Book Review: The Score

I don't always read crime novels, but when I do, I prefer a Richard Stark Parker novel.

Beer commercial spoofs aside, it's true, I like me some crime noir, especially the variety written by Richard Stark.  I've already read and reviewed The Hunter, and The Outfit and both were awesome.  So, when the craving came for some more crime readin' I figured I should dive back in.   For those of you who are up on things in the comic world you'll notice that the novels I've read in this series coincide with the  graphic novels that Darwyn Cooke has adapted.  Sure, I haven't read any of those yet, but I hope to one day, but not before reading the books first.

The Score is probably my favorite in the Parker series so far.  It is a novel that is very straight forward and simple in design, but quite complex when it comes to actual details.

The format of The Score is one that will be familiar to anyone who has seen Ocean's Eleven, or any of it's sequels.  It goes like this:  Our hero, or more accurately, the criminal that we root for, Parker, has been given a job proposal: to knock off an entire town, and make off with a few hundred thousand in cash.  Though the caper sounds impossible, is plagued by what-ifs, and numerous intangibles, the potential score is too much to resist and Parker decides to take the job.  From there it is a matter of assembling the right crew, and figuring out all the details so as to limit the risk involved.  Then you get to the really good part where the big caper goes down, and you have no idea how it's all gonna turn out.

This "proposition-plan-plan in action" sequence is tried, true and maybe a little tired out, but it has never been done so well as Stark does it here...and he did it waaaay before those Brad Pitt/George Clooney films.  Especially when it comes to the part where the gang tries to pull off the caper.  Maybe it's the fact that I've never seen, or read a crime story where the crooks try to rob an entire town and get away clean as a whistle but it sure makes for an awesome read.

Stark is scarily good with detailing out how the crime goes down.  This isn't a knock on the man's character or anything, but he really seems to know a lot of tricks of the criminal trade...to the point that you might think he has extensive experience as a criminal himself.  He was probably too busy writing bad-ass crime stories to lead a life of crime, but he sure brings that whole crime world stuff to vivid life on the page and gives the story an air of authenticity. It's fascinating.

This novel has a greater focus on the art of conceiving and pulling off the big score than past Parker novels which had a blend of crime and Parker being an all around cold-hearted bad-ass.  In The Score, he's more of a mastermind and jack of all trades criminal trying to make a buck.  He sorta takes a back seat to the action going on around him.  This is easily the least character driven novel of the three Parker  books I've read, but that's not a bad thing.  This one is all about creating the perfect crime out of a nearly impossible task.

True to Richard Stark form; there's a couple of nice twists along the way to keep readers from getting too comfortable and keep things interesting.  For my monety, The Score provided the perfect scratch to my crime itch.  I'm a perfect three for three with Richard Stark's Parker novels, so it seems pretty likely that I'll be reading more somewhere down the road.  If you are looking for a quick yet quality read that will provide a bit of a breather from your usual reading niche?  Look no further.

Grade: A

Review: The Outfit

Richard Stark's The Outfit is the author's third novel featuring his harder-than-hardboiled criminal, Parker.  I read the first Parker novel, The Hunter, last August and found it to be right up my crime alley.

Since the events of The Hunter, where Parker claimed some past-due cash from a powerful nation-wide crime syndicate, he's changed his face and his name, hoping to live out his days soaked in liquor, with the company of a fine woman, but when The Outfit makes an attempt on his life, Parker realizes his cover is blown and it's time to get even.

Of course when Parker "gets even" it really means that he really and truly fucks some shit up.

Parker decides that if The Outfit is gonna try to take him down, then he's gonna take down The Outfit, or at least their boss.  To go about this, he enlists the help of some friends.  In Parker's line of business his "friends" tend to be fellow criminals, so with a few letters he's got people across the country hitting The Outfit with heist after heist, leaving the mobsters reeling.  The chaos created by the heists presents Parker with a golden opportunity to teach The Outfit a deadly lesson.

The Outfit is one extremely fun novel to read.  I think I devoured this one in about three sittings.   Once the ball gets rolling and Stark describes some of the heists that get put on various parts of The Outfit's many illicit sources of income, I couldn't put this book down.  What really sucked me in was the art of each heist.  The people pulling off the heists are professional criminals, and they handled their jobs like pros: nice and clean.  I really enjoyed reading how they planned out the job, and carried it out.  The descriptions of how the illegal rackets functioned, and the way they were so professionally knocked off made me wonder if Stark had a past life in organized crime.  That sense of realism is what makes these Parker books so great for me; I feel like I'm getting an insider look at the crime underworld.

Not only are the exploits of Parker a hell of a lot of fun to read, but it should be noted that Richard Stark is a talented writer.  He is a true stylist.  He imparts an attitude and hard nosed demeanor to the novel which gives it a great gritty, noir feel.  Style is something that is missing from a lot of author's repertoires these days so it is nice to read something by a master of style.  

Though the Parker stories are sequential, I don't feel like I missed too much by skipping over the second novel a jumping right into the third.  Stark provides a nice, short description of the pertinent events from the first two novels to catch a reader quickly up to speed with what has been going on with Stark.  For that reason, I feel like you could get away with reading the Parker novels out of order and be more or less fine.

Thanks to these Parker novels, and some great crime comics I've been enjoying I find myself becoming more and more a fan of the crime genre.  I love me a no nonsense hardboiled crime story, so if you are like me, (awesome),  these Parker novels are great.  Highly recommended.

Grade: A

Review: The Hunter

The Hunter by Richard Stark

The Hunter is a novel that drips with style and takes no prisoners. This is Crime Noir at its finest. The novel follows the ruthless anti-hero Parker on his quest for payback. Parker is a crook, a heister, a thief, and he is damn good at his job. After a high paying job that had him working with some crooks he didn't fully trust, Parker planned to cross his partners, kill them, and take the money for himself. However, he wasn't expecting a double-cross, and he certainly wasn't expecting it to be his wife who did the crossing. Shot, and left for dead in a burning house, Parker survives, but is picked up by the police for vagrancy and given a six month sentence. Parker serves four, kills a guard and makes his escapes, heading toward New York to catch up with his wife and the man who took his money. Along the way Parker cheats, robs, forges, frauds and kills to get payback.

In The Hunter, Stark tells his story of gritty redemption from two points of view. Mainly we follow Parker, and his exploits as he seeks revenge, but for a brief part of the novel, Stark switches things up and we see events unfold through the eyes of Mal, the man who stole Parker's wife and money. Mal is meant to be the "bad-guy" but in an interesting twist, he is probably a better all around person than the anti-hero Parker. His motivations and machinations are all for a reason, and as I read, I thought I might have done the same had I been in Mal's shoes.

All of Stark's characters are well developed though Parker and Mal stood out as the most life-like. Stark has a knack for character building, giving them flaws and nuances that make them jump off the page. I had strong images in my head of what they were like, how their voices sounded, and even how their personalities led them to act or react given certain situations. I'm a fan of well written characters, and The Hunter definitely provides.

Where this novel really shines is in its style. Hardboiled only just barely begins to describe this book. Parker is one hard man, and he does some very bad things to get what he wants. These scenes are delivered by Stark with unapologetic realism. The man can not be accused of pulling his punches. There's a high degree of grit between these pages, and while that isn't for everyone, it only further endeared the novel to me. I loved Stark's prose style; it was spot on and fit perfectly for the story.

All in all, I really loved this novel. It was my first Richard Stark experience, but there are a slew of other Parker novels, and I see myself dipping back into this series again before too long. Despite being published in the early 60's, this book felt very fresh, and nothing felt too dated, nor was there a "cheese factor" that is often evident in dated genre material. I'm not exactly a mystery, or crime noir buff, but I'd say this stuff is gotta read material if that is your thing. If you are like me and every so often find yourself in need of a dark, gritty crime fix, I don't think you could do much better. The Hunter is awesome stuff.

Grade: A