The Blackbird

An Alan Grofield Novel, Book 3

By: Richard Stark

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Donald E. Westlake is one of the greats of crime fiction. Under the pseudonym Richard Stark, he wrote 24 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.

©1967 Richard Stark (P)2013 AudioGO

Critic reviews

"Never before has Grofield gone for so many rides with someone else at the wheel." ( New York Times)

"A pleasure.... [Stark]’s ability to construct an action story filled with unforeseen twists and quadruple-crosses is unparalleled." ( San Francisco Chronicle)

!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)

all of Stark Books are worth it?

I've listened to and enjoyed alk of Starks books. Late 50's & 60's. No computers or cell phones. worth evert minute listening to!

Noir Crime Fiction

Alan Grofield returns with a cast of international criminals. In order to escape jail time he is forced to infiltrate a conference of third world leaders engaged in a dangerous political conspiracy. Stark & Bray deliver a fast paced narrative that does not disappoint in the end.

Remember the time period in which it was written.

I don't hate the Alan Grofield stories, but this is my least favorite so far. It's far fetched and a little more ridiculous than the others. The narrator is wonderful, which is why I added it to my library. The series as a whole is worth a listen. These are old stories, so keep that in mind when listening, and don't get offended.

Meh.

First off, the performance was great! RC Bray was the perfect choice for this book. It was the only reason I finished it. As the parallel to Slayground, one of my favorite Westlake Parker novels, I was looking forward to this one and hoping it could top it or be as good. It wasn’t even in the ballpark. It won’t stop me from reading more in the Parker series but it will be a while before I come back for the next in this series. Oh well…that can’t all be winners.

What a snooze.

Kept waiting and waiting and waitingfor something to happen. Nothing ever happened. What a snooze.

boring as hell

I've been enjoying a lot of the Parker and growfield novels and this one board me to tears and I just couldn't put up with it so I began fast forwarding and up to the last hour I just couldn't care less what happens in this dull pointless novel.

Not as Satisfying as the First Two Installments

The first Grofield yarn was hysterical. The second made me laugh (though less frequently). This third entry had its moments of mirth, but they were fewer and farther between.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s a great story. Grofield’s spontaneous improvisation under pressure is here – and a pleasure to watch. But I missed the rapid-fire, lighthearted, idiotic quips that set him apart from his sometime partner, the darkly dangerous Parker.

As always, R. C. Bray turns in a fine performance, getting Grofield’s character – and everyone else’s – just right.