Richard Stark isn't a forgotten author, and since Hard Case Crime reissued this book it isn't one that's hard to get your hands on either. It is the first Westlake/Stark book that I ever read, and it's a hell of a ride. I did write a review of it back in the summer of 2008 when I started to use this blog to write about books, movies and music. having read many more Westlake/ Stark books I am still fascinated at the hold this book has on me. IT just had the right mix of adventure, crime, planing and revenge to touch me in that right place.
From Hard Case Crime
When he’s not carrying out heists with his friend Parker, Alan Grofield runs a small theater in Indiana. But putting on shows costs money and jobs have been thin lately—which is why Grofield agreed to fly to Las Vegas to hear Andrew Myers’ plan to knock over a brewery in upstate New York.
Unfortunately, Myers’ plan is insane—so Grofield walks out on him. But Myers isn’t a man you walk out on, and his retribution culminates in an act of unforgivable brutality.
That’s when Grofield decides to show him what a disciple of Parker is capable of..Others who have written about Grofield for Friday Forgotten Books have commented that he comes off like a heel, and a it of a jerk. Having only read Butcher’s Moon and The Hot Rock featuring Grofield I don't know how he comes off in other Stark books, but in this one he seems like a guy who loves his work and his wife, has a bit more wit and humor than Parker and is the kinda guy you might want to have enough beers with that he'll tell you some stories. I recently picked up reprints of the four Grofield books from Foul Play Press, and am looking forward to reading them.
Read A Sample Chapter
more on the Grofield books HERE
3 comments:
Guess I never got far enough into the Parker series to find out there was a spin-off. I have some reading to do.
What a great title for a book.
Evan: I think that stark realized at some point that he was going to have to shake up the world of Parker a bit and bring in some others to balance him out. I've read the first 5 or so of the Parker and then the last of the first run, Butcher’s Moon and there is a growth in Parker as the books go on.
Paul: Yeah, I like it as well.
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