Deadly Edge by Richard Stark 1971

‘Deadly Edge’ was one of the last four Parker novels written by Donald Westlake (aka Richard Stark) before he abandoned Parker for 23 years before taking up the series again.  Charles Ardai, a hard core mystery writer who has won an Edgar Award, describes the book in the Foreward as more violent and hard-edged than the prior Parker books, and this book’s violence, torture, and murder certainly filled that bill.

Every Parker book has the same components—-a brilliant scheme to steal a large sum of money engineered by the steely Parker; a group of associates who he gathers and who bring specific skills to the job; the caper itself; and the aftermath in which the getaway, the lying low, and the return to Claire’s house in New Jersey occur.  Somewhere along the line something always goes wrong, but Stark juggles the order in which these things happen.

In the last Parker book I read, ‘Plunder Squad’, the book starts with an attempt on Parker’s life and two failed robbery schemes before settling down into the art theft and its aftermath.  In ‘Deadly Edge’ we jump immediately into the caper as Parker and three associates are chopping their way through the roof of a theater in order to steal the cash proceeds from the concert that night.  When the fifth guy who backed out at the last minute is found dead in the safe house followed by the deaths of the other three associates, Parker is faced with a major life-and-death challenge.

The book kept me turning the pages and I continue to be amazed at my concern for and cheering for the bad guy, Parker.  A great series.