The Green Eagle Score

A Parker Novel

By: Richard Stark

Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne

Here’s Parker—planning to steal the entire payroll of an Air Force base in upstate New York, with help from Marty Fusco, fresh out of the pen, and a smart-aleck finance clerk named Devers. Holed up with family in a scrappy little town, the hoisters prepare for the risky job by trying to shorten the odds. But the ice is thinner than Parker likes to think—and Marty’s ex-wife is much more complicated.

©1967 Fawcett Publications, Inc. (P)2010 BBC Audio

I walk where the ice is thick!

Parker and Claire were out on the beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Marty Fuscoe made the trip to layout a setup for Parker. They met in Parker’s room. Fuscoe laid out what he knew but they had to go to New York to meet the inside man, Stan Deavers. They met at the airport then drove to a motel in Malone, fifteen miles from Aniqua where the score is. Deavers is married to Fuscoe’s ex-wife Ellen and works in the finance office of the Air Force base. The payroll for the entire base came into the finance office every two weeks. See where this is going? Ellen had a therapist and she loved talking to him, about everything! The therapist encouraged Ellen to talk about everything she heard about the robbery, for therapeutic reasons of course. So much for the setup of the story. Jake Kengle, Bill Stockton, and Billy Webb are the three new men for the string. Everyone was ready. Ellen appeared more nervous and panicky as the time for the men to leave drew near. It’s the same with most of these stories; some things jump off perfect, as others fail miserably. It’s a good story, although a bit predictable. We know who the red herring would be.

Solid Parker story

A good heist story with a little intrigue thrown in to spice things up. The ending felt a little rushed, but believable given the characters' story arcs.

A great Parker caper with fantastic narration

Stephen R Thorne is by far the best of the narrators of the Parker novels. For whatever reason, at least one of the others makes Parker sound like Batman, with a low throaty growl, which is terribly distracting.
As for the book, this is Parker in his prime. An ambitious heist, complications, vivid characters, and a satisfying conclusion.

Parker!

Parker! Parker at his best! What else do you need to know? I know: there's nothing really to say to that.

Not as good a some of the others in the series,

but I still love the series.

Parker seemed out of character in this story because he allowed one of the wives to sit in on the planning sessions. Her husband was a key player, but the wife had no part in the heist. Of course that was the reason things went sour and it was predictable. This wasn’t the author’s best.

Most of the story was ok - planning and conducting the heist. The good part was at the end when things went wrong and Parker takes unexpected action.

There is a forward by Dennis Lehane (dated 2010) in the Kindle version and/or 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 10 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

great story muddled by narrator

definitely kept my interest but was very distracting as Parker's voice was similar to every other voice and sometimes didn't know who was talking. Think I'd have an easier time reading it myself which is usually the opposite with audio books.
Great writer, great characters, great storyline, good twist. I'd say skip these books by this narrator.

All your base pay are belong to us.

An interesting take on the heist novel. Brings in an Air Force base and a local psychiatrist/psychologist. Solid crime novel that feels relevant in an age of active shooters.