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Loading... The Mourner: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels) (original 1963; edition 2009)by Richard Stark, John Banville (Foreword)
Work InformationThe Mourner by Richard Stark (1963) None Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Gritty and intense. The Parker novels are the highest form of crime and noir fiction. ( ) Parker's post-score girlfriend Bett Harrow introduces him to her father, who wants Parker to steal a rare alabaster statuette from a foreign diplomat, except that when Parker and his thieving pal, Hardy, start to case the joint, the Outfit is already there in cahoots with someone else. When the Outfit figures out that it has competition, they turn on their employer, a shady foreign character himself. Parker saves him from the Outfit and they combine forces, each seeking a different prize. Then, things go badly awry, leaving Parker/Hardy in deep trouble. Better than the last one, 3.5 stars. Parker and the Statue Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (March, 2011) of the Pocket Books paperback (1963) Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of the prolific crime author Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who wrote over 100 books. The Stark pseudonym was used primarily for the Parker novels, an antihero criminal who is usually betrayed in some manner and who spends each book getting revenge. The Mourner is a rare statue that Parker is hired to steal. It is in the hands of a corrupt ambassador from a fictional Eastern Bloc country, but Parker's main adversary is an agent from that country's secret police who is looking to cash in for himself. This book diverges from the usual Parker narrative and tells the story of the agent Auguste Menlo instead. Narrator Stephen R. Thorne does a good job in all voices in this audiobook edition. I had never previously read the Stark/Parker novels but became curious when they came up in my recent reading of The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (Sept. 2020) by Nancy Pearl & Jeff Schwager. Here is a (perhaps surprising) excerpt from their discussion with Amor Towles: Nancy: Do you read Lee Child? The 24 Parker books are almost all available for free on Audible Plus, except for #21 & #22 which aren't available at all. Trivia and Links There is a brief plot summary of The Mourner and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website. Although the 2011 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition shares the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009 reprint, it does not include the introduction by author John Banville. no reviews | add a review
The fourth Parker novel has the main character coming up against the KGB while on the trail of a small statue stolen from a fifteenth-century French tomb. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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