Sunday, May 31, 2009

Richard Stark: Back in Print at Last


New series of trade paperback reprints of Donald E. Westlake's hardest-boiled pseudonym. Master thief Parker (no last name) sets up clever score after score, only to be hamstrung by crooked partners, the cops, the mob, bad timing, weird coincidences, & etc. Parker keeps ticking along like a little clockwork toy, trying to adjust to circumstances, to fix things. But every one of his clever solutions invariably makes things worse.

Some of the finest noir novels ever written. Highly recommended.