Deadly Edge

A Parker Novel, Book 13

By: Richard Stark

Narrated by: Keith Szarabjka

Deadly Edge bids a brutal adieu to the 1960s as Parker robs a rock concert, and the heist goes south. Soon Parker finds himself - and his woman, Claire - menaced by a pair of sadistic, drug-crazed hippies. Parker has a score to settle while Claire’s armed with her first rifle - and they’re both ready to usher in the end of the Age of Aquarius.

©Copyright © 1971 by Richard Stark All rights reserved. Foreword © 2010 by Charles Ardai. All rights reserved. (P)2013 AudioGO

On Coliver's Pond!

The tale begins with Parker, Riley, Keegan, and Morris chopping a hole through the roof of the Strand Theatre Auditorium. There should have been one more man but he bailed out at the last minute. Parker would normally call off the job because of last-minute changes but he thought this one a minor risk. Down through the hole they went. Afterward, they went to the safe house where they would stay for a few days. Riley went to change while Parker opened the money bag he had carried. Riley came back to have Parker follow him to the bathroom. Barage, the fifth man that bailed out, was dead on the floor. They searched the house, it was empty. There was no reason for Barage to come to the house, and the killer was gone. They finished the split and thought no more about Barage. So much for the setup of the story. Parker returned to Claire. She had picked out an older house on Coliver’s Pond and opened a checking account at a small bank outside of New York. Domestication! One of Parker’s men called Handy looking for Parker. It sounded bad. It is believed two men are making the rounds killing people Parker knows, looking for something. Between Claire and Parker, the contrast in priorities was interesting and enlightening, at least from Claire’s point. Claire was all about the house, now her new home, and having a home with a man coming back to her was very important to her. I imagine it was stability and security for her, something her psyche truly needed. Claire would not leave her house, although Parker asked her to temporarily go to New York for a few days, out of danger. Parker, of course, was all about the present situation and eliminating the killers. This story is grittier and more intense than the usual Westlake fare. I like Claire’s inclusion in the story. I was hoping nothing would happen to her but I thought it might.

Slow in places, but a high octane finish

Solid Parker novel. Less about a heist than Parker's attempts to protect Claire. In the end, this is my principal gripe with this book. Stark up to this point has emphasized Parker's ruthlessness and it seems like he breaks character a bit to indulge Claire when she does her best to put herself in danger. Exciting read, but starting to wonder what Parker sees in Claire.

Parker throws me a curve

The Parker stories had gotten a little stale. In this one we get a whole new story angle and it is awesome.

The narration of the voice of Parker was vivid.

The intro on Deadly says it all. Stark is on! Of all the Parker novels so far this was probably the most intense. I think we've changed narrator for this one and his voice as Parker fits perfectly for me.

No one is better than Parker!

Wonderful writing, great characters and plenty of human insight. An existential hero if there ever was one.

Even Better

The previous Parker novel was a return to form and it w now among my favorites.
This one goes even better and adds a suspense/thriller element in a pair of antagonists, monsters, almost a horror aspect. There’s a cat & mouse feel to this one. But who is the cat and who the mouse? It keeps changing throughout.
Highly recommended

4 ½ stars. Good suspense. Exciting.

The beginning was a little slow, but the last half was excellent.

Parker is not a caring type of guy. But I liked the subtle way he acted for Claire’s benefit. Her home was important to her. Parker went out of his way to make sure murders would be found far enough away, so they would not taint her town.

I chuckled at Claire’s thought process when buying a rifle. She bought based on things other than purpose.

This story was a little different from earlier Parker stories. After a robbery, two psycopaths who are not part of the robbery hunt, torture, and kill each member of the robbery gang. It was good suspense watching them go after Claire and Parker and then watching Parker go after them.

I liked the Forward by Charles Ardai. It appears in both books 13 and 14.

This was the best narrator so far - Keith Szarabjka. His gravely low voice for Parker fit well.

THE SERIES:
This is book 13 in the 24 book series. These stories are about bad guys. They rob. They kill. They’re smart. Most don’t go to jail. Parker is the main bad guy, a brilliant strategist. He partners with different guys for different jobs in each book.

If you are new to the series, I suggest reading the first three and then choose among the rest. A few should be read in order since characters continue in a sequel fashion. Those are listed below (with my star ratings). The rest can be read as stand alones.

The first three books in order:
4 stars. The Hunter (Point Blank movie with Lee Marvin 1967) (Payback movie with Mel Gibson)
3 ½ stars. The Man with the Getaway Face (The Steel Hit)
4 stars. The Outfit.

Read these two in order:
5 stars. Slayground (Bk #14)
5 stars. Butcher’s Moon (Bk #16)

Read these four in order:
4 ½ stars. The Sour Lemon Score (Bk #12)
2 ½ stars. Firebreak (Bk #20)
(not read) Nobody Runs Forever (Bk #22)
2 ½ stars. Dirty Money (Bk #24)

Others that I gave 4 or more stars to:
The Jugger (Bk #6), The Seventh (Bk#7), The Handle (Bk #8), Deadly Edge (Bk#13), Flashfire (Bk#19)

GENRE: noir crime fiction

Classic Parker!

This is one of the greatest Parker novels, and the performance is up to the text. It really doesn't get any better.

best one yet

wow, I've been listening to one right after another and this one was great!

Just when you think Stark hit a rut.

Think Charles Manson meets Charles Bronson. A solid Parker novel that starts post heist. First 8 Parker novel follow a roughly similar format. Next 4 were his “score” novels. This is the first of the next 4 where Stark reinvents (maybe reinvents is too much) the Parker novels before Stark (Donald E Westlake) took a 29 year vacation from Parker.