker and his team, which includes Alan Grofield, plan a daring heist. When the loot is stolen from them, the plot thickens. There's lots of action and the book moves along like wildfire.
SETTING: Island off Galveston, TX
SERIES: #9 of 25
RATING: 4.0
WHY: Parker specializes in robberies. He's a natural choice for the mob to hire when they want to hurt a competitor who's running a casino on an island off the coast of Texas. As he begins the planning, the Feds get on to the scheme. They want him to bring them "The Baron" who is running the island. Parker and his team, which includes Alan Grofield, plan a daring heist. When the loot is stolen from them, the plot thickens. There's lots of action and the book moves along like wildfire.
September 19, 2017
Alan Grofield returns to aid Parker in knocking over an island casino. This book gives Stark (Westlake) a way to expand on the series by creating a series within the series. The Damsel while not considered a true Parker novel details what happens to Grofield after Parker returns to the U. S.
The book is a clever alternative to Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. An ex-Nazi Colonel escapes capture from the Allies and sets up an island casino. The Cubans and Russians front the man to use his place to gather intel, blackmail and extortion of the gamblers.
The U. S. Government is willing to assist in the heist and destruction of the casino, if the ex-Nazi is captured by Parker's team and handed over to the U. S. government for adjudication of war crimes.
The book is a clever alternative to Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. An ex-Nazi Colonel escapes capture from the Allies and sets up an island casino. The Cubans and Russians front the man to use his place to gather intel, blackmail and extortion of the gamblers.
The U. S. Government is willing to assist in the heist and destruction of the casino, if the ex-Nazi is captured by Parker's team and handed over to the U. S. government for adjudication of war crimes.
August 31, 2021
This is a real let down after The Seventh, which had always been one of my favorites in the Parker series by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake). The setup is actually quite good as The Outfit has hired Parker to take out a competitor who's operating a casino on a private island (owned by Cuba) 45 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. They want Parker to rob the casino and its operator of everything and then burn the place down. Parker does recon and hires a crew and buys weapons. Unbeknownst to both The Outfit and Parker, the casino operator, Wolfgang Baron, is also under surveillance by the Feds because he's a nazi war criminal. The feds make a deal with Parker: we leave you alone and let you do your robbery, but we want you to deliver Baron to us. And that's the kicker as the story shifts gears from setup to heist. From this point on the novel seemed rushed and more expository as the narrative disappointingly shifts away from Parker's POV into first Grofield's (a character from The Score who is the lead in another four book series by Stark) and then Baron's POV, and we experience the heist and its aftermath from those two POVs and don't come back to Parker until the final twenty pages of the novel. And that wrap-up is somewhat perfunctory and extremely anti-climactic. So I'm not a real fan of this one.
June 23, 2016
I love these Parker books. They practically read themselves! Stark/Westlake sticks to what makes the story move forward and foregoes all the padding other, less capable authors would cram in there just to lengthen the book. Anyhoo, this being the eighth book of the series, it was nice to see references to previous storylines. This helps to establish a sort of continuity that makes Parker's world feel real, as opposed to every story happening in a vacuum. I like that Parker, as a character, is evolving somewhat over the course of the books and doesn't remain "static" throughout the series.
One bit I liked especially was Stark's referencing of Dashiell Hammett's short story The Gutting of Couffignal when Karns explains to Parker what the job is about (in Part 1, Chapter 5). That was a nice touch.
I'd forgotten that Salsa gets killed off in this book. I was like, 'Aw, no.' I liked that character. Part of me was sad to 'lose' him. On the other hand, I'm glad to know Grofield will show up again in two more Parker books. He even has his own 4-book series!
One bit I liked especially was Stark's referencing of Dashiell Hammett's short story The Gutting of Couffignal when Karns explains to Parker what the job is about (in Part 1, Chapter 5). That was a nice touch.
I'd forgotten that Salsa gets killed off in this book. I was like, 'Aw, no.' I liked that character. Part of me was sad to 'lose' him. On the other hand, I'm glad to know Grofield will show up again in two more Parker books. He even has his own 4-book series!
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