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Review
"Parker... lumbers through the pages of Richard Stark's noir novels scattering dead bodies like peanut shells.... In a complex world he makes things simple." - William Grimes, New York Times "Richard Stark's Parker novels... are among the most poised and polished fictions of their time and, in fact, of any time." - John Banville, Bookforum "The Parkers read with the speed of pulp while unfolding with an almost Nabokovian wit and flair." - Richard Rayner, Los Angeles Times "Parker is refreshingly amoral, a thief who always gets away with the swag." - Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly "Whatever Stark writes, I read." - Elmore Leonard"
Product Description
By the time Richard Stark sat down to write "Deadly Edge" in 1971, he'd been chronicling the adventures of his antihero, Parker, for nearly a decade. But it turns out he was just warming up: the next three "Parker" novels would see Stark crank everything up a notch - tightening the writing, heightening the violence, and, most of all, hardening the deadly heister at the books' heart. "Deadly Edge" kicks things off by bidding a brutal adieu to the 1960s: Parker robs a rock concert, but the heist goes sour, and he finds himself - and his woman, Claire - menaced by a pair of sadistic, drug-crazed hippies. Slayground turns the hunter into prey, as Parker gets trapped in a shuttered amusement park, besieged by a bevy of local mobsters. He's low on bullets - but, as anyone who's crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn't mean he's defenseless. Finally, in Plunder Squad, job after job disintegrates into failure and violence, and a rare act of mercy from earlier in the series comes back to bite Parker - hard. These books by Stark reveal a master craftsman working at the height of his powers, and they deserve a place on the bookshelf of every fan of crime fiction.
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9 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
The Misadventures of Parker
22 Jan 2003
Format:Paperback
Unlike the linear "Slayground," the previous volume in the Parker series, Plunder Squad's all over the map. The first half of the book almost reads like a few short stories, linked by Parker's on-going search for someone who tried to kill him. We follow along as Parker goes from one botched job to the next, all the while waiting for any information that will bring him closer to his target.
Once that thread's taken care of, the second half of the book kicks in, and here Parker almost becomes a secondary character. We meet and follow his associates in an art heist, one which starts off fairly well but goes downhill fast. The mob gets involved, and Parker has to figure out a way to get out with both some money and his life.
A quick, enjoyable read, but more of a dark comedy than a crime caper. Doesn't have nearly as much action as "Slayground," but then again it has a more dynamic narrative.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
One of the best
14 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback
Of the original Parker novels by Richard Stark (a.k.a. Donald Westlake), this is one of the best ("The Hunter", "The Score", and "The Sour Lemon Score" being 3 others that round out the top 4). It is the next-to-the-last book in the series' original run and is a joy to read from beginning to end. It starts off as usual with a heist gone bad and then moves along at a quick pace, aided by a series of vignettes that ultimately brings Parker back in touch with a man he left alive who betrayed him on a previous job, George Uhl (from "The Sour Lemon Score"). The reader doesn't get much time with Uhl in this book, but what makes it so hard to put down is the relentless pursuit of Parker for a) a clean job to make some money, and b) killing Uhl like he should have done in the first place.
As mentioned by other reviewers, this book does not follow the typical linear path of most of the Parker novels. The first half of the book is like being on a wild amusement park ride, while the second half plays out with more of a true ensemble cast rather than Parker as the typical chief protagonist.
There are wonderful little "Starkonian" bits sprinkled throughout this book. As is already mentioned, a scene appearing in this novel also appears in a Joe Gores DKA book "Dead Skip". An excellent supporting cast surrounds the main character, too: some great use is made of a girlfriend of one of Parker's potential partners in a couple of short scenes. And the ending is a typical, but well-written Parker ending.
If you like crime thrillers and hard-boiled novels, this one is a must-read.
As mentioned by other reviewers, this book does not follow the typical linear path of most of the Parker novels. The first half of the book is like being on a wild amusement park ride, while the second half plays out with more of a true ensemble cast rather than Parker as the typical chief protagonist.
There are wonderful little "Starkonian" bits sprinkled throughout this book. As is already mentioned, a scene appearing in this novel also appears in a Joe Gores DKA book "Dead Skip". An excellent supporting cast surrounds the main character, too: some great use is made of a girlfriend of one of Parker's potential partners in a couple of short scenes. And the ending is a typical, but well-written Parker ending.
If you like crime thrillers and hard-boiled novels, this one is a must-read.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
A Plunder Squad trivia note
15 Aug 2005
Format:Paperback
It's been years since I read Plunder Squad, but I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Parker/Grofield books in this series by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake). I recall this being one of the better ones, and I think it was the last to appear in the original series from the '60s and '70s.
An interesting dialog takes place in Plunder Squad, when a private detective named Daniel Kearney shows up at Parker's meeting place for planning the heist. Kearney is looking for one of the other characters, so Parker lets them talk to each other. Kearney is the main character from the DKA series by author Joe Gores, who included this scene in one of his books. In Plunder Squad, the dialog takes place from Parker's viewpoint. In the Joe Gores book (Sorry, I forgot which one it was. I read them decades ago.), the dialog takes place from Kearney's viewpoint. In the Gores book, Kearney even refers to the men as the "Plunder Squad" as he's leaving.
It's the little touches like this that make any of the Richard Stark books interesting to read. You should also look for the books featuring Alan Grofield as the main character. The early Parker books were all reprinted in the mid-1980s, but the Grofield books weren't included in the reprint.
It took decades, but Stark took up the series again in the late 1990s. It was worth the wait.
An interesting dialog takes place in Plunder Squad, when a private detective named Daniel Kearney shows up at Parker's meeting place for planning the heist. Kearney is looking for one of the other characters, so Parker lets them talk to each other. Kearney is the main character from the DKA series by author Joe Gores, who included this scene in one of his books. In Plunder Squad, the dialog takes place from Parker's viewpoint. In the Joe Gores book (Sorry, I forgot which one it was. I read them decades ago.), the dialog takes place from Kearney's viewpoint. In the Gores book, Kearney even refers to the men as the "Plunder Squad" as he's leaving.
It's the little touches like this that make any of the Richard Stark books interesting to read. You should also look for the books featuring Alan Grofield as the main character. The early Parker books were all reprinted in the mid-1980s, but the Grofield books weren't included in the reprint.
It took decades, but Stark took up the series again in the late 1990s. It was worth the wait.
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