"Parker is a brilliant invention. . . . What chiefly distinguishes Westlake, under whatever name, is his passion for process and mechanics. . . . Parker appears to have eliminated everything from his program but machine logic, but this is merely protective coloration. He is a romantic vestige, a free-market anarchist whose independent status is becoming a thing of the past."
"The University of Chicago Press has recently undertaken a campaign to get Parker back in print in affordable and handsome editions, and I dove in. And now I get it."
Donald Westlake’s Parker novels are among the small number of books I read over and over. Forget all that crap you’ve been telling yourself about War and Peace and Proust—these are the books you’ll want on that desert island.”
Richard Stark writes a harsh and frightening story of criminal warfare and vengeance with economy, understatement and a deadly amoral objectivity—a remarkable addition to the list of the shockers that the French call roman noirs.”
Parker is a true treasure. . . . The master thief is back, along with Richard Stark.”
Last year the University of Chicago Press acknowledged their excellence by embarking on a uniform edition of the first 16 novels in the series. . . . Whether early or late, the Parker novels are all superlative literary entertainments. . . . Parker’s only virtues are his intelligence and his professionalism—yet somehow you always end up rooting for him. Nietzsche knew why: When you look into an abyss, the abyss looks into you.
Weekly Standard - Terry Teachout
Parker is refreshingly amoral, a thief who always gets away with the swag.”
Entertainment Weekly - Stephen King
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.
Elmore Leonard wouldn’t write what he does if Stark hadn’t been there before. And Quentin Tarantino wouldn’t write what he does without Leonard. . . . Old master that he is, Stark does all of them one better.”
Westlake knows precisely how to grab a reader, draw him or her into the story, and then slowly tighten his grip until escape is impossible.”
The UC Press mission, to reprint the 1960s Parker novels of Richard Stark (the late Donald Westlake), is wholly admirable. The books have been out of print for decades, and the fast-paced, hard-boiled thrillers featuring the thief Parker are brilliant.
Globe and Mail - H. J. Kirchoff
Richard Stark’s Parker novels . . . are among the most poised and polished fictions of their time and, in fact, of any time.”
Bookforum - John Banville
Parker . . . lumbers through the pages of Richard Stark’s noir novels scattering dead bodies like peanut shells. . . . In a complex world [he] makes things simple.”
New York Times - William Grimes
"If you're a fan of noir novels and haven't yet read Richard Stark, you may want to give these books a try. Who knows? Parker may just be the son of a bitch you've been searching for."
Virginia Quarterly Review - John McNally
"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 ""Parade""War and Peace and Proust--these are the books you'll want on that desert island."Commentary
Elmore Leonard wouldn’t write what he does if Stark hadn’t been there before. And Quentin Tarantino wouldn’t write what he does without Leonard. . . . Old master that he is, Stark does all of them one better.”
Westlake knows precisely how to grab a reader, draw him or her into the story, and then slowly tighten his grip until escape is impossible.”
“Last year the University of Chicago Press acknowledged their excellence by embarking on a uniform edition of the first 16 novels in the series. . . . Whether early or late, the Parker novels are all superlative literary entertainments. . . . Parker’s only virtues are his intelligence and his professionalism—yet somehow you always end up rooting for him. Nietzsche knew why: When you look into an abyss, the abyss looks into you.”—Terry Teachout, Weekly Standard
— Terry Teachout
