Dirty Money by Richard Stark

Dirty Money by Richard Stark
Publisher: The University Of Chicago Press
Genre: Contemporary, Action/Adventure, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Parker’s got a new fence and a new plan to get the loot back from a botched job. But a bounty hunter, the FBI, and the local cops are on his tail. Only his brains, his cool, and the help of his lone longtime dame, Claire, can keep him one step ahead of the cars and the guns in this final Parker thriller.

Parker has a new plan to get back the money he lost in his most recent adventure. Returning to the small town and avoiding the many swarming police and government agencies is the least of his problems when more old faces begin to turn up unexpectedly.

This is the final Parker book and I was both thrilled and devastated to have reached it. Not only is this the last book of the series, but it’s the culmination of the triology rounding out the series as a whole. While it might be read alone I would strongly suggest readers at least read the two previous books as there is not a huge introduction to some of the previous characters that were involved in this particular heist. I do think readers should be able to follow along but I’m confident the enjoyment will be much better knowing the whole of this tale.

Readers who enjoy their mysteries to be a little on the leaner, grittier side should find this whole series a delight. Parker isn’t exactly a villain or bad guy – but equally he is far from a hero. He’s usually so focused on the job, and of ensuring his own odds are the best they can be, he doesn’t have a lot of time or space for social niceties or playing games. It’s a pure delight to read as the writing itself is equally spare, lean and focused on the point. I’m very much going to miss having another book to look forward to like this.

While most of the books in this series revolve around a heist – and the planning going into it or the repercussions coming out of it – this book is more involved in recovering the money stolen in a previous heist. This only occurred two weeks previously in the book so the heat is still very intense and I loved that this plot was pretty much a different perspective on a well known theme. I loved this book so much and can strongly recommend it to all mystery/action readers.

An exceptional ending to a fabulous series, this is a great heist/adventure style of mystery. I can easily recommend all the books in this delightful series and am certainly going to reread this a number of times in the future.