Range Camp Book

Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, once said that what he was hoping to convey in his Parker novels is “a workman at work,” a workman who just happens to be a professional thief. He was hoping readers might get hooked on the close focus on a craftsman, solid, dependable, detailed, annoyed by small talk, all business. Tough, but especially uncompromising. And I am sure Stark was hoping we would appreciate some of those serious craftsmanlike qualities in his writing, too!

Luc Sante writes, in a wonderful introduction to this audio version of the story, that while it is conventional to see Parker as amoral, a sociopath, that it is important to see that he also operates within a very strict, almost puritanical system; he is meticulously organized, a detail man, he hates waste, he scrupulously avoids endangerment, he is very careful about emotional involvement on a job that requires intense planning and concentration in its enactment. Almost all other characters have more significant flaws than he does, helping us create our understanding of his core principles.

But in this one Parker makes at least three surprising mistakes: 1) he allows himself to get involved with an amateur, Billy; 2) he trusts and supports Frenchy, who is near the end of the line in his abilities; and 3) he (once married before volume #1) is for the first time in nine books involved with a woman he likes, Claire, during the time of the planning and execution of the heist. All three have complicating consequences. The third stems from his acknowledgement that he has had no real relationship with a woman for many years, and Claire seems possible for him. Is Parker getting soft? Even human? Dangerous move for Stark, to allow Parker the possibility of . . . love?

Halfway into this I couldn’t believe why anyone would think this was interesting and interesting heist story. Rare coins?! Who cares?! But another focus of this one is surprisingly but clearly on his relationship with Claire. Oh, sure, the heist gets planned, is blown, and they manage to salvage things, but the fact that Claire has made some connection to Parker makes this an interesting shift in the books. Another interesting aspect of this book is that Stark tells the tale from a variety of perspectives. Usually it is Parker's view and maybe one other, but in this one it is several. Stark gets to illustrate his knowledge of character, generally.