GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #66

PARKER

Created by Donald Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark, Parker is a professional robber specializing in large-scale, high-profit crimes.  Parker is a ruthless career criminal with few redeeming qualities - aside from efficiency and professionalism.  Parker is callous, meticulous, and perfectly willing to commit murder if he deems it necessary.  He does live by one ethical principle: he will not double-cross another professional criminal with whom he is working, unless they try to double-cross him.  Should that happen, Parker will unhesitatingly exact a thorough and brutal revenge.

Parker's first name is never revealed in any of the novels, and it is hinted that the name "Parker" might even be an alias.  Parker is rare among the anti-hero protagonists in that he never develops a conscience.  Parker is big and shaggy, with flat, square shoulders.  His hands look like they were molded of brown clay by a sculptor who thought big and liked veins.  His hair was like a bad toupee about to fly loose, his face a chipped chunk of concrete with eyes of flawed onyx.

Each Parker novel is divided into four sections of roughly equal length.  The first two sections focus on Parker as he plans and undertakes a robbery or heist with colleagues.  This always ends in a cliffhanger with Parker betrayed - often injured or left for dead.  Section three is from the perspective of Parker's opponents, usually in flashback as they execute their double-cross.  section four is Parker's revenge.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Donald Westlake (1933-2008) was born in Brooklyn and raised in Albany, New York.  He wrote constantly as a teen and after 200 rejections he sold his first short story in 1954.  By 1960 he was a full-time writer, using his real name as well as the pseudonyms Rolfe Passer, Richard Stark, Alan Marshall, Alan Marsh, James Blue, Ben Christopher, John Dexter, Andrew Shaw, Edwin West, John B. Allan, Don Holliday, Curt Clark, Barbara Wilson, Tucker Coe, P. N. Castor, Timothy J. Culver, Samuel Holt, J. Morgan Cunningham, and Judson Jack Carmichael.  Needless to say, he was a prolific writer.  He died of a heart attack on December 31, 2008, while on his way to a New Year's Eve dinner while vacationing with his wife in Mexico.

1962 "The Hunter"/  1963 "The Man with the Getaway Face"/  1963 "The Outfit" (Manhunt Apr. 1963)/  1963 "The Mourner"/  1964 "The Score"/  1965 "The Jugger"/  1966 "The Seventh"/  1966 "The Handle"/  1967 "The Rare Coin Score"/  1967 "The Green Eagle Score"/  1968 "The Black Ice Score"/  1969 "The Sour Lemon Score"/  1971 "Deadly Edge"/  1971 "Slayground"/  1972 "Plunder Squad"/  1974 "Butcher's Moon"/  1997 "Comeback"/  1998 "Backflash"/  2000 "Flashfire"/  2001 "Firebreak"/  2002 "Breakout"/  2004 "Nobody Runs Forever"/  2006 "Ask the Parrot"/  2008 "Dirty Money"

FILMS

Westlake refused to allow film productions to use the name "Parker" unless they would commit to a series of films based on his novels.  So, in most of the movie adaptations Parker is called something else.

"Made in USA" Lux Compagnie, 1966.  Anna Karina (Paula Nelson, the Parker character), Marianne Faithful, Laszlo Szabo, Jean-Pierre Leaud.  Director: Jean-Luc Goddard.  Based on "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler and "The Jugger" by Stark.  Paula goes to Atlantic City to meet her lover.  Once there she learns that he is dead and decides to investigate, and encounters many gangsters.

"Point Blank" MGM, 1967.  Lee Marvin (Walker, the Parker character), Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O'Connor, John Vernon.  Director: John Boorman.  Based on "The Hunter".  After being double-crossed and left for dead, Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the money that was stolen from him, eliminating one criminal after another in his quest.

"Pillaged" French, 1967.  Michel Constantin (Georges, the Parker character), Franco Interlenghi, Irene Tunc.  Director: Alain Cavalier.  Based on "The Score".  A commando-like attack on a small mining town is planned, but the man fingering the job also ends up being it's nemesis.

"The Split" MGM, 1968.  Jim Brown (McClain, the Parker character), Diahann Carroll, Ernest Borgnine, Julie Harris, Gene Hackman, Jack Klugman, Warren Oates, James Whitmore, Donald Sutherland.  Director: Gordon Flemyng.  Based on "The Seventh".  The first American film released with an "R" rating.  Thieves fall out when over a half-million dollars goes missing after the daring and carefully planned robbery of the Los Angeles Coliseum during a football game, each one accusing the other of having the money.

"The Outfit" MGM, 1973.  Robert Duvall (Macklin, the Parker character), Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, Timothy Carey, Richard Jaeckel, Sheree North, Felice Orlandi, Marie Windsor, Jane Greer, Joanna Cassidy, Elisha Cook.  Director: John Flynn.  Based on "The Outfit".  Macklin robs a bank owned by the mob, serves his prison term and is released, only to start a private war against the crime outfit that owned the bank.

"Slayground" Columbia, 1983.  Peter Coyote (Stone, the Parker character), Billie Whitelaw, Mel Smith.  Director: Terry Bedford.  Based on "Slayground".  Thieves run over a child while escaping after a robbery.  A deadly hitman who likes to taunt his targets is hired to track the thieves down,  Stone moves to England, but the assassin follows.

"Payback" Paramount, 1999.  Mel Gibson (Porter, the Parker character), Maria Bello, Lucy Liu, John Glover, William Devane, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson.  Based on "The Hunter".  Shot twice and betrayed for $70,000, Porter seeks revenge and his money.

"Parker" Film District, 2013.  Jason Stratham (Parker, finally), Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Patti Lupone, Nick Nolte.  Director: Taylor Hackford.  Based on "Flashfire".  Parker is double-crossed by his crew.  He sets out for revenge, helped by a real estate agent in a quest to steal what his former accomplices intend to rob at a jewelry heist.

COMICS

Published by IDW, Darwyn Cooke wrote and illustrated the graphic novel "The Hunter" in July 2009.  It is a faithful adaptation of the novel, maintaining its 1962 setting.  Cooke went on to do "The Outfit" in October 2010 and "The Score" in July 2012.  "Slayground" published in January 2014 contained an adaptation of "The Seventh" as an added bonus.  Cooke wanted to adapt "Butcher's Moon" next but he died in 2016 from an aggressive form of cancer.  He was only 53.