Customer Reviews

Flashfire

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4 star:		(5)
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This was my introduction to the work of Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) and I just loved Parker. The character is a compelling blend of bad guy with good reason that reminded me powerfully of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley. It's quite a feat to put the reader squarely on the side of someone who, basically, is not a nice person. Highsmith did it; Stark/Westlake has done it, too. The man is a fine writer, with the gift of economy; no unnecessary descriptions, just pure driving narrative and vivid characterizations. I plan to get all the previous Parker books just as soon as I finish writing this review. Highly recommended.

Donald E. Westlake may be known primarily for his comedic crime novels, particularly the Dortmunder series, but when writing as Richard Stark displays a much darker personality. Stark's Parker novels were on a long sabatical, but in the past few years have come back strong. The latest book has a relatively straight forward plot in which Parker attempts to get even with a crime gang he hooked up with before a parting of the ways. The Parker novels have some humor, but there is no mistaking the hard edge of the lead character who will kill at a moment's notice if things don't go his way. A Parker novel is best described as hard, and this one is no exception. The title refers to the modus operandi used by a crime gang when pulling of bank heists or a really big jewelry job. Parker feels cheated out of his share of the former caper, and plots to get even with his former cronies. Parker needs money to realize his scheme, and goes on a crime spree, netting more money than originally at stake, before heading to Palm Beach, the site of the novel's main action. Some readers may find the crime spree more interesting than the later action. In addition to the main plot, there is a subplot threatening Parker's life that has the potential to change the entire direction of the book.

Fans of Westlake's lighter crime books should definitely check out the Stark novels. Those who saw Mel Gibson in Payback, an early Parker novel may be surprised that Parker is not the anti-hero type, but a flat-out criminal and killer (when necessary).

About two hundred miles from Omaha, Parker and his three cohorts rob a bank with Parker causing the diversion with a nearby firebomb. After succeeding in this endeavor Parker's partners blithely inform him that they need his share of the loot as seed money to conduct a bigger heist on an island near Palm Beach, Florida. However, his former accomplices make one mistake when they abscond with Parker's portion of the booty, the trio leaves Parker alive.

Besides Parker wanting his money, no one cheats him out of his due so he follows Melander, Carlson, and Ross to Florida. He plans to trump his former friends by doing the jewelry job they were set to perform. However, Parker has also has blundered because someone not only recognizes him, but wants him dead.

FLASHFIRE is an excellent Parker tale that marks the return one of the great anti-heroes in American mystery literature. The story line is entertaining due to the lead character's criminal abilities that Richard Stark effortlessly brings alive in the well-written, fast-paced plot. Fans and new readers will enjoy this tale while seeking out previous books and movies (that both go back to the sixties) of a legendary protagonist.

Harriet Klausner

Everything went according to plan. If the heist was a little flashier than Parker ordinarily liked, it still got the job done. The problems began when it came time to settle up. Rather than pay him his full share, Parker's three co-conspirators informed him that they were "borrowing" his take. They needed it as seed money for a big job in Palm Beach, so they left him high and dry. That was their first mistake. Their biggest mistake, though, was leaving him alive.

Richard Stark's intriguingly misanthropic master thief is back for yet another hard boiled adventure and it's a very good one. Bouncing back from the disappointing "Backflash," this time out the author has his noir chops finely honed. He keeps the prose appropriately stark and close to the bone. That's just what Parker's stories require. He is not a man who lives in a world of many colors or flavors and this book reflects that in its writing.

The plot is swift and uncomplicated, allowing us to appreciate Parker's brilliant criminal instincts and disdain for conventional morality. It takes a good writer to make a person who's not very likable into a convincing protagonist and Stark does a top notch job of it. It doesn't hurt that most of the people Parker meets, criminal or not, are just as crooked as he is.

"Flashfire" makes for an excellent, quick summer read.

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Like a few earlier Parker novels, Flashfire begins with a successful robbery. This time Parker is teemed with all new people (recommended by his friend Hurley). But instead of splitting the loot the others all insisted that the proceeds be "invested" in a much more ambitious scheme, the robbery of jewels in Palm Beach.

Parker opts out, but his partners insist that his cut remain in the "investment" and that he will be paid later. Parker does not work that way. Parker plots his revenge.

Parker's main objection was that Palm Springs is an island with only limited entry and a huge police force specifically trained to protect the wealthy inhabitants of this Florida community. How can Parker get his revenge in the midst of all that security? Will he purposely cause them to fail in the robbery or instead tip off the police to their plan? Should Parker quietly kill his former partners, or assuming the robbery is a success, could he rob them after they score? Considering that Parker is a professional who would never interfere with another pro, how can he expect to succeed in getting revenge when he is one man against three?

This novel carefully narrates Parker conducting several profitable robberies to build his resources for his intended scheme. Since his adversaries know him, he builds and new identify complete with legitimate ID cards, legitimate addresses and legitimate financial records, and a startling disguise. Finally Parker moves into Palm Beach and prepares his revenge.

Flashfire is non stop action novel full of suspense and intrigue. If you like crime novels, you will love this Richard Stark story. I highly recommend this book.

right back in the swing of it with book three after twenty some odd years of silence! stark is the best! parker and some friends take a bank and then they want to keep his money temporarily and give it back after another job. parker is not happy. he pulls off THREE JOBS to build up money to come after them! in the process he gets shot by a hit man and ends up nearly dying. in the end, even though he's half dead, he manages to sabotage their things and get what he wants in a final scene at a beach mansion that has him blacking out from his wounds but still sneaking in and then, after some crazy violence, escaping. so freaking cool! there's even another robbery towards the end! so all in all there's five heists in the book! so cool! i loved it!

This was my first Parker novel and it sold me on the series. I've since devoured some 8 to 10 others and am trying to get my hands on the rest.

I agree pretty much with all the other positive reviews of this book and of the series in general but wanted to add that the sexual dynamic between Parker and his girlfriend is so convincing and so adroitly written that I had to go back and reread the less-than-a-page scene where Parker in his Palm Beach disguise walks up to the chaise longue on which Claire is lolling in her bikini and greets her. They haven't seen each other in some time, and this is the first time she's seen him in this guise. They exchange a couple of remarks and without stage directions or emotional commentary or any access to what's going on in the mind of either character, Stark manages to create an absolutely convincing and even titillating sexual chemistry between them. It's amazing. Truly.

BTW, the "Parker steals. Parker kills. It's a living." comes from the cover advertisement for a Gold Medal edition of the Parker books.

This book served as my introduction to Richard Stark's cold-blooded master thief Parker, and I loved every minute of it. Stark (the pen name of crime writer Donald E. Westlake) has brilliantly crafted a character who you'd despise if you were to meet in real life, but with whom you come to completely sympathize through his experiences. His calculating ruthlessness and masterful ability to avoid capture make him great, but my favorite attribute of Parker is that he is completely amoral. Here is a man who, unlike modern-day protagonists that authors feel obligated to make ethically upright, has no qualms whatsoever about killing a man that has wronged him in some way, or who he feels is a "loose end." He doesn't go out of his way to be offensive and crude, but he doesn't care if he happens to be that way either. He is not a good person because of his complete indifference to stealing other people's money to make a living, but at the same time you love him because he only harms those who have it coming to them.

In this installment, Parker tags along with three men he has never worked with on a bank robbery job, only to discover that they plan on using his share as a deposit on a house in Palm Beach so that they can make an even bigger score in Florida. Parker is naturally none too pleased, and begins making his own plans to sweep his former partners' score out from under their feet and exact his revenge.

This was a great book in an amazing series that I plan to read much more of. I would highly recommend it.

Parker is a tough guy among tough guys, and the difference really comes out when he is betrayed by his fellow thieves, as is the case in Flashfire. After pulling a job, Parker's three conspirators "borrow" his money against his will in order to pull off an even bigger heist months down the line. Parker opts out of the big heist, which he has doubts about, but is in on a revenge plot, which propels him through a one man crime spree and eventually lands him in a posh Floridian neighborhood where the rules are written by old money. He is waiting to kill his three enemies, but others are out to kill him as well, and then the law gets involved. Parker is the ultimate pragmatist when it comes to accomplishing what he has set out to do; the rule of ethics that drives him is a little less practical and a little murkier. But in the end, it's one man against many, in a house full of guns.
The Good and the Bad:
This is the nineteenth Parker novel, but the first one I have read, so I was a newcomer in some respects. But I chose the book because I loved the film Payback, which was based on a different Parker novel.
I think that seeing the movie was a benefit, because the character descriptions were pretty weak, and it was nice to have Mel Gibson's performance to hang my mental image on.
Character descriptions aren't what you pick up a book like this for anyway; this is a modern crime noir, and I got the elements I was looking for: compelling and varied action scenes, crisp writing, and cool dialogue. Parker himself is intriguing because of his relentless drive and obsession, and the overall style of the book reminded me of Louis Lamour.
If your protagonist is a thief (a mechanic, in Parker parlance), you need to have a world full of unsympathetic citizenry, and Stark gives us unflattering glimpses of a social elite in which the young are just waiting for the rich to die.
Overall, a very solid book, and I look forward to catching up on some of the back stories. It has a kind of timeless appeal that doesn't seek to hit us over the head with how modern it can be; yet it isn't a period piece rooted in the pop-culture of the day.

The only problem that I had with this book in the Parker Saga, is that Parker ended up hurt through most of the book. While it successfully showed that he is human after all, in most books Parker is mean and strong. I wasn't ready for my favorite anti-hero to be weak and nearly dead.

This book does have some very positve points. You see how Parker looks through the eyes of someone else (this time a woman who helps him through everything). The bad guys are interesting characters as well.

All in all, the goods do overcome the large con, but just barely. Luckily, the next two in the series, Firebreak and Breakout are great, and show Parker in his full speed and angry glory. I can't wait for the next in the series!