"When a fresh-faced guy in a Chevy offered him a lift, Parker told him to go to hell."
Not a bad line to start a novel, much less the first novel of a twenty-four book series.
Parker is the hero of the series, sometimes called the anti-hero and sometimes the non-hero. Regardless, he's the main character. And he's a bad guy. A very bad guy, but he's tinged with underworld justice, the kind that the police can't offer, so maybe he is just not as bad as the other malefactors in the book.
Richard Stark is Donald Westlake, author of numerous other books and series. Parker (I'm not sure we know his first name) began in the early sixties and continued until Westlake's death in 2008.
The series has also spawned several movies, most recently Parker (2013, with Jennifer Lopez, which I haven't seen) and Payback (~2001, with Mel Gibson, which I have seen). Payback holds pretty true to the book.
Here's the thing with Parker: he doesn't give a crap. He may accidentally kill an innocent, but you won't get any sobs. Maybe a kernel of remorse, then he's back to the mission, which tends to make him money.
All of the Parkers are on Kindle (at $9.99 each!), but I'm looking forward to the next twenty-three. Well done, Ricardo!
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