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Parker #10
The Green Eagle Score
Here’s Parker—planning to steal the entire payroll of an Air Force base in upstate New York, with help from Marty Fusco, fresh out of the pen, and a smart aleck finance clerk named Devers. Holed up with family in a scrappy little town, the hoisters prepare for the risky job by trying to shorten the odds. But the ice is thinner than Parker likes to think—and Marty’s ex-wife is much more complicated.
“Parker is refreshingly amoral, a thief who always gets away with the swag.”—Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
“Westlake knows precisely how to grab a reader, draw him or her into the story, and then slowly tighten his grip until escape is impossible.”—Washington Post Book World
“Parker is refreshingly amoral, a thief who always gets away with the swag.”—Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
“Westlake knows precisely how to grab a reader, draw him or her into the story, and then slowly tighten his grip until escape is impossible.”—Washington Post Book World
173 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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750 people want to read
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August 25, 2017
anyone out there like magic? well, i do and i'm gonna do a magic trick. watch how i turn david's examples of why stark is a bad writer (from his review of the score) into proof that stark is a very good writer. here's davey-boy:
Richard Stark—at least in The Score—is not really what I would call a very good writer. And Richard Stark's editor is not what I would call a very good editor. Witness this passage:
"The prowl car was a Ford, two years old, painted light green and white, with Police written in large letters on the doors and hood and trunk. The dashboard lights were green, and there was a small red dot of light, like a ruby, on the radio."
I don't know about you, but I am kind of disappointed that Stark didn't tell us whether the upholstery was contrast stitched or whether the heater vents were set to floor or bi-level. (Before you start second-guessing, none of the details Stark reports RE: the police car is relevant to anything in the book. For instance, the small red dot of light does not later blind a would-be assassin—or some other comparable hijinks. These used car ads are just written up by Stark, inserted into the text, and never referred to again.)
it's not uncommon for the author's voice to mirror the tone or worldview of its protagonist: consider philip roth's furious diatribes or coetzee's spare, sterile prose. same with stark: his lead character is a sociopath, a man only out for himself, a man with no patience for anything not directly related to 'the job', a man who cares more about any minute detail related to said job than anything 'normal' people would consider of significantly greater import.
one is immediately struck, when reading stark, at how lightly he treats murder. a character we've followed for 200 pgs is shot and it'll read something like this: "Two shots were fired at Smith. It was the last thing he ever saw." stark never describes death/murder in more than a single banal sentence, never any blood and guts, never any falling or flailing about the room, never any existential quandaries... nothing. zilch. yet, he does describe police cars and motel rooms and certain articles of clothing, as david illustrates, in excessive detail. why? because, as davey-boy would have us believe, he's a bad writer? because he has a bad editor? nope. the answer is simple: because only things which are directly related to the job matter to parker... and, by extension, to the narrator. offing a cop or a double-crosser is the dramatic and moral equivalent of choosing the right sack to stuff money in or picking out the right getaway car: and just as once that car's function has been fulfilled it is forgotten, once a man walks away and/or dies it's as if he's never existed. the police car, through the eyes of a criminal sociopath about to do a job, is a key object in his moral universe: certainly more than the passage from life to death of a being with less significance than a housefly.
and it's an effective strategy: adopting the protagonist's sociopathic temperament & obsessive-compulsive habits into a minimalist, OCD, sociopathic authorial voice and prose style creates an unsettling tension tantamount to linking audience POV with a 'bad guy' in a movie. in psycho hitchcock delighted in killing off marian crane (janet leigh) at the mid-point in that he knew the audience must latch on to the closest thing it had: norman bates. similarly, stark's gotta take a perverse pleasure in forcing us not only to watch stark in action, but to see the world through his eyes... which provides a nice transition to david's other complaint:
There is really no psychological depth in this book whatsoever. People merely do things and say things.
i agree. and it's incredibly effective. parker (and by extension, stark) ain't too interested in human psychology in the traditionally literary sense (that is, the picking up and dropping of 'important' clues and hints to signify this trait or that pathology or this action, etc.): both writer and his protagonist are keen observers, but see things solely through the lens of 'how does this affect the job.'
check it:
Psychology Today: Do you have any formal interest in psychology?
Werner Herzog: I loathe psychology as one of the major faults of our civilization nowadays. There’s something not right about this amount of introspection. I can only give you a metaphor: When you move into an apartment, you cannot start to illuminate every last corner with neon light. If there are no dark corners or hidden niches, your house becomes uninhabitable. Human beings who are trying to self-reflect and explore their innermost being to the last corner become uninhabitable people.
herzog and stark employ similar tools for a common purpose: rather than attempt to create narrative works to dig deep at what exactly makes people tick, they prefer to show human behavior in extreme conditions and leave it to the reader/viewer to tease out what she may.
we dig this.
as does stark.
the parker series is peppered with characters (much like david) frustrated with parker's seeming lack of depth. from the green eagle score:
"Everyone has emotions. We all have them - you, me, everyone. Even this man Parker. Perhaps he has them bottled up more than most people, that's all."
She shook her head. "I can't imagine him ever feeling emotions. I can't imagine him crying. Or even laughing."
"Seems to me, you've turned this man into some sort of myth figure, something bigger than life."
ultimately, stark writes process novels much as bresson creates process films. they work toward different ends, of course, (bresson strives for a kind of spiritual transcendence through process while stark's goals are significantly more earthbound) but they're the same in many respects, foremost being that they both find a kind of powerfully sacred quality to 'process'. and it's like crack for certain readers.
when stark writes the following of parker:
"The part of him that took pleasure in professionalism, in craft, was already half involved in this project, anxious to find out the rest of the details."
he could just as easily be writing about his readers. all of us who've blasted through a good chunk of this series are as obsessed with the craft of thievery as is parker; we find it even more interesting than the money, the tough guys, the dames, the criminal argot, the double-crossings, etc...
aight.
so there, davey-boy.
ball's in your court.
Richard Stark—at least in The Score—is not really what I would call a very good writer. And Richard Stark's editor is not what I would call a very good editor. Witness this passage:
"The prowl car was a Ford, two years old, painted light green and white, with Police written in large letters on the doors and hood and trunk. The dashboard lights were green, and there was a small red dot of light, like a ruby, on the radio."
I don't know about you, but I am kind of disappointed that Stark didn't tell us whether the upholstery was contrast stitched or whether the heater vents were set to floor or bi-level. (Before you start second-guessing, none of the details Stark reports RE: the police car is relevant to anything in the book. For instance, the small red dot of light does not later blind a would-be assassin—or some other comparable hijinks. These used car ads are just written up by Stark, inserted into the text, and never referred to again.)
it's not uncommon for the author's voice to mirror the tone or worldview of its protagonist: consider philip roth's furious diatribes or coetzee's spare, sterile prose. same with stark: his lead character is a sociopath, a man only out for himself, a man with no patience for anything not directly related to 'the job', a man who cares more about any minute detail related to said job than anything 'normal' people would consider of significantly greater import.
one is immediately struck, when reading stark, at how lightly he treats murder. a character we've followed for 200 pgs is shot and it'll read something like this: "Two shots were fired at Smith. It was the last thing he ever saw." stark never describes death/murder in more than a single banal sentence, never any blood and guts, never any falling or flailing about the room, never any existential quandaries... nothing. zilch. yet, he does describe police cars and motel rooms and certain articles of clothing, as david illustrates, in excessive detail. why? because, as davey-boy would have us believe, he's a bad writer? because he has a bad editor? nope. the answer is simple: because only things which are directly related to the job matter to parker... and, by extension, to the narrator. offing a cop or a double-crosser is the dramatic and moral equivalent of choosing the right sack to stuff money in or picking out the right getaway car: and just as once that car's function has been fulfilled it is forgotten, once a man walks away and/or dies it's as if he's never existed. the police car, through the eyes of a criminal sociopath about to do a job, is a key object in his moral universe: certainly more than the passage from life to death of a being with less significance than a housefly.
and it's an effective strategy: adopting the protagonist's sociopathic temperament & obsessive-compulsive habits into a minimalist, OCD, sociopathic authorial voice and prose style creates an unsettling tension tantamount to linking audience POV with a 'bad guy' in a movie. in psycho hitchcock delighted in killing off marian crane (janet leigh) at the mid-point in that he knew the audience must latch on to the closest thing it had: norman bates. similarly, stark's gotta take a perverse pleasure in forcing us not only to watch stark in action, but to see the world through his eyes... which provides a nice transition to david's other complaint:
There is really no psychological depth in this book whatsoever. People merely do things and say things.
i agree. and it's incredibly effective. parker (and by extension, stark) ain't too interested in human psychology in the traditionally literary sense (that is, the picking up and dropping of 'important' clues and hints to signify this trait or that pathology or this action, etc.): both writer and his protagonist are keen observers, but see things solely through the lens of 'how does this affect the job.'
check it:
Psychology Today: Do you have any formal interest in psychology?
Werner Herzog: I loathe psychology as one of the major faults of our civilization nowadays. There’s something not right about this amount of introspection. I can only give you a metaphor: When you move into an apartment, you cannot start to illuminate every last corner with neon light. If there are no dark corners or hidden niches, your house becomes uninhabitable. Human beings who are trying to self-reflect and explore their innermost being to the last corner become uninhabitable people.
herzog and stark employ similar tools for a common purpose: rather than attempt to create narrative works to dig deep at what exactly makes people tick, they prefer to show human behavior in extreme conditions and leave it to the reader/viewer to tease out what she may.
we dig this.
as does stark.
the parker series is peppered with characters (much like david) frustrated with parker's seeming lack of depth. from the green eagle score:
"Everyone has emotions. We all have them - you, me, everyone. Even this man Parker. Perhaps he has them bottled up more than most people, that's all."
She shook her head. "I can't imagine him ever feeling emotions. I can't imagine him crying. Or even laughing."
"Seems to me, you've turned this man into some sort of myth figure, something bigger than life."
ultimately, stark writes process novels much as bresson creates process films. they work toward different ends, of course, (bresson strives for a kind of spiritual transcendence through process while stark's goals are significantly more earthbound) but they're the same in many respects, foremost being that they both find a kind of powerfully sacred quality to 'process'. and it's like crack for certain readers.
when stark writes the following of parker:
"The part of him that took pleasure in professionalism, in craft, was already half involved in this project, anxious to find out the rest of the details."
he could just as easily be writing about his readers. all of us who've blasted through a good chunk of this series are as obsessed with the craft of thievery as is parker; we find it even more interesting than the money, the tough guys, the dames, the criminal argot, the double-crossings, etc...
aight.
so there, davey-boy.
ball's in your court.
January 8, 2021
In this, the tenth book, Parker plans a heist with several seemingly stupid challenges: The plan is to take off with the payroll of an upstate New York Air Force base, with one soldier—a bright, but very young man, a future professional thief like Parker, perhaps—on the inside. Maybe that is stupid enough to think better of it, pour another Scotch neat, and head back to the pool with Claire.
Another (significant) challenge is that he elects to work with two men, Marty Fusco and Devers, who are connected to an emotionally jumpy woman, Ellen, one her ex and one her current boy friend. Ellen is three times a week seeing a therapist. The good doctor encourages Ellen to talk with him of the plan her ex and boyfriend and Parker have planned out.
I know: What could go wrong, right?!
One delight of this one is the dripping disdain that Stark has for psychology, mirroring what Parker surely would say about it. Much of the tale is told from Parker’s perspective, but some of it is from Ellen’s perspective, much of that during the sessions with the doctor, so we can see the doc’s interest in the plans for the heist as much as Ellen’s mental health. For decades noir fiction seemed to be obsessed with psychopaths and sociopaths, following the burgeoning interest in psychology in the mid-twentieth century. Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me is a good example, a tale of a serial killer. Parker is more an existential construct than a psychological one, and Stark is not interested in getting “deeper” into his “psyche;” he doesn’t care whether his mother nursed him or his father worked long hours. Stark wants to show you what Parker does, not why.
There is one memorable scene with craziness in it, where one of the doctor’s patients is seen throwing money out of his upstairs window, and shooting at people who are grabbing for it. That was a bit about psychology, too, I guess. Otherwise, this was just a solid entry in the series.
Another (significant) challenge is that he elects to work with two men, Marty Fusco and Devers, who are connected to an emotionally jumpy woman, Ellen, one her ex and one her current boy friend. Ellen is three times a week seeing a therapist. The good doctor encourages Ellen to talk with him of the plan her ex and boyfriend and Parker have planned out.
I know: What could go wrong, right?!
One delight of this one is the dripping disdain that Stark has for psychology, mirroring what Parker surely would say about it. Much of the tale is told from Parker’s perspective, but some of it is from Ellen’s perspective, much of that during the sessions with the doctor, so we can see the doc’s interest in the plans for the heist as much as Ellen’s mental health. For decades noir fiction seemed to be obsessed with psychopaths and sociopaths, following the burgeoning interest in psychology in the mid-twentieth century. Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me is a good example, a tale of a serial killer. Parker is more an existential construct than a psychological one, and Stark is not interested in getting “deeper” into his “psyche;” he doesn’t care whether his mother nursed him or his father worked long hours. Stark wants to show you what Parker does, not why.
There is one memorable scene with craziness in it, where one of the doctor’s patients is seen throwing money out of his upstairs window, and shooting at people who are grabbing for it. That was a bit about psychology, too, I guess. Otherwise, this was just a solid entry in the series.
Read
December 4, 2020
The Green Eagle Score by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark clocks in as Parker #10 in the author's list of 24 Parker novels.
The Gold Eagle Score is such a jimdandy crime noir snapper, you'll want to set aside an entire afternoon or evening too read, a novel way too compelling to put down until you've read the last sentence on the last page.
Parker and now steady girlfriend Claire sun themselves on a beach in Puerto Rico when a guy dressed in a black suit turns up. His name is Marty Fusco; he's pulled past heists with Parker and he's hot to pull another for two reasons: 1) he's fresh out of prison and needs the dough; 2) he knows a sharp young stud who works in the fiance department at an Air Force base in upstate New York who can be the inside man to steal the base's monthly cash payroll of $400,000.
But Marty knows the job needs a topnotch planner; Marty knows the job needs Parker.
Parker is intrigued, at least enough to travel to New York (on the stud's dime) and take a look. After meeting young Stan Devers currently shacked up with Marty's ex-wife (fine by Marty), scoping out the Air Force base and talking through the possible plan, the gears in Parker's mind start spinning - he's in.
By my eye, most reviewers go overboard, revealing too much. Each reader deserves the opportunity to encounter all the many surprises and twists on their own. Thus I'll make an immediate pivot to a bushel of Green Eagle Score highlights:
The Force That Flops
Donald E. Westlake served a stint in the US Air Force. He was less than impressed with the way things were run back in the 1950s. Among the many swipes the author takes in Green Eagle, here's Stan Devers telling Parker about an officer, a lieutenant, in the room with the money: "Wormley's like his name. A little creep, fresh out of ROTC. A nothing."
Once at the Air Force base the day of the score, the heisters have some down time before hitting the vault later that night, so the boys go see the movie playing at the base theater, a musical comedy. A true irony picturing Parker and the other crooks watching something like Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain before stealing $400,000 from Uncle Sam.
Ellen the Erratic
Marty's ex-wife, Stan's current girlfriend, is a gal by the name of Ellen. Ellen is ordinarily on an emotional yo-yo, so you can imagine what she might be like when the heisters, especially Parker, invade her house.
Ellen enjoys the idea of her man Stan getting his hands on all that cash but the nitty-gritty outlaw life is unhinging her not so stable personality - things like knowing Parker packed real pistols, real machine guns and ammunition in boxes meant for kids toys and stashed those boxes on the top shelf in her three-year-old daughter Pam's closet.
Ellen's Sessions With Her Shrink
Ellen sees her psychoanalyst for an hour session three times a week. Understanding patient-doctor confidentiality and medical ethics, Ellen tells Dr. Godden all about the Air Force base caper.
Dr. Godden is a professional, calm, empathetic, a man Ellen can trust. Dr Godden is especially interested in Ellen's relationship with this man, this cool, calculating outlaw by the name of Parker.
During one session, Ellen has this to say about Parker: “He’s–I don’t know, I look at him and I think he’s evil. But that isn’t right, exactly, I don’t think he’s evil. I mean, I don’t think he’d ever be cruel or anything like that, for the fun of it. I wouldn’t worry about leaving Pam around him, for instance.”
And during another session: "He's cold and ruthless and he doesn't care about anybody, but that's because he cares about things. Not even the money, I don't think. It's the plan that really matters to him. I think the thing that counts is doing it and having it come out right. So he wouldn't want anybody else to be caught."
Ellen's sessions with Dr. Godden counts as a true slam dunk highlight, such pinpoint revelations on the depth of personality and character.
Hawking Encyclopedias Door-to-Door
Westlake/Stark zeroes in on the plight of a man desperate for money: Jake Kengle, age twenty-six, fresh from prison, penniless, can only get a job peddling encyclopedias door-to-door. "Why would anybody buy an encyclopedia? Kengle didn't know. He'd been ringing doorbells day and night since Tuesday on this damn job, and here it was Saturday afternoon, and he hadn't yet found anybody stupid enough to fork over three hundred bucks for a bunch of books. And the commission on zero sales is zero dollars."
Jake knows there are good sales jobs around but the odds of an ex-con getting that kind of opportunity is nil. Reflecting on his bitter prospects, Jake received a phone call about joining a heist in upstate New York. For a moment, Jake considers how if this is a bum score, he could wind up back in prison. But, hell...anything would be better than hawking encyclopedias. Jake's in.
Stark Language
Mr. Westlake told an interviewer: "I want the language to be very stripped down and bleak and no adverbs; I want it stark. So, the name will be Stark just to remind me what we're doing here."
How true, sir! One quality of these Parker novels I especially appreciate: no frills, no extraneous descriptions, every word counts, every sentence drives story. Take one example from Green Eagle: "In the meantime there was sporadic gunfire, with long seconds of silence. The law was using different kinds of gun, revolvers and rifles and at least one riot gun that twice made its monkey jabber, hemstitching a line of bullets across the front of the house."
If you like sharp, clear and stark, The Green Eagle Score is your book.
American author Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008
September 10, 2012
Marty Fusco convinces Parker to plan a job robbing an air force base of its payroll. Fusco's ex-wife's current beau is the inside man. Things seem to go smoothly, until the ex-wife starts telling the details of the plan to her psychiatrist...
The Green Eagle Score, no idea why it's called that, is another entry in the highly enjoyable Parker series. This one strays from the usual Parker mold and takes the route of The Seventh. The job goes smoothly but the split doesn't go right. It makes for an engaging story. The best parts of the Parker stories are watching him handle things when the situation takes an unexpected turn, which they always do. Parker's a shark and never gives up.
Not many gripes about this one. The job was plausible, as usual. I'm surprised Parker went for it with all the inherent complications though. On a side note, there were a few punctuation mistakes in this one.
Another great Parker story. That's all I have to say about that.
The Green Eagle Score, no idea why it's called that, is another entry in the highly enjoyable Parker series. This one strays from the usual Parker mold and takes the route of The Seventh. The job goes smoothly but the split doesn't go right. It makes for an engaging story. The best parts of the Parker stories are watching him handle things when the situation takes an unexpected turn, which they always do. Parker's a shark and never gives up.
Not many gripes about this one. The job was plausible, as usual. I'm surprised Parker went for it with all the inherent complications though. On a side note, there were a few punctuation mistakes in this one.
Another great Parker story. That's all I have to say about that.
April 22, 2011
No money is safe when Parker is around. Not even if it belongs to the U.S. military.
Parker is lounging at a resort in Puerto Rico with his new gal pal, Claire, when he is approached by another professional thief named Marty Fusco who just got out of prison. Fusco wants to bring Parker in to plan a job stealing the cash payroll from an Air Force base. While Parker initially dismisses the idea of stealing the pay of 5000 armed men, he agrees to go to New York state and check out the set-up. The situation is odd with Fusco working with an inside man who is shacked up with his ex-wife, but the ever resourceful Parker sees an opportunity and starts working up a scheme to make off with the loot. As always, there’s complications waiting to screw up Parker’s well-laid plans.
It’s getting hard to come up with anything new to say about these Parker novels. It’s the same basic formula. Parker gets approached to plan a robbery. There are issues with the people involved and/or the set-up. Parker comes up with a plan. Parker recruits people and gathers equipment. Parker executes the robbery. Some twists occurs that screws up Parker’s getaway. Parker has to improvise. Parker may or may not get away with the swag.
You’d think that this would get boring and repetitive, especially since Parker is just a relentless stealing machine without conscience or empathy. Even getting a steady girlfriend hasn’t changed him so this is a series where the main character shows absolutely no growth from the first book to the last. Yet Stark’s (a/k/a Westlake’s) writing still sucks a reader in immediately with it’s portrait of the blunt and relentless Parker steamrolling over anyone or anything between him and completing the job.
This edition also features an interesting introduction by another great mystery writer, Dennis Lehane, that examines why Parker is so unique and important to crime fiction.
Parker is lounging at a resort in Puerto Rico with his new gal pal, Claire, when he is approached by another professional thief named Marty Fusco who just got out of prison. Fusco wants to bring Parker in to plan a job stealing the cash payroll from an Air Force base. While Parker initially dismisses the idea of stealing the pay of 5000 armed men, he agrees to go to New York state and check out the set-up. The situation is odd with Fusco working with an inside man who is shacked up with his ex-wife, but the ever resourceful Parker sees an opportunity and starts working up a scheme to make off with the loot. As always, there’s complications waiting to screw up Parker’s well-laid plans.
It’s getting hard to come up with anything new to say about these Parker novels. It’s the same basic formula. Parker gets approached to plan a robbery. There are issues with the people involved and/or the set-up. Parker comes up with a plan. Parker recruits people and gathers equipment. Parker executes the robbery. Some twists occurs that screws up Parker’s getaway. Parker has to improvise. Parker may or may not get away with the swag.
You’d think that this would get boring and repetitive, especially since Parker is just a relentless stealing machine without conscience or empathy. Even getting a steady girlfriend hasn’t changed him so this is a series where the main character shows absolutely no growth from the first book to the last. Yet Stark’s (a/k/a Westlake’s) writing still sucks a reader in immediately with it’s portrait of the blunt and relentless Parker steamrolling over anyone or anything between him and completing the job.
This edition also features an interesting introduction by another great mystery writer, Dennis Lehane, that examines why Parker is so unique and important to crime fiction.
September 25, 2024
It appears that as Stark (aka Westlake) went forward with the Parker series, his ideas about heists got wilder and crazier. Bank robberies and mansion robberies were one thing, but Stark had Parker go on to pull jobs on entire towns (“The Score”) and entire islands (“The Handle”) before deciding that it was time for Parker to take on the U.S. Air Force itself. Well, not exactly take on the air force, more like, take on the payroll of a large air force base. Apparently, in those crazy days, the payroll was in cash and it was big: $400,000 of big. It’s a crazy scheme that only a madman would think he could pull off and that’s before one stopped to think of all the problems that might crop up such as armed air police, one partner dating another partner’s ex- wife, the ex-wife spilling the scheme to her psychiatrist, make that her monetarily-desperate psychiatrist who has a deep fascination with all the details of the caper and knows people who might also be interested.
It is a well-written story that moves quickly as do all of the Parker novels. You really can’t go wrong picking up any of the 24 Parker novels or the 4 related Grofield novels by Richard Stark.
If you want insight into Parker’s character, you get it in the very first scenes he is with his girlfriend, Claire, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they are vacationing at a beachfront resort, her in her bikini, him upstairs talking to a pal who came by to talk about a scheme: the air force base scheme. Parker and Claire have a deal, she doesn’t ask him about his work and he doesn’t volunteer any information. Parker tells Claire that he is going for a few days to check things out and will probably be back soon, but, if the thing works out, if it looks good, then it might be a week or two. Parker also tells her that the rent on the hotel room is paid up for a month and, if he is not back by then, take what’s in the hotel safe, and go on to wherever. She understands, but doesn’t like it.
A lot of the book, as in many of the Parker novels, is concerned with planning the caper and how Parker assesses the others involved in the operation and whether the amateur involved (the inside man) is up to the task.
It is a well-written story that moves quickly as do all of the Parker novels. You really can’t go wrong picking up any of the 24 Parker novels or the 4 related Grofield novels by Richard Stark.
If you want insight into Parker’s character, you get it in the very first scenes he is with his girlfriend, Claire, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they are vacationing at a beachfront resort, her in her bikini, him upstairs talking to a pal who came by to talk about a scheme: the air force base scheme. Parker and Claire have a deal, she doesn’t ask him about his work and he doesn’t volunteer any information. Parker tells Claire that he is going for a few days to check things out and will probably be back soon, but, if the thing works out, if it looks good, then it might be a week or two. Parker also tells her that the rent on the hotel room is paid up for a month and, if he is not back by then, take what’s in the hotel safe, and go on to wherever. She understands, but doesn’t like it.
A lot of the book, as in many of the Parker novels, is concerned with planning the caper and how Parker assesses the others involved in the operation and whether the amateur involved (the inside man) is up to the task.
August 30, 2016
An excellent Parker story. The reader is shown some preparation for a robbery of an Air Force base payroll, but not the details of the scheme until they are taking place. Things are looking great, and then......major disaster. During the planning phase of this crime, Stark makes you suspect that something would go wrong. (Well that's to be expected or Parker would never have a chance to shine, since he somehow always manages the disasters.) I love the series and this one was particularly thrilling and chilling.
February 13, 2014
Parker the Ultimate Stealing Machine is at it again, this time it's the fabled Monnequois Military Base heist that his pal Grofield walked away from at the start of the spin off novel Lemons Never Lie. A fun little connection that speaks volumes for how much fun Westlake must have had writing this character and world.
If you read more than a few Parker novels you pick up on the general theme of these things; Parker is a planner, cold, thorough, meticulous, he cares only for the professionalism of the job but somewhere along the line something will go wrong and he's only waiting for that to happen so he can fix that too. If you're not game for the formula then don't come out to play.
Amazingly Westlake's writing is so strong and his character is so fascinating to read about that for most of us this formula does not get old, it in fact becomes part of the fun, guessing not whodunnit but how will it go to hell this time and waiting for the inevitable fall out. This time out the planning is foregrounded, the fall out only coming right at the last, and it's an entertaining string that Parker has pulled together with an ending that will surely please fans of all aspects of the Parker series.
If you read more than a few Parker novels you pick up on the general theme of these things; Parker is a planner, cold, thorough, meticulous, he cares only for the professionalism of the job but somewhere along the line something will go wrong and he's only waiting for that to happen so he can fix that too. If you're not game for the formula then don't come out to play.
Amazingly Westlake's writing is so strong and his character is so fascinating to read about that for most of us this formula does not get old, it in fact becomes part of the fun, guessing not whodunnit but how will it go to hell this time and waiting for the inevitable fall out. This time out the planning is foregrounded, the fall out only coming right at the last, and it's an entertaining string that Parker has pulled together with an ending that will surely please fans of all aspects of the Parker series.
June 11, 2018
Parker is chilling in Puerto Rico with Claire, when Marty Fusco shows up, seeking Parker's help to steal the payroll of an Air Force base in upstate NY. His inside man (Devers) is the new beau of Marty's ex-wife, Ellen, and the mother of their young daughter. Parker agrees to check it out, only to find that Devers has been skimming already; but, he decides that the job is doable, and they devise a great way onto and off of the base. Everything goes well until ... it doesn't. Turns out that Ellen has been seeing a shrink, trusts him completely with all her and their secrets.
April 2, 2020
First published in '67, Stark's thief Parker is presented with a scheme to rob an Air Force base of it's payroll. Parker thinks the idea is stupid, but talks to a guy who works at the base in the finance section. With inside help and a crew of six, the odds look fairly decent.
But the monkey wrench here is the enlisted guy's wife who, while in therapy, spills the beans to her amoral psychologist. Great action, good crime plan, and some detours make this engaging.
But the monkey wrench here is the enlisted guy's wife who, while in therapy, spills the beans to her amoral psychologist. Great action, good crime plan, and some detours make this engaging.
August 10, 2023
From 1967
Another heist gone awry, this time thanks to a psychiatrist and a couple of his patients.
Another heist gone awry, this time thanks to a psychiatrist and a couple of his patients.
April 4, 2011
In this Parker novel he joins up with some other crooks to rob an Upstate New York Air Force base of it's payroll cash. I'd never heard of the AFB before, and I don't think there is another one besides Plattsburgh anywhere near the real towns mentioned in the book, so I'm going to believe that the book takes place in the shitty town where I went to college! Near the end of the book Parker drives into downtown Saratoga Springs and ditches a car there in front of a parking meter. I don't think Saratoga Springs ever had parking meters, but who cares. This is two places where I've had to spend years of my life mentioned in one Parker novel!! Isn't that exciting? Yes, I knew you would all think so.
February 25, 2022
Parker shows signs of missing Claire. Not on the job, mind you. That would never happen.
Still, one wonders if our guy is getting a touch sentimental? Stay tuned.
The caper was entertaining enough, but as David S. astutely comments below, the real interest is in Stark's coruscating critique of psychotherapy. One could do an interesting feminist reading by comparing the personalities of the always calm and patiently waiting Claire and the bitter, frantic Ellen Fusco. Ellen, of course, has much more at stake than Claire, which makes her actions all the more interesting.
12 down, 12 to go. I'm proceeding in rather meandering fashion, starting with 1-10 and then for some reason jumping ahead to later books, in no particular order, and then circling back. A lot probably has due to with variety of audio narrators. I'm hooked on Stephen R. Thorne, to the point that I just can't get comfortable with any of the others, though based on short sampling, they seem fine. Such pickiness forces me to track down hard copies. No great hardship there, as Stark's prose on the page is half the attraction, if not more.
Still, one wonders if our guy is getting a touch sentimental? Stay tuned.
The caper was entertaining enough, but as David S. astutely comments below, the real interest is in Stark's coruscating critique of psychotherapy. One could do an interesting feminist reading by comparing the personalities of the always calm and patiently waiting Claire and the bitter, frantic Ellen Fusco. Ellen, of course, has much more at stake than Claire, which makes her actions all the more interesting.
12 down, 12 to go. I'm proceeding in rather meandering fashion, starting with 1-10 and then for some reason jumping ahead to later books, in no particular order, and then circling back. A lot probably has due to with variety of audio narrators. I'm hooked on Stephen R. Thorne, to the point that I just can't get comfortable with any of the others, though based on short sampling, they seem fine. Such pickiness forces me to track down hard copies. No great hardship there, as Stark's prose on the page is half the attraction, if not more.
April 30, 2021
From a hint of smoke to a blazing inferno in 173 crisp pages, Mr Stark strikes again!!!
July 13, 2022
Along with The Score, when Parker robs an entire town, this 10th in the series is one of my favorites. Parker plans out the seemingly ridiculous heist of the payroll at an Air Force base. (This is 1967 and the bi-weekly payroll was paid in cash.) Early focus is the casing of the base with the help of the inside guy who works in the finance office. The major complication is that the girlfriend of the finance guy is also the ex-wife of another member of the crew. So early on we know this heist is going to go wrong. A further complication is that the girlfriend is describing the heist planning to her psychologist in thrice weekly sessions, and we know this will muck things up but not how. Saying much more will spoil the read, but suffice to say that the last third of the book is non-stop action with an exciting heist and its surprising and wild aftermath. Stark/Westlake nails the ending in this one.
August 12, 2025
Baby kept waking up. Parker is good company. He's back to flawless competence in this one and Stark/Westlake manages to weave some interesting psychology into the tale.
July 26, 2010
This is another of the early books in Richard Stark's Parker series. Parker decides to take a break from a vacation in Puerto Rico to join a gang that intends to rob the payroll of an Air Force base in upstate New York. (The book was written in 1967. There's no such thing as direct deposit, so the Air Force trucks in $400,000 twice a month and pays everyone in cash.)
Parker designs a clever plan to steal the money, but the weak link (and in these books there is almost always a weak link) is the mistress of one of the gang members who knows the plot and confides it to her analyst. The shady analyst develops a plan of his own to let Parker's gang do the heavy lifting and then steal the money from them. Parker would not like such a development and will deal with it in his own inimitable way.
Parker designs a clever plan to steal the money, but the weak link (and in these books there is almost always a weak link) is the mistress of one of the gang members who knows the plot and confides it to her analyst. The shady analyst develops a plan of his own to let Parker's gang do the heavy lifting and then steal the money from them. Parker would not like such a development and will deal with it in his own inimitable way.
March 18, 2020
The Richard Stark books are perfect for reading while being self-quarantined. They are light, fun reads. I've read about two-thirds of the series, not in order as most stand alone very nicely, although I would suggest reading the early ones in order to set the stage, as it were.
The Green Eagle Store is typical. Parker is enlisted to help plan an Air Force payroll heist. As nothing ever goes the way it's planned, something completely unforeseen happens and Parker has to scramble to make it away with any money.
If you like caper books, these will please for sure. Then you can move on to Westlake's (Stark is a pseudonym for the Parker series) other books. Enjoy.
The Green Eagle Store is typical. Parker is enlisted to help plan an Air Force payroll heist. As nothing ever goes the way it's planned, something completely unforeseen happens and Parker has to scramble to make it away with any money.
If you like caper books, these will please for sure. Then you can move on to Westlake's (Stark is a pseudonym for the Parker series) other books. Enjoy.
July 6, 2021
Parker and the Air Force Payroll
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (May, 2010) 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 Green Eagle Score finds Parker mentoring a novice criminal Stan Devers who is the inside man at an Air Force Base with a cash payroll. Of course the heist is betrayed, but through an odd twist that doesn't involve the gang members themselves. Devers is forced to go on the run afterwards and Parker sends him on to Handy McKay for further mentoring. Both Devers and McKay will return with a host of others in The Butcher's Moon (Parker #16).
Narrator Stephen Thorne 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 Green Eagle Score and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Like many of the 2010-2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook editions which share the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009-2010 reprints, this audiobook DOES NOT include the Foreword by author Dennis Lehane.
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (May, 2010) 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 Green Eagle Score finds Parker mentoring a novice criminal Stan Devers who is the inside man at an Air Force Base with a cash payroll. Of course the heist is betrayed, but through an odd twist that doesn't involve the gang members themselves. Devers is forced to go on the run afterwards and Parker sends him on to Handy McKay for further mentoring. Both Devers and McKay will return with a host of others in The Butcher's Moon (Parker #16).
Narrator Stephen Thorne 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 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 Green Eagle Score and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Like many of the 2010-2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook editions which share the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009-2010 reprints, this audiobook DOES NOT include the Foreword by author Dennis Lehane.
June 26, 2017
This one goes very, very badly. And the heist had such promise. Parker makes what he can out of it.
August 15, 2013
Marty Fusco just got out of the clink and here he is cooking up another heist. Well, birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, and Fusco's thinking this deal is pretty sweet. His neurotic ex-wife has gotten cozy with a young airman named Devers who works in the finance office of the USAF base where he's posted. Fusco and Devers think they can lift the entire base's payroll for the month, at least four hundred thousand dollars. But they need a guy that can work out all the angles and run things. This is where Parker comes in. He's getting tired of working on his tan and chilling with his girl Claire in Puerto Rico and is again feeling the itch to work, so he packs a bag and joins Fusco and Devers in upstate New York. The thing is, Fusco's aforementioned neurotic ex-wife, Ellen, is about to turn this cool caper into a hot mess.
The Green Eagle Score is yet another example of "Stark's"/Westlake's mastery of his craft. Coming in at a lean, mean 173 pages, Westlake doesn't fool around. It's almost as if Westlake's laconic criminal Parker was the one who wrote this. Like the other Parker novels (the ones I have read), The Green Eagle Score follows a four-act format and is ideal study material for budding novelists learning how to structure and pace a novel. Hell, it's ideal study material for any novelist on how to structure and pace a novel. I'd say a lot of modern-day "bestsellers" could learn a thing or two.
Though it would seem otherwise, Parker as a character never gets boring. He doesn't smile, doesn't joke, has no real hobbies or interests…he's basically a larcenous golem. The only time I recall seeing any sort of strong emotion from Parker was way back in the first novel, The Hunter, and that was white-hot rage. But don't think for a second that Westlake is skimping with two-dimensional characterization. No, Westlake's characterization of Parker is subtle. In the hands of lesser authors Parker would seem to be a cardboard cutout, a genre cliché. In Westlake's hands, Parker's a force of nature (I love how he "checks" a guy to see if he's alive or dead. Spoiler: ). But, as in other Parker novels, the lively supporting cast contributes a lot to feel of the book and makes for a fun contrast to Parker's stoicism.
What else can I say? The Green Eagle Score is another great Parker novel. If you haven't read a Parker yet, you're in for a treat. If you have, you know what you're getting and won't be disappointed.
(For Westlake fans and people more knowledgeable about him than I am, I have a question. I noticed several British spellings ("defence," "licence," "neighborhood"), but as I understand it, Westlake was American. Was this just a stylistic choice? Did he use it exclusively for his pseudonym "Richard Stark?" Just something I was wondering about.)
The Green Eagle Score is yet another example of "Stark's"/Westlake's mastery of his craft. Coming in at a lean, mean 173 pages, Westlake doesn't fool around. It's almost as if Westlake's laconic criminal Parker was the one who wrote this. Like the other Parker novels (the ones I have read), The Green Eagle Score follows a four-act format and is ideal study material for budding novelists learning how to structure and pace a novel. Hell, it's ideal study material for any novelist on how to structure and pace a novel. I'd say a lot of modern-day "bestsellers" could learn a thing or two.
Though it would seem otherwise, Parker as a character never gets boring. He doesn't smile, doesn't joke, has no real hobbies or interests…he's basically a larcenous golem. The only time I recall seeing any sort of strong emotion from Parker was way back in the first novel, The Hunter, and that was white-hot rage. But don't think for a second that Westlake is skimping with two-dimensional characterization. No, Westlake's characterization of Parker is subtle. In the hands of lesser authors Parker would seem to be a cardboard cutout, a genre cliché. In Westlake's hands, Parker's a force of nature (I love how he "checks" a guy to see if he's alive or dead. Spoiler: ). But, as in other Parker novels, the lively supporting cast contributes a lot to feel of the book and makes for a fun contrast to Parker's stoicism.
What else can I say? The Green Eagle Score is another great Parker novel. If you haven't read a Parker yet, you're in for a treat. If you have, you know what you're getting and won't be disappointed.
(For Westlake fans and people more knowledgeable about him than I am, I have a question. I noticed several British spellings ("defence," "licence," "neighborhood"), but as I understand it, Westlake was American. Was this just a stylistic choice? Did he use it exclusively for his pseudonym "Richard Stark?" Just something I was wondering about.)
April 12, 2016
What shall I say??? I just read 4 of these back to back and am still going.
The Parker books are in some ways a bit "odd" for me as there is no way I can actually identify with the amoral antihero of the series. On the other hand Parker is very much a simple workman. he even seems to have a sort of "work ethic"...if you can have a work "ethic" when your job is being a thief. Parker is "at the top of his field" and sought after for his talents as an idea man and planner among others in his rather ratified profession.
That said these are some of the best written and longest lasting thrillers it has been my pleasure to come across. These books just have..."legs". The series began "back when" and Stark (pen name of Donald E. Westlake) actually sort of left the series for a while and then returned to the character. I suppose the writer found the character as compelling as the readers do.
I suppose you could make the statement that the books have a sort of formula as they tend to start out with Parker being introed to a job, a heist...whatever then the assembling of the crew and then the action, which usually goes wrong.
I mean if it didn't go wrong we wouldn't have a book.
Here we get Parker being brought in on the theft of an Army payroll... and I'm a little concerned about Parker as he had misgivings about the job and took it anyway. I sort of figure every reader spotted the weak link here. I know I saw it coming and I still like the book.
Recommended, enjoy.
The Parker books are in some ways a bit "odd" for me as there is no way I can actually identify with the amoral antihero of the series. On the other hand Parker is very much a simple workman. he even seems to have a sort of "work ethic"...if you can have a work "ethic" when your job is being a thief. Parker is "at the top of his field" and sought after for his talents as an idea man and planner among others in his rather ratified profession.
That said these are some of the best written and longest lasting thrillers it has been my pleasure to come across. These books just have..."legs". The series began "back when" and Stark (pen name of Donald E. Westlake) actually sort of left the series for a while and then returned to the character. I suppose the writer found the character as compelling as the readers do.
I suppose you could make the statement that the books have a sort of formula as they tend to start out with Parker being introed to a job, a heist...whatever then the assembling of the crew and then the action, which usually goes wrong.
I mean if it didn't go wrong we wouldn't have a book.
Here we get Parker being brought in on the theft of an Army payroll... and I'm a little concerned about Parker as he had misgivings about the job and took it anyway. I sort of figure every reader spotted the weak link here. I know I saw it coming and I still like the book.
Recommended, enjoy.
February 14, 2017
The Green Eagle Score, is the 10th novel in the Parker series. Stealing a large payroll from the Department of Defence? Stealing it from within the compound? Sure, why not, eh?
At one point Parker tells Claire that his work is like walking on ice, but that he knows where to step. Understanding the ice is one thing, but what about the things that are lurking beneath it in the deep dark waters? There is always a slight chance that there is something there that you didn't expect. Something that makes the ice far thinner than you think it will be.
Parker starts making confident steps towards the loot... watch your step mate.
This is another classic Parker novel by the late Donald E. Westlake (aka Richard Stark). Time and again, the author manages to write a great little crime novel using a simple narrative. It's an easy read, but oh so entertaining.
Enjoy!
At one point Parker tells Claire that his work is like walking on ice, but that he knows where to step. Understanding the ice is one thing, but what about the things that are lurking beneath it in the deep dark waters? There is always a slight chance that there is something there that you didn't expect. Something that makes the ice far thinner than you think it will be.
Parker starts making confident steps towards the loot... watch your step mate.
This is another classic Parker novel by the late Donald E. Westlake (aka Richard Stark). Time and again, the author manages to write a great little crime novel using a simple narrative. It's an easy read, but oh so entertaining.
Enjoy!
May 2, 2024
An interesting take on the heist novel. Brings in an Air Force base and a local psychiatrist/psychologist. Solid. Solid crime novel that feels relevant in an age of active shooters.
July 29, 2018
Parker gets involved in a payroll heist on an Air Force Base in New York. Some interesting twists involving a psychiatrist and three of his patients. Claire becomes a permanent supporting character of the Parker novels.
December 23, 2023
Parker and his girl are in Puerto Rico enjoying the beach. She is the beautiful girl that he met in the previous caper and decided she would do just nicely as a steady. Parker spots an old colleague on the beach in street clothes and knows there’s an offer coming. The old colleague has an opportunity to steal several hundred thousand dollars in army payroll from a base in northern New York. What he needs is a master planner like Parker. So Parker leaves the girl on the beach and says he will be back within 30 days or she should skedaddle.
The colleague’s ex-wife is shacked up with Devers, a guy stationed at the base and brings him the payroll idea. Parker is at first worried about a love triangle but is assured that there is no rivalry. The ex-wife though is a problem though. She is so traumatized by her husband’s incarceration she is afraid the same will befall her new guy.
The wrinkle in this caper is a shrink that the wife sees and spills ger guts to. That felt a little contrived at the time knowing doctor/patient privilege, but it’s all explained and worked out decently. This is not one of my favorites, but I hope the Devers kid shows up on other jobs.
The colleague’s ex-wife is shacked up with Devers, a guy stationed at the base and brings him the payroll idea. Parker is at first worried about a love triangle but is assured that there is no rivalry. The ex-wife though is a problem though. She is so traumatized by her husband’s incarceration she is afraid the same will befall her new guy.
The wrinkle in this caper is a shrink that the wife sees and spills ger guts to. That felt a little contrived at the time knowing doctor/patient privilege, but it’s all explained and worked out decently. This is not one of my favorites, but I hope the Devers kid shows up on other jobs.
January 13, 2011
Following The Rare Coin Score, The Green Eagle Score is another no-frills Parker heist novel. There are minor variations to the formula--this time, for example, we aren't told the plan for the robbery until we see it enacted--but nothing remarkable that Stark hasn't shown us before. In terms of the larger series, The Green Eagle Score is perhaps most notable for the further development of Paker's character via his relationship with Claire, whom he met in The Rare Coin Score.
First reading: 2011 January 12
Second reading: 2012 April 11
First reading: 2011 January 12
Second reading: 2012 April 11
October 23, 2014
Another good Parker book. Not much more I can say without spoilers, but it's nice to see the quality staying high & the plot as twisty. I FINALLY got the 1st one from the library. I'll be listening to it next.
February 5, 2020
it's parker, baby.
September 17, 2024
Parker volume nine and our brutally pragmatic anti-hero is drawn into a scheme to rob an air force base. The heist he devises is as impudent as it is ingenious. Internal tensions between two of his crew - one of whom, crucially, is the inside man - threaten to complicate things, but the rogue element is another party entirely. Stark monkeys with the formula here, breaking from Parker’s POV considerably earlier in the narrative than in previous volumes, while still delivering everything you want from a Parker novel. The series has hit double figures with no diminution in the quality control department.
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