Customer Reviews

Comeback

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Professional thief Parker returns in this suspenseful tale of a caper gone wrong. Parker, with fellow thieves Liss and Mackey, conspires to rob the coffers of the Christian Crusade, part of the ministry of the Reverend William Archibald. Despite some last minute nerves on the part of their inside man, the robbery proceeds smoothly, and the trio makes off with nearly half a million dollars in cash.

After the crooks go to ground, one of their number tries to rob the rest. An ever wary Parker foils this attempt but fails to subdue his former ally. Parker and the remaining gang member must evade the traitor, the police, and Reverend Archibald's minions to escape with their lives and the money.

Comeback, Richard Stark's (aka Donald E. Westlake's) first Parker novel after an almost unendurable twenty three year hiatus, is a hard boiled novel of suspense comparable to the other highly entertaining entries in this series. Told using Stark's trademark framework--three quarters of the novel is from Parker's point of view, one quarter from the individual points of view of all the other principal characters--the novel delivers all the action, violence and surprises fans of this series have come to expect. Stark and Parker--perfect together!

Donald E. Westlake's alter ego Richard Stark's Parker character is back along with Mackey and Brenda from other Parker classics. Comeback is another can't put down until the final page easy to read action packed thriller. Comeback is a novel both fans of and new readers to Westlake under his or his pen name Stark will read over and over again. Short chapters make putting it down when you reluctantly have to a breeze as well. As well as other Parker adventures also check out under Westlake's own name his masterpiece solution to being unemployed, The Ax. His novels Corkscrew and the Scared Stiff are also brilliant!

In Comeback Parker, Mackey and Brenda team up with a villain named Liss whose parol officer Tom Carmody dresses up as an angel as part of a Christian con artist Evangelist stadium show. Carmody is disillusioned that the reverend is not giving the money to the needy but spending it on himself and wants to rob the production of its $400 000 in gate takings to give to the poor. Of course Liss, Parker, Mackey and Brenda have no intention of splitting the money with Carmody, in fact Liss has no intention of letting his colleagues live which of course Parker can not let him get away with. Further complicating the matter are a group of low intelligent young guys who think they can just take the money from the gang. Ex marine but equally low intelligence head of security for the Christian Festival also makes this great novel even more exciting!

Comeback

Comeback is significant because Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark came back to writing Parker novels after a hiatus of some twenty years or so. I say welcome back.

Thiis story is ripped from today's headlines. A TV evangelist who uses a stadium to preach from has an "Angel" who is unhappy with all the money being raised and spent on the preacher himself. Can you say Altanta Mega churches? Any how, as usual the heist doesn't go exactly as planned. I particularly like the part where the preacher pays Parker a thousand dollars to find and recover his 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) 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 November, 2007

Professional thief Parker is taken to task as he finds himself in the middle of a robbery gone wrong.

As in many other books, the eminently practical Parker is betrayed by a fellow thief, and the betrayal puts all of them at heightened risk.

Parker displays a wide array of skills in this book, and I would have to put it near the top of the list of the half dozen Parker adventures I have read.

The trademarks are all there; the tightly paced action, the unexpected but believable plot twists, and the flowing narrative that keep us turning pages.

The story begins with a planned armed robbery of a traveling preacher, whose religious showmanship has built up an enterprise worth millions. After things go wrong, Parker finds himself adrift in a small town where a stranger like himself is bound to be questioned. He's in conflict with the locals, a couple of other thieves, and a worthy opponent in the religious organization's security chief. His goal is to get the money, and get out of town.

At different points of the book, Parker finds himself alone and unprotected in two different enemy camps, and his always-innovative actions have never been more fascinating. His brand of cold-blooded practicality, fueled by a mind specially trained to see all the angles, is a thrill to read about.

If you haven't read a Parker novel yet, this is a good one to cut your teeth on, and if you're a fan who's deciding on your next read, prioritize Comeback. It's Stark at his best.

I just finished COMEBACK by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. It was a heist novel starring "Parker" , the thief from Stark's novels written in the 1970's. It was great to see Parker back in this updated adventure. I hope Westlake writes more of them. In this book, Parker and his crew rip off a TV Preacher during his stadium show. Doublecrosses, violence, and cat-and-mouse games ensue. Westlake never gives the name of the city that 99% of the action takes place, but he seems to be dropping many clues. Its not California, the Midwest, Memphis or Baltimore. Can anyone tell me the setting for this novel? My guess is Philadelphia, although I can't be certain. Anyway, go out and read this book. Make some noise about it, too, so Westlake writes some more. This wasn't the best Parker novel ever, but it was head and shoulders above most of the crime novels written today. Also, if you are intersted in seeing where Quentin Tarantino got many of his ideas, read other Parker novels.

Parker is a heister, a man who plans and carries out major thefts with the help of other heisters, chosen for the job at hand. He is unabashedly a crook. The stakes are real -- if you are hurt on a job, you will likely be killed by your partners who want to ensure their safety.

In this book, Parker is ripping off a televangelist, at a stadium prayer revival. Things start going wrong after his team gets the money. The story is gripping, and a fast read. The author stays true to the characters and situation.

There is an entire genre of fiction -- Block's hitman series, Max Allan Collins' Quarry novels, and these fine novels about Parker -- that involve criminal men acting within their criminal impulses in adventurous situations. For some reason I am drawn to these stories -- they offer no moral redemption, but have a hard boiled honesty about the human condition. And they are fun to read. probably because your average white bread suburbanite loves to imagine a transgressive life of adventurous crime.

After seeing the movie Payback, I decided to delve into some of the new Parker novels and this was the first one. I enjoy any plot that includes robbing snake-oil salesmen (an evangelist) and dishonor among theives so this book was very enjoyable. The writing style is sparse and moving so it is a light read, but the style lends itself to being predictable. So little detail is included that when it is given by the author, you know that it is somehow going to be involved later. All in all, if you enjoy reading tight, well-written novels from the criminal's perspective, then you will enjoy this novel. Parker is a talented, harsh theif who knows how to remain focused and finish the job even with things spinning out of control. Though this novel doesn't demonstrate just how hard Parker can be, you get enough of a taste to know if you want to read more.

"When the angel opened the door," reads the first line of this novel, "Parker stepped first past the threshold into the darkness...." It's a wonderful beginning, plunging us into the fast-paced and dangerous underworld of "mechanics": professional criminals whose honor extends only as far as it's useful.

The set-up is simple: four crooks team up to rob a televangelist whose travelling crusade is playing the stadium of a small midwestern city. With the help of an inside man, the job's a cinch, and it nearly goes off without a hitch, netting these mechanics over $400,000 in small, unmarked bills. But as soon as this criminal team makes its ingenious getaway, the betrayals begin.

Donald E. Westlake, a prolific writer, is best known for his comic caper novels featuring Dortmunder, the ever-beset thief whose plans always go awry. But Comeback is written under an old nom-de-plume, Richard Stark, and its hero is Parker, a gunmetal-cold operator whose pragmatism doesn't flinch from murder.

As the crooks maneuver to see who can get away both alive and flush with loot, the police circle ever closer to nabbing them. And the plot thickens when some hapless punks decide to elbow in on the score while the televangelist's own ex-military "security chief" begins to follow some leads of his own. Throw in a definitely on-edge detective and a libidinous and buxom choir-leader, and you've got one hell of a hard-boiled stew. And just when you think Parker's soup is cooked, the pot is tipped and our hero is spilled into the fire.

But Parker is no shrinking violet. At one point in the novel, as he is surrounded and unarmed, a character even says to him, "By God, you're sure of yourself." Parker's response is non-verbal but refreshingly direct. In an age where the flawed and self-doubting hero has become such a cliche, it's a kick to follow the exploits of a man whose only reservations regard his chances of survival, not his motives.

Westlake (or Stark, if you prefer) has constructed a taut and entertaining piece of pulp that manages to utilize the conventions of crime fiction without becoming wholly conventional. And the setting for the book's climactic confrontation between Parker and his nemesis is, literally, a cliffhanger.

True, it ain't Joyce or Faulkner, but, on its own pulpy terms, Comeback is just as masterful. And we all need a little roughage in our diets.

Parker is the real thing.If u r tired of the make believe heroes of the late 80's and the 90's,take a trip to memory lane,25 to 30 years ago.Check out Stark's novels and go home happy.The characters are real,everyday people,there is no good and evil.It's in the eye of the beholder,not beautified or politically correct.Hail to Parker.Enough said.

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Richard Stark waited twenty five years to return Parker to action. The anti-hero arrives as clever as before and possibly a bit tougher.

Comeback starts where Butcher's Moon ended. Parker is in need of money and joins a term to steal a huge bundle. This is a dream hit. A corrupt preacher is getting wealthy feeding off simple religious people. Parker's team finds a flaw in security and robs the preacher of over 400 thousand dollars. Mistakes foul the score.

Huge scores tend to breed betrayal. One of the crew attempts to kill the rest of the team and keep all the loot for himself. Parker thwarts the hit but when the escape plan is ruined, can't avoid a battle with the traitor, the police, and the preacher's security.

The traitor is as clever as Parker and maybe as tough. The resulting war is impressive.

Comeback is a novel of action and suspense. Comeback is as good as Butcher's Moon and better that most action adventures. I highly recommend this novel.