Book Review: ‘Comeback: A Parker Novel’ by Richard Stark (pseudonym of Donald E. Westlake)

‘Comeback: A Parker Novel’ by Richard Stark (pseudonym of Donald E. Westlake), Mysterious Press, 1997

This was my first foray into the acclaimed heist novels of Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) and his series character ‘Parker’.

Comeback is a classic heist novel, in which a cunning robbery is planned, executed and then goes wrong.  As soon as I began reading it I was hooked, and I found myself steamrollering ahead, eager to know ‘what happens next’.  This is the compulsive thing about heist novels: will the thieves succeed, and when they inevitably don’t (otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a story), will the main protagonist — in this case Parker — manage to extricate himself and get away?

He does of course.  But not before setback after setback, much crossing and double crossing, and plenty of cleverness.  Not so attractive, to me at least, were the victims who become ‘collateral damage’ along the way, including one completely innocent and uninvolved young woman who meets a grisly death, and a young man who has a similar fate later in the book.  I’m happy with bad guys and bent cops meeting nasty ends but slaughter of fictional innocents I find jarring and off-putting in this kind of novel.

That aside, Comeback is a slick piece of writing by an old pro, slightly formulaic in tone but with well drawn characters, good descriptions of settings, and a frenetic pace.  As an entertaining read it is first class.

A word on the physical appearance of the book: this is a small hardcover volume, which seems appropriate, and runs to slightly under 300 pages.  The binding is cheap-looking black paper-covered boards with no lettering on the top panel, just rather garish green lettering along the spine.  No doubt this is to match the colour of the dust-jacket, which is an even more garish bright green, with yellow flaps and an orangey-red spine.  The jacket illustration is of an armed man wearing angel’s wings (see above).  While perfectly fitting (it depicts a scene from the robbery), in my opinion it lacks detail, definition and subtlety.

Taking everything into account, I personally rate this novel at four stars out of five.  It kept me rapidly turning the pages and has made me eager to read more of the Parker series.