Books: Butcher's Moon By Richard Stark (1974)

“Parker’s run of bad luck (the four novels spanning from The Sour Lemon Score to Plunder Squad) persists as the story Butcher’s Moon opens. A botched jewelry store job leaves him out of pocket and in dire need of cash, so he calls up Alan Grofield, his long-time associate and actor-turned-thief, with whom he worked on the heist at the start of Slayground—a heist that resulted in Grofield being hospitalized and Parker abandoning a stashed bag of dough in an amusement park in the Midwest city of Tyler, Indiana. After 2 years and a few adventures, Grofield is similarly on his uppers, his summer stock theater in Mead Grove, Indiana continuing to drain his resources and leaving him without a pot to piss in. So when Parker suggests they head to Tyler to retrieve their loot, Grofield readily accepts. Not surprisingly, once they arrive in Tyler and search Fun Island, there’s no trace of the money, so he and Grofield make a nuisance of themselves with the local Outfit (i.e. Mob) operation in an effort to track down the boodle. Adolf Lozini, the Mafia boss who led the hunt for Parker through Fun Island in Slayground, is still in charge—but only just. There’s a coup d’état brewing, and the last thing the usurpers need is Parker and Grofield making things more difficult. But successfully and violently muddy the waters they do, until Grofield is shot and then held hostage and Parker has to resort to calling in help his list of other past associates, among them Handy McKay from, Stan Devers, and Ed Mackey, to carry out a series of jobs on Outfit enterprises in and around Tyler before hitting the Outfit men themselves.”

A lot of Butcher’s Moon reads like a finale, that after sixteen novels and a dozen year, Parker was going out in style. But according to Donald E. Westlake, this was not intended to be the last book; it just ended being that way. Over the twenty-three year gap between this novel and Parker’s Comeback return in 1997, Westlake said many things, including the idea that even by 1974, stealing large amounts of cash from banks, entertainment venues, local stores and other places was drying up due to few things, the credit card boom, and money being transferred electronically –so no need to have large amounts of loose cash on hand. He did tell the New York Times back in 1997 that by “1974, Richard Stark just up and disappeared. He did a fade. Periodically, in the ensuing years, I tried to summon that persona, to write like him, to be him for just a while, but every single time I failed. What appeared on the paper was stiff, full of lumps, a poor imitation, a pastiche. Though successful, though well liked and well paid, Richard Stark had simply downed tools. For, I thought, ever.”

But for some diehard Richard Stark/Donald Westlake fans, this seemed not so realistic take, as website The Westlake Review pointed out in 2015: “Westlake had established Dortmunder as a series character, and we can speculate that Westlake didn’t want to be spending most of his time working out variations on what he’d done before, which is what franchise fiction tends to be, no matter how well written and original.” Butcher’s Moon was also “the twenty-first and final book Westlake published at Random House (and the first Parker novel released in hardcover), ending what has to be considered his most seminal and productive stint at any one publisher–all of his 60’s novels under his own name, plus a short story collection, all five of the Mitchell Tobin mysteries of Tucker Coe, and finally the last four Parker novels. It was at Random House that Westlake had truly matured as a writer, had made his reputation as a crime novelist (alternately dark and comical), and had benefited greatly from the editing savvy of Lee Wright, one of the most influential figures in the mystery field at that time. Did Westlake stop working with his first major publisher because he wanted to stop writing Parker novels for a while, or did he stop writing Parker novels for a while because Random House didn’t want any more?  Was it a four book deal that expired and was not renewed?  Is that why this book feels like a planned conclusion to the entire saga to date?  Because that is precisely what it does feel like.  A saga drawing to a close, with a vengeance.”

Butcher’s Moon also reintroduces characters from most its previous fifteen books in a tale that is (a first for Westlake/Stark) a direct sequel to a previous novel. But also gives the long-time reader an Easter Egg of sorts or just someone who understood continuity, by also completing a subplot introduced in the very first book in the series, The Hunter back in 1962. “So Parker cheerfully—or, more accurately, dourly—murders his way through Butcher’s Moon, gunning down one man on a sidewalk just to send a message and visiting an apocalyptic vengeance on the hapless mobsters at the close of the book,” noted the Westlake Review.

Even though this would be the last Parker book for twenty-three years, it also comes across like a refreshing new take for our favorite anti-hero, as Stark/Westlake smartly changes up the format. First off, it runs 55 chapters, over three hundred pages, fully twice the length of many of the earlier books (more on this later). He also abandons the usual four part structure in favor of a continuous linear narrative. He also makes Parker less anonymous, as he tells Lozini to contact certain people who will tell him what Parker is capable of when someone gets in the way of his money.

These changes may have upset some long-time readers, but it’s clear that Westlake would not be put off by their complaining. There is also a great meta moment, as well, when Parker has assembled a large team to take on the Mob and get Grofield back. It could be Westlake himself talking to his long-time faithful readers that Parker can evolve. So it comes to Handy McKay, who knows how Parker works, who is a bit ambivalent about his latest plan, to ponder why go through this for one man. These guys, they know the risk, they know this could be their last job; they know they’ll be left behind if their shot or caught by the police. “What happens to him is up to him,” Handy says bluntly.

“I don’t care. I don’t care if it’s like me or not. These people nailed my foot to the floor, I’m going round in circles, I’m not getting anywhere. When was it like me to take lumps and just walk away? I’d like to burn this city to the ground, I’d like to empty it right down to the basements. And I don’t want to talk about it anymore, I want to do it. You’re in, Handy, or you’re out. I told you the setup, I told you what I want, I told you what you’ll get for it. Give me a yes or a no.”

The question now is will I read more of these books? Between 1997 and his death on New Years Eve 2008, Westlake wrote eight more Parker novels (the last one was published posthumously in 2009). Most diehard Westlake readers would, but there is a caveat. As the 70’s became the 80’s, most of his books started appearing in hardcover first –he reached the pinnacle a lot of writers of the paperback era always wanted. But to meet the costs of this format, it meant that the page count needed to increase. What made the early paperback Parker’s great, and even the early Dortmunder’s, along with his multiple stand-alone titles, was by keeping them short and to the point, the books were slim, with a lot of superfluous material excised during rewrites (see my take on Forever and a Death). But to justify the hardcover costs, it forced Westlake to write much longer books, with tales often going off in tangents that slowed the pace down, especially in the later Dortmunder tales. They were no longer lean, mean machines. They’re still great tales, but they often suffered because he had develop more characters, more subplots, more action (or comedic) set pieces.

I may read Comeback, but for now, my tour with Parker might be finished.

Books: Dead Skip By Joe Gores (1972)

DKA stands for Dan Kearny & Associates. DKA is a car repo company that tends to get involved in mysteries as a consequence of its business. Founder Dan Kearny comes across as a complete jerk, but deep inside, he loves his team. And he’s always happy to jump into a case when the knowledge of a wise elder is needed to guide his young guns through solving the crime. When repo man Bart Heslip, a former boxer, is found in a coma in a wrecked, repossessed Jaguar, his college, former cop Larry Ballard, can't shake the idea that someone staged the accident to cover something up. Armed with only his wits and Heslip's last two days worth of cases, Ballard goes up against a three day deadline to find a would-be killer.

I, of course, read this book due to its link to the Richard Stark/Donald Westlake Parker novel Plunder Squad. Parker’s cameo appearance takes place late in Dead Skip, and is now from the viewpoint of Daniel Kearny. The cross-over works here, as both books are grim tales, one with a cadre of hardboiled repo-detectives who go after bad people and who end up involved in other crimes, and Parker who steals money for a living. Westlake and Gores did one more cross-over event, but this time it was in Westlake’s more comical Dortmunder series, Drowned Hopes. Gores did the same, with appearance of Ken Warren in a much lighter tale from the DKA files, 32 Cadillacs. While I liked the book, as the characters are vividly drawn and the mystery features the typical genre twists, and it comes to a satisfying conclusion, but I found the whole procedural aspect of the repo business dull. But Dead Skip was the first in a series of six, so maybe Gores was able to feature more of the story than the detailed mechanics of repossessing a car.  

Joe Gores DKA crew appeared mostly in short-stories before Gores released the first DKA novel in 1972, with Dead Skip. Six more novels would be published through 2001. He would publish eight other mystery novels between 1969 and 2006, with his first novel, Time of Predators winning the Edgar Award winner for Best First Novel. 1986’s Come Morning would be nominated for Edgar Award, as would 1992’s DKA novel 32 Cadillacs. He also was nominated for a 1975 episode of Kojack (and would go on to pen a few episodes of such mystery TV series as Remington Steele, B.L. Stryker, Mrs. Columbo, and Magnum, P.I.). He also wrote the novel Hammett in 1975 that would be turned into the 1982 film of the same name. 2009’s Spade & Archer served as a prequel to The Maltese Falcon. He died in January of 2011 at the age of 79.

Books: Plunder Squad By Richard Stark (1972)

 

"Parker, as his readers will know, specializes in planning and executing elaborate heists and this inevitably involves working with others (no more than five, with four being the key number). Sadly, not all criminals are as talented and trustworthy as Parker and this means that his first task in planning any job is ensuring that those around him are dependable and up to the task. But George Uhl (last seen in The Sour Lemon Score, and a reminder that sometimes Parker makes mistakes) louses up a job and tries to kill him. The next possible job is amateur hour, and Parker walks away. Needing money, he signs on to a high-risk art theft. A top-notch team is assembled, including Ed Mackey and Stan Devers (from The Green Eagle Score). Everything looks like it should come up roses, but that wouldn’t be very much fun, now would it?"

For the last few books, Parker has found himself on a losing streak (we get a mention of few of them, including the cash left at the amusement park in the last book, Slayground) and this continues in what was thought to be the penultimate book in the Parker series back in the early 1970s. If I remember right, one of the reasons Westlake decided to end the series with 1974’s Butcher’s Moon was due to the fact that the public now knew Donald E. Westlake, writer of “bubbly frothy comic mysteries” as Lawrence Block noted in the Forward to University Chicago Press edition to Butcher’s Moon, was hardboiled noir writer Richard Stark. This seemed to surprise readers of Westlake, who had been putting out a collection of funny, goofy heist novels since 1965’s Fugitive Pigeon (with six Parker books already released by then). Much like the Sam Holt pseudonym used later, Westlake seemly lost interest in continuing on with these characters once the world knew he was Stark.

For the most part, Westlake is continuing to tinker with the structure of the Parker series, which maybe one of the reasons Plunder Squad and Butcher’s Moon became hard books for collectors to get. While print runs, changing times, and other factors may have caused these last two titles in the Parker series (at the time) never to be reprinted, the formula Westlake had used for the last few years kept evolving, which reflects, I think, why Westlake was such a successful, if undervalued writer. While he always seemly had a cult following, he never seemed to reach the apex most writers enjoyed then and today. Perhaps it was his prolific nature that caused this (though James Patterson is not effected too much by this), or the reality that despite the nature of his comic novels, there was always an undercurrent of complexity to them –they had something to say. Not to say he was good at social commentary –he used the F word judiciously when describing gays (though they were never portrayed too much as a stereotype)- but through those comic novels, he could comment on modern life.

The other wrinkle in the formula of Plunder Squad is Parker’s cohorts are professional, often sympathetic, and even likable. It turns out the people who hire them are the weak links. I found the return of George Uhl and interesting subplot. Parker chose not to kill Uhl way back when, mostly because he felt there was no point in doing so. It’s been well established that Parker does not kill people at random or for pleasure. The reason some survive is simple: he is a thief and wants to avoid prison, so the death of others is the consequences of the way he lives his life. Yes, on rare instances, he’s killed, but it’s more about balancing the scales of his skewed version of honor. Still, one got a sense that Westlake had already decided to tie-up all the loose ends with this fifteenth book in the series, that meant before Butcher's Moon's grand finale, he needed to deal with Uhl first.

Plunder Squad also contains a scene featuring skip tracer named Daniel Kearny, a character created by fellow noir writer Joe Gores. The scene between Parker and Kearny, that happens early in the book, is also featured in Gores book, Dead Skip –just for Kearny’s point of view. Westlake also sort of retcons this scene by having Parker and Kearny meet “off stage”. In the first Parker novel, The Hunter, when Parker broke out of a prison farm and was on the lam. According to Kearny, Parker shacked up with a woman in Fresco, and that woman was Kearny’s sister, with whom Kearny stayed one night, and Kearny helped Parker to kill a bottle (though, in the Stark/Westlake version, Kearny finished off most of that bottle as Parker would never allow himself to get this way).

Books: Slayground By Richard Stark (1971)

“The Wheel of Fortune turned and Parker figured his number had finally come up. An armored car heist had gone sour. His partners were dead or dying. He had escaped with the loot, but holing up in a deserted amusement park with only one exit had turned into a fatal mistake. Now the local mob and a couple of crooked cops were on their way in after the money...and the odds were against Parker getting out with his life. But Parker always did like to play the long shots. Besides, he knew all the ways there were to kill: with his gun...with his knife...with his own bare hands. So the hunter becomes prey. Outnumbered and outgunned, Parker realizes one miscalculation will end his career. So he’s low on bullets—but, as anyone who’s crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn’t mean he’s defenseless.”

Certainly not a great Parker novel, or one with an even probable plot, but as I read, its clear Stark/Westlake was doing his version of the Most Dangerous Game –TV shows and movies have been doing this variation of the tale, so why not Parker? There are a few things that bothered me, though, like whole idea of getting him trapped in an amusement park to begin with (with the local hoods commenting that this was a “locked-room mystery”), but if you are doing a variation on Richard Connell's short story, this can make sense? part of it seems dubious, that like no one around the park would miss all the action going on there –it is winter, the park is closed up, so when lights and music get turned on, won’t some investigate it? Then again, this town is corrupt, with dirty cops and a mob boss who gets around on a golf cart. Then there is Parker going all Home Alone, as he sets bobby traps for the hoods, which is doing something we’ve never had him do before. Also, did amusement parks in the late 60s or early 70s actually sell real hunting knives as a souvenir?

Interesting, the book ends with no resolution and I guess this tale with be revisited in the next book, or the one after it.

Slayground does show Parker is more human, insomuch as he gets injured and has deal with that; a nice touch. But Westlake also paints him as the cleverest man alive and those hoods, the mob boss, and the dirty cops are dumb as a box of hair. This was something he did in the Dortmunder novels as well. Surprisingly, there is little in the way of continuity references (the last book was full of them), but for longtime readers, we get a brief cameo appearance of Alan Grofield, who appeared in The Score and The Handle (and who by the time this book was published, had appeared in his own spin-off series). So in the end, this 14^th volume in the series is definitely a stand-alone-tale.

There was a very loose British adaptation of Slayground done in 1983, which was directed by Terry Bedford. It starred Peter Coyote, Mel Smith, and Billie Whitelaw. 

Books: Deadly Edge By Richard Stark (1971)

 

“The concert box office heist had been perfectly planned and executed; Parker had handled it neat and clean. He had money for a while now; he could take some time off, join Claire in the country, plan another job at his leisure. But then the phone calls came. One by one, Parker’s associates on the heist were being brutally murdered. Parker was clearly next on the list, but he had no intention of waiting on his executioners. If they thought so, they were in for a rude surprise.”

Deadly Edge is the thirteenth Parker novel and first one of Stark’s books I’ve read in nearly seven months. Historically, this is also the first Parker book released as a hardcover (as Westlake moved to Simon & Schuster) and the first one released in 1970s. While one the longest books yet, the tale grabs you and never lets up until the end. But it’s a bit of slog to the first half due to some choices Westlake does here.

He sort of restructures the formula, even though the layout of Four Parts is maintained. Part One, which is usually the most detailed part of any heist, is jettisoned for one that is already set up and playing out. It’s basically one long prologue, sitting at almost fifty pages (another change to the modus operandi, when typically there are short, multiple chapters). I’ve also wrote about how Westlake is seemly taking the edge off Parker, in particular with some of his mistakes he’s made with fellow crooks and his relationship with Claire over the last four books. As with Westlake’s Dortmunder tales, you got a sense that Parker is an anachronistic character seemly living in a bubble universe where the 1930s never came to end (1970s for John Dortmunder). It would seem for the next four books, Westlake would begin acknowledging the rapid changes the 70s would unleash. Part of that starts here with Parker realizing that electronic transfer of money is becoming more ubiquitous and finding large scores of cash as described here is becoming more and more difficult. There is also a dig at modern music, as Westlake uses some of the dudes involved in the heist (not Parker, of course, as he could careless) to make some social commentary on how rock and roll was dominating musical force now and where Jazz (music beloved by Westlake) was fading away into obscurity.

All of this is interesting, but somewhat pointless to the heist. The rest of the of the book, while following the Four Part pattern, focuses on Claire and her attempt at bring a little real-life to Parker’s world. She buys a house on a lake generally used as summer homes from people who live in New York and New Jersey; it’s isolated and cut-off from a lot of world. But Parker realizes he’s being hunted by two men (who seem to have Of Mice and Men relationship –except Manny is an LSD addicted psychopath (another new and modern wrinkle) and sets out to find them before they find him -and Claire.

I like Claire, but Parker’s relationship with her is weird for such a series which relies on stealth and hiding out. I’m not sure a domesticated Parker is such a great idea. That being said, Parker may be a man out of time, but the rest of the outside world moves on.

Most of Part Two we learn the gist of what happened at the end of Part One: Parker rubbed up against a local mob outfit that did not like him having fun in their territory -but in the end, nothing really comes this. Part Three is where Claire tries to give Parker a more stable base of operation, and while there is a great tense set piece around a kitchen table involving Claire and some bad guys, a lot of this part seems like padding. It’s been well established that one of the conditions of Parker (and Dortmunder) coming out in hardcover, is Westlake having to write longer books. This padding bleeds over into Part Four, where an overly cautious Parker does not do away with these two mob guys in his usual expeditious ways.

It’s not a total misfire, but it lacks something that ranks it amongst the best.