publishing order of parker’s books
The Parker Series is a series of highly popular crime fiction novels written by the noted American author named Donald E. Westlake, under the pseudonym Richard Stark. This series is made up of a total of 24 books, which were published between the years of 1962 and 2008. Each and every book in this crime fiction series features the main protagonist in the role of the fictional character named Parker. he is described as a professional thief, who has no redeeming qualities and is quite ruthless. Author Westlake has shown that Parker does not hesitate to commit murder if someone gets in his way to steal what he has put in his eyes. In addition to the novel series, Parker’s character is seen in several films, portrayed by notable actors such as Mel Gibson and Lee Marvin. however, neither of them used the name ‘parker’ in his movies. As far as the book series goes, Parker’s appearance is first seen in the 1962 novel, The Huntsman. This book is alternately titled as Vengeance and Point Blank in different publications. between the years 1974 & As of 1997, the author Westlake did not write any novels with the character of Parker. However, Parker reappears in the 1997 novel titled “Comeback”. The last book in which Parker made an official appearance of him is the 2008 book called Dirty Money. As Westlake describes him, Parker is a ruthless criminal. he is very professional and efficient in committing crimes and takes a deep interest in planning things before doing anything. Parker is methodical, cool and willing to kill if he feels the need to. however, he follows an ethical principle in life, he has no intention of betraying other professional criminals he works with, until he feels cheated by them. If something like this happens, Parker unhesitatingly seeks brutal and complete revenge. Westlake has never mentioned Parker’s first name in the stories. In addition, many other details about Parker are unknown throughout the series.
on many occasions, westlake has hinted that parker might be using the name as an alias. Parker’s physical appearance in the series’ opening sequence is described as hairy and large, with flat shoulders. she has large, curved fingers that appear to be made of molded clay. Parker has brown hair, while her face looks like a piece of splintered concrete. her eyes are similar to those of the flawed onyx and have a quick-traced mouth. When author Westlake was asked who he considered suitable for the role of Parker, he replied that he had not thought of any actor’s face while creating the character, however, he finds that he resembles Jack Palance to some extent. In one of the books, Parker undergoes plastic surgery to avoid being recognized by his enemies. after this, he is no longer recognizable to most people who recognized him before. In addition to Parker, the other recurring characters in this series include Claire Carroll, Joe Sheer, Handy McKay, Alan Gorfield, and Brenda Mackey. Claire is Parker’s partner. Handy McKay and Joe Sheer are the clients Parker performs professional heists for, though they cannot contact him directly. mostly, they take the help of a third party. Alan Gorfield is an actor who works as Parker’s associate on several occasions. he does it to financially support his acting career.
You are reading: Parker books in order
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an earlier book published in the parker series is titled “the mourner”. It was released by the mystery press in the year 2001, after its initial release in 1963. The opening sequence of this book features a white colored stature who had a grieving face. Due to the emotional and sentimental value of the statue, Parker showed no interest in it. in reality, he was more interested in stealing the weapon that came with the statue. he wants the gun back because he had previously used it in a crime. and if he is successful in obtaining the weapon, he will be framed. When the moment finally comes for Parker to stand in front of the 16-inch-tall gun known as the Mourner, he gets the feeling that stealing the alabaster statuette for a rich man and his amoral, beautiful daughter isn’t quite so good. worrying. The event becomes more exciting when other players join the game with common interests like Parker. among them is a fat man and the union boys. The fat person seems more interesting to Parker, since he finds him too light than he appears to be. the game soon turns into a deadly and treacherous one as each thief tries to get rid of the other. Parker knows that he will have to succeed no matter what it takes because everyone else is looking to outdo him and even kill him to get their hands on the valuable weapon.
another interesting book published in the series is called by the title ‘the jugger’. It was published by Paperback Books in 1965. At the beginning of this story, author Westlake has shown that many people are unaware of what Parker does for a living. the fact that he is involved in stealing valuable things keeps him a secret from others. one of the few who knows this fact is joe sheer. he is a safecracker, retired from the business and is well known as a “gambler”. Joe seems to know everything about Parker, including his whereabouts, his alias, and his plans. however, joe knew very well that he must not open his mouth about any of this or he could die. Joe showed interest in exchanging everything he knew with Parker. he wanted parker to secure his freedom. Therefore, Parker decides to visit him in Nebraska and seal the deal once and for all. however, his true intention is to kill the jugger. When he arrives at said chosen location, he discovers that Joe Sheer has already been killed and buried. Parker discovers that something valuable is missing and also realizes that someone was planning his funeral as well. But, the killer didn’t know that Parker is not someone who can be killed that easily. Too bad for him that Parker has now decided to go after him. now, he has no choice but to run to save his life.
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