On This Page
Description
The hunter becomes prey, as a heist goes sour and Parker finds himself trapped in a shuttered amusement park, besieged by a bevy of local mobsters. There are no exits from Fun Island. Outnumbered and outgunned, Parker can't afford a single miscalculation. He's low on bullets-but, as anyone who's crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn't mean he's defenseless.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Luc Sante wrote, "Some Parker novels are fantastically intricate clockwork mechanisms ("The Hunter", "The Outfit", the seemingly unstoppable "Slayground", the epic "Butcher's Moon")..."
This book takes place about 5 years after Joe Sheer's death, which happened in the 6th book, "The Jugger" which I just read a few days ago. Parker's working on his eighth job since then, but still trying to catch up and rebuild from the events in that book.
Alan Grofield is in this, another Stark character that I really like! It’s his and Parker’s fifth job together, albeit for just a tiny amount of time. This one goes sour fast, and Parker finds himself trapped with the satchel of loot in an amusement park called Fun Island that has been closed for show more the offseason! But, they give him too much time, and he is able to “booby-trap the whole damn park against them...”! Then it's a cat-and-mouse game till the end! Don't go into the house of mirrors!
Claire, Parker’s gal, is in this too.
Good, quick read! Shows how smart Parker is, especially when his back's against the wall! I wonder if he'll ever get that money. Or his revenge on Lozini. Did Stark ever write the 'sequel'?
Guess I'll just have to read ALL the Parker novels! Poor me! ;-) show less
This book takes place about 5 years after Joe Sheer's death, which happened in the 6th book, "The Jugger" which I just read a few days ago. Parker's working on his eighth job since then, but still trying to catch up and rebuild from the events in that book.
Alan Grofield is in this, another Stark character that I really like! It’s his and Parker’s fifth job together, albeit for just a tiny amount of time. This one goes sour fast, and Parker finds himself trapped with the satchel of loot in an amusement park called Fun Island that has been closed for show more the offseason! But, they give him too much time, and he is able to “booby-trap the whole damn park against them...”! Then it's a cat-and-mouse game till the end! Don't go into the house of mirrors!
Claire, Parker’s gal, is in this too.
Good, quick read! Shows how smart Parker is, especially when his back's against the wall! I wonder if he'll ever get that money. Or his revenge on Lozini. Did Stark ever write the 'sequel'?
Guess I'll just have to read ALL the Parker novels! Poor me! ;-) show less
The title "Slayground" is a takeoff from the phrase "Amusement Playground." It is the fourteenth Parker novels, following "Deadly Edge" and preceding "Plunder Squad." "Lemons Never Lie" comes between "Slayground" and "Plunder Squad," but that is really one of the four Grofields, not a Parker. "Slayground" is the flip side to the Grofield novel "Blackbird." Parker, Grofield, and another guy pull off an armored car heist and the car flips over in the getaway process. Grofield ends up in the hospital where he is recruited by the CIA in "Blackbird." Parker, however, gets away and hides inside an amusement park, that is shut down for the winter. In front of the park
as Parker makes his entrance, a pair of hoodlums is busy paying off a pair show more of cops. After hearing a radio report of the armored car heist, a crack team of professional hoods enter the park to hunt down Parker and the $70,000 he is reportedly carrying with him. There is but one entrance and one exit and the hoods can keep calling in reinforcements while Parker has but one gun and a limited number of bullets.
This is quite different than most other Parker novels as it really doesn't center around the planning and execution of a heist. This is more like a horror movie with the serial killer chasing the teens around the funhouse, popping out at the oddest moments and creating general havoc Parker-style. It is a solid, quick read that is about as fun to read as any crime novel ever has been. No, the plot is not all that complicated, but it doesn't need to be with Parker ingeniously improvising as he darts from one amusement park ride to another. How many hoods does it take to take down Parker? Gotta wonder.
Giving this one high marks not on its depth and complexity, but on the absolute amount of fun and enjoyment this was to read. show less
as Parker makes his entrance, a pair of hoodlums is busy paying off a pair show more of cops. After hearing a radio report of the armored car heist, a crack team of professional hoods enter the park to hunt down Parker and the $70,000 he is reportedly carrying with him. There is but one entrance and one exit and the hoods can keep calling in reinforcements while Parker has but one gun and a limited number of bullets.
This is quite different than most other Parker novels as it really doesn't center around the planning and execution of a heist. This is more like a horror movie with the serial killer chasing the teens around the funhouse, popping out at the oddest moments and creating general havoc Parker-style. It is a solid, quick read that is about as fun to read as any crime novel ever has been. No, the plot is not all that complicated, but it doesn't need to be with Parker ingeniously improvising as he darts from one amusement park ride to another. How many hoods does it take to take down Parker? Gotta wonder.
Giving this one high marks not on its depth and complexity, but on the absolute amount of fun and enjoyment this was to read. show less
Quintessential Parker novel full of no-nonsense violence. Parker gets trapped with a bag full of money in an amusement park closed for the winter with mob soldiers and crooked cops closing in. A deadly game of cat and mouse told in Stark's trademark style. Brilliant.
Most everyone’s consensus favorite as Parker novels go and I can see why. Trapped in a closed-for-the-season amusement park, Parker is hunted by a seemingly endless supply of killers. The environment allows for countless ways to outsmart and outmaneuver his adversaries. Very enjoyable but my favorite of the “classic” Parkers remains The Black Ice Score.
3.5 stars. A relatively easy armored truck rip-off goes awry when a second rate driver skids on ice and flips the car. Parker sees his partners immobilized, grabs the loot, and seeks sanctuary in a local amusement park, closed for the winter. Some crooked cops and gangsters see Parker entering the park, and decide to relieve him of his ill-gotten gains. The rest of the novel is Parker seeking to escape the park alive (with scant resources) against formidable odds as the gangsters call in reinforcements. Think of the movie Home Alone as Parker booby-traps stuff awaiting the dragnet.
Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who was a very prolific, and acclaimed, noir crime fiction writer. The Mystery Writers of America bestowed their Grand Master award on Westlake in 1993, and if Slayground is representative of the Westlake’s quality of writing and storylines he certainly deserved the Grand Master award. Slayground: A Parker Novel was first published in 1969 after Stark (Westlake) had published dozens of novels about the tough and determined thief. Parker reconnoitered and planned his thefts very carefully. He also tried to choose his companion thieves very carefully. However, unexpected obstacles or glitches can turn the most carefully planned capers into a test of survival show more skills even for a consummate professional thief like Parker. Perhaps the trait that made Parker so amazing was his ability to accept those unexpected glitches without panic. He was not someone who was overcome by fear, agony, or self-pity when he found himself in desperate situations. Instead he was able to simply accept his difficult situations and respond analytically to extricate himself from dangerous situations. He was indeed tough (hardboiled), but he didn’t use violence unless it was necessary for a successful heist or to extract himself from dangerous situations. In Slayground, Parker and two accomplices rob over $70,000 from an armored truck, but things go wrong when their escape vehicle crashes on an icy street during their escape. The two accomplices are injured and Parker flees alone on foot with the bag of money. He takes refuge in a closed-for-the-winter amusement park/fun house as a temporary hideout. However, he realizes that four people, including two policemen, saw him entering the park with the bag of money. He also discovers that the park is surrounded by a high fence and a moat on all sides but the front. The only way out is through the front gate. When no police attempt to capture him, he realizes that the men who saw him enter the amusement park intend to probably kill him and take the money for themselves. Unfortunately, the men, including the two policemen, are connected to the mob and they come after him with many reinforcements toting weapons. Parker is alone, cold, hungry, with a gun, but only a few bullets. This story places Parker in a position that seems impossible for him to survive. He realizes that he may not survive, but he steadfastly prepares to face, punish, and eliminate his foes with his wits and whatever resources he can find in the amusement park. He doesn’t hate his enemies, but he does what he knows he must do to survive without any regrets. This is a thrilling, fun, and quick read. I plan to read other Parker novels in the future and I recommend Slayground to any crime-fiction aficionado, especially to those who enjoy the perspective of the criminal. However, don’t expect deep thoughts from Parker because he is not that kind of guy. This edition of Slayground also contains an interesting forward written by Charles Ardai about Westlake and the Parker novels. show less
Die Hard Parker at the Fairground
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (February, 2013) of the Random House hardcover (1971)
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.
Slayground finds Parker on the run after a heist gone bad and his crew member Alan Grofield arrested. It turns into a Die Hard situation at an amusement park with the local mob and their corrupt cop associates hunting down Parker, who had infringed on their territory show more without approval. Parker waits them out and sets up boobytraps and diversions during the all-night siege. The fate of the loot becomes the MacGuffin for Parker #16 Butcher's Moon.
Narrator Joe Barrett 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
Slayground was loosely adapted into a film version Slayground (1983) dir. Terry Bedford, which had very little to do with the book's plot. Peter Coyote plays the Parker role, which is renamed as Stone.
There is a brief plot summary of Slayground and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Unlike many of the 2010-2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook editions which share the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009-2010 reprints, this audiobook DOES include the Foreword by author Charles Ardai. show less
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (February, 2013) of the Random House hardcover (1971)
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.
Slayground finds Parker on the run after a heist gone bad and his crew member Alan Grofield arrested. It turns into a Die Hard situation at an amusement park with the local mob and their corrupt cop associates hunting down Parker, who had infringed on their territory show more without approval. Parker waits them out and sets up boobytraps and diversions during the all-night siege. The fate of the loot becomes the MacGuffin for Parker #16 Butcher's Moon.
Narrator Joe Barrett 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 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
Slayground was loosely adapted into a film version Slayground (1983) dir. Terry Bedford, which had very little to do with the book's plot. Peter Coyote plays the Parker role, which is renamed as Stone.
There is a brief plot summary of Slayground and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Unlike many of the 2010-2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook editions which share the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009-2010 reprints, this audiobook DOES include the Foreword by author Charles Ardai. show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
270+ Works 27,963 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
Some Editions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1969
- People/Characters
- Parker
- Related movies
- Slayground (1983 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- This eastern is for Brian Garfield
- First words
- Parker jumped out of the Ford with a gun in one hand and the packet of explosive in the other.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)“Some day I'll go back and get it,” he said, and got up yawning, and the two of them went into the house.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 356
- Popularity
- 88,808
- Reviews
- 13
- Rating
- (3.95)
- Languages
- Danish, Dutch, English, French
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 16
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 8
