Nobody Runs Forever

Rating:
Summary: Not quite pulse-pounding, but engrossing
Review: Parker steals for a living and a good one it is much of the time. But it has peaks and valleys and to climb out of a valley, Parker meets some cronies, only one of whom he knows, for a poker game --- where the details of a proposed robbery will be discussed. Parker notices something. odd about one of the guests --- he's wearing a wire. So Parker calmly walks behind the man and murders him.

Parker is not always a gentle man, but he loves his woman, doesn't trust his colleagues, has no real friends and is good at his work: stealing things and, if necessary, hurting people even to the point of murder.

Ultimately a bank is to be robbed with the connivance of a banker's wife, her ex-con, ex-cop (sort of) lover and an improvised gang of robbers.

Stark (a/k/a Donald E. Westlake) has a taut style. The characters are well developed and interesting. The action isn't pulse-pounding and there's something predictable about the plot's twists and turns that keeps you from getting to the edge of your seat.

Overall, a good read, but not one that will keep you up all night.

Jerry

Rating:
Summary: Pure Parker
Review: Another fine addition to the recent string of Parker novels from Stark (Westlake). Great ending that leaves the reader on edge.

Rating:
Summary: May be the best Parker ever
Review: I've read only a couple of the original Parker novels but all of the ones since Richard Stark resurrected the series with "Comeback" in the late 1990s. I'd say this is the best of the lot -- and by a fair margin. "Nobody Runs Forever" is a pitch-perfect gem of a noir crime novel.

From the opening scene (it takes Stark less than a page before Parker is choking a man to death) to the novel's final sentence, Stark crafts tension onto every page. Stark (Mystery Writer of America Grand Master Donald Westlake's most notable pen name) has never written more powerfully. He can accomplish so much with so few words, and no one -- save perhaps Elmore Leonard -- writes better dialogue.

What sets this novel apart from even the high standard of his earlier work is the beautifully realized complexity of the secondary characters. Stark paints the whole "heister" milieu superbly, as you would expect. But there's a richer atmosphere on these pages, a certain mood that arises from the desperate motivations of several characters: the ex-con and his amateur insider who help set up the armored car robbery that's at the heart of the plot; the bounty hunter and his beautiful backup who want to find the man killed by Parker in the first chapter; the doctor and his lover who want a piece of the heist; the arms expert, who's shaken from an earlier job gone bad, who Parker enlists to supply the weapons for the robbery. That the story plays out in a relatively short crime novel is a tribute to Stark's superior writing ability. The ending doesn't resolve things in a tidy bundle, but then Parker novels never end that way. You can bet there'll be another installment forthcoming, and you can bet it'll be a dandy.

Rating:
Summary: great Parker thriller
Review: In a Cincinnati hotel room, seven buddies play poker intending to discuss a heist. Parker, sitting out the hand, gets up, takes off his tie, and wraps it around the throat of Harbin who is wearing a wire. Dalesia and Mott pretend the game is still on as Parker kills Harbin. McWhitney, who brought Harbin to the game, disposes of the body. The game breaks up with Fletcher pretending to be Harbin informing the others he will clean up. Stratton thanks "Harbin" as they all leave.

However, Dalesia and Parker, who have a bit of history together, talk about being out of work. Dalesia says he has a somewhat risky idea for a heist of over a million dollars being transported by four armored trucks guarded by twelve security agents. Parker wants in though he understands that the prime risk comes from two key "rookies", the banker's wife and a former bank employee, neither of which can keep their enthusiasm nor fears quiet. Meanwhile Harbin's partners hunt for him by tracking the poker players. Now the gang, Harbin's partners, and Police Detective Gwen Reversa rendezvous with four armored-cars.

NOBODY RUNS FOREVER is a typical exhilarating Parker tale that leaves no prisoners from start to finish. Parker displays his professionalism from the onset as he calmly kills the informant in the opening scene and continues on that criminal path that makes him a popular antihero. Though his partners are so tyro and unprofessional that long term fans would doubt he would try the caper with them, all things considered readers will appreciate Richard Stark's latest Parker thriller.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Stark hits a home run
Review: Richard Stark is the alter ego of Donald E. Westlake and this 'Parker' thriller hits the mark. The characters are fresh, intelligent and interesting. Stark keeps you turning the pages hungry for the next ripple in the lake to change the course in the story. The ending is open for discussion, but if you think it leaves you hanging, then you don't appreciate Stark-Westlake and his sense of humor.

The first line opens your eyes and keeps you guessing through the ending. All your questions are not answered, but the trip is more interesting than 99% of the high profile dribble pushed on the consummer in the last 4 months.

Enjoy the read for the shear fun of it. The book is excellent, period.