I picked Flashfire up as my first Westlake-as-Stark (though
I've seen "Point Blank" and unfortunately "Payback") and was
a little surprised by it. The first part - which has Parker
matter-of-factly performing a number of violent robberies to
fund a revenge scheme - was about what I expected, but once
he got set up in Palm Beach, it got more satirical and seemed
more like a Dortmunder book with more gunplay(though Parker
himself never lightened up). I haven't quite got to the end,
yet, so I'm not sure if the book reverts to a more spare,
hardboiled style in the end. Anyway, I'm definitely liking
the book, it's just not what I expected (or rather the
beginning was but the middle wasn't). I'm curious how this
one rates compared to the other Stark books.
Carrie
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