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Parker #9
The Rare Coin Score
When it comes to heists, Parker believes in some cardinal rules. On this job, he breaks two of never bring a dame along—especially not one you like—and never, ever, work with amateurs. Nevertheless, with the help of a creep named Billy, and the lure of a classy widow, he agrees to set up a heist of a coin convention. But Billy’s a rookie with no idea how to pull off a score, and the lady soon becomes a major distraction. The Rare Coin Score marks the first appearance of Claire, who will steal Parker’s heister’s heart—while together they steal two million dollars worth of coins.
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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November 30, 2020
The Rare Coin Score is Parker novel #9 in a series of 24 Parker novels by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark.
Here's a delicious stroke of Americana: to satisfy public craving during the 1930s and 1940s, Walter B. Gibson (pen-name Maxwell Grant) sat at his typer and hammered out 10,000 words a day to create more than 300 Shadow novels. In effect, using the same plot template, Mr. Gibson wrote the same Shadow novel over and over again - and his fans loved him for it.
Recognizing the popular success of his previous Parker novels, most especially The Score where Parker and a pack of heisters knock over an entire mining town in North Dakota, Mr. Westlake could have chosen the easy Walter B. Gibson route: simply churn out the same Parker novel over and over and over - Parker aces a jewelry store in Nevada, a bank in Ohio, a racing car stadium in Georgia, the list could chug away, fans gobbling up all those Parker novels while he and his publisher rake in the dough.
Nein. Não. Non. Nej. Nie. In any language, that's no as in no same-o, same-o for Mr. Westlake. Each time the author sat down to write a Parker novel, he found new ways to shake up his story, reinvigorate the four-part heist scaffolding, develop Parker as a character, infuse fresh, creative energy. The novel under review serves as prime example.
Yes, indeed, The Rare Coin Score is much more than Parker and the heist; it's also Parker meeting his new mate, Claire, as well as a meditation on Parker's distinctive sex cycle. Taking each, in turn, from last to first:
The Cycle
Once Parker knows he's in on a job, he focuses every drop of his mental and physical energy on the setup, execution and getaway; after all, Parker knows so much is at stake: a miscue could mean a bullet in the chest or spending 10 or 20 years in the slammer. The last thing Parker needs or wants during this intense work period is sex.
However, after the job is done and he's back at a resort hotel in Miami or Vegas, Parker's sexual urge turns on, zooms from zero to full stud satyr. This randy non-stop sex state lasts for months but then eventually slackens off.
The opening chapter of Rare Coin Score finds Parker restless as hell. Sex with various women no longer holds appeal - although he currently has enough money, Parker itches to be on a job. "But it was stupid to think about work now, and Parker didn't like to be stupid. He still had more than enough left from the last job, and a lot salted away in different places around the country, so there was no need yet to take on something new. When work got to be its own reason for happening, that was trouble." Contact guy Handy McKay from Presque Isle, Maine calls Parker for a score in Indianapolis. Parker doesn't hesitate, he's off to hear about the job, to see if it's one he'll take.
The Babe
Years ago Parker had wife, Lynn, but things went sour (details provided in The Hunter, Parker #1). Ever since, it's been one faceless woman after the other like a drug addiction. But then Parker meets Claire, a tall, slender young woman with the face and figures of a fashion model. As if by a kind of inner magic, Claire holds a special appeal for Parker.
"Because Claire had come into his life in an odd way, entering in conjunction with a job, almost becoming part of the work at hand, she’d managed somehow to break through that pattern he’d developed. He found himself wanting to please her, willing to go out of his way for her sake, and though he’d been giving himself practical reasons to explain it–she could handle Billy, and so on–the truth was that he acted that way because he wanted to."
The Heist
Parker goes to the first meeting. The finger, that is, the inside man, is a nerd kid by the name of Billy. Billy is a dealer in rare coins and the job involves stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rare coins at a convention for coin dealers held in an Indianapolis hotel. Once the job is done, Billy will sell the rare coins for cash then pay off Parker, Claire and the others.
Here's what one critic and avid Westlake fan has to say about this nerdy man/boy: "Billy is a strangely familiar figure to find in a story like this–orphaned at an early age, hopelessly inept at any type of social activity that isn’t directly related to his hobby/profession. He’s bespectacled, overweight, timid; quite certainly a virgin. If you’ve been to just about any kind of fan convention, you’ve met this guy (Comic-Con, I fondly imagine, is thousands of these guys milling around in costume). If you’ve discussed genre stuff on the internet, you’ve virtually met this guy. One way or another, everybody has met this guy."
A heist with Billy as the key? You gotta be joking! Parker knows he should get out now and not look back. But, but, but...there's Claire. Strange but true: Parker wants to be around Claire some more. Rare Coin Score is one of the more intriguing and beguiling Parker novels - a must read for Parker fans and a laser-sharp insight into human psychology for all.
American author Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008
October 22, 2024
"Number One, you don't meet in the town where you're going to make the hit. Number Two, you don't stay in the hotel where you're going to make the hit. Number Three, you don't take a job on consignment; we're in the wrong business to take [him] to court if he doesn't pay . . . Another rule - Don't work with anyone you can't trust or don't respect." -- Parker's rigid rules of order, on page 22
Another solid entry in author Stark's (a.k.a. the outrageously prolific Donald Westlake) long-running series of crime paperbacks, the prosaically-titled The Rare Coin Score offers readers exactly what is promised in the appellation. Parker signs on with an aging ex-con associate - who is hoping for that one final score before sliding into retirement - to execute an audacious heist during a coin dealer's convention at an Indianapolis hotel. Arranged by sniveling type with the truly unfortunate moniker of Billy Lebatard - in a role a shifty young Peter Lorre would've nailed, if anyone remembers that respected character actor from the 30's and 40's - Parker and a small crew carry out the seemingly tight plan . . . until it predictably, but no less entertainingly, goes all to hell in the third act. Once again I loved the author's references to actual locales and features dotting the northeastern and midwestern U.S. (because not every caper occurs in New York City, Chicago, or L.A.), and there is a sort of illogical joy in following the felonious protagonist extricating himself from perilous situations.
Another solid entry in author Stark's (a.k.a. the outrageously prolific Donald Westlake) long-running series of crime paperbacks, the prosaically-titled The Rare Coin Score offers readers exactly what is promised in the appellation. Parker signs on with an aging ex-con associate - who is hoping for that one final score before sliding into retirement - to execute an audacious heist during a coin dealer's convention at an Indianapolis hotel. Arranged by sniveling type with the truly unfortunate moniker of Billy Lebatard - in a role a shifty young Peter Lorre would've nailed, if anyone remembers that respected character actor from the 30's and 40's - Parker and a small crew carry out the seemingly tight plan . . . until it predictably, but no less entertainingly, goes all to hell in the third act. Once again I loved the author's references to actual locales and features dotting the northeastern and midwestern U.S. (because not every caper occurs in New York City, Chicago, or L.A.), and there is a sort of illogical joy in following the felonious protagonist extricating himself from perilous situations.
January 26, 2022
First published in 1967, this is another book in Richard Stark's (Donald Westlake's) Parker series that has long been out of print and unavailable. Happily, it has now been resurected and republished by the University of Chicago Press.
In this book, Stark's amoral protagonist plots the theft of a couple of million dollars (that's 1967 dollars!) worth of rare coins from a coin collectors' convention in Indianapolis. He devises a fairly ingenious plan, the execution of which sadly depends on some unusually undependable confederates, including a rank amateur who is the insider on the caper. Inevitably things will go wrong as a result, and Parker is left scrambling to save himself and the loot.
This is another taut, stripped-to-the-bone, entertaining read and, for those who follow the series, it's this book in which Parker finally meets Claire, the woman who will be his long-time lover. Fans of the series will certainly enjoy it, and for those who haven't read the series, this is a particularly good book in which to meet Parker.
In this book, Stark's amoral protagonist plots the theft of a couple of million dollars (that's 1967 dollars!) worth of rare coins from a coin collectors' convention in Indianapolis. He devises a fairly ingenious plan, the execution of which sadly depends on some unusually undependable confederates, including a rank amateur who is the insider on the caper. Inevitably things will go wrong as a result, and Parker is left scrambling to save himself and the loot.
This is another taut, stripped-to-the-bone, entertaining read and, for those who follow the series, it's this book in which Parker finally meets Claire, the woman who will be his long-time lover. Fans of the series will certainly enjoy it, and for those who haven't read the series, this is a particularly good book in which to meet Parker.
January 2, 2021
Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, once said that what he was hoping to convey in his Parker novels is “a workman at work,” a workman who just happens to be a professional thief. He was hoping readers might get hooked on the close focus on a craftsman, solid, dependable, detailed, annoyed by small talk, all business. Tough, but especially uncompromising. And I am sure Stark was hoping we would appreciate some of those serious craftsmanlike qualities in his writing, too!
Luc Sante writes, in a wonderful introduction to this audio version of the story, that while it is conventional to see Parker as amoral, a sociopath, that it is important to see that he also operates within a very strict, almost puritanical system; he is meticulously organized, a detail man, he hates waste, he scrupulously avoids endangerment, he is very careful about emotional involvement on a job that requires intense planning and concentration in its enactment. Almost all other characters have more significant flaws than he does, helping us create our understanding of his core principles.
But in this one Parker makes at least three surprising mistakes: 1) he allows himself to get involved with an amateur, Billy; 2) he trusts and supports Frenchy, who is near the end of the line in his abilities; and 3) he (once married before volume #1) is for the first time in nine books involved with a woman he likes, Claire, during the time of the planning and execution of the heist. All three have complicating consequences. The third stems from his acknowledgement that he has had no real relationship with a woman for many years, and Claire seems possible for him. Is Parker getting soft? Even human? Dangerous move for Stark, to allow Parker the possibility of . . . love?
Halfway into this I couldn’t believe why anyone would think this was interesting and interesting heist story. Rare coins?! Who cares?! But another focus of this one is surprisingly but clearly on his relationship with Claire. Oh, sure, the heist gets planned, is blown, and they manage to salvage things, but the fact that Claire has made some connection to Parker makes this an interesting shift in the books. Another interesting aspect of this book is that Stark tells the tale from a variety of perspectives. Usually it is Parker's view and maybe one other, but in this one it is several. Stark gets to illustrate his knowledge of character, generally.
Luc Sante writes, in a wonderful introduction to this audio version of the story, that while it is conventional to see Parker as amoral, a sociopath, that it is important to see that he also operates within a very strict, almost puritanical system; he is meticulously organized, a detail man, he hates waste, he scrupulously avoids endangerment, he is very careful about emotional involvement on a job that requires intense planning and concentration in its enactment. Almost all other characters have more significant flaws than he does, helping us create our understanding of his core principles.
But in this one Parker makes at least three surprising mistakes: 1) he allows himself to get involved with an amateur, Billy; 2) he trusts and supports Frenchy, who is near the end of the line in his abilities; and 3) he (once married before volume #1) is for the first time in nine books involved with a woman he likes, Claire, during the time of the planning and execution of the heist. All three have complicating consequences. The third stems from his acknowledgement that he has had no real relationship with a woman for many years, and Claire seems possible for him. Is Parker getting soft? Even human? Dangerous move for Stark, to allow Parker the possibility of . . . love?
Halfway into this I couldn’t believe why anyone would think this was interesting and interesting heist story. Rare coins?! Who cares?! But another focus of this one is surprisingly but clearly on his relationship with Claire. Oh, sure, the heist gets planned, is blown, and they manage to salvage things, but the fact that Claire has made some connection to Parker makes this an interesting shift in the books. Another interesting aspect of this book is that Stark tells the tale from a variety of perspectives. Usually it is Parker's view and maybe one other, but in this one it is several. Stark gets to illustrate his knowledge of character, generally.
May 12, 2022
A fantastic, if particularly brief, Parker story, especially notable for the introduction of girlfriend Claire. Parker of course is always all business when on a job, so his relationship with Claire is a pretty serious violation of his own rules, though it's still damn touching to see that despite the feelings that he slowly develops for her he's still always ready to end her if he thinks she might betray him or sour the job. Yet still, there's something to the relationship beyond just the convenience of it. Perhaps it's that, even though she's squeamish when it comes to violence, he knows that she's tough enough deep down to accept him for who he is and not question what he needs to do to get the job done, because business is only business after all. She's Parker's perfect match, very much a female version of himself - smart, blunt and practical to the bone, albeit with slightly better social skills.
January 30, 2011
This is the book where Richard Stark (a/k/a Donald Westlake) quit opening every Parker book with the word ‘When’ so I can quit trying to be clever and starting all my reviews the same way. (And none of you even noticed. I work and slave over a hot laptop all day and this is the thanks I get!)
Parker doesn’t need money for a change, but he’s getting bored and restless as he aimlessly travels the country bedding down every woman he can get his hands on so he’s glad to get a call about a planned score. However, when Parker arrives in Indianapolis, there’s a lot wrong with the job. It’s been initiated by an amateur who has a plan to loot a convention hall of coin dealers, and the supposed professional who is helping him just got out of the joint and has a bad case of the jitters.
Parker would pass on the job, but he gets very interested in Claire, a beautiful and smart woman in on the caper. It’s unusual for Parker to get his head turned by a woman, but he finds himself planning the job to keep her interested.
As usual, there are hitches in the plan, but this one has some unexpected twists including Parker’s growing attachment to Claire. It’s very odd for the blunt and unemotional thief to show more than a passing interest in anyone or anything outside of the job, but in Claire he’s found someone who understands his nature and doesn’t let it bother her.
But Parker hasn’t gone soft either. As usual, I find his interactions with other people hilarious. Here’s Parker talking to a guy named Wemm about some work he needs done for the robbery. They’ve already agreed on a price and when it will be finished but the guy begins complaining about how much trouble it will be:
Parker sat back. “Can’t you do it?”
“Sure I can do it.”
“Then what’s all the talk?”
Wemm spread his hands. “I want you to understand the problems we got to face here.”
“Why?”
“What’s that?”
“Why do I have to understand the problems you got to face here?”
“Well -”Wemm blinked…..”Damned if I know.”
You gotta love Parker’s social skills.
Parker doesn’t need money for a change, but he’s getting bored and restless as he aimlessly travels the country bedding down every woman he can get his hands on so he’s glad to get a call about a planned score. However, when Parker arrives in Indianapolis, there’s a lot wrong with the job. It’s been initiated by an amateur who has a plan to loot a convention hall of coin dealers, and the supposed professional who is helping him just got out of the joint and has a bad case of the jitters.
Parker would pass on the job, but he gets very interested in Claire, a beautiful and smart woman in on the caper. It’s unusual for Parker to get his head turned by a woman, but he finds himself planning the job to keep her interested.
As usual, there are hitches in the plan, but this one has some unexpected twists including Parker’s growing attachment to Claire. It’s very odd for the blunt and unemotional thief to show more than a passing interest in anyone or anything outside of the job, but in Claire he’s found someone who understands his nature and doesn’t let it bother her.
But Parker hasn’t gone soft either. As usual, I find his interactions with other people hilarious. Here’s Parker talking to a guy named Wemm about some work he needs done for the robbery. They’ve already agreed on a price and when it will be finished but the guy begins complaining about how much trouble it will be:
Parker sat back. “Can’t you do it?”
“Sure I can do it.”
“Then what’s all the talk?”
Wemm spread his hands. “I want you to understand the problems we got to face here.”
“Why?”
“What’s that?”
“Why do I have to understand the problems you got to face here?”
“Well -”Wemm blinked…..”Damned if I know.”
You gotta love Parker’s social skills.
January 30, 2011
Parker gets involved in a caper to rob a coin convention. Complicating matters are an attractive young woman and Billy Lebatard, the man who came up with the operation that happens to have a crush on her. Can Parker pull of the heist without the situation unravelling?
The Rare Coin Score was one of the best Parker stories I've read yet. Throwing Claire into the mix gave it a little something extra that set it apart from some of the other stories. Parker with a woman in tow? It sets up plenty of future complications for our amoral anti-hero.
As always, Stark came up with plausible ways to pull off the heist without a lot of suspension of disbelief, a hallmark of the Parker stories. Since most of Parker's heists get botched somehow, that part wasn't the surprise. The joy was in finiding out what happened and how Parker handled it, as it always is.
You can't go wrong with Richard Stark's Parker. Go get reading!
The Rare Coin Score was one of the best Parker stories I've read yet. Throwing Claire into the mix gave it a little something extra that set it apart from some of the other stories. Parker with a woman in tow? It sets up plenty of future complications for our amoral anti-hero.
As always, Stark came up with plausible ways to pull off the heist without a lot of suspension of disbelief, a hallmark of the Parker stories. Since most of Parker's heists get botched somehow, that part wasn't the surprise. The joy was in finiding out what happened and how Parker handled it, as it always is.
You can't go wrong with Richard Stark's Parker. Go get reading!
October 30, 2013
This top-notch Parker caper comes from the mighty pen of Richard Stark (a.k.a. Donald Westlake). What a shame there will be no other titles. This time Parker, the most hardboiled of American thieves, decides to throw in with a motley crew heisting a rare coins convention. Of course, things never go as planned no matter how carefully he sets up the job. This is the job where Parker meets his loyal and smart lady friend Claire who has a key role. It's a thrill to see how Parker thinks on the fly and manages to keep on going, or else there would be no further Parker adventures. Kudos and thanks to the University of Chicago Press for reprinting the Parker novels in handsome paperback.
May 11, 2018
In some ways, this is a typical Parker novel (good caper, wrong partners), it is also atypical as Parker gets involved with a woman before the theft vs. afterwards. This time around, he is recruited by to rob a coin convention by a collector, Billy Lebatard. Initially rejecting the idea and sending away a partner, he is convinced to stick around by Claire, a woman for whom Billy has a crush. As they often do for Parker, things go badly wrong, and he has to play along until he can regain control.
October 23, 2014
The foreword by Luc Sante is excellent in most ways. He describes Parker's character very well & gives a very good overview of the series. Unfortunately, it contains a lot of series spoilers. Since I was driving & it wasn't a single track, I couldn't really skip it. This is the publisher's fault. Luke mentions that it's been 23 years since the previous book, so that has to be the break between Butcher's Moon #16 (1974) & #17 Comeback (1997). This book is #9! I guess Audio Go just decided it would go as well here as on book #17. It didn't. You guys suck.
The story itself was perfect Parker, except he breaks a lot of his rules. Why & how it all plays out makes for a great adventure. Very much character driven & they all were painted quite well.
The story itself was perfect Parker, except he breaks a lot of his rules. Why & how it all plays out makes for a great adventure. Very much character driven & they all were painted quite well.
July 9, 2023
From 1968
This was short. I love the length of these books.
And I love the way that, if you find the beginning a touch boring, you know there will be.a change, where the character perspectives shift all around before everything starts happening.
It seems like the well planned heists haven't gone as well for a few books. But Parker always lives.
This was short. I love the length of these books.
And I love the way that, if you find the beginning a touch boring, you know there will be.a change, where the character perspectives shift all around before everything starts happening.
It seems like the well planned heists haven't gone as well for a few books. But Parker always lives.
June 29, 2015
Parker gets involved into a score that involves rare coins, the crew involved does not gets his hopes up and he has to figure out himself how to really do the job. The pay off could be great if it all works out.
Parker meets Claire for the first time and she kind of breaks his usual cycle of doing things which kind of surprises Parker. For the first time since his wife herself killed and almost got him killed Parker meets somebody that has an effect on how he acts and reacts.
The story is not a love story, it is about a heist that is done well weren't for some actions that changed the outcome. Parker as always remains his cool and battles on.
A book you really want to finish in one sitting/reading. A really good and interesting heist novel, a genre in which Parker is easily one of the best.
Well advised to read, even if it would be better when you start at the beginning of the series and work you way through them.
Parker meets Claire for the first time and she kind of breaks his usual cycle of doing things which kind of surprises Parker. For the first time since his wife herself killed and almost got him killed Parker meets somebody that has an effect on how he acts and reacts.
The story is not a love story, it is about a heist that is done well weren't for some actions that changed the outcome. Parker as always remains his cool and battles on.
A book you really want to finish in one sitting/reading. A really good and interesting heist novel, a genre in which Parker is easily one of the best.
Well advised to read, even if it would be better when you start at the beginning of the series and work you way through them.
March 2, 2011
In Parker's ninth outing he knocks over a coin convention. He also acts a little less like a sociopath robot and a little more like a sociopath human. Parker still likes to sit in dark rooms though when no one is around and he still knows that others might find this to be a little weird so he denies himself this one pleasure in life by leaving a light on when he knows someone is going to drop by.
This novel is better than the last couple of Parker adventures.
This novel is better than the last couple of Parker adventures.
August 8, 2016
Parker's bored with the easy life between jobs and breaks several of his self-interest rules when he involves himself with amateurs. I guess if he didn't break a few rules he might get stale as a character, but no sign of that happening. Excellent Parker story.
April 5, 2018
audio book There was a 10 minute intro about the Parker series for first time Parker readers
Nothing super here but nothing heavily invested.
Nothing super here but nothing heavily invested.
February 22, 2009
Stark - when writing about Parker - is one of those authors (like Wodehouse or Chandler) who really inspires me. There is a brutal simplicity to the prose that beautifully captures the character and keeps the plot going at a cracking pace, even when the characters are just sat around and planning. I pretty much end every Stark novel wanting to go away and write beautifully taut prose about a strong amoral character. (I haven't done it yet, but one day...)
The plots (again like Wodehouse) are fairly interchangeable. Parker gets involved in a job, he plans it out, despite his best efforts it goes wrong and Parker has to unleash mayhem to get himself out. Even the structure is the same across the books, with the first two parts involving planning, the third part bringing other characters into play and the final part covering the aftermath. And it works each and every time.
It's probably not quite top level Parker (the endings of these books can sometimes be rushed, as is the case here) but it's still a great read.
The plots (again like Wodehouse) are fairly interchangeable. Parker gets involved in a job, he plans it out, despite his best efforts it goes wrong and Parker has to unleash mayhem to get himself out. Even the structure is the same across the books, with the first two parts involving planning, the third part bringing other characters into play and the final part covering the aftermath. And it works each and every time.
It's probably not quite top level Parker (the endings of these books can sometimes be rushed, as is the case here) but it's still a great read.
November 21, 2024
In this Parker is the hard man exemplified. Some page filler but added depth to the caper. The. conclusion came too quick to justify a higher rating.
April 18, 2021
Amorality is in first place with cunning a close second!! Oh yeah!!! 3 1/2 Stars
July 20, 2021
Now that's more like it!
I've been hearing about Richard Stark/Donald Westlake's amoral heist man Parker most of my adult life. If you like crime fiction, goes the party line, you'll like Parker. So I got in. And I ... didn't like Parker as much as I wanted to. I've had the same issue with Harry Bosch. Maybe we don't all have to like everything, even if it's by an author you like in a genre you adore. The last book I'd read in the series was called The Mourner, and I liked it so little that I didn't think I'd continue with the series.
But the other thing I'd heard is that the books get better as they go along. New characters come in and they recur, changing the nature of the guy at the heart of things. The Rare Coin Score is where, I'd heard, that starts. So I jumped ahead and gave it a whirl. And what a whirl!
It's standard Parker heist stuff. Good stuff. The first two sections are Parker setting up the score, the last two sections are fallout from the score, and the middle section, the one not from Parker's point of view, is all about the complications. It works so well here, as does the addition of an actual love interest for Parker. Claire is a great character, because she's neither a total sop nor is she a hard-as-nails tough broad. She's somewhere in between, and I love her hints of strength and smarts. From everything I've read, she's ongoing, and I think I will be too.
I've been hearing about Richard Stark/Donald Westlake's amoral heist man Parker most of my adult life. If you like crime fiction, goes the party line, you'll like Parker. So I got in. And I ... didn't like Parker as much as I wanted to. I've had the same issue with Harry Bosch. Maybe we don't all have to like everything, even if it's by an author you like in a genre you adore. The last book I'd read in the series was called The Mourner, and I liked it so little that I didn't think I'd continue with the series.
But the other thing I'd heard is that the books get better as they go along. New characters come in and they recur, changing the nature of the guy at the heart of things. The Rare Coin Score is where, I'd heard, that starts. So I jumped ahead and gave it a whirl. And what a whirl!
It's standard Parker heist stuff. Good stuff. The first two sections are Parker setting up the score, the last two sections are fallout from the score, and the middle section, the one not from Parker's point of view, is all about the complications. It works so well here, as does the addition of an actual love interest for Parker. Claire is a great character, because she's neither a total sop nor is she a hard-as-nails tough broad. She's somewhere in between, and I love her hints of strength and smarts. From everything I've read, she's ongoing, and I think I will be too.
July 4, 2021
Parker and the Coin Convention
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (February, 2012) of the Fawcett Gold Medal paperback (1967)
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 Rare Coin Score kicks off a 4-book caper series arc in the Parker novels, each with the word "Score" in the title. The usual Parker gang is assembled for the heist and the usual sort of betrayal occurs. What makes this a different outing for the series is that that story is told in linear time and that Parker's recurring love-interest Claire is first introduced which allows Stark to portray a more personal side to the normally stoic Parker as well.
Narrator John Chancer does a good job in all voices in this audiobook edition.
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:
The 24 Parker books are almost all available for free on Audible Plus, except for #21 & #22 which aren't available at all.
Trivia and Links
There is a brief plot summary of The Rare Coin Score and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Unlike many of the 2010-2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook editions which share the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009 reprints, this audiobook DOES include the Foreword by author Luc Sante.
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (February, 2012) of the Fawcett Gold Medal paperback (1967)
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 Rare Coin Score kicks off a 4-book caper series arc in the Parker novels, each with the word "Score" in the title. The usual Parker gang is assembled for the heist and the usual sort of betrayal occurs. What makes this a different outing for the series is that that story is told in linear time and that Parker's recurring love-interest Claire is first introduced which allows Stark to portray a more personal side to the normally stoic Parker as well.
Narrator John Chancer does a good job in all voices in this audiobook edition.
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 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.
Trivia and Links
There is a brief plot summary of The Rare Coin Score and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Unlike many of the 2010-2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook editions which share the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009 reprints, this audiobook DOES include the Foreword by author Luc Sante.
January 21, 2020
I was almost dreading this one because I knew from all the introductions of previous books that this is the one where Parker falls in love. But Westlake's careful character work across the previous eight entries primed the pump in a way I couldn't perceive until I was deep in this one feeling stuff you don't generally feel reading one of these. Kind of an amazing thing he did, here.
April 29, 2024
A solid coin heist, falling in the normal Parker arc (caper goes sideways, rational criminal gets out with skill and quick thinking). I liked it, but I often prefer the Stark novels that stray a bit further from the usual Parker formula.
September 9, 2019
Tough, one track mind Parker needs a score, the only way he knows how - ill gotten gains. Pulled into a partnership with a shifty coin collector/dealer, the crime is to rip off a large rare coin show, with a million dollars at stake.
Throw in a gorgeous femme fatale, an ex con, and some muscle, and the tale is a good, fast moving one.
Throw in a gorgeous femme fatale, an ex con, and some muscle, and the tale is a good, fast moving one.
August 7, 2018
The 9th Parker novel. The first appearance of Claire. And the start of the middle stage for the Parker series.
Parker is called in to assist in the theft of rare coins at an Indianapolis Hotel. The plan by a numismatist is flawed. Parker is able to map out a better heist plan. And a former member throws a monkey wrench in the works.
The author gives a good explanation of the "fence's" duties and the problem with splitting the take after a job.
This series would be perfect for Amazon Prime or Hulu.
Parker is called in to assist in the theft of rare coins at an Indianapolis Hotel. The plan by a numismatist is flawed. Parker is able to map out a better heist plan. And a former member throws a monkey wrench in the works.
The author gives a good explanation of the "fence's" duties and the problem with splitting the take after a job.
This series would be perfect for Amazon Prime or Hulu.
February 14, 2017
Parker stumbles upon a group of fellow thieves that are planning to rob a group of coin collectors and sellers of their rare an valuable possesions. With Parker onboard, the plan starts to take form and seems possible, but once all the wheels are in motion, the heist goes south. Parker is left scrambling for the door with the dame (Claire) in his wake.
I really don't need to elaborate further on Parker or even this specific novel in the series, others have already done a much better job of this.
It is yet another fine example of the quality of this series.
This novel was written in 1967, the same year as The Green Eagle Score which I am reading back to back. Think that Donald Westlake could just conjure up these highly entertaining stories is amazing. He was truly a master of the genre.
I really don't need to elaborate further on Parker or even this specific novel in the series, others have already done a much better job of this.
It is yet another fine example of the quality of this series.
This novel was written in 1967, the same year as The Green Eagle Score which I am reading back to back. Think that Donald Westlake could just conjure up these highly entertaining stories is amazing. He was truly a master of the genre.
May 9, 2018
"Parker lay in the dark on his hotel-room bed and waited to be contacted. Lying there, he looked like a machine not yet turned on. He was thinking about nothing; his nerves were still."
In this installment of the Parker series, Parker is involved in the heist of a rare coin conference along with his usual assortment of dublicious cohorts.
And of course it goes badly, because it's Parker.
This is the story in which we are introduced to Claire, Parker's 'main squeeze' for much of the rest of the Parker stories.
Stark/Westlake must be one of the few authors who throughout a series, delivers consistent quality. I'm thoroughly enjoying my second reading, so far, of the Parker series.
In this installment of the Parker series, Parker is involved in the heist of a rare coin conference along with his usual assortment of dublicious cohorts.
And of course it goes badly, because it's Parker.
This is the story in which we are introduced to Claire, Parker's 'main squeeze' for much of the rest of the Parker stories.
Stark/Westlake must be one of the few authors who throughout a series, delivers consistent quality. I'm thoroughly enjoying my second reading, so far, of the Parker series.
December 11, 2016
"Parker spent two weeks on the white sand beach at Biloxi, and on a white sandy bitch named Belle, but he was restless, and one day without thinking about it he checked out and sent a forwarding address to Handy McKay and moved on to New Orleans.”
December 22, 2025
Love these pulp covers (if GR does’t shuffle them). This one (along with many others) is by Robert McGinnis. Here is a link to view
https://www.existentialennui.com/2013...
https://www.existentialennui.com/2013...
May 26, 2019
This job falls apart for some fairly predictable reasons - thus the “seventh Parker novel” becomes merely one in a series. Other Parker offerings, and most entries, have seemed fresher to me, if somewhat predictable (forgivable, in that I’ve devoured 10 in a row, lol). Still, the economical prose and Parker and his cronies are characters second-to-none.
December 25, 2020
Notes:
Currently on Audible Plus
Currently on Audible Plus
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