Customer Reviews

Payback

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Parker's,the real thing.The book is a reprint of the original classic,"the hunter".It's true crime noir.If you re tired of the goody two shoes guys,with ethical dilemas,Parker is your man.He has no emotions,he is cold ruthless,totally focused.Knows what he does and why he is doing it.I've read all of Parker novels,since there were first published,some of them 2 and 3 times.Guess what, there are always a great read.Stark delivers.A must buy.

One tough, nasty little novel. Parker kills, maims and steals without second thought in his quest to avenge a double cross and recover his cut of a score gone bad. In the wake of this book, and its many sequels, there have been a lot of violent, remorseless heroes in popular fiction. But none of them come close to the cold, vicious cunning and machine-like detachment of Stark's Parker. This is crime fiction's dirtiest, and best, leading character, and The Hunter/Point Blank/Payback is the genre's ultimate yarn.

My first exposure to the character of Parker was the 1960's movie "Point Blank." Great film and the Mel Gibson version, "Payback" isn't bad either. (Tough as Mel is, he's still no Lee Marvin.) Having said that, neither of these movies correctly depicts Parker as the mean cat he truly is. There is a whole series of these books, and I have begun the task of collecting all of them, not easy since many are out of print. If you like hard boiled fiction like Andrew Vachss or Jim Thompson I highly reccomend the Parker series.

Richard Stark, The Hunter (Mysterious Press, 1962)

Parker is the kind of guy who, if you're forced into contact with him, you want him on your side. The quintessential antihero, he's someone you feel soiled for identifying with, but can't help yourself.

Richard Stark, alias Donald E. Westlake, wanted to create a character he could use to sell a book a bit more hard-boiled than the stuff he'd been writing, and Parker was the result. The Hunter, the first Parker novel, turned out to be such a success that he;s had sixteen more books written about him. But it's the first one everyone knows, thanks in no small part to two film adaptations, the most recent of which is 1999's Payback, with Mel Gibson as the good/bad guy.

The plot: Parker is back in New York after his wife and an associate double-crossed him on a big job. He wants revenge. He also wants his share of the take.

Yes, that's the entire plot. Seems kind of thin, right? Not if you're Donald E. Westlake, one of the undisputed masters of the twentieth-century American mystery. The book plays out like your typical revenge storyline, with most of your typical characters, and to be fair there's a lot of stereotype writ large here. This is not deathless literature by any means. What it is, however, is good old-fashioned fast-paced meaty writing. Westlake-- erm, Stark-- knows how to keep the pages turning, his characters are well-drawn enough to be distinct from one another, and everything comes to an ending that is, if not happy, a resounding success.

The hardboiled mystery/thriller is the testosterone-fueled version of the romance novel, and Richard Stark does it better than most. Sure, it's empty calories, but that's part of what makes it so good. *** ?

I bought this version of The Hunter because it was cheaper than the earlier prints and this had a nice forward concerning Stephen King that I wanted to read. Being a big fan of the Mel Gibson movie, I wanted to see how the book fared. In summary, I enjoyed it. I knocked it out in around three hours; it's a small book and quick read. That doesn't mean it's not good, though. It has a raw, honest and single-minded brutality that I find appreciable. Parker's one-track motivation to reach his goal is commendable and the author spares no one's feelings or political-correctedness, especially on the violence against women. It's great! The book differs quite a bit from the movie (or is that the other way around?), but there are still snippets that are verbatim. Parker in the book is harder and tougher than Porter in the movie and that's a good thing. Another thought is that despite the obvious differences (coffee costing a dime, etc), I didn't feel like I was reading something weak and naive out of the 1970's and I was pleasantly surprised. The lack of blatant product placement advertising in the book was refreshing, as well. As a final thought, this is perhaps the only time I've read the book almost as fast as it took to watch the movie. There are over a dozen Parker books and I now plan on reading them all.

This is the first of Donald Westlake's Parker series. I read this one and had to buy all the rest. If you enjoy a taut style and the unflinching portrayal of anti-heroes, you'll love these Richard Stark novels. Westlake is a master, and I also enjoy his gentler, more humorous novels. Dortmunder makes me laugh and Grofield is always fun, but for me the grim, brutal Parker is his most compelling character. Not sure I even want to understand why. For those who don't get what's so special about these books, try writing one.

Fast paced, brutal and to the point! the Parker crime series is one of the best around, and Parker's debut is one of the best of the series. If you're tired of reading overlong crime novels where cleche'd characters rehash scenarios you've read before, or seen on TV and movies before, be prepared for a breath of fresh air. Richard Stark's writing is bare boned and to the point, with no fat to trim, just like the attitude of his main character. A criminally underrated series!

My only criticism of these reprint books from Mysterious Press are the muted, boring covers which do nothing to highlight the raw energy of Richard Stark's writing.
I would recommend the publishers take a look at the recent James Bond reprints from Penguin books, or the covers to the Hardcase Crime books currently being released (The ranks of which Richard Stark's Lemons Never Lie will soon join) to see how its done.

I found about Westlake recently from the "Resevoir Dogs" DVD Bonus disc. I read "Hot Rock" and enjoyed it. So, I decided to tryout Stark. I'd seen both "Point Blank" and "Payback." So, I knew the gist of what was going to happen in the book. I was blown away, though, by how much better this was than either movie version. I'm glad Stark was talked out of killing Parker off at the end of this book. I cannot get enough of this character. Stark's up there with Walter Mosely and James Ellroy, in my opinion.

I read this in two short days. This book is great and makes you want to read more Parker novels. Parker is as hard boiled as it gets. Even in a world of killers, hookers, robbers, etc. He is hard boiled even to them.

One thing that amazed me was how faithful the Mel Gibson movie is to this book. Read this and see the movie.

After reading all these rave reviews on here I decided to get this book. It's out of print and I could only find copies ranging from $20-$40. I found a really clean 1st edition and payed $35 for it. I wish I hadn't. This is an extremely short read. 155 very tiny pages. I do not understand why everything thinks this novel is so tough. Stark's writing style is so dry it takes any excitement out of the action sequences. And the bit about Parker having strong hands is way too played out. Parker has strong hands, I get it. I won't even go into how many holes this plot had. The movie (I have not seen Point Blank, I am reffering to Payback) is actually better than the book. Unless you can find an extremely cheap copy, don't bother. You're not missing anything special.