Flashfire

By Richard Stark and Richard Stark (pseud. Donald E Westlake)

Book Overview

Parker seeks revenge on the criminals who betrayed him as Melander and his gang head for Palm Beach to score a fortune in stolen jewelry.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892967102
• ISBN13: 9780892967100
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

The best recent Parker book

This is the best of the recent Parker books, on a par with the great ones of the past, like Butcher's Moon. Definitely worth reading. Stark/Westlake is an amazingly good writer, who has created both the funniest criminal of all time (Dortmunder) and the most serious bad guy around (Parker). Sometime check out his non-fiction, too: Under An English Heaven is a terrific book.

Another great Parker book

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...

Splendid!

This was my introduction to the work of Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) and I just loved Parker. The character is a compelling blend of bad guy with good reason that reminded me powerfully of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley. It's quite a feat to put the reader squarely on the side of someone who, basically, is not a nice person. Highsmith did it; Stark/Westlake has done it, too. The man is a fine writer, with the gift of economy;...

Tight, Fast Paced Crime Caper

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...

Stark always knows how to write a good story

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,...