The Mourner (Parker Novels) Book

You probably havenâ??t ever noticed them. But theyâ??ve noticed you. They notice everything. Thatâ??s their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellersâ?? work habits, the positions of the security guards. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack.

Theyâ??re thieves. Heisters, to be precise. Theyâ??re pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. If youâ??re planning a job, you want him in. Tough, smart, hardworking, and relentlessly focused on his trade, he is the heisterâ??s heister, the robberâ??s robber, the heavyâ??s heavy. You donâ??t want to cross him, and you donâ??t want to get in his way, because heâ??ll stop at nothing to get what heâ??s after.

Parker, the ruthless antihero of Richard Starkâ??s eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hardboiled noir.  Lauded by critics for his taut realism, unapologetic amorality, and razor-sharp prose-styleâ??and adored by fans who turn each intoxicating page with increasing urgencyâ??Stark is a master of crime writing; his books as influential as any in the genre. The University of Chicago Press has embarked on a project to return the early volumes of this series to print for a new generation of readers to discoverâ??and become addicted to. This seasonâ??s offerings include volumes 4â??6 in the series: The Mourner, The Score, and The Jugger.

The Mourner is a story of convergenceâ??of cultures and of guys with guns. Hot on the trail of a statue stolen from a fifteenth-century French tomb, Parker enters a world of eccentric art collectors, greedy foreign officials, and shady KGB agents. Next, Parker works with a group of professional con men in The Score on his biggest job yetâ??robbing an entire town in North Dakota. In The Jugger, Parker travels to Nebraska to help out a geriatric safecracker who knows too many of his criminal secrets. By the time he arrives, the safecracker is dead and Parkerâ??s skeletons are on the verge of escaping from their closetâ??unless Parker resorts to lethal measures.

 

â??Whatever Stark writes, I read. Heâ??s a stylist, a pro, and I thoroughly enjoy his attitude.â?â??Elmore Leonard

 

â??Westlake knows precisely how to grab a reader, draw him or her into the story, and then slowly tighten his grip until escape is impossible.â?â??Washington Post Book World

 

â??Donald Westlakeâ??s Parker novels are among the small number of books I read over and over. Forget all that crap youâ??ve been telling yourself about War and Peace and Proustâ??these are the books youâ??ll want on that desert island.â?â??Lawrence Block