The Rare Coin Score

“Parker spent two weeks on the white sand beach at Biloxi, and on a white sandy bitch named Belle, but he was restless,...”

First words of the first sentence of the book, and I’m already smiling! Another Parker story! The one where he first meets Claire! And they, along with a few others, are planning to knock over a coin convention.

This little paragraph is an example of why I like Parker so much:
“He was relieved, but didn’t show it. If she’d said yes he would have had to kill her, here and now. It would have bothered him; but it would have been necessary, so he would have done it.”
That’s Parker, 100%! Business, and survival first, everything else second.

Another solid book, short, sweet, and packed with fun! And, like show more most Parker novels, there is a double cross! But UNlike most Parker novels, this one has a happy ending, of sorts. One could almost call it sweet. But not to Parker's face... show less

The seventh Parker novel took its title, The Seventh, from Parker's percentage of a score.

I wonder if this being the ninth novel in the Parker series -- that is, the last single-digit book in the series -- is why it's also reportedly the last novel in which Parker is himself single.

From what I understand, the conniver with whom he hooks up in The Rare Coin Score stays with him for the remainder of the series. I guess I'll learn if that's true as I continue reading.

In any case, it's a characteristically finely wrought tale, which is to say it's a story that's well told, yet it's a story about a plan that falls apart. That tension may be the primary pleasure of the Parker series as a whole: every plot crashes by design. Every robbery show more fails due to the errors of its participants, least of all (which is to say, also including) Parker.

In this case, the robbery involves a coin convention. And as always, back stories of various characters are introduced long after we've met them, just in time to explain how the various narrative joints connect. show less

“The Rare Coin Score” is the ninth Parker novel by Richard Stark (aka Westlake). I am probably going to sound like a broken record in saying that, like all the books in the Parker series, it is a terrific, fast-moving crime thriller. Here, the caper is the robbery of a coin dealers convention from a hotel ballroom. There could be as much as $2 million worth of rare coins there, although it is not like cold hard cash (or is it?) and it has to go through a fence who knows how to handle such material (or perhaps one of the coin dealers at the convention). The coins have to be handled gently because, if you throw them all in a bag, they will get scratched and marred and lose quite a bit of their value. The coins are also quite heavy, show more unlike paper money. Of course, being a Parker novel, there are double-crosses and problems to contend with such that even the Pinkertons guarding the coins at night are the least of the crew’s headaches.

What stands out about this caper is the crew that is organized to do it, a crew that needs a well-organized, professional leader – Parker. One member of this crew becomes a recurring character through many of the succeeding Parker novels (Claire). If you have read any of the later Parker books, you know Claire and you know that Parker has a long- term relationship with her, but the Claire you meet in this book (before everything that happens here) is unlike the Claire you meet in succeeding books. This is a tough-nosed, hard-edged bombshell who manipulates the soft captive coin dealer (Billy) involved in the caper like any good femme fatale would.

This story is smoothly written and just flows off the pages. It is filled with action and intrigue. Novels such as this one thoroughly cemented Westlake’s place as a top-notch crime fiction writer even though he published it under his alter ego, Richard Stark. show less

Another well-oiled machine of a crime novel. Many fine Stark moments, such as this:

"We wait until eight o'clock and then you go rent a delivery van."
"Why me?"
Parker looked at him. "Because that's your job," he said.

Of course Parker is looking at him: he's speaking to him. But that extra sentence is a good way to convey Parker's annoyance and slight surprise at being questioned. There's one of these on every other page. I love these books.

In some ways, this is a typical Parker novel (good caper, wrong partners), it is also atypical as Parker gets involved with a woman before the theft vs. afterwards. This time around, he is recruited by to rob a coin convention by a collector, Billy Lebatard. Initially rejecting the idea and sending away a partner, he is convinced to stick around by Claire, a woman for whom Billy has a crush. As they often do for Parker, things go badly wrong, and he has to play along until he can regain control.

The foreword by [a:Luc Sante|17699|Luc Sante|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg] is excellent in most ways. He describes Parker's character very well & gives a very good overview of the series. Unfortunately, it contains a lot of series spoilers. Since I was driving & it wasn't a single track, I couldn't really skip it. This is the publisher's fault. Luke mentions that it's been 23 years since the previous book, so that has to be the break between [b:Butcher's Moon|457227|Butcher's Moon (Parker, #16)|Richard Stark|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1287789184s/457227.jpg|3824] #16 (1974) & #17 [b:Comeback|619717|Comeback (Parker, #17)|Richard show more Stark|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328016173s/619717.jpg|3846] (1997). This book is #9! I guess Audio Go just decided it would go as well here as on book #17. It didn't. You guys suck.

The story itself was perfect Parker, except he breaks a lot of his rules. Why & how it all plays out makes for a great adventure. Very much character driven & they all were painted quite well. show less

One of the best books in the Parker series by Richard Stark/Donald Westlake. Also, introduces the character Claire that becomes Parker's permanent love interest (if Parker can love?)