Rating: 
Summary: Parker is a great entertaining read
Review: Parker is a tough guy among tough guys, and the difference really comes out when he is betrayed by his fellow thieves, as is the case in Flashfire. After pulling a job, Parker's three conspirators "borrow" his money against his will in order to pull off an even bigger heist months down the line. Parker opts out of the big heist, which he has doubts about, but is in on a revenge plot, which propels him through a one man crime spree and eventually lands him in a posh Floridian neighborhood where the rules are written by old money. He is waiting to kill his three enemies, but others are out to kill him as well, and then the law gets involved. Parker is the ultimate pragmatist when it comes to accomplishing what he has set out to do; the rule of ethics that drives him is a little less practical and a little murkier. But in the end, it's one man against many, in a house full of guns.
The Good and the Bad:
This is the nineteenth Parker novel, but the first one I have read, so I was a newcomer in some respects. But I chose the book because I loved the film Payback, which was based on a different Parker novel.
I think that seeing the movie was a benefit, because the character descriptions were pretty weak, and it was nice to have Mel Gibson's performance to hang my mental image on.
Character descriptions aren't what you pick up a book like this for anyway; this is a modern crime noir, and I got the elements I was looking for: compelling and varied action scenes, crisp writing, and cool dialogue. Parker himself is intriguing because of his relentless drive and obsession, and the overall style of the book reminded me of Louis Lamour.
If your protagonist is a thief (a mechanic, in Parker parlance), you need to have a world full of unsympathetic citizenry, and Stark gives us unflattering glimpses of a social elite in which the young are just waiting for the rich to die.
Overall, a very solid book, and I look forward to catching up on some of the back stories. It has a kind of timeless appeal that doesn't seek to hit us over the head with how modern it can be; yet it isn't a period piece rooted in the pop-culture of the day.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable anti-hero.
Review: You have to admire Parker, the central character of Richard Stark's eponymous series. Parker is an "honest" robber. This time around, his colleagues on a job do him a bad turn. Left alone in the middle of nowhere, Parker plans his revenge - and proceeds to execute it brilliantly with the aid of slightly dimwitted realtor with a taste for adventure.
This is a character driven story. Just a plain fun read.
Jerry
Rating: 
Summary: Stark always knows how to write a good story
Review: About two hundred miles from Omaha, Parker and his three cohorts rob a bank with Parker causing the diversion with a nearby firebomb. After succeeding in this endeavor Parker's partners blithely inform him that they need his share of the loot as seed money to conduct a bigger heist on an island near Palm Beach, Florida. However, his former accomplices make one mistake when they abscond with Parker's portion of the booty, the trio leaves Parker alive. Besides Parker wanting his money, no one cheats him out of his due so he follows Melander, Carlson, and Ross to Florida. He plans to trump his former friends by doing the jewelry job they were set to perform. However, Parker has also has blundered because someone not only recognizes him, but wants him dead. FLASHFIRE is an excellent Parker tale that marks the return one of the great anti-heroes in American mystery literature. The story line is entertaining due to the lead character's criminal abilities that Richard Stark effortlessly brings alive in the well-written, fast-paced plot. Fans and new readers will enjoy this tale while seeking out previous books and movies (that both go back to the sixties) of a legendary protagonist. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Tight, Fast Paced Crime Caper
Review: Donald E. Westlake may be known primarily for his comedic crime novels, particularly the Dortmunder series, but when writing as Richard Stark displays a much darker personality. Stark's Parker novels were on a long sabatical, but in the past few years have come back strong. The latest book has a relatively straight forward plot in which Parker attempts to get even with a crime gang he hooked up with before a parting of the ways. The Parker novels have some humor, but there is no mistaking the hard edge of the lead character who will kill at a moment's notice if things don't go his way. A Parker novel is best described as hard, and this one is no exception. The title refers to the modus operandi used by a crime gang when pulling of bank heists or a really big jewelry job. Parker feels cheated out of his share of the former caper, and plots to get even with his former cronies. Parker needs money to realize his scheme, and goes on a crime spree, netting more money than originally at stake, before heading to Palm Beach, the site of the novel's main action. Some readers may find the crime spree more interesting than the later action. In addition to the main plot, there is a subplot threatening Parker's life that has the potential to change the entire direction of the book. Fans of Westlake's lighter crime books should definitely check out the Stark novels. Those who saw Mel Gibson in Payback, an early Parker novel may be surprised that Parker is not the anti-hero type, but a flat-out criminal and killer (when necessary).
Rating:
Summary: Another great Parker book
Review: Every genre has its masters. In the caper novel, one of the masters, actually one of the grandmasters, is Donald Westlake. Whether writing Parker novels as Richard Stark or the Dortmunder books (Parker's comic opposite) under his own name, Westlake always delivers. To those unfamiliar with Parker (most recently portrayed cinematically in the fun movie, Payback), he is a violent and generally amoral thief whose cold, almost mechanical approach to his job and life lead to his general success. Parker is not a nice guy, but he is compelling to read about. The story this time is familiar enough; Parker gets ripped off and goes after the thieves who betrayed him. Along the way, he makes enemies and allies who complicate his plans. Revenge isn't the proper word for what Parker seeks, since that would imply a level of emotions that he doesn't have; instead, Parker seeks balance: those who defy his code must be punished to restore balance. How important is this sense of balance to Parker? Along the way to his final confrontation, he winds up stealing far more than he originally lost, but it means little: he still wants the original money. He is actually more interested in people who steal from him than people who kill him. If you like crime novels, you can't go wrong with Parker (or Westlake's books in general). Reading a Parker novel gets to the basics of what a caper book is all about: clever plotting and plenty of action.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Parker book
Review: Every genre has its masters. In the caper novel, one of the masters, actually one of the grandmasters, is Donald Westlake. Whether writing Parker novels as Richard Stark or the Dortmunder books (Parker's comic opposite) under his own name, Westlake always delivers. To those unfamiliar with Parker (most recently portrayed cinematically in the fun movie, Payback), he is a violent and generally amoral thief whose cold, almost mechanical approach to his job and life lead to his general success. Parker is not a nice guy, but he is compelling to read about. The story this time is familiar enough; Parker gets ripped off and goes after the thieves who betrayed him. Along the way, he makes enemies and allies who complicate his plans. Revenge isn't the proper word for what Parker seeks, since that would imply a level of emotions that he doesn't have; instead, Parker seeks balance: those who defy his code must be punished to restore balance. How important is this sense of balance to Parker? Along the way to his final confrontation, he winds up stealing far more than he originally lost, but it means little: he still wants the original money. He is actually more interested in people who steal from him than people who kill him. If you like crime novels, you can't go wrong with Parker (or Westlake's books in general). Reading a Parker novel gets to the basics of what a caper book is all about: clever plotting and plenty of action.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully gritty and stark roman noir.
Review: Everything went according to plan. If the heist was a little flashier than Parker ordinarily liked, it still got the job done. The problems began when it came time to settle up. Rather than pay him his full share, Parker's three co-conspirators informed him that they were "borrowing" his take. They needed it as seed money for a big job in Palm Beach, so they left him high and dry. That was their first mistake. Their biggest mistake, though, was leaving him alive. Richard Stark's intriguingly misanthropic master thief is back for yet another hard boiled adventure and it's a very good one. Bouncing back from the disappointing "Backflash," this time out the author has his noir chops finely honed. He keeps the prose appropriately stark and close to the bone. That's just what Parker's stories require. He is not a man who lives in a world of many colors or flavors and this book reflects that in its writing. The plot is swift and uncomplicated, allowing us to appreciate Parker's brilliant criminal instincts and disdain for conventional morality. It takes a good writer to make a person who's not very likable into a convincing protagonist and Stark does a top notch job of it. It doesn't hurt that most of the people Parker meets, criminal or not, are just as crooked as he is. "Flashfire" makes for an excellent, quick summer read.
Rating:
Summary: On-target, stripped-down noir
Review: Flashfire is wonderful noir, stripped of purple prose and affectation.
The protagonist may be cold, but he's tough and smart, and he adheres at least to some criminals' code of honor. (Basically: Don't screw your partners.)
The dialogue and the propulsive plot are smart, too. Stark writes with economy and accuracy, like a boxer throwing stinging jabs or crisp combinations.
For the most part Stark avoids stereotypes like kinky serial killers, moronic small-time criminals and renegade detectives who argue with their superiors. His minor characters, like the real estate saleswoman, the small-town lawman and the Palm Beach socialites, are briefly drawn, but well-limned.
I also enjoyed Stark's matter-of-fact use of criminal tradecraft, and the leavening, on-target humor he aims at the wealthy menagerie that occupies Palm Beach.
Rating:
Summary: It's a crooks paradise.
Review: I have always loved Richard Stark's Parker novels. They are all tough, mean, fast paced, short, and easy to read. This one, "Flashfire", is up there. Parker is involved in one heist where he's ripped off, and then he goes to take revenge on his former partners. I think the robberies are brilliant, and have always wondered if they'd work in real life (though I wouln't bet my life on it). Parker is mean, cold, and precise, an expert. He certainly lacks defintion, but it isn't a flaw, for some reason. I liked this one, as well all the others. A must ofr anyone who like crime thrillers.
Rating:
Summary: It's a crooks paradise.
Review: I have always loved Richard Stark's Parker novels. They are all tough, mean, fast paced, short, and easy to read. This one, "Flashfire", is up there. Parker is involved in one heist where he's ripped off, and then he goes to take revenge on his former partners. I think the robberies are brilliant, and have always wondered if they'd work in real life (though I wouln't bet my life on it). Parker is mean, cold, and precise, an expert. He certainly lacks defintion, but it isn't a flaw, for some reason. I liked this one, as well all the others. A must ofr anyone who like crime thrillers.
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