Ask the Parrot

Ask the Parrot, which was published in 2006, is the latest installment in Richard Stark's (aka Donald E. Westlake) series featuring Parker, a very smart, but not always very successful thief. When the book opens, Parker, who's wanted for a bank robbery in Massachusetts, is fleeing on foot from the police. He's just a few minutes away from having a police dog's canines in his backside when salvation presents itself in the form of a loner with a gun, Tom Lindahl, who figures that having a bank robber around the house for a while could work to his advantage. Lindahl offers Parker a way out and a job opportunity, but the latter comes with risks, of course, and involves Parker in the lives of Lindahl's neighbors to a degree that isn't safe for a man on the run. Ask the Parrot had been sitting on my shelves for about two years before I picked it up. I wish I'd done so earlier. Stark makes his bad guy protagonist sympathetic despite that he's not given a soft side--at least in this outing. Parker is all competence and professionalism. He's quick on his feet but he also always comes to the party prepared. He appeals precisely because of his competence: we want him to succeed because he takes care to do the job right, even if he is squarely on the wrong side of the law. He is not careless of the lives of others, but neither is he over-concerned about them. That is, he's not squeamish about committing murder, he's just unwilling to attract more police attention than is strictly necessary. Somehow, despite his mischief, Parker retains the allure of the tuxedoed gentleman burglar. Stark lets us in on Parker's thought processes as he's sizing up a person or a situation. Maybe it's that window into Parker's mind that helps us identify with him. If nothing else, watching him reason himself out of a tight spot makes for good reading. I confess that I had not read any Parker novels prior to Ask the Parrot. Indeed, I hadn't heard of the series previously. I was delighted to learn when I finished that Stark has published more than twenty previous Parker novels, the first of them, The Hunter, published in 1962. The more the better if they're as good as this one: I'll be happy to get caught up on the master criminal's earlier career. -- Debra Hamel

Although it is a sequel to another book by Richard Stark (pseudonym for Donald Westlake), it is the first in the Parker series that I've read. And it is wonderful. Stark ignores many of the bells and whistles that a lot of crime writers use to 'church up' their stories, and he ignores all of the unnecessary stuff to great effect. I hate to say that this is a crime story on a small scale, but I think it is a very apt way to describe it. There is no 'big score' and no elaborate plan to make the story out to be something that it is not. It is what it is, to use an old cliche. There is no over-explanation or unnecessary explication at the beginning of the novel. It begins and BAM! you're right in the middle of the story. The characters don't really have much internal monologue, which is refreshing. Their actions seem to explain everything to a T, which, in turn, moves the story forward. The characters are subtly three-dimensional, not full of quirks but 'real' nonetheless. If you're a big fan of crime fiction, and of Donald E. Westlake or Ed McBain, I think you'll enjoy 'Ask the Parrot'. Don't let the sort-of corny title fool you, it's a great read. Amazing.

Ask The Parrot (2006) When we last left Parker in Nobody Runs Forever, after a big score, Parker was on the side of a hill out in the woods, with police and police dogs coming up the hill, we wondered if this was the end for Parker ( I guess Stark / Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark wanted us to think that since the title was sort of hinting. Well, in Ask the Parrot we start with Parker in the situation we left him in. Above Parker on the hill is Tom Lindahl, a man with a rifle, supposedly out hunting rabbits. Who hunts rabbits with a rifle? I've only known of people hunting rabbits with a shotgun ( preferably a .410 or a 16 gauge) and a beagle dog. Maybe they do things differently where Stark is from. I think Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark is just playing with us. Maybe he'll get a jury from Los Angeles and get off all together. As usual Stark is very entertaining with his fast paced tough guy. Now Parker, Lindahl and a third guy join the posse looking, for, you guessed it, Parker. Something major happens while out looking. Lindahl wants Parker's help to rob a horse racing track where Lindahl was wrongfully fired from, looks like $100 Large available and Parker needs the money, he presumes the money from the last score is gone since the police have captured some of the other heisters. Highly recommended for Parker fans. I've already pre-ordered the next one, Dirty Money. As far as I can tell the other Parker books are: 1) The Hunter (1963; 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) Nobody Runs Forever (2004, Parker) 20) Ask The Parrot (2006, Parker) 21) Dirty Money (2007) Gunner December 2007

When I'm feeling anti-social nothing perks me up like a Parker novel. Parker is a criminal--he's a bad guy. If it comes down to a contest between you and Parker--you lose. However, Parker is smart. Parker knows that killing brings on the heat worse than anything else. So, if you choose to cross Parker you only need fear death if you are a real threat. Parker is too smart to kill everyone that causes him problems. Therein lies the fun of the Parker novels, we see how someone unencumbered by law chooses to solve the dilemma with logic, finesse and if all else fails--a bullet to the head. It is precisely his disregard for law and conventional standards of behavior that make these novels so fun. Fun? Oh, put away the moral indignation. A Parker novel isn't going to persuade you to adopt a life of larceny. Rather, they help one understand the value of the common bonds of law. Frankly, anyone who can see a lasting peace and enjoyment in Parker's line of work is probably already living the life. In "Ask the Parrot" we see what happens when Parker crosses paths with a straight (i.e. law-abiding citizen) in a time of dire need. Parker's last job went awry and the heat is on. Parker's new friend helps him out. To say more risks spoiling the story and that would be a real crime.

Picking up where 2004's NOBODY RUNS FOREVER left off, this begins with Stark's anti-hero Parker being pursued by cops, police dogs, helicopters, and a large posseafter a bank robbery gone bad. Climbing up the side of a mountain with no apparent means of escape, he runs into an armed townie named Lindhal who offers the criminal a hiding place. But Lindhal has a price. Unjustly fired by the racing track he used to work at, he wants to take his revenge, and he wants the fugitive Parker's help. Like the previous twenty-two Parker adventures, the pleasure in the story comes from watching the sociopath Parker do his thing without remorse or regret, and seeing how normal people react to this walking crimewave. Since empathizing with a hero who kills, tortures, steals, and shows zero emotion is impossible, Stark shows us the dreams, hopes, and fears of the supporting cast. Some of them we like. Some of them we don't. And we never know who Parker is going to kill at any given moment. I read my first Parker book in the early 1980s, and was entranced by the clipped prose, the detailed descriptions of criminal activity, and reading the point of view of someone who is an irredeemable criminal, yet can't be characterized as evil. Parker, who hasn't really evolved much in the last 40 years, is basically the human equivilant of a shark. He isn't malevolent or sadistic. He's simply single-minded in purpose, and his purpose is to survive. Robbery is how he makes his living, and he'll get the job done by any means necessary. Like the previous Parker novels, this one involves a caper where the carefully laid plans get screwed up by human error, and not everyone gets out alive. Parker remains as fresh and as compelling as he was forty years ago, and Stark's genius lies in making us root for the bad guy, even as we fear he's going to kill someone we like. Parker has been portrayed several times in movies (Lee Marvin, Peter Coyote, Robert Duvall, and Mel Gibson have all had a shot at it) and many crime writers, including Max Allan Collins, James Ellroy, Stephen King, and Dan Simmons, have been influenced by Stark, who is really author Donald Westlake. The reason for his longevity and success is obvious: Stark writes great crime novels with an unusual protagonist. ASK THE PARROT is no exception.