One of the best crime novels of the 60s, in another boring edition (again!)

books:


	• The Hunter: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels) Richard Stark University Of Chicago Press, 2008 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Parker - The Anti-Hero

The Hunter (also known by it's movie names of Point Blank or Payback) is the beginning of the "Parker" series written by Donald E. Westlake under the penname of Richard Stark. These were paperback originals in a noir crime vein with Parker as the master thief and organizer of major robberies. Written from the early 60's through the mid-70's, the first 12 or so novels became cult classics especially popular with prisoners! DEW resumed the series due to popular demand in the 90's and has completed about 4 more with 1 more just being released. The writing style is stripped-down for fast action and none of the characters seems to have any conscience, least of all Parker. About half of the jobs Parker is involved in go bad due to unforseen problems like greed and betrayal, so murder (but only out of necessity) and revenge are common themes. This series has been reprinted over and over as new readers discover Parker and his single-minded focus on robbery to maintain his quietly luxurious but anonymous lifestyle. Serious literature? NO! Great fun for the crime novel fan? YES!

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One of the best crime novels of the 60s, in another boring edition (again!)

After waiting so long for this series to be reprinted in better editions than those published recently by Mysterius press, I am sorely disappointed to see this series of reprints come along with another set of completely boring covers.
Donald Westlake had been in talks with Hardcase Crime to bring this series back, sadly that didn't happen, since it would have meant a very irregular reprint schedule, and instead we end up with another series of very conservatively designed books.
Although I find the subjct matter of HCC's covers distracting (ussually scantily clad females in some noirish pose), the painted style is very reminicent of the era in which the Parker novels originally appeared.
This will not distract most readers from a thouroughly enjoyable read, though, but this edition again hides the explosive nature of Parker's first appearance and subsequent misadventures.

One of the best which deserves a lot better.
The novel: 5 stars, the Edition: 0 stars!

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Parker Rules

The Hunter

This is the book where Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark introduces us to Parker in 1962. After re-reading the book after thitysomething years I realize that Lee Marvin was probably cast as a truer version of Parker. Danny DeVito would have been a good messenger and James Gandolfini would have made a better Mal Resnick. The ending was changed for the movie, but what the hey, that's Hollywood. I think I'll reread them all as my next project. They're that good.

I think Sam Elliott would make a great Parker. He could make a whole career out of this series.

As far as I can tell the other Parker books are:

1) The Hunter (1962; AKA Point Blank, Payback; Parker, by Richard Stark).
2) The Man With the Getaway Face (1963; AKA The Steel Hit; Parker,
3) The Outfit (1963; Parker, by Richard Stark)
4) The Mourner (1963; Parker, by Richard Stark)
5) The Score (1964; AKA Killtown; Parker, by Richard Stark)
6) The Jugger (1965; Parker, by Richard Stark)
7) The Seventh (1966; AKA The Split; Parker, by Richard Stark)
8) The Handle (1966; AKA Run Lethal; Parker, by Richard Stark)
9) The Rare Coin Score (1967; Parker, by Richard Stark)
10) The Green Eagle Score (1967; Parker, by Richard Stark)
11) The Black Ice Score (1968; Parker, by Richard Stark)
12) The Sour Lemon Score (1969; Parker, by Richard Stark)
13) Slayground (1971; Parker, by Richard Stark)
14) Deadly Edge (1971; Parker, by Richard Stark)
15) Plunder Squad (1972; Parker, by Richard Stark)
16) Butcher's Moon (1974; Parker, by Richard Stark)
17) Comeback (1997;
18) Backflash (1998; Parker)..
19) Flashfire (2000; Parker, by Richard Stark)..
20) Firebreak (2001; Parker, by Richard Stark) ..
21) Nobody Runs Forever (2004) Parker, by Richard Stark

Highly recommended for Parker fans and fans of action adventure stories.

Gunner December, 2007

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You probably haven?t ever noticed them. But they?ve noticed you. They notice everything. That?s their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers? work habits, the positions of the security guards. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack.
They?re thieves. Heisters, to be precise. They?re pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. If you?re planning a job, you want him in. Tough, smart, hardworking, and relentlessly focused on his trade, he is the heister?s heister, the robber?s robber, the heavy?s heavy. You don?t want to cross him, and you don?t want to get in his way, because he?ll stop at nothing to get what he?s after.
Parker, the ruthless antihero of Richard Stark?s eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hardboiled noir. Lauded by critics for his taut realism, unapologetic amorality, and razor-sharp prose-style?and adored by fans who turn each intoxicating page with increasing urgency?Stark is a master of crime writing, his books as influential as any in the genre. The University of Chicago Press has embarked on a project to return the early volumes of this series to print for a new generation of readers to discover?and become addicted to.
In The Hunter, the first volume in the series, Parker roars into New York City, seeking revenge on the woman who betrayed him and on the man who took his money, stealing and scamming his way to redemption.

?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

?Elmore Leonard wouldn?t write what he does if Stark hadn?t been there before. And Quentin Tarantino wouldn?t write what he does without Leonard. . . . Old master that he is, Stark does all of them one better.??Los Angeles Times

?Donald Westlake?s Parker novels are among the small number of books I read over and over. Forget all that crap you?ve been telling yourself about War and Peace and Proust?these are the books you?ll want on that desert island.??Lawrence Block

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