| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.35
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Slayground: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.35, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Product Description
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
When a heist goes wrong, career criminal Parker finds himself trapped in an abandoned amusement park with corrupt local officials and the local mafia closing in. The results are typically violent and intensely gripping.
Parker's character is absolutely amoral; out for himself and no one else. He won't hurt you but only because you don't matter and God help anyone who gets in his way. But still you root for him because his motives are clear, understandable and perhaps they even reflect a little something in all of us.
With its singular locations, its spare narrative and its plot sripped of anything that's unnecessary, Slayground is tight and effective; the literary equivalent of a superior and intelligent action movie.
The tension never lets up. Will the bad guys find Parker's stash? Will they corner him? Can he pull another trick out of his bag? Will the scaffolding hold?
I am always baffled when people complain of lack of characterization in Parker novels. To me, the beauty is being right inside Parker's head when he meticulously plans his heists, revenge, and plans. True, we never read of honor, sensitivity, introspection, and love for the very good reason Parker possesses none of these traits. I always think Parker would be a totally successful CEO of a giant corporation if he had taken up another line of work.
"Slayground" is vintage Parker, hard-boiled, violent and as perfectly crafted as a fine watch.
Slayground is highly entertaining. It's a little unrealistic at times, such as a scene in the park's theatre and surely Parker could have made his own second exit from one of those that is boarded up for the winter, especially when he realises no one is immediately entering the park after he did. However we wouldn't have this great read, if Parker had simply climbed the fence.
This novel can easily be read as a standalone story, as none of the previous Parker novels' plots are given away in this one. It's a simple survivor against the odds novel so you don't need to have read those either to understand or enjoy this one either. If you're reading these in order though the next in the series is Plunder Squad.
The narrative is as linear as an old pulp novel. The book opens with an armored truck robbery that quickly goes wrong. Parker, alone, escapes with a satchel of money by climbing the fence of a nearby amusement park, which is closed for the winter. Parker walks right into a meeting between a local mob boss and a few crooked cops. Parker escapes into the park, only to find there's no other way out. And he can't just leave, because he knows those mobsters out there will be waiting for him. He also knows that soon enough they'll realize he's the robber being mentioned in the news reports, the robber who has seventy grand on him. So Parker sets up as many traps as he can in the park. That night the mobsters come in after him, and what follows is a nail-biting thriller that would be fit for the screen, if not for its single-track mind and lack of subplot. It's survival of the fittest all the way, as Parker does whatever he can to [detour] anyone who comes after him, and escape with his life.
The novel itself doesn't start out so linear, as first we follow Parker through his botched robbery, and then we go back to before the robbery, and meet each of the mobsters and crooked cops. Once these pleasantries are out of the way, it's straight-up action and adventure time. Parker is his usual cold, calculating, monosyllabic self, and the assortment of mobsters and cops after him are each well-drawn and memorable. There are also several reversals and surprises strewn through the plot, such as when Parker "lucks out" and kills the last person you'd expect him to. However, what at first seemed like a lucky break soon turns out to be Parker's misfortune.
All in all, Slayground is an entertaining, quick read, but has apparently not yet been reprinted. I'd suggest finding a copy at your local library, instead of paying a fortune for a used edition.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
