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.

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

In Ask the Parrot, the followup to Nobody Runs Forever, ruthless thief Parker is back on the run, dodging dogs, cops, and even a helicopter. His escape brings him to rural Massachusetts, where he is forced to work with a small-town recluse nursing a grudge against the racetrack that fired him. Even in hiding, Parker manages to get up to no good. It’ll be a deadly day at the races . . .

On the run from the law, Parker is trying to find somewhere to lay low until the worst of the heat passes. Finding a semblance of refuge in a small town with a hermit who has a big idea, Parker is determined to make the situation work for him. But can they both turn their fortunes around and stay out of the grasp of the law?

While there is a thread interweaving through all the Parker books, by and large they all stand very well on their own. The last three books ever written, however, are a little more closely linked – and this is the middle book of that. While in one respect I do feel anyone can pick this book up by itself and thoroughly enjoy the lean, gritty and slightly old-fashioned hard-boiled heist novel, I equally really do feel a deeper connection and enjoyment would be had if the reader had also read the previous book to this – “Nobody Runs Forever”.

This book picks up mere minutes after where Nobody Runs Forever leaves off, and while it’s extremely clear the main thrust of what occurred in that book (three robbers got away with a large sum of money, one of whom was Parker) a lot of the depth of trouble Parker currently finds himself in really is laid as groundwork in the previous book. That said, this is an exceptionally well written story, and I did love how the seemingly unconnected people in the small town all began to weave together into their story – rather like a tar baby sucking everything in and not letting anything fully go.

If you haven’t read the previous books in this series, I can strongly recommend them. This is a brilliant series and a superb set of gritty, slightly grim and very lean heist novels that have utterly enthralled me these last few years. I will be deeply sorry to read the last one (there’s only one more left for me in this series) and since the author passed away a number of years ago this time there’s really no hope for any more to come.

With an older style of writing that remains refreshingly wonderful even in this modern era, this is a great series and an excellent book. I’m actually looking forward to going back to the start of the series and re-discovering them all again. Highly recommended.

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

Between Parker’s 1961 debut and his return in the late 1990s, the whole world of crime changed. Now fake IDs and credit cards had to be purchased from specialists; increasingly sophisticated policing made escape and evasion tougher; and, worst of all, money had gone digital—the days of cash-stuffed payroll trucks were long gone.

But cash isn’t everything: Flashfire and Firebreak find Parker going after, respectively, a fortune in jewels and a collection of priceless paintings. In Flashfire, Parker’s in West Palm Beach, competing with a crew that has an unhealthy love of explosions. When things go sour, Parker finds himself shot and trapped—and forced to rely on a civilian to survive. Firebreak takes Parker to a palatial Montana “hunting lodge” where a dot-com millionaire hides a gallery of stolen old masters—which will fetch Parker a pretty penny if his team can just get it past the mansion’s tight security. The forests of Montana are an inhospitable place for a heister when well-laid plans fall apart, but no matter how untamed the wilderness, Parker’s guaranteed to be the most dangerous predator around.

Parker is brought in on an interesting heist by two colleagues he’s worked well within the past. This time it’s the Montana refuge of a dot com billionaire and his very well secured mini art gallery that’s in the team’s sights. With plenty of security the team’s tech is positive he can overcome they’re keen to get the many priceless paintings. Only someone is on Parker’s tail and the team is on a tight timeframe. Can they make it work?

I’ve found the Parker heist series to be an absolute gem. Tersely written and somewhat gritty, this series might have been around for a while but it solidly holds up to time. Some things – like heisters planning and executing a heist – simply doesn’t go out of fashion to my mind. Parker himself also holds true. Focused, driven and coldly professional he’s an anti-hero but one of the absolute best to my mind and still somehow the character you’re rooting for most. Even if I’d not want to try and carry out a conversation with him.

Stark’s usual formula is also at play here. The book is divided up into four sections and they each weave perfectly together. Readers who pick this up and are new to the series are in for a treat – these are like a block of the very best chocolate or a packet of your favourite treats. Once you start you simply want another then another. The pacing is excellent – fast enough you get carried away by the action and heist itself, but not so fast you can’t work out exactly what’s happening. The characters are leanly written and there’s virtually no flourishes at all to the writing – it’s like an older, hard-boiled kind of detective novel in all the best ways.

An excellent heist story with a small but intriguing set of characters and an exceptional writing style that gives you everything you need and a few good twists in the plot I found this to be a wonderful story and another addition to a series that’s one of my absolute favourites. Recommended.