Mark Sullivan:
> I'm a huge fan of the Parker series, but I do
understand why some are
> not taken with it. Althugh there are better than
either Mourner or
> Firebreak (especially the first, The Hunter, AKA
Point Blank, AKA
> Payback), if you didn't like those two, you probably
won't like any of
> them.
Doug, I think Firebreak is the best of the 'new' Parkers and
Mourner is certainly representative of the series. If you are
asking this question at all I think you should try something
else. For Westlake try The Ax or The Hook. There is his Mitch
Tobin series written as Tucker Coe also. If you like Scudder
you should like those, but they figure to be difficult to
find His most popular books are in his Dortmunder series
about a bumbling thief. They are not hard boiled by anyone's
definition, but you might like them.
BTW, long time readers of this know Westlake wrote the first
Parker book, The Hunter, as a standalone so he gave Parker
none of the redeeming qualities Jim Blue seems to feel
necessary. Parker was to die at the end, but Westlake's
editor saw a possibily of this character being in a series
and asked Westlake if he could let him live at the end. I've
read many interviews, in which Westlake said if he knew
Parker were going to be the subject of a series he would have
created him diferently. Mark .
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