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A master thief must build a team to escape a correctional center in this fast-paced, hard-boiled crime novel by the author of Firebreak. With Parker locked up and about to be unmasked, Breakout follows his Houdini-like escape from prison with a team of convicts. But when a new heist and new dangers-con artists, snitches, busybodies, eccentrics, and cops-loom among the dark alleys and old stone buildings of the big city to which they've fled, Parker soon learns that not all prisons have bars. show more Praise for Breakout "Fiercely distracting. . . . Westlake is an expert plotter; and while Parker is a blunt instrument of a human being depicted in rudimentary short grunts of sentences, his take on other characters reveals a writer of great humor and human understanding." -John Hodgman "Stark . . . applies his great wit and dexterous mental skills to a series of . . . ingenious exits and entrances in (what else?) Breakout. . . . Jampacked. . . . He writes with ruthless efficiency." -Marilyn Stasio, New York Times "Stark invites readers to project themselves onto the always-assured Parker, making him a frighteningly easy sociopath to root for. And watching knowledgeable bad guys ply their shadowy trade under pressure is always fun. An immensely pleasurable entry in the Parker series. . . . Simply put, Breakout is great escapist fiction." -Booklist,starred review. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
For some reason, I thought this was the “real life” author that Stephen King was referencing when he wrote the character George Stark in The Dark Half. But it’s not. At least I don’t think so. And Richard Stark is the pseudonym for yet another writer.
Overall, this wasn’t bad at all. He has a tight, spare style that is stripped down and bare but yet conveys so much detail and atmosphere. His style is like a film noir – mostly action with a hint of history. Fast-paced, too. With plenty of villains. It seemed to have no details of the escape or the heist, but yet somehow enough was explained for me to understand. He doesn’t dwell on details – he moves things along very quickly.
Parker escapes from Stoneveldt with the help of show more his outside buddy who does some background checking on his fellow inmates. He comes up with a few who are looking at long stretches of time, have their shit together and aren’t assholes. They make it but the succeeding heist goes wrong and they are trapped in a high-security building with no way out. After a lot of work and anxious hours, they get out of there.
Meanwhile, Parker’s outside man’s girlfriend is turned into the police for listing a false name on her gym membership. She only joined the gym because it was in the same building as the heist target. Somehow she’s held on this and connected to the band that burst out of there. The same lawyer (a friend of Parker’s sometime girlfriend, Claire) who helped Parker in jail now helps her and eventually they turn her loose.
After that they need to get away from the cops and out of town. One of the jailbreakers turns into an incredibly loyal guy and helps them out of a couple of tight spots. In the very end, Parker hooks up with Claire in her apartment and we’re done.
I’d read another. show less
Overall, this wasn’t bad at all. He has a tight, spare style that is stripped down and bare but yet conveys so much detail and atmosphere. His style is like a film noir – mostly action with a hint of history. Fast-paced, too. With plenty of villains. It seemed to have no details of the escape or the heist, but yet somehow enough was explained for me to understand. He doesn’t dwell on details – he moves things along very quickly.
Parker escapes from Stoneveldt with the help of show more his outside buddy who does some background checking on his fellow inmates. He comes up with a few who are looking at long stretches of time, have their shit together and aren’t assholes. They make it but the succeeding heist goes wrong and they are trapped in a high-security building with no way out. After a lot of work and anxious hours, they get out of there.
Meanwhile, Parker’s outside man’s girlfriend is turned into the police for listing a false name on her gym membership. She only joined the gym because it was in the same building as the heist target. Somehow she’s held on this and connected to the band that burst out of there. The same lawyer (a friend of Parker’s sometime girlfriend, Claire) who helped Parker in jail now helps her and eventually they turn her loose.
After that they need to get away from the cops and out of town. One of the jailbreakers turns into an incredibly loyal guy and helps them out of a couple of tight spots. In the very end, Parker hooks up with Claire in her apartment and we’re done.
I’d read another. show less
Another classic Richard Stark, a.k.a. Donald Westlake, or vice versa if you prefer. Again featuring that completely amoral thief, Parker, as usual, several things go wrong with the caper forcing Parker to extricate himself from a mess. Unusually, Parker finds himself in prison (again due to a colleague’s carelessness and his own use of a name that had a record from another state) and must breakout. This he and a couple of colleagues accomplish but then he reluctantly becomes involved in another theft only to again have things go terribly wrong (this hardly qualifies as a spoiler since it’s part of the formula.)
Their entrance into the armory and attempted exit is a brilliant example of Westlake’s descriptive writing making this one show more of the best of the Parker novels. The only problem with reading these novels is that you realize they inevitably come to an end; there is no endless supply. show less
Their entrance into the armory and attempted exit is a brilliant example of Westlake’s descriptive writing making this one show more of the best of the Parker novels. The only problem with reading these novels is that you realize they inevitably come to an end; there is no endless supply. show less
If these Parker novels weren't so well written I wouldn't go to the trouble of suspending my morals and ethics for however long it takes to read one of these stories.. but they are very well written!
In this one Parker finds himself incarcerated and desperate to escape before the officials find out he's not who they thought they had locked up! It's out of and back into one compromising situation after another as Parker takes his best shot at avoiding serious hard time!
In this one Parker finds himself incarcerated and desperate to escape before the officials find out he's not who they thought they had locked up! It's out of and back into one compromising situation after another as Parker takes his best shot at avoiding serious hard time!
Parker and the Break-ins & Breakouts
Review of the University of Chicago Press paperback edition (May 2013) of the Mysterious Press hardcover (2002)
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.
As Breakout begins, Parker is in prison and has to assemble a crew in order to breakout. The same crew become the nucleus for an expanded crew to break into a jewellery wholesaler for a heist, but circumstances go awry as always and they find themselves having show more to breakout all over again. I would say that this is probably my absolute favourite Parker novel primarily because of the constant obstacles that have to be overcome whether human or physical. The actual heist is not even a major element.
These final Parker novels from #17 to #24 are stronger and more complex than the original run which was probably due to Westlake/Stark's development as a writer over the years and during the 23 year hiatus. Several of these are strong 4's to 5's (I've actually read or listened to all of them now and am just parceling out the reviews over time).
Breakout is the 5th book of 5 in a book titles arc by Richard Stark where the second syllable in each one-word title provides the first syllable of the next one as in 1) Comeback, 2) Backflash, 3) Flashfire, 4) Firebreak and 5) Breakout.
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:
The 24 Parker books are almost all available for free on Audible Plus, except for #21 & #22 which aren't available at all.
Other Reviews
There is an extremely detailed review and plot summary (in 2 parts) of Breakout (with spoilers obviously) at The Westlake Review, April 18, 2017.
Trivia and Links
The Breakout page at The Violent World of Parker website is not as complete as those for the earlier books, but does provide cover images of the different editions.
This paperback is part of the University of Chicago Press 2009-2017 series of reprints of the Parker novels and includes a new Foreword by author Chris Holm. show less
Review of the University of Chicago Press paperback edition (May 2013) of the Mysterious Press hardcover (2002)
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.
As Breakout begins, Parker is in prison and has to assemble a crew in order to breakout. The same crew become the nucleus for an expanded crew to break into a jewellery wholesaler for a heist, but circumstances go awry as always and they find themselves having show more to breakout all over again. I would say that this is probably my absolute favourite Parker novel primarily because of the constant obstacles that have to be overcome whether human or physical. The actual heist is not even a major element.
These final Parker novels from #17 to #24 are stronger and more complex than the original run which was probably due to Westlake/Stark's development as a writer over the years and during the 23 year hiatus. Several of these are strong 4's to 5's (I've actually read or listened to all of them now and am just parceling out the reviews over time).
Breakout is the 5th book of 5 in a book titles arc by Richard Stark where the second syllable in each one-word title provides the first syllable of the next one as in 1) Comeback, 2) Backflash, 3) Flashfire, 4) Firebreak and 5) Breakout.
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 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.
Other Reviews
There is an extremely detailed review and plot summary (in 2 parts) of Breakout (with spoilers obviously) at The Westlake Review, April 18, 2017.
Trivia and Links
The Breakout page at The Violent World of Parker website is not as complete as those for the earlier books, but does provide cover images of the different editions.
This paperback is part of the University of Chicago Press 2009-2017 series of reprints of the Parker novels and includes a new Foreword by author Chris Holm. show less
Well, this isn't my favorite Parker novel of all time, but it is a Parker novel, so I liked it! The title says it all "Breakout", and in fact there are three breakouts in here! Out of prison, out of a botched job, and out of the whole dang thing! Parker teams up with Mackey and Williams in all 3 and they do it as only they can! If you like Parker, you'll like this book!
Parker has miraculously avoided the law until a knucklehead on a pharmaceutical warehouse job goes into the alarmed office, and the whole crew goes to the pokie. The cops are trying to get each to rat out the others, but Parker has the most to lose since his fingerprints are in the system from his previous prison sentence where there is an inmate murder so Parker needs to get out. He recruits his cellmate and another inmate, and they do what has never been done in this overcrowded facility, with the help of Ed Mackey. Then, the other inmate, Ed and his cellmate stick around to rob a wholesale jewelry shop using a secret access point, which turns into a disaster, including Brenda getting arrested. Parker and Mackey have to spring her, show more and get away. A bit longer than necessary, but better than the recent ones. show less
Great book from start to finish. The title actually refers to several "breakouts" in the book. Stark/Westlake does a great job of keeping the plot moving.
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269+ Works 27,835 Members
Author Donald E. Westlake was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 12, 1933. He attended colleges in New York, but did not graduate. He wrote more than 100 novels and 5 screenplays throughout his lifetime. He also wrote under numerous pseudonyms including Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, and Samuel Holt. Almost 20 of his novels were adapted into films and show more he created the television series, The Father Dowling Mysteries. He is a three-time winner of the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for The Grifters. He was also named a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master in 1993. He died of a heart attack on December 31, 2008 at the age of 75. (Bowker Author Biography) Donald E. Westlake has won three Edgar Awards & was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "The Grifters". He lives in upstate New York. (Publisher Provided) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002-11-20
- People/Characters
- Parker; Inspector Turley; Ed Mackey; Brenda; Tom Marcantoni; Brandon Williams
- Important places
- Stoneveldt Detention Center
- First words
- When the alarm went off, Parker and Armiston were far to the rear of the warehouse, Armiston with the clipboard, checking off the boxes they'd want.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"This time," he said.
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Statistics
- Members
- 373
- Popularity
- 83,450
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- English, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 3
