Customer Reviews

The Rare Coin Score: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels)

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so parker is after... well the title says it... anyway he's convinced to do the job by a weenie of a man coin collector who is in love with his dead brother's wife. the wife likes parker and the feeling is mutual. the link between them is unique as parker swore off keeping a woman for more than a short time after his wife shot him in the first novel. the heist goes off ok but some guy causes problems right at the end... all of parker's thief friends in this one do not get along. it's a clashing group and everyone is planning to mess over the next guy... really cool method to steal the coins and a dry, harsh ending with parker getting what he wants and then some.

also, very refreshing if you've ever read a book in which the author disgustingly over describes everything; two pages to describe a room, three to describe someones feelings, a chapter to describe a single conversation about some unnessecary story, examples are anne rice (interview with the vampire, queen of the damned, etc.) and robert ludlum (the bourne identity, ultimatum, etc.). good writers, but five hundred pages of fluff make you want a more readable two hundred page story that you may even have the patience to re-read eventually. this is that kind of writing, constantly gripping, no boredom, and no non-sense. not to say that the parker novels are devoid of description but that you don't get bored wondering if the author was just trying to make his book bigger by cramming in more information about what a character was thinking, wearing, feeling, seeing, what he had for dinner the night before, what color hair his mother had, where he went to high school, rather than just what is pertinent to the immediate story. in the jacket of one of the books is a quote by someone that talks about how parker is the non hero. not the anti-hero (criminal with a good heart or something) and certainly not the hero, i thought this was very accurate, parker is just a bad guy. he is out to make money and anyone who gets in his way is so much chaff to be discarded.

... It even has an excellent Robert E. McGinnis cover painting. The story inside the book, of course, is just as excellent. Just what I've come to expect from Donald E. Westlake, regardless of whatever pen name he chooses to write under. Parker is a lean, mean, hardboiled machine as always, taking no prisoners and no 'crud'. Readers of the newer "Stark" novels might also be interested to know that this is the book where Parker meets his lady friend Clair, who in this 1967 version, is more of a femm fatale than she is in the present day. Bottom line: If you can find THE RARE COIN SCORE, grab it and read it!

Parker ends up working with amateurs and a shaky ex-con as he plans the robbery of a coin convention. Parker does pick up a new love interest in Claire. The heist goes sour with a double-cross and it is up to Parker to improvise the escape. Same Parker series format and a quick read. If new to the Parker series start with the Hunter/Payback/Point Blank book.

The Rare Coin Score doesn't contain the greatest Parker crime caper, in fact it's a fairly uninteresting one that relies on some shoddy security for an event housing such valuable merchandise, as well conveniences of no one in a hotel noticing some unauthorised construction work. What lifts the story though is the introduction of a new character in Claire, who for those who have read books further in this great series know becomes a staple character. The scenes with Claire are far more interesting than the caper to steal a heap of rare coins from a hotel coin convention. If you've read those other Parker books you're going to want to read this adventure just to know how Claire and Parker came to be.

Basic plot, Parker doesn't need a caper, he's got plenty of money to get by from the events of the previous novel The Handle. However he's bored and doing things that are quite, well unparkerlike. He concludes he needs the challenge of planning a caper to get his mind and sanity back on track. However there's not much happening at the moment but a reliable acquaintance named Lepke who he'd worked with a while ago in the past, invites him to join in on what he claims is a sweet deal. Unbeknownst to Parker, Lempke has just come out of a lengthy stint behind bars, the others involved will be amateurs and the guy whose idea it is, is a complete social loser and coward. When a skirt turns up to take him to the meet, Parker knows doing this caper isn't probably going to be a great idea.

The next book in the series is The Green Eagle Score. Unlike a lot of other Parker novels the Rare Coin Score doesn't give away any of the plots of previous novels so you can read this as a standalone if you just want to read the book where Parker meets Claire but plan on reading the previous novels further down the track.

If you like tight early 60's period noir-crime fiction, you'll love the Parker series. A great series for reading while commuting to/from work or during air travel. Long enough to be engaging, but short enough to take in when time is tight. This isn't a 5 course meal, more like a quick lunch from a takeout joint: nothing fancy, but pleasantly filling and satisfying. This book can stand alone on it own but I recommend starting the series from the first book as the storylines tend to setup each subsequent book. A nice guilty pleasure!

What will Parker do now? He is invited into a job where at least five of his rules are violated. Normally he rejects jobs with even fewer problems, but somehow takes the "Rare Coin Score". How can he adjust for so many barriers?

Parker, the "antihero" of Richard Starks intriguing crime novels, has many vital "rules" that help him avoid working a job that will go "sour" and possibly land him in jail. In "The Rare Coin Score", Parker, in the first team meeting, observes at least five violations of his survival rules. Parker knows that it is a disaster waiting to happen, but takes the job anyway. Any of the rule breaches might be serious, and his later analysis revealed seven violations.

First, two amateurs are involved. One can ruin the execution, two are dangerous. One amateur is a rare coin dealer which makes him vital to any plan.

Second, the second amateur is a woman. Parker is nervous when a team member is female. Parker does not trust women.

Third, the female team member is the "girlfriend" of one of the amateurs, the coin dealer. Worse yet, Parker is attracted to her and wants her for himself. Such tension can distract three team members from their work.

Fourth, two members of the team hate one another and always seem ready to fight. That sort of feeling can distract them from the job and cause it to fail.

Fifth, One member has recently been released from prison. Memories of incarceration can hinder confidence and result in mistakes from being over cautious.

Sixth, stealing coins results in very heavy loot. Parker figures they may be moving two tons of rare coin cases. Such weight is tough to handle when escaping from the cops.

Seventh, one of the original team is allowed to quit after knowing details about the job. Such loose information could result in interference from other thieves.

This is one of the better Parker novels. Observing Parker's attempt to make a bad situation better is fun. Suspense builds as we anticipate which one the possible problems might spoil Parker's plan. I recommend this book.

For hard-core crime writing, it doesn't get better than Richard Stark (Donald Westlake). The signature elements of the Parker series are here: a marginal job, wild-card team members and a hard-working Parker. Since Parker meets Claire in this caper it is a must read for continuity in the series. The action is almost non-stop and Parker has plenty of problems to solve in his coldly analytic way. This was my chance to find a book that had not been collected by any of the libraries where I have lived.

Parker and his group of professional thieves join in a "job" with a professional coin dealer. It was possibly lucrative. The coin dealer had a few "issues". He had a crush on his beautiful assistant who barely tolerated him...plus this guy was -at heart- cowardly.
Nevertheless Parker needed money. He did a good job...but the heist took place in a small town...sort of a meddling, nosy townsfolk who ardently gathered to catch the thieves. O.K. but one was caught...the captured thief had a chance to reveal stuff...Parker comes off with some clever manoevers...he plays a part in his own manhunt...he holes up with a local misogynist(?)...he has to be hidden various times...it's a great adventure....

First published in 1967, this is another book in Richard Stark's (Donald Westlake's) Parker series that has long been out of print and unavailable. Happily, it has now been resurected and republished by the University of Chicato Press.

In this book, Stark's amoral protagonist plots the theft of a couple of million dollars (that's 1967 dollars!) worth of rare coins from a coin collector's convention in Indianapolis. He devises a fairly ingenious plan, the execution of which sadly depends on some unusually undependable confederates, including one rank amateur who is the insider on the caper. Inevitably things will go wrong as a result, and Parker is left scrambling to save himeself and the loot.

This is another taut, stripped-to-the-bone, entertaining read and, for those who follow the series, it's this book in which Parker finally meets Claire, the woman who will be his long-time lover. Fans of the series will certainly enjoy it, and for those who haven't read the series, this is a particularly good book in which to meet Parker.

The Parker books have a formula and they stick to it pretty faithfully. While "The Rare Coin Score" follows the same well-worn trail as its predecessors, it provides some growth in the overall story and in Parker's character that inject fresh life in the series. While some of the recent entries like "The Handle" and "The Seventh" felt a little stale (despite being able to stand just fine on their own), "The Rare Coin Score" has me looking forwards to the next entry in the series.

J.Ja