1963 Parker Adventure Good, but Not as Good as Later Novels

books:


	• The Outfit: A Parker Novel Richard Stark University Of Chicago Press, 2008 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

pretty good

This one isn't up to par with it's predecessor's. It's an okay read, but not as engaging as the first two. It's hard to believe the "Outfit" guys are that easy to steal from and kill. It all happens so easily that it's not very enjoyable.

Crime Fights Organised Crime

The name is Parker and he's not one for making idle threats. When he talks, he follows through with brutal efficiency. And so, when he warned the organised crime boss not to cross him or he would hurt the organisation, it would have been a good idea to listen. What would not have been a good idea was to attempt to put a hit on Parker.

When the hit fails, as of course it must, Parker sets in place a devious plan to hurt the Outfit just as he promised. What follows is a highly entertaining string of crimes around the country, striking blow after blow on behalf of our anti-hero, Parker.

If you're simply after a flat out entertaining book of action sequences that aren't cluttered up with pesky character development, then this is the book for you. As a matter of fact, the entire Parker series is for you. Parker remains the true dispassionate enigma. Sure he's heartless, cruel and vindictive but you've just gotta love the rascal.

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1963 Parker Adventure Good, but Not as Good as Later Novels

The Outfit is a thinner than normal Parker adventure by Westlake writing under his Richard Stark penname. Although the 1963 Parker character is pretty similar to Parker in the post novel Comeback modern era crime adventures he is rougher written in The Outfit with Westlake not showing the intelligence Parker has that he does in other novels. Although Westlake goes into great detail with the crimes against The Outfit by other criminals he doesn't do so to much of an extent with crimes and confrontations involving Parker himself, which is a bit disappointing and if he had done so would have probably made The Outfit the usual length. Chapters are also a lot longer in The Outfit than modern novels. The Outfit definitely isn't a bad read and any fan of this series is going to enjoy it but to be honest you'll enjoy other Parker adventures a lot more.

In The Outfit, with a new face courtesy of a plastic surgeon Parker is not amused when a hired assassin interrupts his relaxing vacation. Parker declares war against the head of American organised crime who contracted the hit. Sending word to all his criminal acquaintances across the USA that they have a green light to hit the soft targets where the proceeds of the mafia are stored as he will get the blame, the powerful mafia outfit starts to take some major hits. Parker of course cannot rest until the head of the organisation has a bullet in his.

As well as other Parker adventures also check out under Westlake's own name his masterpiece solution to being unemployed, The Ax. His novels Corkscrew and the Scared Stiff are also brilliant!

I would also recommend James Pattinson (Pattinson not Patterson), a British author who writes very similar style novels which are also short chaptered and simple but enjoyable reads for those who have read everything Westlake has written so far but want more of this sort of reading. Feast of the Scorpion, Wild Justice, A Car for Mr Bradley, The Time of Your Life, Homecoming The Animal Gang and Crane all have criminal characters very similar to Stark's Parker character. Check them out.

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Not the usual Parker novel

If you cut out the non-Parker material in the middle of this novel, this book would be Westlake's shortest Parker novel. But the parts in the middle, where he details other thieves' hits against the Outfit, is the reason I gave this an extra star. I like the smaller, self-contained stories that contribute to the greater whole of this book's plot.

Also, keep in mind that this is the 3rd book in a small series. You don't have to read them in order, but the arc is more enjoyable if you do. The first book is 'Hunter'. The second book is 'The Man With The Getaway Face'. 'The Outfit' is the finale.

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Don't mess with Parker

The Outfit

"When the woman screamed, Parker awoke and rolled of the bed. He heard the plop
of a silencer behind him as he rolled, and the bullet punched the pillow where his head had been."

"He landed face down on the floor. His stubby , pregnant .32 was clipped to the springs under the bed like a huge black fly standing upside down, and Parker's hand was reaching out for it before he hit the floor"

So begins the Outfit, the third of the Parker books. A series that to date includes:

1) The Hunter (Also published as, "Point Blank")(1963; AKA Point Blank, Payback; Parker, by Richard Stark).
2) The Man with the Getaway Face (Parker Novels)(1963; AKA The Steel Hit; Parker,(1963;
3) The Outfit, (1963 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) Nobody Runs Forever (2004, Parker)
20) Dirty Money (2008, Parker)

The castle was in Buffalo and the king was in the castle. The car was in the pine woods of Georgia and Parker was on the move: slowly plotting his attack on the head of the most powerful criminal outfit that had put a contract on his life. Armed with a new face and the old iron will, Parker is declaring coast-to-coast war. And after Parker's associates pull off twelve robberies in five days against Outfit targets, the man in the castle starts to get the picture. All except one part: with a hot car and a cold tenacity, Parker is coming after him...

Highly recommended for Parker fans and fans of the writing of Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. Some of the dollar amounts might be somewhat dated, but the action is timeless.

You really need to read the first two books to fully appreciate this one.

Gunner March, 2008

P.S. I just orderred Dirty Money his newsest book. Maybe they'll reprint some of these old ones if they get enough demand, hope so.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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 Outfit, Parker goes toe-to-toe with the mob?hitting them with heist after heist after heist?and the entire underworld learns an unforgettable lesson: whatever Parker does, he does deadly.

?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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