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Not many men knew what Parker did for a living, because what he did was steal. But Joe Sheer, a retired safecracker-known in the business as a jugger-knew. He knew Parker's alias, his whereabouts, his plans-and because he knew too much, he knew to keep his mouth shut. Or die. But Joe was more than ready to trade what he knew for a soft mattress, windows without bars on them, and what every man needs-his freedom. So Parker had come to Nebraska to find the old jugger-and probably murder him. show more But what Parker found was trouble: Joe was already six feet under; something very valuable was missing; and somebody was planning a funeral-Parker's. Too bad for somebody that Parker wasn't an easy man to kill. show lessTags
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A jugger sounds like some mythical creature out of Dr. Seuss's imagination. What in blazes is it? Apparently, in the world of Parker, a jugger is a safecracker, although I haven't seen that slang anywhere else..
Joe Sheer is a retired jugger. But, he's still connected to the life. He knows everyone and has many good ideas. For Parker, this guy Sheer is his contact when he disappears into his Charles Willis identity. Someone wants to contact Parker about a job, they don't go and blow up his safe identity. They call Sheer. Sheer contacts Parker or holds the info till Parker makes contact. It's like having a private mail drop. So what happens when something goes wrong with this private mail drop? What happens if someone gets the drop on old show more man Sheer and finds out that Charles Willis is Parker. Well, all kinds of trouble and enough to fill a whole book.
The Jugger is the sixth Parker novel and not considered to be one of the best. Westlake himself has had misgivings about this one, deciding after it was published that Parker wouldn't have gone to Sagamore to help anyone, but it's been pointed out that Parker's goal was preserving his clean identity of Charles Willis, a Parkerian selfish motive. This one differs from the other Parkers in that there wasn't a caper he was pursuing or escaping from, but Parker still had a mission here. When his contact ( Joe Sheer) went missing, Parker needed to know if anyone was on to Parker's own identity.
It has some amusing bits when Parker gets to town and every yahoo he meets thinks Parker is after the same thing they are, but Parker just plays along.
Particularly good was the creation of the character of Captain Younger, who, even for a bumbling small town cop, has a fascinating backstory. Younger is a yahoo who found his calling in the US Army and then after putting in his thirty years, doesn't know where to send his pension check to. His folks are gone. He doesn't know anyone he cares to contact. So he has his check sent general delivery to Sagamore where he lived thirty years earlier and ends up there.
But Westlake's delivery is smooth and he tells the story well. Thumbs up.
What's so great about these Parker books? They are written smoothly in a matter of fact style. It feels like Stark (Westlake) doesn't use any extraneous words. As the name implies, the verbiage is stark. It's not fancy. It's not flowery. Stark is just a great storyteller. If you haven't read the Parker series before, you are sure in for a treat. show less
Joe Sheer is a retired jugger. But, he's still connected to the life. He knows everyone and has many good ideas. For Parker, this guy Sheer is his contact when he disappears into his Charles Willis identity. Someone wants to contact Parker about a job, they don't go and blow up his safe identity. They call Sheer. Sheer contacts Parker or holds the info till Parker makes contact. It's like having a private mail drop. So what happens when something goes wrong with this private mail drop? What happens if someone gets the drop on old show more man Sheer and finds out that Charles Willis is Parker. Well, all kinds of trouble and enough to fill a whole book.
The Jugger is the sixth Parker novel and not considered to be one of the best. Westlake himself has had misgivings about this one, deciding after it was published that Parker wouldn't have gone to Sagamore to help anyone, but it's been pointed out that Parker's goal was preserving his clean identity of Charles Willis, a Parkerian selfish motive. This one differs from the other Parkers in that there wasn't a caper he was pursuing or escaping from, but Parker still had a mission here. When his contact ( Joe Sheer) went missing, Parker needed to know if anyone was on to Parker's own identity.
It has some amusing bits when Parker gets to town and every yahoo he meets thinks Parker is after the same thing they are, but Parker just plays along.
Particularly good was the creation of the character of Captain Younger, who, even for a bumbling small town cop, has a fascinating backstory. Younger is a yahoo who found his calling in the US Army and then after putting in his thirty years, doesn't know where to send his pension check to. His folks are gone. He doesn't know anyone he cares to contact. So he has his check sent general delivery to Sagamore where he lived thirty years earlier and ends up there.
But Westlake's delivery is smooth and he tells the story well. Thumbs up.
What's so great about these Parker books? They are written smoothly in a matter of fact style. It feels like Stark (Westlake) doesn't use any extraneous words. As the name implies, the verbiage is stark. It's not fancy. It's not flowery. Stark is just a great storyteller. If you haven't read the Parker series before, you are sure in for a treat. show less
“Once or twice a year, Parker was in on an institutional robbery - the robbing from organizations rather than from individuals.”
That’s Parker! He likes to work in groups, with specialists, and the jobs generally take less than a month, so he ‘works’ 4 to 6 weeks a year. His specialties? Planning and violence.
In this story, Parker must check in on Joe Sheer, a man who knows too much about Parker, including what his old face looks like! It's probably the least exciting Parker book I've read so far, but it is still fun to read about a man who is "big and rangy and hard-looking, with the coldest eyes Younger had ever seen, and hands as gnarled as tree branches." A man who buries a young fella "in the cellar in the whole the kid show more had dug himself." THAT is Parker!
Not much else to say about this particular tale. Maybe just - goodbye Charles Willis? show less
That’s Parker! He likes to work in groups, with specialists, and the jobs generally take less than a month, so he ‘works’ 4 to 6 weeks a year. His specialties? Planning and violence.
In this story, Parker must check in on Joe Sheer, a man who knows too much about Parker, including what his old face looks like! It's probably the least exciting Parker book I've read so far, but it is still fun to read about a man who is "big and rangy and hard-looking, with the coldest eyes Younger had ever seen, and hands as gnarled as tree branches." A man who buries a young fella "in the cellar in the whole the kid show more had dug himself." THAT is Parker!
Not much else to say about this particular tale. Maybe just - goodbye Charles Willis? show less
I remember the description of Reacher by another character in Tripwire: a condom stuffed with walnuts. That was how Lee Child described Reacher as being in shape. Now here's the description of Parker by the police chief in Jugger: "There was something almost frightening about Willis [Parker's pseudonym in the book]. He was big and rangy and hard-looking, with the coldest eyes Younger had ever seen, and hands as gnarled as tree branches. His clothes fit him like an impatient compromise with society, as though the man inside them could never really be comfortable in a suit and a white shirt, with a tie knotted around his neck and leather shoes encasing his feet." You decide which is more intimidating. "A condom stuffed with walnuts" just show more makes me giggle.
All the Parker stories are enjoyable reads even though we end up hoping the bad guy wins. Most of the titles I have read involve a successful heist followed by screw-ups. This one is a little different in that everyone is looking for money that essentially doesn't exist, but everyone is willing to kill to find it. Parker gets caught up in the middle from which he must extricate himself, which less than satisfactory results for his future. show less
All the Parker stories are enjoyable reads even though we end up hoping the bad guy wins. Most of the titles I have read involve a successful heist followed by screw-ups. This one is a little different in that everyone is looking for money that essentially doesn't exist, but everyone is willing to kill to find it. Parker gets caught up in the middle from which he must extricate himself, which less than satisfactory results for his future. show less
A bit of a departure from the usual Parker fare. One of his old comrades, Joe Sheer, writes to Parker, initially telling him he has some problems he is handling, but then asks Parker to come help. Joe was a safecracker and one of the people who could reach Parker about a job. Parker decides to help his friend, but arrives too late: Joe is dead and the circumstances of his death are shrouded in mystery; however, another crook shows up looking for money and the local sheriff wants the loot too. As always, Parker's best work is improvising a solution when things go awry, and he crafts an artful solution to this problem.
Typical pulp fiction. Very enjoyable. If you know Parker, you have the jist. Parker's long time friend dies. The sheriff thinks there's money. Another thief Parker knows thinks there's money. The neighbor thinks there's money. They are after Parker and the money. Mayhem ensues.
I really liked this one. Stark was getting too formulaic & this one broke out of that mold in a great way. Parker is still himself, but the circumstances were not what he's used to. As usual, Steven R. Thorn did a good job of reading. Very well done!
Parker and the Corrupt Cop
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (May, 2011) of the Pocket Books paperback (1965)
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 Jugger finds Parker performing what seems like an uncharacteristically altruistic act when he goes to the aid of retired criminal Joe Sheer who is being harassed by corrupt cop Abner Younger for his supposed stash of retirement cash which no longer exists. Parker is protecting show more his own interests of course, needing to ensure that his cover identity is safe. Joe Sheer is found dead, supposedly of a suicide, and Parker is forced to cooperate with Younger in order to keep seeking the missing cash. The two perform a dance of planned betrayals until finally one wins out.
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:
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 Jugger was very loosely adapted as the French film Made in USA (1966) dir. Jean Luc Godard, with the Parker role gender-swapped. An excerpt can be viewed on YouTube without English subtitles here.
There is a brief plot summary of The Jugger 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 John Banville. show less
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (May, 2011) of the Pocket Books paperback (1965)
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 Jugger finds Parker performing what seems like an uncharacteristically altruistic act when he goes to the aid of retired criminal Joe Sheer who is being harassed by corrupt cop Abner Younger for his supposed stash of retirement cash which no longer exists. Parker is protecting show more his own interests of course, needing to ensure that his cover identity is safe. Joe Sheer is found dead, supposedly of a suicide, and Parker is forced to cooperate with Younger in order to keep seeking the missing cash. The two perform a dance of planned betrayals until finally one wins out.
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 Jugger was very loosely adapted as the French film Made in USA (1966) dir. Jean Luc Godard, with the Parker role gender-swapped. An excerpt can be viewed on YouTube without English subtitles here.
There is a brief plot summary of The Jugger 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 John Banville. show less
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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
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1965
- People/Characters
- Parker; Joe Sheer
- Related movies
- Made in U.S.A. (1966 | IMDb)
- First words
- When the knock came at the door, Parker was just turning to the obituary page.
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- Popularity
- 78,721
- Reviews
- 13
- Rating
- (3.89)
- Languages
- English, Swedish
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- ISBNs
- 15
- UPCs
- 2
- ASINs
- 7
