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The Violent World of Parker



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Who is Parker?

You’ve heard of the hero and the anti-hero…how about the non-hero? That’s how Parker, the main character in a series of novels by Richard Stark (AKA Donald E. Westlake) has been described. Parker is a thief, but he’s no charming cat burglar who playfully eludes the silly authorities. He’s a ruthless thug who does whatever it takes to get what he wants (usually money), and he doesn’t care about a living soul other than himself. Some of the things he does will be repellent (I hope) to readers.

So why read the stuff? Because Stark is an excellent writer and the Parker books are exciting and thought-provoking. Like all great crime fiction, the Parker novels give readers not just the story of a crime, but also a detailed look at the inner workings of a fascinating and original character.

For more on who Parker is and why so many seemingly normal human beings love to read his exploits, see my remarks on the first book of the series, The Hunter.

Guide to the Site



Navigate using the tabs at the top.

Blog: Coverage of major news related to Parker, Stark, and Westlake, forays into other crime fiction and film, and the occasional bit of randomness.

Latest News (sidebar): Links to articles of interest about Parker, Stark, and Westlake, with the occasional aside.

The Parker Novels: A list of the novels in order of publication, with links to a page for each novel. The page for each novel contains links to other goodies, such as cover galleries, detailed synopses, and introductions to out-of-print editions.

The Parker Comics: Darwyn Cooke’s graphic adaptations of the Parker novels.

The “Parker” Movies: Movies based the Parker novels. There is a page for each movie, which includes a trailer if available, and a link to a gallery of images related to the film, including posters and stills.

The Grofield Novels: Spun off from the Parker series, these detail the adventures of Alan Grofield, the actor and thief first seen in The Score. The pages for each novel contain links to other goodies, such as cover galleries and detailed synopses.

Not Quite Parker (Print and Screen): References, pastiches, homages, ripoffs, inspirations, and remarkable similarities.

Bibliography: The most complete list of Donald Westlake’s novels on the Internet. How do I know this? Because I swiped everyone else’s hard work and made some additions and corrections.

Extras: Great stuff that wouldn’t fit anywhere else. Small now but growing.

R.I.P.: Obituaries for and tributes to the great Donald E. Westlake (AKA Richard Stark). We miss you.

Also…

Existential Ennui: Co-blogger Nick’s other site, mostly devoted to books.

Trent goes off-topic: My other site, mostly devoted to non-crime book, movie, and music reviews.