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"Whatever Stark writes, I read. He's a stylist, a pro, and I thoroughly enjoy his attitude." - Elmore Leonard "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 "Parker is a true treasure.... The master thief is back, along with Richard Stark." - Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review "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"
Product Description
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.
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First Sentence
When the woman screamed, Parker awoke and rolled off the bed. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
When the woman screamed, Parker awoke and rolled off the bed. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Tangling with the Mob, you think even Parker can't wind up on top. Read on...
Stark writes so tough, you wonder how other people get away with selling small talk as tough talk. Compare with Chandler, and Chandler is mostly chat.
Stark writes so tough, you wonder how other people get away with selling small talk as tough talk. Compare with Chandler, and Chandler is mostly chat.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Crime Fights Organised Crime
2 Dec 2002
Format:Paperback
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.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Don't mess with Parker
12 Mar 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels), (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.
"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: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels), (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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Parker vs The Mob
14 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Outfit, otherwise known as the Syndicate, starts this story by trying to kill Parker. The hit man attempts the action while Parker is sleeping, but Parker reverses the action and eliminates the assassin. Such begins Richard Stark's third Parker crime mystery.
Parker is one of my favorite characters. I do not like Parker for his occupation (master criminal and robber) nor for his typical methods (he often kills a few people during his heists). I like Parker's personality and discipline. Parker says little and means exactly what he says (sort of a Clint Eastwood in "spaghetti westerns"). Parker is direct, follows a strict code (targets only the rich and never hurts weak or disadvantaged people), and always acts like a gentleman.
In "The Outfit", Parker decides that he needs to handle his problem with organized crime. So our master planner attempts to cut a deal with the big bosses of crime. When he meets heavy resistence, he decides to change the leadership of the outfit. Can he do it? Can Parker actually cause a revolution within the Outfit and get a better deal from new leaders? Parker's plan is pure genius in its simplicity. Parker knows the weakness in Mob security and exploits it, Parker know what the mob usually plains and devises cleaver way to dismantle security and provide Parker and his partners excelled access to armoires .....
The Outfit is a short book with a lot of action. Richard Stark keeps us "briefed" in all the action. We observe both the planning and the execution of numerous criminal actions. The ongoing suspense continually rivets our attention.
The "Outfit" is a fine mystery filled with plots, schemes, and suspenseful action. I recommend this book.
Parker is one of my favorite characters. I do not like Parker for his occupation (master criminal and robber) nor for his typical methods (he often kills a few people during his heists). I like Parker's personality and discipline. Parker says little and means exactly what he says (sort of a Clint Eastwood in "spaghetti westerns"). Parker is direct, follows a strict code (targets only the rich and never hurts weak or disadvantaged people), and always acts like a gentleman.
In "The Outfit", Parker decides that he needs to handle his problem with organized crime. So our master planner attempts to cut a deal with the big bosses of crime. When he meets heavy resistence, he decides to change the leadership of the outfit. Can he do it? Can Parker actually cause a revolution within the Outfit and get a better deal from new leaders? Parker's plan is pure genius in its simplicity. Parker knows the weakness in Mob security and exploits it, Parker know what the mob usually plains and devises cleaver way to dismantle security and provide Parker and his partners excelled access to armoires .....
The Outfit is a short book with a lot of action. Richard Stark keeps us "briefed" in all the action. We observe both the planning and the execution of numerous criminal actions. The ongoing suspense continually rivets our attention.
The "Outfit" is a fine mystery filled with plots, schemes, and suspenseful action. I recommend this book.
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