Doug Bassett :
> Oddly enough, I feel exactly the opposite. Just
read
> _The Man with the Getaway Face_ and while I liked
it,
> more or less, the whole thing left me rather
cold.
> Although I think I understand what Westlake was
trying
> to do here, I think, oddly enough, that he's
almost
> too successful doing it. Hard for me to put it
into
> words, but I actually find the Parker novels
(I've
> read a couple of others) sort of dull. I think
the
> Grofeld novels are much more entertaining --
maybe
> because Grofeld is a more appealing
character.
I like both. The character Grofield is in four or five Parker
books as well as the four only about him. Grofield is the
lighter yang to Parker's virtully unrelenting yang. This is
clear in the books that share the same first chapter,
__TheBlack Bird__ featuring Grofield and __Slayground__ with
Parker. Granted, Westlake has written about a lot of
characters who are similar to Grofield, but there is only one
Parker. I think the books succeed as a a mix between the
grimness of the Parker books and the humor of many of
Westlake's other books. Of the four I like __The Damsel__
best. Mark.
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