Wed 25 Jan 2023
An Archived Review by Bob Adey: RICHARD STARK – Plunder Squad.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[8] Comments
RICHARD STARK – Plunder Squad. Parker #16, Random House, hardcover, 1972. Avon, paperback, 1985. University of Chicago Press, softcover, 2010.
But surely you’ve met Parker. He’s amoral, totally selfish, a hard professional criminal to his fingertips. No sense of humor, he reacts like a computer to any situation he’s in. He’s Lee Marvin in print; he’s beautiful (as his would-be assassin remarked in the memorable film Point Blank) — and I love every minute in his company.
This particular book, the penultimate in the saga, concerns the hijacking of a consignment of valuable paintings by Parker and his associates. It also involves Parker finally catching up and dealing with someone unwise enough to double cross him in an earlier book. A very stupid man. You just don’t try any tricks on Parker.
One query. Why in Point Blank (the film) was the character called Walker rather than Parker? (Walker was one of Parker’s aliases.)
January 25th, 2023 at 8:37 pm
For some reason Parker has been called everything but Parker in films based on the books (well, he has been Parker too, but not all that often).
The clever thing about Parker is that he is always a bit less evil than those surrounding him, more dangerous, and ruthless, and certainly amoral, but not quite as bad as those he ends up battling.
January 25th, 2023 at 9:12 pm
Plunder Squad shares a scene with Gores’s Dead Skip (published the same year) where Parker encounters Dan Kearney. The perspectives of the respective protagonists are distinct and unique to each novel, of course.
January 26th, 2023 at 5:13 am
Yes, David Vineyard: Parker is amoral. His opponents are immoral.
January 26th, 2023 at 8:29 am
To answer Bob’s last question in this fine review,
I’ve heard that the only way Westlake would allow the use of the name PARKER was if the film company purchased ALL books in the series. Not sure if this is true, but it would explain why the name PARKER was never used. Too bad! Those of us who enjoy the series should feel fortunate that Westlake continued on with the character after so many years
of not writing any. Does anyone out there have a favorite title in the series? Mine would be SLAYGROUND, although you really can’t beat BUTCHER’S MOON!
January 26th, 2023 at 10:37 am
Paul asks about favorites. Any of the ones through Butcher’s Moon are good–but the ones featuring Claire (with the word ‘score’ in the title) are probably my least favorite of these. I don’t think Parker is built for long term romantic relationships. My personal favorite I think is The Score–I remember it being quite tight and clean–and also features my favorite Richard Stark character: Alan Grofield. Grofield uses all of his ill-gotten gains to fund his community arts theater. And unlike Parker, he’s got a sense of humor.
January 26th, 2023 at 10:40 am
PARKER was finally given his rightful name in the 2013 movie that adapted the 19th book in the series. Jason Statham played the character in that one, not up to the inspired Lee Marvin level of casting, but better than Peter Coyote as “Stone” in the slipshod 1983 version of SLAYGROUND. I think “Walker” appeared as one of Parker’s aliases only post-POINT BLANK, presumably a meta tip of Westlake’s hat to the movie. In the early ’70s, Westlake drolly reported a friend’s comment about Parker after noting that so far the character had been played in the movies by a white man (Lee Marvin), a Black man (Jim Brown), and a woman (Anna Karina): “I’d say the character lacks definition.” My favourite book in the series was the first, THE HUNTER.
January 26th, 2023 at 5:58 pm
While we are on Parker and Stark, a nod is due to Darwyn Cooke’s graphic novel adaptations of the novels that capture the mood and spirit of the books perfectly. They are adult without being exploitive, handsomely designed and drawn, and intelligently adapted.
Frankly they are as good or better than any film adaptations.
January 30th, 2023 at 2:03 am
“The Hunter”, “The Score”, “The Outfit” and “Slayground” all astounded me. It was like holding hot coals in my palms.