Payback

The Hunter This is the book where Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark introduces us to Parker in 1962. After re-reading the book after thitysomething years I realize that Lee Marvin was probably cast as a truer version of Parker. Danny DeVito would have been a good messenger and James Gandolfini would have made a better Mal Resnick. The ending was changed for the movie, but what the hey, that's Hollywood. I think I'll reread them all as my next project. They're that good. I think Sam Elliott would make a great Parker. He could make a whole career out of this series. As far as I can tell the other Parker books are: 1) The Hunter (1962; 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) Flashfire (2000; Parker, by Richard Stark).. 20) Firebreak (2001; Parker, by Richard Stark) .. 21) Nobody Runs Forever (2004) Parker, by Richard Stark Highly recommended for Parker fans and fans of action adventure stories. Gunner December, 2007

The Hunter (also known by it's movie names of Point Blank or Payback) is the beginning of the "Parker" series written by Donald E. Westlake under the penname of Richard Stark. These were paperback originals in a noir crime vein with Parker as the master thief and organizer of major robberies. Written from the early 60's through the mid-70's, the first 12 or so novels became cult classics especially popular with prisoners! DEW resumed the series due to popular demand in the 90's and has completed about 4 more with 1 more just being released. The writing style is stripped-down for fast action and none of the characters seems to have any conscience, least of all Parker. About half of the jobs Parker is involved in go bad due to unforseen problems like greed and betrayal, so murder (but only out of necessity) and revenge are common themes. This series has been reprinted over and over as new readers discover Parker and his single-minded focus on robbery to maintain his quietly luxurious but anonymous lifestyle. Serious literature? NO! Great fun for the crime novel fan? YES!

My first exposure to the character of Parker was the 1960's movie "Point Blank." Great film and the Mel Gibson version, "Payback" isn't bad either. (Tough as Mel is, he's still no Lee Marvin.) Having said that, neither of these movies correctly depicts Parker as the mean cat he truly is. There is a whole series of these books, and I have begun the task of collecting all of them, not easy since many are out of print. If you like hard boiled fiction like Andrew Vachss or Jim Thompson I highly reccomend the Parker series.

I found about Westlake recently from the "Resevoir Dogs" DVD Bonus disc. I read "Hot Rock" and enjoyed it. So, I decided to tryout Stark. I'd seen both "Point Blank" and "Payback." So, I knew the gist of what was going to happen in the book. I was blown away, though, by how much better this was than either movie version. I'm glad Stark was talked out of killing Parker off at the end of this book. I cannot get enough of this character. Stark's up there with Walter Mosely and James Ellroy, in my opinion.

I read this in two short days. This book is great and makes you want to read more Parker novels. Parker is as hard boiled as it gets. Even in a world of killers, hookers, robbers, etc. He is hard boiled even to them. One thing that amazed me was how faithful the Mel Gibson movie is to this book. Read this and see the movie.