Customer Reviews

Ask the Parrot

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3 star:		(2)
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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.

Parker has $4,000 in his pocket. Behind him are police--with dogs--determined to take him down for the bank robbery he recently committed. Ahead is a man with a gun...and a proposition.

Tom Lindhal can save Parker from the police, but he needs Parker's help with a plan of his own. Lindhal wants revenge against his former employer, and with Parker's assistance, he thinks he can get it. It looks like a win-win situation--Lindhal gets his revenge and Parker gets away clean, but such things rarely go according to plan.

It is the deviations from plan that provide the most entertainment in Ask the Parrot. The characters of Parker and Lindhal are unique and the interaction between them would be an interesting novel in itself, but twists like Parker becoming involved in his own manhunt in order to stay hidden provide just the right amount of wry humor.

Stark makes it enjoyable to root for the "bad guy" even as we know he's doing the wrong thing and deserves to be caught and punished. Parker is a marvelous protagonist, completely unapologetic for who he is and what he does, and yet readers will still be on his side.

Ask the Parrot is gritty and hard and feels real even in the funny parts. It's not gory or full of unnecessary jokes or gratuitous anything, just hard, tight storytelling that grabs the reader and doesn't let go.

Armchair Interviews says: Every bit is interesting; every bit leaves you wanting more--even the last page.

The name "Parker" represents a lot of pleasure for this mystery and thriller fan: it's the name of a favorite author- Robert B. Parker- who several times a year delivers thoughtful, fast-paced novels featuring a variety of tough guy (and girl!) protagonists. It's also the name of Richard Stark's professional thief character, who every year or two undertakes a dangerous, complicated caper for our reading pleasure. "Ask the Parrot" is no exception, and it has the added bonus of a slightly different feel, a slightly more edgy situation, than we've seen in the past. Here, you see, Parker is coming off the cliffhanger ending of the previous entry- "Nobody Runs Forever"- so first he has to deal with all the cops on his tail from that story before getting involved in the new caper featured here. And when the new caper commences, he still has to deal with the threat of capture from the old caper that blew up in his face. It's all great, page-turning stuff, laced with all the usual Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) reliables: dangerous situations; edgy, no-nonsense prose; wry observations about the quirks of American society; and vivid characterizations, often of life's losers, near-losers, and fringe characters. Twenty-some books strong now, this series is still a dynamite read.

Commencing over a quarter-century ago, Richard Stark's Parker series has been a reliably dark, existential template of how the task of genre writing should be performed. While each volume is carried by a comfortably predictable plotline --- Parker commits a crime, escapes jeopardy and commits another crime --- there is a rough, unpredictable thread running through each and every paragraph, a hint that this, or perhaps the next, event that takes place may spell the end to Parker and to the series.

Stark's prose in ASK THE PARROT is consistent with his other work; it is not grandiose, but its clean, dark narrative voice compels and propels. Though the book picks up where 2004's NOBODY RUNS FOREVER leaves off, it is not necessary to have read that work or, for that matter, any of the previous Parker novels to fully appreciate what occurs here. You learn all you need to know almost immediately: Parker is a bad guy who does bad things when he has to and kills when he must; he is the ultimate pragmatist without regret. Stark, as is his wont, has teased and toyed with classic plot devices in prior Parker novels, and does so once again in ASK THE PARROT.

In a brilliant maneuver, Stark (aka Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Donald E. Westlake) introduces a deus ex machina character named Tom Lindahl at the beginning of the story. Lindahl rescues Parker from almost certain capture by the authorities, who are pursuing Parker in the aftermath of a disastrous bank heist. Lindahl is leading a bitterly reclusive existence in rural Massachusetts, nursing anger and plotting revenge against his former employer, a race track that fired him when he discovered and revealed financial improprieties that were taking place on the premises. He has a strategy to gain a cold measure of revenge against the track, but he lacks the nerve to execute it.

When fate deposits Parker practically at Lindahl's doorstep, it is as if Lindahl's prayers have been answered. Parker is intrigued with Lindahl's story and his plan, but Parker still has to contend with the manhunt that swirls around him (count Parker's evasion plan as another stroke of genius on the author's part), as well as Lindahl's occasionally surfacing reticence, and twin brothers who aren't smart enough to track a train but nonetheless recognize Parker for who, if not what, he is.

One senses after reading ASK THE PARROT that Parker's extended run of luck could be coming to an end, though this might occur in any number of ways, with various results. The only certainty one might anticipate is that such an ending, should it ever happen, will not be predictable in occurrence or outcome. We can only hope that this takes place later rather than sooner.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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.

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

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At the end of the previous novel in the Parker series, Nobody Runs Forever, Parker is being followed by police and their hounds while climbing a hill to escape capture. In Ask The Parrot, Parker is rescued by a local man, Tom Lindahl, who has heard about the robbery and wants help in committing his own crime.

Tom Lindahl was fired from his job at a racetrack because he "blew the whistle" on their illegal contributions to politicians. Although the racetrack escaped prosecution, they still fired Lindahl. Lindahl has been upset and depressed. Tom wants revenge.

Most of this book is about the rural local area where Lindahl lives. Parker is introduced as an old friend of Tom's, and at first the local community accepts him. The state police ask for volunteers to help search the countryside for the escaped bank robbers and Parker joins the posse.

Soon some local people become suspicious and actually tell Parker they believe him to be one of the robbers. Parker and Tom stall briefly and accelerate their plans to rob the racetrack.

What starts as a simple story of hiding out while planning to rob a racetrack, becomes a complex plot with several threatening sub-plots. Some people decide they want to profit from knowing the escaping criminal.

Ask The Parrot is a fine crime novel, with well defined characters and detailed descriptions of the countryside in rural New York. It is full of suspense and intrigue. I recommend this book.

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.

Two years ago, when we last saw Parker -- the tough as nails anti-hero of Richard Stark's novels -- it looked like it was the end. A bank job had turned sour and the lawdogs were nipping at his heels. ASK THE PARROT takes up immediately following that book, and Parker meets a man named Tom Lindahl at the top of the hill. Thinking that Lindahl is there hoping to bag a bank robber, Parker is thrown offguard when he finds out the man instead wants to go into business with him. To rob the racetrack where Lindahl was fired years ago. And Lindahl has the perfect plan. As long as Parker doesn't get caught by the police.

Richard Stark is a pseudonym for Donald Westlake. Parker started out in a novel back in 1962 called THE HUNTER. Then it was changed to POINT BLANK when Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson did the movie back in 1967. It was changed to PAYBACK when Mel Gibson did that movie based on the book. Parker's had a long and lively career, and is likey to continue to do so.

ASK THE PARROT is a terrific read. Fast-paced, filled with plenty of local color and realistic characters, the book kept me reading long after I should have been in bed. The dialogue is spot on, and the situations Parker gets into (and more importantly, HOW he gets out of them) come naturally from the overall problem rather than being grafted on or appearing conveniently.

This is Stark (Westlake) at his best, playing with one of the characters he's well acquainted with. Two years ago, it looked like curtains for Parker, but now we know the big guy is still out there, still looking for the perfect score. I can't wait till the next book comes out.