University of Chicago Press, 2012 Paper: 978-0-226-77042-0 | eISBN: 978-0-226-77043-7 Library of Congress Classification PS3573.E9B565 2012 Dewey Decimal Classification 813.54
ABOUT THIS BOOK | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Donald E. Westlake is one of the greats of crime fiction. Under the pseudonym Richard Stark, he wrote twenty-four fast-paced, hardboiled novels featuring Parker, a shrewd career criminal with a talent for heists. Using the same nom de plume, Westlake also completed a separate series in the Parker universe, starring Alan Grofield, an occasional colleague of Parker. While he shares events and characters with several Parker novels, Grofield is less calculating and more hot-blooded than Parker; think fewer guns, more dames.
Not that there isn’t violence and adventure aplenty. The third Grofield novel, The Blackbird shares its first chapter with Slayground: after a traumatic car crash, Parker eludes the police, but Grofield gets caught. Lying injured in the hospital, Grofield is visited by G-Men who offer him an alternative to jail, and he finds himself forced into a deadly situation involving international criminals and a political conspiracy.
With a new foreword by Sarah Weinman that situates the Grofield series within Westlake’s work as a whole, this novel is an exciting addition to any crime fiction fan’s library.
REVIEWS
“A pleasure…Westlake’s ability to construct an action story filled with unforeseen twists and quadruple-crosses is unparalleled.”—San Francisco Chronicle
— San Francisco Chronicle
“Nobody tops Stark in his objective portrayals of a world of total amorality.”—New York Times
— New York Times
“…as elegantly and unfussily written as you'd expect.”—Nick Jones, Existential Ennui
— Nick Jonas, Existential Ennui
“Energy and imagination light up virtually every page, as does some of the best hard-boiled prose ever to grace the noir genre.” –Publishers Weekly
— Publishers Weekly
“Grofield is a fun character; his adventures reach a new high in excitement.” – Publishers Weekly
— Publishers Weekly
“Fiercely distracting . . . . Westlake is an expert plotter; and while Parker is a blunt instrument of a human being depicted in rudimentary short grunts of sentences, his take on other characters reveals a writer of great humor and human understanding.”
— John Hodgman, "Parade"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
The Blackbird
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thrirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who has a disability that prevents you
from using this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Chicago Press, 2012 Paper: 978-0-226-77042-0 eISBN: 978-0-226-77043-7
Donald E. Westlake is one of the greats of crime fiction. Under the pseudonym Richard Stark, he wrote twenty-four fast-paced, hardboiled novels featuring Parker, a shrewd career criminal with a talent for heists. Using the same nom de plume, Westlake also completed a separate series in the Parker universe, starring Alan Grofield, an occasional colleague of Parker. While he shares events and characters with several Parker novels, Grofield is less calculating and more hot-blooded than Parker; think fewer guns, more dames.
Not that there isn’t violence and adventure aplenty. The third Grofield novel, The Blackbird shares its first chapter with Slayground: after a traumatic car crash, Parker eludes the police, but Grofield gets caught. Lying injured in the hospital, Grofield is visited by G-Men who offer him an alternative to jail, and he finds himself forced into a deadly situation involving international criminals and a political conspiracy.
With a new foreword by Sarah Weinman that situates the Grofield series within Westlake’s work as a whole, this novel is an exciting addition to any crime fiction fan’s library.
REVIEWS
“A pleasure…Westlake’s ability to construct an action story filled with unforeseen twists and quadruple-crosses is unparalleled.”—San Francisco Chronicle
— San Francisco Chronicle
“Nobody tops Stark in his objective portrayals of a world of total amorality.”—New York Times
— New York Times
“…as elegantly and unfussily written as you'd expect.”—Nick Jones, Existential Ennui
— Nick Jonas, Existential Ennui
“Energy and imagination light up virtually every page, as does some of the best hard-boiled prose ever to grace the noir genre.” –Publishers Weekly
— Publishers Weekly
“Grofield is a fun character; his adventures reach a new high in excitement.” – Publishers Weekly
— Publishers Weekly
“Fiercely distracting . . . . Westlake is an expert plotter; and while Parker is a blunt instrument of a human being depicted in rudimentary short grunts of sentences, his take on other characters reveals a writer of great humor and human understanding.”
— John Hodgman, "Parade"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
The Blackbird
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thrirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who has a disability that prevents you
from using this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE