tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post8584503851186150044..comments2024-03-25T11:29:25.356-04:00Comments on Existential Ennui: Parker Progress Report: Deadly Edge by Richard Stark; ReviewNick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-12663854243964337302013-08-24T23:27:52.401-04:002013-08-24T23:27:52.401-04:00The weirdest stylistic anomaly at the start for me...The weirdest stylistic anomaly at the start for me was Parker's absence from the opening sentence: none of the other Parker novels do that.Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00156428408011131309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-72910839610033139092011-04-20T15:19:59.645-04:002011-04-20T15:19:59.645-04:00If you're reading the Parkers in order, Matt, ...If you're reading the Parkers in order, Matt, sounds like you're up to exactly the same point as me. Butcher's Moon is the next parker I'll be reading, although I've got Joe Gores's Dead Skip and the final Grofield novel, Lemons Never Lie, to read first. <br /><br />I've got reviews of Plunder Squad and Slayground up here<br /><br />http://existentialennui.blogspot.com/2011/01/parker-progress-report-review-of.html<br /><br />and here<br /><br />http://existentialennui.blogspot.com/2010/12/parker-progress-report-review-of.html<br /><br />if you haven't seen 'em. I know what you mean about the Random House Parkers being cut from a different cloth to their predecessors, but that seems to work both for and against them. Plunder Squad is by far the strongest for me (at least so far; Butcher's Moon to come, obv); I'm a sucker for continuity, so all the nods to previous novels were right up my alley. Plus it's a series of fuck-ups from start to finish, which always brings out the best (read, worst) in Parker.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-70795189125912069612011-04-20T13:28:04.998-04:002011-04-20T13:28:04.998-04:00Maybe I liked it more than you, Nick. The long ope...Maybe I liked it more than you, Nick. The long opening chapter rolled out beautifully for me - except that corny opening par about the rock band and the crowd noise. Westlake nicely draws his characters. Although maybe it would have been nice to have picked up with the string again after the job was done. <br /><br />There's something different about the final four of the early Starks - the first hardcovers. I haven't yet got to Butcher's Moon, but Deadly Edge, Slayground and particularly Plunder Squad are very much of their time. I don't think it's a bad thing. Those early ones have the whole sun-drenched Miami 1960s vibe. Then things change.<br />Deadly Edge has the drugged-up crazy bad guy, the LSD references. Plunder Squad has the hippie kid in the squad balling the girl on the highway as a diversion for the cops. There's the repeated allusions to blighted big city, urban renewal. Parker's operating in a more realistic milieu.<br /><br />But I haven't read them all yet. Fun ahead.Mattnoreply@blogger.com