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The Hunter: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels Book 1) Revised ed. Edition, Kindle Edition

by Richard Stark (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 1,903 ratings

Book 1 of 24: Parker Novels

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She shot him just above the belt and left him for dead. Then they torched the house, with Parker in it, and took the money he had helped them steal. It all went down just the way they'd planned, except for one thing: Parker didn't die.

In The Hunter, the first volume in the Parker series, our ruthless antihero roars into New York City, seeking revenge on the woman who betrayed him and on the man who took his money, stealing and scamming his way to redemption. The volume that kickstarted Parker's forty-plus-year career of larceny—and inspired the 1967 motion picture Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin—The Hunter is back, ready to thrill a new generation of noir fans.

ISBN-13

978-0226770994
Edition

Revised ed.
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

University of Chicago Press
Publication date

September 15, 2009
Book 1 of 24

Parker Novels
Language

English
File size

1272 KB
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Parker Novels24 book series

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4.2 out of 5

1,903 global ratings

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Entertaining and Educational (for writers)

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2022

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Author Howard Andrew Jones suggested I read Donald E. Westlake (aka Richard Stark)'s Parker series to (1) to add variety to my steady dose of Sword & Sorcery [this is a dark, noir crime thriller .... not fantasy adventure] and (2) experience reading economical writing and optimal information flow (ie "reveals").

This was a blast. Granted, some of the misogynistic 1960 perspectives did not age (nor should it actually...in this case it reinforces the protagonist Parker's culture). I can see why this expanded in 1 24 book series. Parker is our protagonist, but he's tough criminal. His exploits are James Bond-like, in that he is a lone rogue constantly thinking on the fly; otherwise, his intentions are entirely self-serving.

As HAJ indicated, this was not only fun to read, but it is a fine example of an entertaining book that also demonstrates highly-efficient prose; each sentence delivers only what it has to, and Stark/Westlake perfected when to add detail (ie Brand names or key adjectives). Also perfected, chapter-to-chapter information reveals; the reader only receives what they need, but five chapters in you'll realize that each section unravels key context from all the prior ones.

Splendid. I'm not sure if I want to read all 24! However, I heard the first three comprise a story arc, so I plan to read the next two.

2 people found this helpful

Do Not Double Cross a Ruthless Criminal !

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2013

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Richard Stark was one of the pseudonyms of Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who was a very prolific, and acclaimed, noir crime fiction writer. The Mystery Writers of America bestowed their Grand Master award on Westlake in 1993. In The Hunter (1962), Westlake introduced the Parker character and he subsequently wrote 24 Parker novels, published between 1962 and 2008. These Parker novels are hardboiled crime fiction that presents violent criminals who are likely to punish and/or kill anyone who interferes with their criminal plans. The Parker character that Westlake introduces in this book is perhaps the quintessential example of that ruthless criminal. In this book, Parker and two of his associates steal $90,000, but one of his partners (Mal) tries to murder Parker by shooting him and then burning the building down. Mal also kills the other partner and escapes with the entire take. As you might have guessed, Parker did not die and he comes looking for Mal, who now works for a large criminal organization that used to be known as "The Syndicate" but is now known as "The Outfit" or "The Organization." Parker wants his share of the money ($45,000) that Mal had taken from him. He believes in a strong code of honor among thieves, and he plans to hunt his cutthroat murderous ex-partner down, and punish him for breaking that code of honor, and then to kill him. He also is determined to get his $45,000, and he will do whatever is necessary to get it. Parker shows no sympathy to those who try to prevent him from accomplishing his mission and he does not hesitate to eliminate anyone who gets in his way. He kills plenty of adversaries in this book, including some high-ranking members of "The Organization" and some collateral casualties. In addition to guns, Parker also uses his hands to dispatch his enemies when necessary or when it feels right to him. The Hunter is a shockingly violent beginning novel in this series. However, Parker is a fascinating and unpredictable character that is compelling to readers who are not deterred by violence. I intend to read more Parker novels, and if you like hardboiled crime novels, I highly recommend that you read this book and the subsequent books by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) in the Parker series.

4 people found this helpful

Good Plot With Weak Supporting Characters

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2013

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One of the reasons I was interested in this book was because of the movie with Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez. I was curious to see what this series was like even though the movie was based on the third book. I've heard the reviews haven't been good though.

The last book I read by Donald Westlake was The Ax. I got his autograph and bought the book when he had a book at a mystery writers show in New York. I had read others many years ago. I thought the Ax was a disturbing book about someone who killed people that would compete with him for a job.

In The Hunter, Parker is the main character and he wants revenge on the people who doublecrossed him during a robbery that included his wife and Mal Resnick. Much of the tension in that part of the book was built on finding Resnick as well as going after The Outfit as well.

In some ways, I thought the book was filled with suspence in the first part although I didn't like the violence against the woman in the story. Not that it was graphic but seeing Parker punching a woman bothered me.

I was surprised about the second half of the book regarding the Outfit in one way but thought the plot was going weak by then. Stark captured the hard boiled nature the pulp era as well as other writers like Gil Brewer and Bruno Fischer. I had trouble believing the plot in the second part of the book though.

Parker was characterized as a hard man and that was done well but I thought the other characters didn't add much to the book. Writers like Gil Brewer and Bruno Fischer had great supporting characters for their books.

I would still like to read the rest of the series although I have a feeling the other books will be like the latest ones by Elmore Leonard. I guess you can say that I liked the early Leonard novels like Glitz more than the latest ones that he did.

I would give this book 3 stars barely. I will continue to read the series though and see if the movie was as good as the third book.

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Warren Stalley

Pulp for Pleasure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2024

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Double-crossed and left for dead after a dangerous money heist, career criminal Parker escapes from a remote prison and starts a violent journey of payback and revenge. Told in a tightly controlled narrative with descriptions cut back to an absolute minimum, The Hunter is hard boiled noir at its very core. Searching New York for Mal Resnick the man who betrayed him, Parker goes up against mobsters known as the Outfit. During the early part of the novel past events are slowly revealed like fog gently lifting. Every character seems unlikeable and duplicitous. Everyone scratching to make a living, desperate for cold, hard cash. The tale is mostly told from Parker’s cold-blooded point of view. Events head to an inevitable showdown with Resnick then carry on for the last quarter of the novel showing how blindly determined Parker actually is. He wants his share of the heist money, but will the Outfit give in to Parker’s demands and if they do will he live long enough to spend the loot? This is a classic slice of hard-boiled noir written by Donald E Westlake using the pen name Richard Stark. The Hunter was also made into a famous Lee Marvin film Point Blank which is highly recommended viewing.

World Leader Pretend

Grande Parker

Reviewed in Spain on May 16, 2019

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Descubrí los libros de Parker escritos por Richard Stark gracias a las 4 novelas gráficas editadas por Astiberri y dibujadas por el gran (y malogrado) Darwyn Cooke. Esas 4 novelas gráficas deberías regalárselas a algún amigo enamorado de la novela negra. Aciertas seguro. Este libro que comento ahora está en inglés porque no lo encontré en español. RBA ediciones... en fin, que no lo encontré y si lo hubiera encontrado pues si hubiera querido seguir las andanzas de Parker tenía que leerlo en inglés gracias a las bonitas ediciones que está sacando "The university of Chicago press". Y no lo entiendo porque R.Stark es un grande de la novela negra. Algo parecido le pasa a Lawrence Block y sus novelas de M.Scudder, que es de lo mejorcito de la novela negra, y en español hay poquito, poquito.. Pero bueno y lo que nos estamos ahorrando en academias de inglés...

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alberto chiodaroli

The Hunter Richard Stark

Reviewed in Italy on December 27, 2015

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Libro in condizioni eccellenti. Ottimo: testo eccezionale da consigliare a tutti gli amanti della letteratura nera.Richard Stark è un ottimo autore

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G.J. Hazel

don't double cross a man with nothing to lose

Reviewed in Australia on February 13, 2014

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Fast past action. Parker is a man of few words but not to be messed with. Worth a read. if you like reacher then maybe check out Parker

Hiro

Parker zum Ersten!

Reviewed in Germany on October 20, 2008

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Unter dem Pseudonym Richard Stark veröffentlicht Donald Westlake, Vielschreiber und Altmeister des Pulp, seit 46 Jahren die Kurzromane um seinen Protagonisten Parker.

Auf Deutsch leider nicht mehr erhältlich, hat sich der Buchverlag der University of Chicago das Ziel gesetzt, alle 26 Parker-Novels neu zu veröffentlichen, geplant sind 3 pro Jahr. Mit "The Hunter" liegt der erste Band vor, Cineasten wird der Film "Point Blank" mit Lee Marvin etwas sagen, dessen Romanvorlage "The Hunter" war.

Parker ist Berufkrimineller, emotions- und skrupellos geht er seinen Weg, ein Abweichen von seinen Plänen ist nicht vorgesehen. Blutbäder sind seine Sache nicht, dennoch scheut er vor keinem Mord zurück, um seine Ziele zu erreichen.

In "The Hunter" begleitet der Leser Parker auf einem Rachefeldzug. Westlakes Sprache ist simpel, knapp und glasklar. Nach einem Satz weiß man, wie Parker tickt, wenige Seiten später ist man gebannt vom Plot. Die kurzen Sätze machen den Text auch auf Englisch leicht verdaulich, also bitte keine Berührungsängste.

Das Buch ist in einem etwas ungewöhnlichen Format aufgelegt, es ist fast ein Heft, was ja durchaus zum Genre passt. Die Qualität ist in Ordnung.

Zur Wertung: Natürlich ist Westlake kein Literat wie Updike oder Roth. Aber innerhalb des Genres habe ich noch nichts Besseres gelesen, und so ist die Wertung zu verstehen. Und wenn man sich mal zu Gemüte führt, wie Westlake es schafft, daß man nach wenigen Seiten mit einem Unsympathen vor dem Herrn mitfiebert, dann dämmert einem, dass an dieser Schreibe vielleicht doch mehr dran ist, als es auf den ersten Blick scheint. 5 Sterne.

14 people found this helpful

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