Rating: 
Summary: Stark's cold rhythm is back
Review: A great addition the series...Stark is back in full form.
Rating:
Summary: Stark's cold rhythm is back
Review: A great addition the series...Stark is back in full form.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of breakouts, actually
Review: After an inconvenient arrest, master thief Parker and his felonious associates spend a bunch of pages trying to break out of a big holding facility where they're awaiting trial; then they spend a bunch of pages trying to break into an old armory that was converted into a jewelry distributor; then they spend a bunch of pages trying to break OUT of said facility after their original route of entry caves in; then they spend a bunch of pages planning to break out an ally associated with the jewelry heist from a police station where she's being held for questioning. In other words, you want breakouts? We'll give ya breakouts-- and even thrown in an extra break IN at no extra charge. And though it all might sound a bit silly here, it's all done with deadly seriousness, resulting in another tense and involving Parker thriller. Pick it up.
Rating:
Summary: Parker, the King of the Breakout.
Review: As a fan of mystery/suspense/hardboiled noir, I am uncertain how I've missed Richard Stark (a/k/a Don Westlake). In an event, BREAKOUT was my first Stark novel and as any noir fan will attest, Stark does it quite well. While fans of noir will envision no-nonsense, pushing-the-line yet "good" heros, Stark throws us a curve. The twist? Our hero(?), Parker, is as bad as they come...truly an anti-hero. If one can't get one's mind around a bad guy being depicted in a "good" light, move on.The reader is introduced to Parker's lastest escapade, a "foolproof" robbery gone bad. As a result, Parker is transported to a large, nondescript, "inescapable" Midwestern holding prison. Parker being Parker, his immediate task is to figure a way out of the colossus, which has never yielded an escape. Parker sets out to find a trustworthy crew within the confines of a prison of untrustworthies, no small task to be sure. Stark lays out the plan of escape with enough detail, the reader will feel as those he is a part of this crew. With little fanfare, the crew is successful in their escape. In exchange for the participation of one of the crew in their daring escape, Parker has agreed to participate in the robbery of a local jewelry wholesaler. This, ostensibly, will provide each of the robbery crew with enough to disappear comfortably. The jewlery store is located in an old, restored armory creating a challenge of monumental proportions. A challenge Parker loathes; one providing him with an extremely uneasy feeling. As Parker's trick knee predicted, disaster befalls the robbery crew. As the robbery disintegrates, the reader is introduced to Parker's psyche, a dark, lonely tomb with stoic albeit brilliant insights. The moniker that best suits Parker, in my mind at least, is that of a fireman. Always putting out fires, making the best of really bad situations. A man of few words to be sure but of extreme and calculated action. Parker is a natural leader, not showy, but one others look to in time of crisis. Needless to say, Parker and his are faced with another breakout, this from the armory (jewelry store) before daylight. As the crew dwindles due to unforeseen demise, Parker, Williams, and Mackey become quite tight as they successfully overcome various obstacles and tight fixes. Tight, in the sense that they rely on each other to make yet another escape. Beyond that, their are no ties between these men with no ties. My take, as a first-time reader of Stark, is that he is masterful in his presentation and communication of this oft-presented but rarely understood life of a transient criminal. Although in many ways unsavory, Stark does an excellent job of turning Parker into a lovable anti-hero. So much so, that in the end, when the inevitable clutches of law enforcement begin to close in, I found myself "willing" Parker's yet third escape (breakout). A thrilling ending to a strange yet colorful book. I'll be making my way backward now through the other Parker novels, at least, those still available. BREAKOUT is an extremely quick, fun and strange read. Off-the-beaten path, as it were but one, who is a fan of noir, should not miss.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bad Guy is Saved for the Next Book
Review: At Stoneveldt Detention Center, Parker - who is the good bad guy of this book - collects buddies to breaK out. Primarily, there is Ed Markey, whose girl friend Brenda helps from the outside. There is Brando Williams, a person of color. And so on. After a cold-blooded murder, they manage to break out. The scene now shifts to the plan of breaking into a jewelry wholesale store, located in a super solid armory. The way in is through an old abandoned tunnel nobody knows about except the bad guys. The center of the tunnel had partially collapsed, though, and they have to dig their way through. They get to the jewelry store and load up on the expensive stuff. On the way back, the tunnel collapses on some of the bad guys . One must assume they got killed, but no time or verbiage is lost on that. Because the advance was so narrow, they left behind the sacks of loot. and backed out of the tunnel. They left behind all the jewelry. Why?? It takes another 100 pages or so to get them out of the armory and the mess as such. The action taking place in the mid-west, it is interesting to speculate why Williams is so afraid of his white companions. This item is played over and over again. And there is the owner of a dance school, where Brenda signs up - and the owner immediately knows that all her ID papers were forged. How did she manage that? I can understand some modicum of sympathy with a thief who gets away with it. But certainly not with a cold-blooded murder who does not even check if his friends are still alive. But that is one of the reasons why this is not a great book. The characters are one-dimensional and do not invite the reader to take sides. It has some nice ideas, but the execution is rather pedestrian, if not to say sloppy.
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Summary: Nice to have Richard Stark's sociopath Parker back.
Review: Breakout is the latest in the Parker series of noir thrillers. Written by Donald Westlake (under the appropriate penname of Richard Stark) is great fun to read about although you would never want to meet him in real life. Parker comes close to being a sociopath. He has completely no conscience; when in Breakout he decides to help a long term associate get his girl friend out of prison, it is because he decides that it is in his long-term interest; it does not matter to him that his associate (I can't call him a friend because Parker has no friends) helped break Parker out of jail earlier in the book. He has no problem about killing someone who is an obstacle to his plans. However, he is completely rational; he would never kill someone for no reason, nor does he seem to derive any pleasure from killing any more than he derives any guilt. It's interesting to speculate why we enjoy such a character. Probably it because we all like to imagine indulging our wishes without any care of what society would think, or any obedience of moral rules. This what Parker does. Breakout, as pointed out by several other reviewers, is close to a book in one of Westlake's other series. Parker's presence, however, makes it distinctive. Here, he must break out of a jail, and then into a jewelry store. He has far more than his normal share of bad luck, but through his intelligence, and ruthlessness, remains free for another book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Stark delivers another fine Parker novel
Review: Donald Westlake(aka Richard Stark) delivers the goods with another entry in the Parker series. Parker is like a human version of the Terminator. He lets nothing get in his way; not a prison, not a jewelry store, not drug dealers, and not the cops. Parker is my favorite professional thief, and I hope he doesn't retire from his career in crime.
Rating:
Summary: Stark delivers another fine Parker novel
Review: Donald Westlake(aka Richard Stark) delivers the goods with another entry in the Parker series. Parker is like a human version of the Terminator. He lets nothing get in his way; not a prison, not a jewelry store, not drug dealers, and not the cops. Parker is my favorite professional thief, and I hope he doesn't retire from his career in crime.
Rating:
Summary: Parker never fades
Review: For those who like their heroes to be above reproach, steer clear of Richard Stark. But for those who like some edge in their (anti)hero, check out Breakout. Stark's hero, Parker, is an amoral criminal mind who always seems to end up in nail-biting, fast-paced adventures. In the newest installment in this series (40 years and counting), Parker is whiling away his time in the Stoneweldt Detention Centre after a botched heist. Knowing Parker as we do, of course he will not abide captivity for very long, and he plans his escape with two of his jailmates. The only hitch is that after they break out, they plan to knock over a jewelery store. Parker's typical mayhem ensues as he and his buddies leap through both figurative and literal hoops in their quest for freedom. With each successive Parker book, Richard Stark gives his fans not just a good taste of the criminal mind, but a rollicking adventure as well. The Parker series are escapist fiction at its very best and BREAKOUT is no exception. Definitely not to be missed.
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Summary: AN ESCAPE STORY THAT WILL HOLD YOU 'TIL THE END
Review: I would not call this a masterpiece, but would say this story is a good read. It is about 3 felons who escape jail awaiting their court hearings. It is about how they got out and then how they eluded the authorities and also their planning and carrying out a heist. I did not think the very end was so great, yet it did not hinder the whole story in any way.
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