I've been slowly reading the Parker novels in order of publication. Donald J. Westlake is one of my writer heroes. "The Seventh" is unlike the previous novels in the series, though. Instead of walking us through the planning of a heist--just like the Dortmunder novels--The Seventh takes place during the aftermath of one. Indeed, the nature of the heist doesn't really matter; it's just preamble.

There is honor among thieves, at least to a certain extent. Unlike the previous six novels, where Parker and his gang face the standard rogues’ gallery (the Mafia, cops, etc.), Parker comes face to face with a psychopath. (Though, it should be said, Parker is clearly a sociopath himself.) It’s not the most believable setup; a “psycho killer” has always seemed to me to be a lazy writers’ room device to goose up an episode. Nonetheless, a fun read, right down to the last sentence. (The first sentence is gripping and economical: “When he didn’t get any answer the second time he knocked, Parker kicked the door in.”) ( )

Parker is lying low, in his usual way with a woman, after a successful heist where his team of seven has stolen gate receipts from a non-conference college football game. When he goes out for cigarettes and beer after three days, he returns to find her skewered, and someone has grabbed the loot. Naturally, Parker thinks it's someone from the crew and starts his investigation, but the perp is someone else. Clever title, but I prefer the capers to the aftermath. ( )

Parker and the Stadium Heist
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (November, 2011) of the Pocket Books paperback (1966)

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 or ensnared in some manner and who spends each book getting revenge or escaping the circumstances.

The Seventh has Parker and a gang of six others performing a heist of the cash proceeds at a college football game. The gang is betrayed and the money stolen by an outsider and Parker works to recover the loot while trying to convince the others that he is not the betrayer.

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 author Amor Towles:

Nancy: Do you read Lee Child?
Amor: I know Lee. I had never read his books until I met him, but now I read them whenever they come out. I think some of the decisions he makes are ingenious.
Jeff: Have you read the Parker books by Donald Westlake [writing as Richard Stark]?
Amor: I think the Parker books are an extraordinary series.
Jeff: They feel like a big influence on Reacher, right down to the name. Both Reacher and Parker have a singular focus on the task in front of them.
Amor: But Parker is amoral. Reacher is just dangerous.
Jeff: Right. Reacher doesn't have a conventional morality, but he has his own morality. Parker will do anything he has to do to achieve his goal.
Amor: But to your point, Westlake's staccato style with its great twists at the end the end of the paragraphs, and his mesmerizing central character - these attributes are clearly shared by the Reacher books.

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
The Seventh was adapted for screen and filmed as The Split (1968) dir. Gordon Flemyng starring former football player Jim Brown in the Parker role (renamed as McClain). A trailer for the film can be viewed on YouTube here.

There is a brief plot summary of The Seventh 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 Foreword by author [author:Luc Sante|17699]. ( )

Loving these Stark novels ( )

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune, for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. Francis Bacon ( )