Parker
16 primary works • 29 total works
Book 1
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.In "The Hunter", the first volume in the series, Parker 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 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.In "The Hunter", the first volume in the series, Parker 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.
Book 2
Master thief Parker visits a plastic surgeon in Nebraska to hide the face that the New York syndicate wants to destroy, but now, with a whole new face, Parker sets out to plan the perfect heist of an armored car, but somehow things still keep going wrong.
Book 3
When the Outfit tries to kill him, Parker declares war. Ripping off the syndicate is easy, but going one-on-one with Bronson, the Outfit's big boss, is the hard part. Hard for anyone but Parker, because the entire underworld understands that whatever Parker does -- he does for keep.
Book 4
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 Brink's 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 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. This season's offerings include volumes 4-6 in the series: "The Mourner", "The Score", and "The Jugger". "The Mourner" is a story of convergence - of cultures and of guys with guns. Hot on the trail of a statue stolen from a fifteenth-century French tomb, Parker enters a world of eccentric art collectors, greedy foreign officials, and shady KGB agents.
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. This season's offerings include volumes 4-6 in the series: "The Mourner", "The Score", and "The Jugger". "The Mourner" is a story of convergence - of cultures and of guys with guns. Hot on the trail of a statue stolen from a fifteenth-century French tomb, Parker enters a world of eccentric art collectors, greedy foreign officials, and shady KGB agents.
Book 5
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 Brink's 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 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. This season's offerings include volumes 4-6 in the series: "The Mourner", "The Score", and "The Jugger". Parker works with a group of professional con men in "The Score" on his biggest job yet - robbing an entire town in North Dakota.
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. This season's offerings include volumes 4-6 in the series: "The Mourner", "The Score", and "The Jugger". Parker works with a group of professional con men in "The Score" on his biggest job yet - robbing an entire town in North Dakota.
Book 6
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 Brink's 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 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. This season's offerings include volumes 4-6 in the series: "The Mourner", "The Score", and "The Jugger". In "The Jugger", Parker travels to Nebraska to help out a geriatric safecracker who knows too many of his criminal secrets. By the time he arrives, the safecracker is dead and Parker's skeletons are on the verge of escaping from their closet - unless Parker resorts to lethal measures.
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. This season's offerings include volumes 4-6 in the series: "The Mourner", "The Score", and "The Jugger". In "The Jugger", Parker travels to Nebraska to help out a geriatric safecracker who knows too many of his criminal secrets. By the time he arrives, the safecracker is dead and Parker's skeletons are on the verge of escaping from their closet - unless Parker resorts to lethal measures.
Book 7
Parker, the ruthless anti-hero of Richard Stark's eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hard-boiled 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. This season's offerings include volumes 7-9 in the series: "The Seventh", "The Handle", and "The Rare Coin Score". In "The Seventh", the heist of a college football game goes sour, and the take is stolen by a crazed, violent amateur. Parker must outrun the cops - and the killer - to retrieve his cash.
Book 8
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. This season's offerings include volumes 7-9 in the series: "The Seventh", "The Handle", and "The Rare Coin Score". In "The Handle", Parker is enlisted by the mob to knock off an island casino guarded by speed-boats and heavies, forty miles from the Texas coast.
Book 9
Parker, the ruthless anti-hero of Richard Stark's eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hard-boiled 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. This season's offerings include volumes 7-9 in the series: "The Seventh", "The Handle", and "The Rare Coin Score". "The Rare Coin Score" features the first appearance of Claire, who will steal Parker's heister's heart - while together they steal two million dollars of rare coins.
Book 10
Here's Parker--planning to steal the entire payroll of an Air Force base in upstate New York, with help from Marty Fusco, fresh out of the pen, and a smart aleck finance clerk named Devers. Holed up with family in a scrappy little town, the hoisters prepare for the risky job by trying to shorten the odds. But the ice is thinner than Parker likes to think--and Marty's ex-wife is much more complicated.
"Parker is refreshingly amoral, a thief who always gets away with the swag."--Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
"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
Book 12
Book 13
By the time Richard Stark sat down to write "Deadly Edge" in 1971, he'd been chronicling the adventures of his antihero, Parker, for nearly a decade. But it turns out he was just warming up: the next three "Parker" novels would see Stark crank everything up a notch - tightening the writing, heightening the violence, and, most of all, hardening the deadly heister at the books' heart. "Deadly Edge" kicks things off by bidding a brutal adieu to the 1960s: Parker robs a rock concert, but the heist goes sour, and he finds himself - and his woman, Claire - menaced by a pair of sadistic, drug-crazed hippies. Slayground turns the hunter into prey, as Parker gets trapped in a shuttered amusement park, besieged by a bevy of local mobsters. He's low on bullets - but, as anyone who's crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn't mean he's defenseless. Finally, in Plunder Squad, job after job disintegrates into failure and violence, and a rare act of mercy from earlier in the series comes back to bite Parker - hard. These books by Stark reveal a master craftsman working at the height of his powers, and they deserve a place on the bookshelf of every fan of crime fiction.
Book 14
By the time Richard Stark sat down to write "Deadly Edge" in 1971, he'd been chronicling the adventures of his antihero, Parker, for nearly a decade. But it turns out he was just warming up: the next three "Parker" novels would see Stark crank everything up a notch - tightening the writing, heightening the violence, and, most of all, hardening the deadly heister at the books' heart. "Deadly Edge" kicks things off by bidding a brutal adieu to the 1960s: Parker robs a rock concert, but the heist goes sour, and he finds himself - and his woman, Claire - menaced by a pair of sadistic, drug-crazed hippies. Slayground turns the hunter into prey, as Parker gets trapped in a shuttered amusement park, besieged by a bevy of local mobsters. He's low on bullets - but, as anyone who's crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn't mean he's defenseless. Finally, in Plunder Squad, job after job disintegrates into failure and violence, and a rare act of mercy from earlier in the series comes back to bite Parker - hard. These books by Stark reveal a master craftsman working at the height of his powers, and they deserve a place on the bookshelf of every fan of crime fiction.
Book 15
By the time Richard Stark sat down to write "Deadly Edge" in 1971, he'd been chronicling the adventures of his antihero, Parker, for nearly a decade. But it turns out he was just warming up: the next three "Parker" novels would see Stark crank everything up a notch - tightening the writing, heightening the violence, and, most of all, hardening the deadly heister at the books' heart. "Deadly Edge" kicks things off by bidding a brutal adieu to the 1960s: Parker robs a rock concert, but the heist goes sour, and he finds himself - and his woman, Claire - menaced by a pair of sadistic, drug-crazed hippies. Slayground turns the hunter into prey, as Parker gets trapped in a shuttered amusement park, besieged by a bevy of local mobsters. He's low on bullets - but, as anyone who's crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn't mean he's defenseless. Finally, in Plunder Squad, job after job disintegrates into failure and violence, and a rare act of mercy from earlier in the series comes back to bite Parker - hard. These books by Stark reveal a master craftsman working at the height of his powers, and they deserve a place on the bookshelf of every fan of crime fiction.
Book 16
Book 24
Master thief Parker has unfinished business to conclude: Two million dollars are up for grabs but collecting them means returning to the scene of a heist turned sour. Just a week ago, Parker and his gang made off with the contents of a country bank, stirring up a hornet's nest of law-enforcement. Trapped on foot and much too near the crime scene, Parker was forced to stash the loot in the choir loft of an abandoned country church. Regardless of the still-present roadblocks and wanted posters, Parker knows he needs to recover the spoils before his murderous ex-confederates do. Of course, the cops are looking for the money, too. As are some New York thugs who've sniffed out what Parker is up to. And there's a resourceful female bounty hunter after a cut too. Remorseless as ever, Parker will do whatever it takes to redeem his prize, no matter who gets hurt in the process - his new getaway van may have 'Holy Redeemer Choir' emblazoned on its doors, but Parker's no choirboy...
The Eisner-Award winning creator continues adapting Richard Stark's world of criminals, thugs, and grifters with his signature pulp flair in this second installment.
A hard-nosed thief, Parker is Richard Stark's most famous creation, and Stark, in turn, is the most famous pen name of Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Donald E. Westlake. Darwyn Cooke’s beautifully stylized artwork perfectly compliments the hard-hitting action of one of the hardest hard-boiled characters in all of crime fiction.
With his old scores settled, Parker's living the good life... until a snitch rats him out to the Outfit for the bounty on his head. Now, he's no longer living in swank hotels and enjoying the finer things, and someone has to pay for that. The Outfit's about to learn, if you push Parker, it better be all the way into the grave.
Winner of the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist.
A hard-nosed thief, Parker is Richard Stark's most famous creation, and Stark, in turn, is the most famous pen name of Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Donald E. Westlake. Darwyn Cooke’s beautifully stylized artwork perfectly compliments the hard-hitting action of one of the hardest hard-boiled characters in all of crime fiction.
With his old scores settled, Parker's living the good life... until a snitch rats him out to the Outfit for the bounty on his head. Now, he's no longer living in swank hotels and enjoying the finer things, and someone has to pay for that. The Outfit's about to learn, if you push Parker, it better be all the way into the grave.
Winner of the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist.
A corrupt African colonel has converted half his country's wealth into diamonds and smuggled them to a Manhattan safe house. Four upstanding citizens plan to rescue their new nation by stealing the diamonds back--with the help of a "specialist"--Parker, that is. He has the best references in town. Will Parker break his rule against working with amateurs and help them because his woman would be disappointed if he doesn't? Or because three hired morons have threatened to kill him and his woman if he does? They thought they were buying an advantage, but what they get is a predated death certificate.
"Crime fiction stripped down--as it was meant to be. . . . Oh, how the pages keep turning."--Philadelphia Inquirer
"Old master that he is, Stark does all of them one better."--Los Angeles Times
Parker put down the body and answered the phone. And from that moment he had two jobs to do. One was to rob a remote Montana lodge where a dot-com billionaire had hidden stolen art treasures in his basement. The other was to find out why a hit man had come to Parker's home - and who sent him. Parker couldn't do one job if he didn't finish the other. The master thief wasn't the only one in his crew with scores to settle. Recently released from prison, Lloyd is the brains behind the Montana heist, the only guy who can crack the lodge's alarm system. But Lloyd had a quarrel with some former partners - and a temper. And when he explodes, and shoots a guy through the eye, Parker just happens to be by his side. In Firebreak Richard Stark has elevated the noir novel to a kind of relentless poetry, painting a searing portrait of seemingly ordinary men moonlighting in death and destruction. From an elderly husband-and-wife team of assassins to a pair of crippled criminals stewing in their hatred for Parker, Firebreak is a furious drama acted out by people who know only one way to fight fire: with fire.
A high-octane trip across America, The Score finds Parker assembling the best caper men he can find to knock over his most audacious target yet: an entire town. They scheme, they prepare, and they execute with military precision, unaware that the whole thing is about to blow up in their faces. Long considered a high water mark in the Parker series, this new graphic adaptation brings the original to violent, double-crossing life.
Darwyn Cooke, Eisner-Award winning creator of DC: The New Frontier, continues adapting Richard Stark's genre-defining Parker novels with his signature pulp flair in this third installment. A hard-nosed thief, Parker is Richard Stark's most famous creation, and Stark, in turn, is the most famous pen name of Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Donald E. Westlake.
Darwyn Cooke, Eisner-Award winning creator of DC: The New Frontier, continues adapting Richard Stark's genre-defining Parker novels with his signature pulp flair in this third installment. A hard-nosed thief, Parker is Richard Stark's most famous creation, and Stark, in turn, is the most famous pen name of Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Donald E. Westlake.