The Handle

By: Richard Stark

Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne

Baron is clever - perhaps too clever. He sits on the heavily protected island of Cockaigne, a mini-Las Vegas forty miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, raking in as much as $250,000 some nights, laughing at the Outfit, who can’t collect their cut. Now the Outfit can no longer stand the loss of face - not to mention the loss of revenue. That’s why they’ve sent for Parker, who knows that the line between success and failure on this score would be exactly the length of the barrel of a .38. Double-crosses and double-dealings from the word go, not to mention the arrival of Parker’s flamboyant friend Grofield, make this one of Richard Stark’s best.

©1966 Richard Stark. All rights reserved. (P)2011 Richard Stark

Constantly Incorrect Pronunciation, Effeminate Males

Thorne’s incorrect pronunciation is so distracting, especially because there are Spanish words in this one (plot takes them to Mexico), and this guy can’t be bothered to even read the words as they appear on the page. How does “ciudad” (see-you-dad: Spanish for “city”) become “kwee-dad”? It’s not even spelled that way!!! But he pronounces it that way at least 12 times, every single time it appears in the book. What a buffoon. What a Philistine. How can you be a professional performer of the written word and still be a philistine? Stephen R. Thorne finds a way, every time. And you’d think AT LEAST ONE of the directors, producers, PAs, somebody, would speak enough Spanish to correct him! Nope, not with AudioGo’s poor level of production.

Next problem, all of Thorne’s men are effeminate little pansies. The only way he can make Parker sound tough is by making all the other men sound cartoonishly queer. It’s a very weak acting strategy, very zero-sum-game, very uncreative. These stories are *fantastic*, the O.G. originals that created and defined the hardboiled genre, so I keep listening because I love the books. But Thorne is so one-dimensional it can only hurt the exposure these books are getting. They would reach a wider audience if AudioGo would hire a better performer to bring them to life.

They can't get these in here fast enough!

I love the Parker books and hope they keep pumping these out! Richard Stark's inimitable style in full speed.

My hero Parker gets desperate and sloppy.

Not my favorite Parker. Story is a little unbelievable. Where he has been buttoned up. Now kind of lucky. Also made a lot of enemies.

El Dorado!

Walter Carnes, head of the Outfit aka Syndicate wanted to hire Parker to rob a casino on the island of Cockaigne, forty miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. If you remember, Parker had made a deal with Carnes in “The Outfit #3”. If Parker eliminated Bronson, Carnes was next in line to take over the Outfit, Carnes would make peace with Parker. A man named Baron Wolfgang Von Altstein made a deceptive deal with the Cubans to funnel Russian intelligence to them. In exchange, they set him up on the island which they had acquired. With the Nazi fortune Baron had amassed over decades, he built his casino and named the island Cockaigne, i.e., “Like Atlantis and El Dorado, the land of Cockaigne was a utopia. It was a fictional place where, in a parody of paradise, idleness and gluttony were the principal occupations.” The problem is said Carnes, “the casino takes in as much as a quarter of a million dollars most nights, and none of it comes to the Outfit. I want you to clean out the casino, destroy it, burn it to the ground!” So much for the setup of the story. Parker needs cash after The Jugger catastrophe and The Seventh failure, finding himself working two jobs within the last two months. No matter the consequence, Parker is consistent, stable, and uncompromising. The moral of the story here is, “Loose lips sink ships!” no mas salsa…

Ehhhhhhhh

To me, not his best as I’ve started these series (I try to also keep in mind these books are 50 years old, and yes older than me.) so you get so immersed into todays tech you forget like what it could have been back then with what the writer had

But I did find this book solid, I just didn’t like it to the previous ones as much. The one that is I believe previous to this one was best so far that I have Been able to finish (forget title even tho they are all Similair in format and short but trying to read these in order is also a little hard as well lol) but 4 stars, performance I should have given 5, the readings even sped up are A1! Love how u can get thru these rather quick but feel fulfilled unlike some books I’ve bought related to history like “Washington” at 33 hrs long at normal speed lol

Just give the author a shot you don’t really need to have read them in order I’m finding but there’s also a little too much of a structure/pattern that an intro of one I listened to referred to. It’s still good however. But after a few you should change up for sure due to this

Good and happy reading to all

S L O W

S L O W to develop. S L O W to move. S L O W to end. Picking up the pace to a Dortmunder.

Just great storytelling

Nothing make the commute go better they listen to Parker and his band of rogues attempt another score- if you love hard boiled stories look no further.

Learn your soanishb

Good Parker novel with big role for Bloerield. Reader and director cannot pronounce Ciudad. And other Spanish words.

Almost Parker:Agent 007

Well, not really. But this book is Parker as double agent and it’s so much fun. Kind of like Parker’s Casino Royals. And always nice to have actor/thief Grofield as a special guest.
There’s mob stuff, government agents, exotic locales, double crosses, triple crosses and Murphy’s Law on steroids. But hey, it’s Parker! You know somehow, he’s going to come out okay. The question is: how? And that’s the magic trick that Westlake (writing as Stark) somehow always manages to pull off.

A great Parker book and well read.
Extra enjoyment if you have read other Parker books and especially reading them in order (which I am only doing for the first time. You don’t have to, but it does add enhancement).

Strong recommend.

Just reread because I could.

A fun caper novel. Another great by Westlake. Narration really works well with the story.