You probably haven’t ever noticed them. But they’ve noticed you. They notice everything. That’s their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers’ work habits, the positions of the security guards. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack.
They’re thieves. Heisters, to be precise. They’re pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. If you’re planning a job, you want him in. Tough, smart, hardworking, and relentlessly focused on his trade, he is the heister’s heister, the robber’s robber, the heavy’s heavy. You don’t want to cross him, and you don’t want to get in his way, because he’ll stop at nothing to get what he’s after.
Parker, the ruthless antihero of Richard Stark’s eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hardboiled noir. Lauded by critics for his taut realism, unapologetic amorality, and razor-sharp prose-style—and adored by fans who turn each intoxicating page with increasing urgency—Stark is a master of crime writing; his books as influential as any in the genre. The University of Chicago Press has embarked on a project to return the early volumes of this series to print for a new generation of readers to discover—and become addicted to.
Parker works with a group of professional con men in The Score on his biggest job yet—robbing an entire town in North Dakota.
“Whatever Stark writes, I read. He’s a stylist, a pro, and I thoroughly enjoy his attitude.”—Elmore Leonard
“Westlake knows precisely how to grab a reader, draw him or her into the story, and then slowly tighten his grip until escape is impossible.”—Washington Post Book World
“Donald Westlake’s Parker novels are among the small number of books I read over and over. Forget all that crap you’ve been telling yourself about War and Peace and Proust—these are the books you’ll want on that desert island.”—Lawrence Block
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Parker's Ultimate Caper,
This review is from: The Score (Audio Cassette)
Richard Stark ( Donald E Westake) gives us the ultimate in heists with this terrific early Parker novel. When Parker hears of a plan to rob an entire town, he's leery of the inside man and the number of thieves needed to pull off the caper. Nevertheless he is brought into the scheme and together with 11 other fellow thieves, they pull off the dream caper until the double cross inevitable in a Parker novel. In the meantime, the inside man acts on the plan that he formed for vengeance. Grofield (Stark's actor/thief) falls for a hostage and a teen leaving a night of passion at his girlfriend's after curfew also throw monkey wrenches into the story. When the team makes it to their hideout after several deaths and an inferno, it further unravels as the group waits out the police search. This is Stark at his finest. Granted it's a little dated and the plan wouldn't work today. The townfolk have to place out-of-town calls through operators at a central switchboard and the switchboard operators are covered by the team. Imagine the problems in today's cellular world. Nevertheless, this pulls together several of Parker's cronies from previous capers and introduces new ones. We get the usual scenes of plan, payoff,doublecross and Parker's efforts to escape the consequences of the doublecross. These are set pieces in any Parker novel and Stark works them like a pro. If you're just discovering Parker through his new capers, this is a must have from the original series.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Robbery of a Town,
By Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Score (Hardcover)
Donald Westlake is probably best known for his humorous crime novels. His books featuring John Dortmunder, a fatalistic thief, are hilarious capers making light of the world of criminals. The series that he writes under the pseudonym Richard Stark is probably a little less well known. This series features an anti-hero protagonist by the name of Parker and is very much in the hardboiled category and the world of criminals is portrayed as a dark, dangerous underground of professionals. THE SCORE is the 5th book in the Parker series, a series that is a little bit unusual in that it takes the role of the professional criminal and, to a certain extent, glamorises it. As THE SCORE opens, Parker is in New York for a meeting to consider the prospects of an upcoming job. On the way to the meeting he notices he is being followed. The ruthless way in which he deals with his pursuer and then the way he is completely unaffected by the encounter is an early indication of the kind of cold-hearted guy he is. A plot has been hatched to knock over an entire town and Parker is asked to run the show. The proposition appears ludicrous at first glance. The fact that the man presenting the plan is an amateur sets off all sorts of alarm bells in Parker's head. But the lucrative nature of the proposed heist lures Parker in to make a few adjustments to the plans before he agrees that the job can be done. Parker decides that it will take 12 men to go into the North Dakota mining town of Copper Canyon, open the safes of the town's businesses including the mining company safe which will be holding that week's payroll. They will also be opening the vault of the town's only bank for good measure. The one-night crime spree in the town of Copper Canyon takes place with the whole operation running like clockwork...almost. It wouldn't be much fun if Parker and his crew didn't encounter any problems and the way in which Parker handles these problems speaks volumes for the `ice in the blood' way he approaches ay crisis. The Parker books all tend to follow the same general template of plan, prepare, execute and getaway. Add to that the required plan changes due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a gang member going postal for instance, and another Parker story is complete. The style of Richard Stark is abrupt, like Parker himself. If it doesn't pertain directly to the job at hand, it isn't mentioned in the book. This lack of detail holds true when talking about such things as the background of the characters, although they are each given a thumbnail sketch, but when it comes to the planning and actually carrying out of the robbery, the detail is incredibly complete. I find that this is the strength of the Parker books and the reason that I keep coming back for more. Parker is not the hero of this series. I mentioned in the opening that he is the anti-hero and I believe this is the most appropriate way to describe him. He is a cold, calculating criminal who would not hesitate to shoot you if you posed any threat to him or his operation. That being said, you can't help but admire the professional way in which he goes about his business. THE SCORE was first published in 1964 and so the technology used in the heist is dated and there is no way they would get away with it in this modern world. But when you put it into the context of the time in which it was written Stark / Westlake has done a terrific job of turning a seemingly ridiculous idea into a plausible robbery, bringing up major obstacles and then having Parker and his team come up with ingenious solutions.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The ultimate anti-hero,
By
This review is from: The Score: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels) (Paperback)
Master thief and anti-hero Parker is getting antsy and bored. So when the call comes offering him a chance to head up to Jersey City to hear about a potential job he takes it. And what a job it is - the plan is to immobilize an entire small North Dakota town and rob it blind. Even for somebody like Parker, who has ice water in his veins, this is an audacious plan. Can a dozen men really take out an entire town and get away with the loot? This was another exciting fast-paced Parker adventure, Stark (aka Donald Wastlake) takes us through the planning, the heist and then the moment it all goes pear-shaped. Parker is such a refreshing character because he has no pretenses or morals that get in the way of the crackling plot. The plot is fast paced and the dialogue is sharp and fun. It's easy to see how the series lasted as long as it did, with the wealth of detail and Stark's mastery of the form.
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