Coronet Books Series

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

The Split

by Richard Stark

Published 10 September 1973

Point Blank

by Richard Stark

Published 1 January 1974

The hunted becomes the hunter. Meet Parker, the ultimate professional. Parker is a master thief, and a man with a heart of steel. He believes in the oldest law of all - a life for a life. His one-time partner, Mal, tried to pull a fast one, making off with Parker's share of the takings after a successful heist, as well as his Parker's wife, Lynn. Big mistake. They thought they had left him for dead, but Parker survived their bullets and now he's out for revenge and prepared to do whatever it takes. The prey has become the hunter, and now Parker is stalking them, leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. Haunting and brutal, "Point Blank" was made into the cult classic movie starring Lee Marvin as well as the more recent "Parker" starring Jason Statham, and remains one of the most distinctive crime thrillers ever written.

The Green Eagle Score

by Richard Stark

Published February 1973

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

The Outfit

by Richard Stark

Published 1 January 1974

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.

The Mourner

by Richard Stark

Published 1 January 1974

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.

Sour Lemon Score

by Richard Stark

Published 16 April 1973

The Rare Coin Score

by Richard Stark

Published 1 December 1972

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.

Butcher's Moon

by Richard Stark

Published 31 December 1974

Deadly Edge

by Richard Stark

Published 1 January 1974

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.

Plunder Squad

by Richard Stark

Published 1 February 1974

Steel Hit

by Richard Stark

Published 8 March 1971