The Black Ice Score

A Parker Novel

By: Richard Stark

Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne

The good guys in a new African nation were missing a treasury full of diamonds. The nation's corrupt leader had stashed the rocks somewhere in New York City. Now the good guys needed a specialist to get their diamonds back. So they came to the best in the business: Parker. Only the three mysterious tough guys came to Parker, too. They figured three hands filled with .38s could convince him to pass up this international gem game. But leaning on Parker was like pressuring a box of TNT with a short fuse.

Crack another case with Parker.©1968 Fawcett Publications, Inc. (P)2010 BBC Audio

Stark is a great writer

the story, like every one of the Parker stories so far flows right along and the narration is spectacular.

Running out of steam

I love the Parker series and plan to listen to all of them from first to last. This is by far the weakest one in the series so far.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

Parker and Claire are in New York on a shopping trip. Parker returns to the hotel room to find three white men, one searching his luggage. The leader tells Parker not to get involved in the job he is considering. Parker plays dumb and the men leave with a threatening goodbye. Claire was in the bathroom unharmed. An incoming telephone call later, Parker was on his way down to the bar to meet a man named Hoskins. Two minutes later, Claire calls down to the bar to tell Parker there are four men in the room with her. On arriving, Parker finds four black men in red robes. They came to Parker referred by Handy McKay. They are from a small, newly-founded country called Dhaba in South Africa. Their leader, Gonor, the United Nations Ambassador for Dhaba, explains that a man named Colonel Joseph Lebootie aka dictator embezzled half the country’s treasury, converted to diamonds, and shipped them to New York, currently held in a museum. He also mentions General Goma, a sore loser from the last election who wants to get back in but that requires money. So he will be interested in the diamonds also. Gonor wants to return the diamonds for the stability of his country. They want Parker to blueprint a job to steal the diamonds back and teach/train them, which they will then execute. Parker was floored, “You’re amateurs!” The three white men who visited earlier were colonialists who lost everything due to the revolution. They want the diamonds to install a puppet government of their ilk. The whole situation is a mess with too many elements; too many people involved. Parker also believes there is an informer in Gonor’s camp. That is the only way the three white men knew Parker’s real name. Gonor told Parker they would talk again after they had removed the traitor. When they left, Parker told Claire to pack! So much for the long and complex setup of the story. Back in Miami, Parker hoped he had left trouble behind. Of course, he had not, or there would be no more story. Parker was a good teacher, Gonor and crew were adept students. The game is afoot. I see that Claire is having a calming effect on Parker; less of a sociopath, and more human. I wonder if the relationship will hurt his “work”. Then again, what if something happens to her? How will that affect him?

My man Parker

Digging these books. Not only ate they great heist stories, which seem technically correct, they can be finished in one listen.

Nasty, brutish, and short...

This fast-paced, no-nonsense noir from master Donald Westlake (writing as Richard Stark) starts tense, adds twists, and doesn't seem to waste a single word as Parker is hired to plan a jewelry heist...while learning other criminals also want the diamonds. As Parker says, "You can plan a job, but you can't plan for people." Taut, smart, and wholly unsentimental, Parker continues to fascinate as one of crime fiction's most interestingly focused and professional anti heroes. Not a bad Parker novel to start with, if you're curious.

Great bee character

Solid fee Audible book. I listened non-stop & the story was full of enough intrigue & twists to keep me hooked. This author has some chops. Would like to see a follow-on or better yet a prequel!

Parker at his best!

If you know Parker, you won't want to miss this one! His personal code is very apparent here.

3 ½ stars. Most of the story was average - ok,

but the ending was good - when things went wrong.

THE SET UP:
There are three groups of guys from a small African nation. The A guys work for the President. The B guys work for a General who plans to take over with a military coup. C is a guy who stole millions from the African treasury and converted it to diamonds. C’s people are holding the diamonds for him in New York City.

The A guys pay a fee to Parker to plan a heist and teach them how to do it - to steal the diamonds from C’s people. The B guys threaten Parker, telling him not to help A. D is another guy who comes in to steal the diamonds.

OPINION:
Most of the story is meeting the different guys and Parker planning the heist. That was ok, but it wasn’t engaging or exciting. The last part was very good. Unexpected things happen, things go wrong, Parker is in the middle and takes action. I liked the way Parker solved a kidnaping - bad guy style.

I was disappointed the author did not tell how the bad guys knew where E was in order to kidnap E.

There is a forward by Dennis Lehane (dated 2010) in the paperback. I was disappointed that the forward was missing from this audiobook.

The narrator Stephen R. Thorne was good, but I wish he had a rougher, darker, or more menacing voice for Parker. His Parker voice was too clean cut and normal sounding.

THE SERIES:
This is book 11 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

Too many pieces for Too $hort a book

This one just felt like it was a puzzle book. There were so many characters, and so many aspects to the set up, but I don’t feel like everybody know any of them or anybody well enough to make a compelling. I still liked it, but not as much as any of the other ones I have read or heard so far. It almost felt like this one was just made on assignment. Didn’t feel like Parker was As involved in this one either. Like he was just hired as a consultant, and only gets involved in the third act due to circumstances beyond his control. It’s OK. Very well read. I probably give it a 3 1/2 stars overall, but I’ll round it up to four

Who hasn’t dreamed of robbing a museum in NYC?

Almost touched the line with some black characters, but missed a problematic hit. An interesting international angle that made this one unique.