Dirty Money

The third part of a trilogy does not disappoint, but when did a Parker novel ever really disappoint?? A combination of clever and forceful, Dirty Money resolves the leftover issues of the prior two novels, ties it up neatly, and frees us for the next round of Parker efforts. Terrific.

Parker (one name only) is a professional thief. He's been played in the movies by Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. He's always tough, always a real hardcase, and he doesn't give up on anything. In short, he's my kind of anti-hero. I first made his acquaintance when I was a kid haunting the long book aisles of Conda's Swap Shop, a place where you could find books, hub caps, tools, and car parts. It was the kind of noir place with wooden floors and big sweeping fans. I always thought it was the kind of place where you'd find a man like Parker when he was trying to hide out. For fifteen cents, I picked up Parker novels. It was a steal at that price, and I read those books often. The books carry the byline, Richard Stark. But that's just a pseudonym for Donald Westlake, who's known more for his comedic novels than the rough-and-tumble lifestyle of Parker. If you read books under Westlake's name, you may be surprised to see the difference in the writing styles. Somewhere deep inside, Westlake has the soul of a professional thief. I'm glad that he's starting letting Parker out to play again. DIRTY MONEY picks up with Parker trying to get money from a past armored car robbery that he didn't quite get away with in NOBODY RUNS FOREVER. The last few Parker books have been tied tightly together but spaced two years apart. It's an interesting take, but I like seeing new faces in the Parker books. The way a Parker novel normally works is this: The reader meets Parker and some of the people he's going to be using on the job, almost like a MISSION IMPOSSIBLE scenario. Then the job gets explained. Then the opposition shows up. Invariably, something goes haywire in the job. An unexpected threat shows up or - as happens most of the time - some of the thieves Parker has allied himself with turn out to be too greedy for their own good. Or at least, Parker's own good. DIRTY MONEY is a tad slower-paced than most of the other Parker novels, but the author spends some time exposing the world of money laundering, one of the biggest white collar crimes currently going on. I found it interesting, but I missed the gunplay and the tension. I like the books most when Parker is up against the wall, trying to figure out how to keep himself from getting killed by "partners" or captured by the police or other bad guys. The money from the armored car job has been marked. Parker knows it's not worth recovering. However, there's a money launderer willing to give him a cut on the cash and he'll move it overseas where the marked money won't get found out as easily. From that point on, the book turns into a chess match between Parker, his partners, an FBI agent, and the local police. Maybe the action isn't quite up to par, but this is Parker. I still like watching him work, and Stark/Westlake's pared-down prose reads so easily I was done before I knew it. It's a great book for fans, but I'd recommend reading some of the earlier novels to readers that haven't

Reviewed by Gina Holland for RebeccasReads (4/08) "Dirty Money" is the follow-up novel to "Nobody Runs Forever." "Nobody Runs Forever" is a story about three men who stole the assets of a bank in transit, but the police made it so difficult for them to escape, that they had to hide the money in a unused country church. In this follow-up novel, the three men are trying to get back to where they hid the money, but they are not together. Parker is with his girlfriend, Claire, who doesn't seem to question anything that Parker does or wants to do. Nick is on the run and also headed back for the money, and McWhitney, now owner of a bar, meets up with and is willing to work with Parker on getting the money back. Parker and McWhitney have not seen or heard from Nick. He was nabbed by the police but has now escaped. So the two team up to do what they can to get the money and split it. Also on their trail is a bounty hunter named Sandra, who is willing to let Parker and McWhitney get away with the money if they deal her in on Nick's share. What happens to them along the way is sometimes crazy but also very frightening. This novel was written very well. It keeps the reader intrigued. The threesome of Parker, McWhitney and Sandra are quite interesting. I suspected that Sandra wasn't on the up and up with the others all along, I believed that she was going to turn them in at the end, but you have to read to the end to get a surprise. This novel reveals things that happen in everyday life with bank robbers and all other types of crimes. The author, Richard Stark, really brings to light, what can happen with a crime of this nature. His writing is magnificent. I would definitely read another follow-up to this story as well. "Dirty Money" would probably be good for teen to adult readers. I definitely recommend this Parker Novel for anyone who likes suspense. It was worth the read.

Richard Stark, who is Donald E. Westlake who is Tucker Coe who is Samuel Holt who may just be Ernest Heminway for all I know, has been writing superior crime novels since I was a kid... and I ain't that young. I think he is probably about 137 now. He writes like he's 22. Dirty Money is the third book in a trilogy we didn't even know WAS a trilogy! It rounds out the adventure started in Nobody Runs Forever and digressed about in Ask The Parrot.It is a frighteningly capable and exciting thriller. It has been edited by idiots, but that doesn't matter. It's been written by a giant. Buy it and read it. If you have to choose between the two, buy it.