Slayground

A Parker Novel, Book 14

By: Richard Stark

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

The hunter becomes prey, as a heist goes sour and Parker finds himself trapped in a shuttered amusement park, besieged by a bevy of local mobsters. There are no exits from Fun Island. Outnumbered and outgunned, Parker can’t afford a single miscalculation. He’s low on bullets - but, as anyone who’s crossed his path knows, that definitely doesn’t mean he’s defenseless.

©1971 Richard Stark; Foreword © 2010 by Charles Ardai (P)2000 AudioGO

A Beauty

Just like the foreword says, this is much different from the previous Parker novels. And it is so, so good! Near perfection from Westlake.

just wow!

good old Parker at it again! narration was pretty good story is definitely dated but what fun!

Fun Islans!

We join Parker, Grofield, and Lauffman in the middle of an armored car robbery. Lauffman drove way too fast, losing control, rolling the car. Grofield and Lauffman were out cold in the front seat. Parker got out, looking for any type of escape. All he saw was an amusement park across the field; Fun Island. He took the sachel of loot and ran for it. Flashback two weeks ago: An old retired thief named Dent called Handy with a possible job for Parker to look at. The old man told Parker he got a haircut at the barbershop last week, looked in the mirror seeing the back of his head, and the elevens were up. You know what that means, Parker? ‘It means you’re finished.’ See references [1] [2] below. Parker said nothing but glanced at the man’s neck and saw it was true. Dent took Parker out to a seldom traveled road. They sat in the car talking until an armored car went by. Parker said, “That’s the job?” So much for the setup of the story. No police came in, which Parker knew was odd. Four guys, two cops, two mob guys, saw Parker go over the fence into the amusement park. Parker figured the men who saw him were going to make a play for the money themselves. Parker had only one five-shot revolver. The continuing story is extraordinarily unique. Caught inside the amusement park with the mob and police coming for him. How is Parker going to get through this? It’s a great story. Parker is at the top of his ingenuity game.

[1] The “elevens are up”, i.e., the phrase refers to the two tendons on the back of the neck, which, on an elderly alcoholic, stick out like two ones ‘making the number 11.’ The elevens denote fatal illness and ‘there’s not much more time.’
[2] Another interesting related phrase is “the snake is out”, i.e., a reference to the vein that runs along the ‘left temple of a man’s head,’ which is invisible until a drinking man gets into his fifties when it ‘gets to acting up.’

Good from start to finish.

The Parker novels are a great find. They are short and sweet. Best of all is there are a bunch of them.

Tension-filled, gripping story

Narrator grabs and holds listener throughout. What at first may seem a far-fetched premise unfolds to not only be credible but fully engaging.

Heist Noir

Parker has to be my favorite crook. It is interesting how many movie plots resemble Parker novels. Bruce Will ain't got nothing on Parker.

fantastic

great book from beginning to end. the whole series of books are great reads, highly recommend

great

I am on my third parker novel and I love it. this is different but tied into grofield's story from his own novel. I like the intertwining of both books.

Wow!!!!! I was surprised and so impressed

with what Parker did to outsmart these guys. It’s scary and suspenseful.

A normal person would be helpless, but not Parker. I read a lot, and I think I’m hard to surprise, but this one did it. This book is a great example showing how Parker is a brilliant strategist with keen insight into others.

I usually don’t like “first person” stories. This is an example of how rich a story can be when you don’t use first person, because you get inside others’ heads. This was great because we were in the heads of Parker and various bad guys. The characters were richly developed and intriguing. I loved how Parker decided which guy to use or kill first.

This is book 14 and has a complete ending. But book 16 (Butcher’s Moon) continues the story with Parker visiting the same mobsters two years later.

STORY BRIEF:
This book starts after a robbery with the getaway car crashing. All the guys are unconscious except Parker. Sirens are on the way, so Parker leaves with the money. He climbs the gate of a nearby amusement park which is closed for the winter. Some local mob guys see him do this. They tell the cops that Parker drove away with the money. Then they enter the park with a crew intending to kill Parker and take the money. There is no way out but the front gate which they guard.

NARRATOR & FORWARD:
The narrator Joe Barrett was good, better than Stephen R. Thorne, but not as good as Keith Szarabjka.

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

THE SERIES:
This is book 14 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

Die Hardened!

Think Die Hard at an amusement park. This novel continues Stark's deviation from his usual formula (Plan > Execute > Fix Mess created another > Revenge > Get the bag > Return to the lady with a slightly darker more unbounded set of challenges for Parker. Like a game set to expert level, Parker dances and weaves through danger while caught in the proverbial funhouse. Makes me excited to read the graphic novel (four of the Parker novels were turned into graphic novels by Darwyn Cooke.