The Sour Lemon Score

A Parker Novel

By: Richard Stark

Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne

Bank robberies should run like clockwork, right? If your name's Parker, you expect nothing less. Until, that is, one of your partners gets too greedy for his own good. The four-way split following a job leaves too small a take for George Uhl, who begins to pick off his fellow hoisters, one by one. The first mistake? That he doesn't begin things by putting a bullet in Parker. That means he won't get the chance to make a second. One of the darkest novels in the series, this caper proves the adage that no one crosses Parker and lives.

©1969 Richard Stark (P)2012 AudioGo

Parker at his best!

Revenge--Parker-style! Need I say more? It doesn't get any better. And the reader is excellent.

When the Job goes South and Sour.

Not every job is a hit. Not every friend can be trusted. Sometimes the only score you leave with is your life. Sometimes revenge is the only sugar you get.

Sour lemon score

This was a good story about criminals . it was very 60's and I had a great time listening to it.

Best Parker Novel since The Hunter

I don’t think there could be a bad Parker novel but after The Outfit each story has a heist formula. Sure, there is a foil. Something always goes wrong in a heist story. But Parker is in his element. This story begins with a heist but then the plot becomes much more like The Hunter, except with a different obstacle which in a way is more of a hunt than that original story.

I was not expecting this. It was one of the best yet!

Realize !

Parker comes thru again, only, No loot this time, where’d the second suitcase go ? Thought there were 2 & lost track of the 2nd one somewhere along the way.
Either way this one seemed to make it all the more realistic in someway, I assume because some times the thief gets robbed ! What goes around comes around !
Love the Parker Series, and the Narration from the Narrator.
Thanks for another great read !

4 ½ stars. I liked getting revenge,

and I liked Parker’s detective mystery solving.

The bank robbery is a short section at the beginning. Then one of the group (George) kills the others and takes all the money. The problem is when he tried to kill Parker, he missed. So the rest of the book is watching Parker survive the double cross and then hunt George in various places across the country. I had no idea how Parker would be able to find someone who was on the run and in hiding, but he does. Good suspense, interesting writing, very enjoyable.

A mother and children are held hostage by someone other than Parker. It’s a small part of the story and did not end badly. But some readers might want to know.

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 12 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

One of the better Parker novels

The Sour Lemon Score breaks the usual Parker formula of Parker gets a job, Parker plans a heist, Parker completes the heist despite complications. In this novel, more akin to the original story in the Hunter, Parker has to deal with the fallout of a job gone bad from the outset of the novel. It excels in that Parker faces real adversity in the form of difficult circumstances and a formidable new enemy. It also rings true in its characterizations, showing Parker's cold rationalism's limitations and a more brutal side to crime than the clean capers Parker usually undertakes. Parker fans will not be disappointed.

A True Return to Form

After the (IMO) mediocre THE BLACK ICE SCORE, I found THE SOUR LEMON SCORE, a refreshing return to an excellent Parker novel. With a little more time, and just a bit more time inside the minor character’s heads (a technique that Westlake writing as Stark uses throughout the series to superb effect), this story unfolds with all the suspense and power of some of the best Parker novels throughout the entire series.

As per the title of the Mel Gibson movie adaptation of the first book, THE HUNTER, one of the best ingredients of some of the best Parker novels is that of *payback*, in various ways. In general, Parker is not ever really into revenge, even as sometimes other characters in his stories are. He just wants payback, just wants to even the score. Sometimes that does include a kind of rough justice, but generally, he just wants to get paid back for the trouble he went through on the initial score.

Parker is often at his best when he’s more a force of nature than anything else. Let others in the story be full of passions and jealousy and overweening greed and any other emotions, Parker is more just like a brilliant dog, he just uses his resources to get what he wants and doesn’t let normal human weaknesses get in his way.

The Parker novels remind me a lot of the Reacher novels, albeit in very different ways. There’s a sense of almost a kind of superhero in both main characters, although not in a science-fiction or fantastic way. But just from their characters and the stories. The stew of all the ingredients make them so satisfying, even though we know that for the main character, the stakes will not be mortal. But there are plenty of other stakes to make it interesting. And they can be hurt. And (this should not be be a spoiler if you’ve read other books in the series), Parker (and Reacher) *can* be hurt pretty badly, even if they don’t die from the injuries. But often damn near.

This book has that in spades. All of the other characters add to the story in various ways and it all builds to somewhat of a twist on the formula in the end.

This is one that I would definitely listen to again.

The narration by Stephen R. Thorne is outstanding as always. He’s one of my favorite readers and especially in this series. He and John Chance are tied for me. They have different approaches and character voices they use, but I like both about equally.

Highest recommendation

Take the money and run!

The story opens with Parker and three men; Andrews, Weiss, and Uhl about to rob the Riverside Bank. Excellent planning, coordination, intimidating guns, and smoke led to a perfect heist. Ten minutes later to the safe house; an old rundown farmhouse and barn to hole up in till the heat died down. The radio announced the robbery indicating the four men made off with $33,000... Parker was working on the strongbox with a hammer and screwdriver. As he opened the box Uhl shot one of the men in the head, Parker jumped through the window, running for the barn as he heard more shots coming from the house. Parker made it to the corner of the barn, reached for his gun, grabbing an empty holster. The gun popped out when he went through the window, he could see it lying in the dirt. Uhl mocked him from the house. Parker ran for the trees. Uhl set the house on fire, blew up the Mercury in the barn, and took off with the boodle in the Chevy. So much for the setup of the story. Uhl is on the run and people are looking for him. The whole thing is pretty much a cat and mouse chase across state lines. Parker is relentless. The story is not bad but it’s not one of my favorites. It left a sour taste in my mouth.