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Parker #21
Breakout
Stuck in jail without bail while awaiting trial, Parker builds a network among his fellow cons to assist him in getting out of trouble, but when he becomes involved in a heist set up by one of his co-conspirators, Parker and his fellow escapees suddenly find themselves on the run for their lives. 20,0000 first printing.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
March 18, 2021
So this is Breakout, where Parker gets caught in a heist and goes to prison, for the first time in the series, and it’s a new maximum security prison no one has ever broken out of. Look at the title and guess what happens. For the first time, I think, I actually read the hardcover, since the last four books are not yet audiotaped. This is #21 of 24, and is one of the post-Butcher’s Moon books, after which he stopped writing the series for more than twenty years, and it is—again—not as good as any of those earlier books, but this is the best of the Butcher A. D. that I have read so far.
It’s still a little too long, compared to the early more tightly-plotted ones, but the several ending pages are very good writing, kind of expansive, descriptive, taking its time, as Parker hitches a ride from a sweet middle-aged truck-driving couple. Then there's the one page reunite with Clair. I like the prison stint, and the choice of work with a tough white guy and a black guy on the breakout and on the subsequent jewelry job. Color doesn’t matter to Parker; just professionalism. Part of the book is narrated from the perspective of the black guy, Williams, who never trusts any white folks he works with. That is an interesting and fresh angle Stark included that I like.
Okay, I'll tell you: Parker actually breaks out three times in the book. Once, from prison, then from an armory in a post-prison job, after an exit tunnel has collapsed. The third "breakout" is Parker helping a guy named Mackey “break” his friend Brenda out of a police holding tank. So this is very good compared to others like it in the genre, but just average for a Parker book, not as memorable as the early ones, but still entertaining. Parker's a little soft here, and that's not Parker at his best. You would never read this one first, but it is actually a well-written crime caper from the perspective of the bad-uns. 3.5, I think.
It’s still a little too long, compared to the early more tightly-plotted ones, but the several ending pages are very good writing, kind of expansive, descriptive, taking its time, as Parker hitches a ride from a sweet middle-aged truck-driving couple. Then there's the one page reunite with Clair. I like the prison stint, and the choice of work with a tough white guy and a black guy on the breakout and on the subsequent jewelry job. Color doesn’t matter to Parker; just professionalism. Part of the book is narrated from the perspective of the black guy, Williams, who never trusts any white folks he works with. That is an interesting and fresh angle Stark included that I like.
Okay, I'll tell you: Parker actually breaks out three times in the book. Once, from prison, then from an armory in a post-prison job, after an exit tunnel has collapsed. The third "breakout" is Parker helping a guy named Mackey “break” his friend Brenda out of a police holding tank. So this is very good compared to others like it in the genre, but just average for a Parker book, not as memorable as the early ones, but still entertaining. Parker's a little soft here, and that's not Parker at his best. You would never read this one first, but it is actually a well-written crime caper from the perspective of the bad-uns. 3.5, I think.
May 14, 2018
Parker's facing a long spell in jail.
Busted during what should have been a simple heist -generic drugs from a warehouse- due to a local hire going greed hog and setting off the one alarm the mechanics hadn't figured they needed to jam up.
The screws know him as "Ronald Kasper".
"Ronald Kasper" was the name Parker was using back in one of the 1st 4 entries in the series when he had to break out of a California prison killing a guard in the process. Parker was fingerprinted as "Kasper".
These flat-landers now have "Kasper" in their impregnable fortress of a jail.
Can't reveal much more. It's one hair-raising event after another.
Complications lead to further complications.
All is hopeless.
Yet- this is a "Parker" novel by Richard Stark... expect twists and breakneck curves.
Highest Recommendation!
Busted during what should have been a simple heist -generic drugs from a warehouse- due to a local hire going greed hog and setting off the one alarm the mechanics hadn't figured they needed to jam up.
The screws know him as "Ronald Kasper".
"Ronald Kasper" was the name Parker was using back in one of the 1st 4 entries in the series when he had to break out of a California prison killing a guard in the process. Parker was fingerprinted as "Kasper".
These flat-landers now have "Kasper" in their impregnable fortress of a jail.
Can't reveal much more. It's one hair-raising event after another.
Complications lead to further complications.
All is hopeless.
Yet- this is a "Parker" novel by Richard Stark... expect twists and breakneck curves.
Highest Recommendation!
September 20, 2023
Least favorite of the six Parker novels I've read so far. Nothing much wrong with it. A jailbreak followed by a jewelry heist which goes completely awry. Everything about the life in jail, the escape and the heist seemed hastily written. The racism between and white and black prisoners in American jails that Edward Bunker informed us about is the only thing that rang true. The sub-plot involving Brenda and her jealous dance class female competitor was not that convincing. Breakout does have a nice ending where Parker hooks up with an old couple to escape the law. Reminded me of the man on the run situations in a John Buchan novel. But the whole thing had a phoned in quality about it. It was entertaining. Parker always does outrageous stuff to escape. Oh and an interesting aspect of the novel - a police officer suspects Parker has done plastic surgery on his face a long time ago. That was not all that well developed.
June 16, 2011
The robbery of a pharmaceutical wholesaler goes south and Parker winds up in the clink. The cops have his prints and link him to the killing he did as Ronald Kasper when he escaped the work camp ages ago. Can Parker bust out of the hoosegow? And what's waiting in the wings when he does?
I've been complaining about the post-Butcher's Moon Parker books not being as good as the early ones for quite some time. They're too long and don't have the punch of the earlier books. So, is Breakout more of the same?
Well, it's still a little long but I thought it was an improvement over the last couple Parker books I've read. Parker having to survive in jail for a period of time was a nice change of pace, and the caper he had to participate in with Marcantoni (who I kept calling Macaroni) was both an interesting idea and a bad idea from the start. A tunnel into a former armory to rob a jewelry wholesaler?
The supporting cast other than Ed Mackey and Williams, Parker's cellmate, weren't much to speak of. I was surprised when Brenda got pinched. Parker seemed a little softer in The Breakout but he seems that way in most of the post-hiatus Parker books. The writing lacked some of the punch of the earlier books but seemed less Westlake-ish than the previous couple books.
In conclusion, the Breakout is almost a return to Stark's earlier form and my favorite of the post-Butcher's Moon books so far.
I've been complaining about the post-Butcher's Moon Parker books not being as good as the early ones for quite some time. They're too long and don't have the punch of the earlier books. So, is Breakout more of the same?
Well, it's still a little long but I thought it was an improvement over the last couple Parker books I've read. Parker having to survive in jail for a period of time was a nice change of pace, and the caper he had to participate in with Marcantoni (who I kept calling Macaroni) was both an interesting idea and a bad idea from the start. A tunnel into a former armory to rob a jewelry wholesaler?
The supporting cast other than Ed Mackey and Williams, Parker's cellmate, weren't much to speak of. I was surprised when Brenda got pinched. Parker seemed a little softer in The Breakout but he seems that way in most of the post-hiatus Parker books. The writing lacked some of the punch of the earlier books but seemed less Westlake-ish than the previous couple books.
In conclusion, the Breakout is almost a return to Stark's earlier form and my favorite of the post-Butcher's Moon books so far.
February 13, 2011
my third post-hiatus parker book. and it's good. a tightly plotted story involving three breakouts:
1. parker assembles a string in prison to break the hell out before they're transferred to high-security.
2. parker and crew have gotta break out of an armory once their entry/exit tunnel has collapsed.
3. parker and mackay have gotta use legal maneuvering and intimidation to break brenda out of a police holding tank.
and i particularly love the final few pages as parker hitches a ride with a middle-aged truck-driving couple.
but i don't love any of these books the way i love the original sixteen pre-hiatus parker books. i suppose part of it's gotta do with the times. parker just ain't a man of the 90's or 00's, y'know? imagine don draper on the view? cary grant on twitter? naw, can't happen. so there's a part of me that was kinda hoping that the post-hiatus books would touch on exactly that: what happens to a 'man of his time' as time passes him by?
well, in a sense, stark answers the question by not answering it: some people change and others just wither up and blow away... but parker. parker does what he's always done: he proceeds as the lone-wolf, existential anti-hero regardless if the prez is JFK or bush, the drug is LSD or X, or the enemy is the USSR or al-qaeda. parker is always and only parker and i guess that's the point... but my gut tells me there's a bit of a missed opportunity here.
of course, the fault could lie in me. it's easy as hell to romanticize a time before one lived, all that bullshit hopped-up nostalgia is powerful stuff. consider this image of parker by darwyn cooke from his graphic novelization of the outfit:
yeah, the danish mid-century furniture is cooler than its contemporary equivalent, the miami beach setting out the window conjures thoughts of hyman roth and tiki cocktails as opposed to drunk-on-red-bull-and-grey-goose ed-hardy-wearing douchebags, the very design of the image itself carries the whiff of noir and mystery and the threat of violence, and maybe a chiseled sociopath with a gun is easier to swallow if i know he's part of an older era... but, ah... what the shit do i know? lemme stop trying to understand why i love this stuff and just love it. (yeah, well, we know i can't really ever do that...)
well, i've read 19 of these things. 5 more to go.
what happens after that?
1. parker assembles a string in prison to break the hell out before they're transferred to high-security.
2. parker and crew have gotta break out of an armory once their entry/exit tunnel has collapsed.
3. parker and mackay have gotta use legal maneuvering and intimidation to break brenda out of a police holding tank.
and i particularly love the final few pages as parker hitches a ride with a middle-aged truck-driving couple.
but i don't love any of these books the way i love the original sixteen pre-hiatus parker books. i suppose part of it's gotta do with the times. parker just ain't a man of the 90's or 00's, y'know? imagine don draper on the view? cary grant on twitter? naw, can't happen. so there's a part of me that was kinda hoping that the post-hiatus books would touch on exactly that: what happens to a 'man of his time' as time passes him by?
well, in a sense, stark answers the question by not answering it: some people change and others just wither up and blow away... but parker. parker does what he's always done: he proceeds as the lone-wolf, existential anti-hero regardless if the prez is JFK or bush, the drug is LSD or X, or the enemy is the USSR or al-qaeda. parker is always and only parker and i guess that's the point... but my gut tells me there's a bit of a missed opportunity here.
of course, the fault could lie in me. it's easy as hell to romanticize a time before one lived, all that bullshit hopped-up nostalgia is powerful stuff. consider this image of parker by darwyn cooke from his graphic novelization of the outfit:
yeah, the danish mid-century furniture is cooler than its contemporary equivalent, the miami beach setting out the window conjures thoughts of hyman roth and tiki cocktails as opposed to drunk-on-red-bull-and-grey-goose ed-hardy-wearing douchebags, the very design of the image itself carries the whiff of noir and mystery and the threat of violence, and maybe a chiseled sociopath with a gun is easier to swallow if i know he's part of an older era... but, ah... what the shit do i know? lemme stop trying to understand why i love this stuff and just love it. (yeah, well, we know i can't really ever do that...)
well, i've read 19 of these things. 5 more to go.
what happens after that?
January 27, 2015
Donald Westlake has been a favorite of mine for years. It wasn't to I joined GR that I found out he also wrote under Richard Stark! I have just started to read the Parker series from Stark. Parker is Stark's answer to Westlake's Dortmunder. Both are likeable thieves that you root for against the Law! Looking forward to reading more of his Parker series.
March 11, 2019
Parker has miraculously avoided the law until a knucklehead on a pharmaceutical warehouse job goes into the alarmed office, and the whole crew goes to the pokie. The cops are trying to get each to rat out the others, but Parker has the most to lose since his fingerprints are in the system from his previous prison sentence where there is an inmate murder so Parker needs to get out. He recruits his cellmate and another inmate, and they do what has never been done in this overcrowded facility, with the help of Ed Mackey. Then, the other inmate, Ed and his cellmate stick around to rob a wholesale jewelry shop using a secret access point, which turns into a disaster, including Brenda getting arrested. Parker and Mackey have to spring her, and get away. A bit longer than necessary, but better than the recent ones.
April 13, 2017
The Parker series of books by Richard Stark have enjoyed perennial popularity--and that’s with a 23-year hiatus in its run. But why? Evan as an enthusiastic member of the club, I cannot say definitively. The protagonist has no redeeming attributes. Even traits like his professionalism and single-minded determination, which could be seen as positives in certain situations, come at the expense of any humanitarian impulse. And his ultimate goal in each story contains nothing resembling beneficial intent; it usually involves theft, the recovery or defense of something previously stolen, revenge, or some combination of the above. And bodies drop left and right.
I think it comes down to the considerable skill of the author, a pseudonym for the prolific writer Donald E. Westlake. And not only because he’d successfully created a lead character who is utterly ruthless yet still piques the reader’s interest so much that we soon find ourselves rooting for him. Nor is it that in making Parker essentially a working-class thief, there is no job off-limits, hence few stories are unavailable to the author. Yes, those elements do contribute. As does the reason Westlake chose that particular pen name: from word one, nothing but stark, stripped-down language. You’ll find no elaborate descriptions, no intricate passages, no deeper meaning. But the most important element in why these books remain so popular, I believe, is that this is one of those rare occasions where story is as important--and sometimes more important--than character.
Or, more precisely, how Westlake tells the story. The reader never becomes intimate with any of the people Parker meets. We share their thoughts more than their feelings, their wants more than their needs. By keeping us once-removed, the deaths of the more innocent characters--sometimes by Parker’s hand--lack impact. They become no different than a fire “killing” a house, an explosion killing a vault door. That’s why the main exception is the first entry, The Hunter. It was intended as a one-off, so it’s the most substantial and contains the most emotion. It also explains why The Black Ice Score seems to be least popular among fans; Westlake stumbled into characters with selfless motives that involved a greater good--that deeper meaning the series had always tried to avoid. It threw off the formula.
With Breakout Westlake splits with some other longstanding Parker formulas as well. The domino-ing titles since his return to series end here. He’d gone from Comeback to Backflash to Flashfire to Firebreak, and finally to Breakout. The next is Nobody Runs Forever. He also alters his standard four act structure (which, admittedly, he has done on occasion before). In the usual pattern, originally pointed out by Lawrence Block, the books typically run like this: Part 1 involves Parker setting up or executing the job; Part 2 has Parker committing the crime or dealing with the fallout, usually ending with a cliffhanger; Part 3 follows the other characters we’ve met to date, explaining how they arrived at the end of Part 2, or showing how they cope with its aftermath; and Part 4 has Parker reappearing, where he satisfactorily cleans up all the loose ends. With Breakout, it’s in Part 2 that we meet the other players. It proved to be necessary to make the rest of the book work, but in turn it created a different problem. It drove Breakout headlong into the one difficulty inherent in using this style of narrative: if the readers have no investment in the characters, the story has to completely carry the day.
Part 2 promptly kills all the momentum created by a great start. The book opens with the police unexpectedly arriving in the middle of a warehouse job in an unnamed Midwestern state. Parker does what he has always done when caught under a gun with no immediate options: he bides his time. This means incarceration in minimum-security holding facility created for court appearances, preparatory to a more hardcore prison. Now’s the best time to make a move, and how Parker does so is as interesting as anything ever presented in the series. That’s Part 1. Then . . . a dead stop.
It turned out not to have been an artistic choice that brought the story to a halt. I subsequently learned that Westlake had contracted Lyme disease and had lost four days in the hospital. It gave him the opportunity to discover other themes he could exploit once he got back to work, but it cost him his momentum. With the details needed to lead Parker to his next set of problems already in place, it became a matter of Westlake getting the train rolling again.
It was not until Part 3 that the kind of movement we are accustomed to begins to return. Parker, the master planner, finds himself in a position where all of his operational skill is needed. By Part 4 the book has returned to a familiar pace. Here it is people Parker has to manipulate in order to ensure his ultimate escape. With pragmatism and efficiency in full force, through close calls and standoffs, we watch as Parker endeavors to make one last breakout, this time attempting to escape this part of the country and its police. By this point we are again firmly by his side.
It turned out it was more of a slowdown that began Part 2, a loss of power and velocity, rather than a full stop. It was made more noticeable because it stuttered what is normally a quick, smooth process. In the end, though, it takes more than one hiccup to knock Parker or Westlake off his stride.
I think it comes down to the considerable skill of the author, a pseudonym for the prolific writer Donald E. Westlake. And not only because he’d successfully created a lead character who is utterly ruthless yet still piques the reader’s interest so much that we soon find ourselves rooting for him. Nor is it that in making Parker essentially a working-class thief, there is no job off-limits, hence few stories are unavailable to the author. Yes, those elements do contribute. As does the reason Westlake chose that particular pen name: from word one, nothing but stark, stripped-down language. You’ll find no elaborate descriptions, no intricate passages, no deeper meaning. But the most important element in why these books remain so popular, I believe, is that this is one of those rare occasions where story is as important--and sometimes more important--than character.
Or, more precisely, how Westlake tells the story. The reader never becomes intimate with any of the people Parker meets. We share their thoughts more than their feelings, their wants more than their needs. By keeping us once-removed, the deaths of the more innocent characters--sometimes by Parker’s hand--lack impact. They become no different than a fire “killing” a house, an explosion killing a vault door. That’s why the main exception is the first entry, The Hunter. It was intended as a one-off, so it’s the most substantial and contains the most emotion. It also explains why The Black Ice Score seems to be least popular among fans; Westlake stumbled into characters with selfless motives that involved a greater good--that deeper meaning the series had always tried to avoid. It threw off the formula.
With Breakout Westlake splits with some other longstanding Parker formulas as well. The domino-ing titles since his return to series end here. He’d gone from Comeback to Backflash to Flashfire to Firebreak, and finally to Breakout. The next is Nobody Runs Forever. He also alters his standard four act structure (which, admittedly, he has done on occasion before). In the usual pattern, originally pointed out by Lawrence Block, the books typically run like this: Part 1 involves Parker setting up or executing the job; Part 2 has Parker committing the crime or dealing with the fallout, usually ending with a cliffhanger; Part 3 follows the other characters we’ve met to date, explaining how they arrived at the end of Part 2, or showing how they cope with its aftermath; and Part 4 has Parker reappearing, where he satisfactorily cleans up all the loose ends. With Breakout, it’s in Part 2 that we meet the other players. It proved to be necessary to make the rest of the book work, but in turn it created a different problem. It drove Breakout headlong into the one difficulty inherent in using this style of narrative: if the readers have no investment in the characters, the story has to completely carry the day.
Part 2 promptly kills all the momentum created by a great start. The book opens with the police unexpectedly arriving in the middle of a warehouse job in an unnamed Midwestern state. Parker does what he has always done when caught under a gun with no immediate options: he bides his time. This means incarceration in minimum-security holding facility created for court appearances, preparatory to a more hardcore prison. Now’s the best time to make a move, and how Parker does so is as interesting as anything ever presented in the series. That’s Part 1. Then . . . a dead stop.
It turned out not to have been an artistic choice that brought the story to a halt. I subsequently learned that Westlake had contracted Lyme disease and had lost four days in the hospital. It gave him the opportunity to discover other themes he could exploit once he got back to work, but it cost him his momentum. With the details needed to lead Parker to his next set of problems already in place, it became a matter of Westlake getting the train rolling again.
It was not until Part 3 that the kind of movement we are accustomed to begins to return. Parker, the master planner, finds himself in a position where all of his operational skill is needed. By Part 4 the book has returned to a familiar pace. Here it is people Parker has to manipulate in order to ensure his ultimate escape. With pragmatism and efficiency in full force, through close calls and standoffs, we watch as Parker endeavors to make one last breakout, this time attempting to escape this part of the country and its police. By this point we are again firmly by his side.
It turned out it was more of a slowdown that began Part 2, a loss of power and velocity, rather than a full stop. It was made more noticeable because it stuttered what is normally a quick, smooth process. In the end, though, it takes more than one hiccup to knock Parker or Westlake off his stride.
August 13, 2011
It's been awhile since I read a Parker novel. Ever since Donald Westlake (Richard Stark) died, I've been spacing them out a little more, since I know there won't be any more of them.
At first, I thought "Breakout" was a little lazy. After Parker and his hastily assembled crew of cons break out of jail, they're immediately embroiled in a caper, and the way in to the former armory/current jewel warehouse seemed overly simple. One of the things I love about this series is the way Westlake sets up a seemingly impossible problem for Parker to solve, and then shows how Parker gets into places by breaking down the weak points one at a time.
But about halfway through, I realized that this book isn't about clever ways in, it's about clever ways out. It's an escape heist in three parts: first out of prison, then out of a job they're trapped in, then out of a small town.
The thing I love best about the Parker books is their attitude. Parker's toughness doesn't come from what he says (although he's always a man of few words), it comes from what he does. There were a bunch of places in the novel where I expected Parker to commit murder to get out of a situation, but instead he got out just using his wits. While any reader of this series knows that Parker never hesitates to pull the trigger if it's his only way out, what makes him a great character is his never-ending resourcefulness and calmness in tight situations.
At first, I thought "Breakout" was a little lazy. After Parker and his hastily assembled crew of cons break out of jail, they're immediately embroiled in a caper, and the way in to the former armory/current jewel warehouse seemed overly simple. One of the things I love about this series is the way Westlake sets up a seemingly impossible problem for Parker to solve, and then shows how Parker gets into places by breaking down the weak points one at a time.
But about halfway through, I realized that this book isn't about clever ways in, it's about clever ways out. It's an escape heist in three parts: first out of prison, then out of a job they're trapped in, then out of a small town.
The thing I love best about the Parker books is their attitude. Parker's toughness doesn't come from what he says (although he's always a man of few words), it comes from what he does. There were a bunch of places in the novel where I expected Parker to commit murder to get out of a situation, but instead he got out just using his wits. While any reader of this series knows that Parker never hesitates to pull the trigger if it's his only way out, what makes him a great character is his never-ending resourcefulness and calmness in tight situations.
February 1, 2022
Review from 12/2020:
Mr. Stark's protagonist Parker is like an evil (or indifferent/amoral) Jack Reacher. He's a criminal who handles crazy situations as they come, is unafraid to use extreme violence in said crazy situations, and lives by a code (that only he knows) to help him survive said crazy situations.
This time out the law catches up with our favorite anti-hero, and it's a whole lotta fun reading his attempt at......a......BREAKOUT!!
Runonoutandgetyousomewiththequicknessyo
Reread 1/2022:
This was the second Parker book I stumbled upon at my library back in 2020. I enjoyed it so much I decided to read them all in chronological order. This 2nd, more informed read was even more fun, but also touched with sadness as I only have a few more Parker books until the series ends.. Oh gravitas aplenty!!!
4 Starkly Shining Stars
Mr. Stark's protagonist Parker is like an evil (or indifferent/amoral) Jack Reacher. He's a criminal who handles crazy situations as they come, is unafraid to use extreme violence in said crazy situations, and lives by a code (that only he knows) to help him survive said crazy situations.
This time out the law catches up with our favorite anti-hero, and it's a whole lotta fun reading his attempt at......a......BREAKOUT!!
Runonoutandgetyousomewiththequicknessyo
Reread 1/2022:
This was the second Parker book I stumbled upon at my library back in 2020. I enjoyed it so much I decided to read them all in chronological order. This 2nd, more informed read was even more fun, but also touched with sadness as I only have a few more Parker books until the series ends.. Oh gravitas aplenty!!!
4 Starkly Shining Stars
Read
December 31, 2020
In the long list of 24 Parker novels, Breakout by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark takes its place as #21.
But Breakout is singular.
Breakout is unique in that the novel covers the other side of the world Parker inhabits. As every Stark fan knows, in each and every Parker novel there was always, always the chance of Parker getting nabbed by the law and sent to prison.
Oh, yes, ever since Parker walked across the George Washington Bridge back in The Hunter (Parker #1), Parker faced the looming prospect of time in the slammer. It never happened in Parker #1 thru #20, but the very real possibility was always there.
Parker would be staring at years in prison for a very good reason: prior to striding across the bridge to Manhattan, Parker spent some months in a California detention center after being picked up as a vagrant, the consequence of a double-cross following a heist. But Parker killed a prison guard and escaped shortly before his scheduled release (Parker, wolf on the inside, human on the outside, just couldn't help himself). And now that the law has his fingerprints, Parker would face Murder One.
In the opening pages of Breakout, a job goes quickly sour, an alarm in a warehouse, and the law catches Parker and sends him to prison. My advice for anybody reading this review: DO NOT read Breakout as your first Parker novel. To better appreciate the full impact of Parker in prison, read a number of others in the series prior to picking up this one.
"I spent four nights and five days in that jail, and hated it, even more than you might expect. Every instant was intolerable. I hate being here now; I hate being here now; I hate being here now." These are the words of author Donald E. Westlake after his stint in jail following getting caught stealing microscopes from the science building when he was a college undergrad.
And here's Westlake/Stark writing about Parker's first days in prison:
"The first week is the hardest. The change from outside, from freedom to confinement, from spreading your arms wide to holding them in close to your body, is so abrupt and extreme that the mind refuses to believe it. Second by second, it keeps on being a rotten surprise, the worst joke in the world. You keep thinking, I can’t stand this, I’m going to lose my mind, I’m going to wig out or off myself, I can’t stand this now and now and now.
Then, sometime in the second week, the mind’s defenses kick in, the brain just flips over, and this place, this impossible miserable place, just becomes the place where you happen to live. These people are the people you live among, these rules are the rules you live within. This is your world now, and it’s the other one that isn’t real any more.
Parker wondered if he’d be here that long."
Parker wondering how long he'd have to stay in prison is the critical question; in other words, will prison change him as he knows prison has changed other men - such as Lempke.
Stark fans will remember The Rare Coin Score (Parker #9) where Parker can see Lempke, a reliable heister from the past, is now a man prison has made jumpy and prematurely old, a man who has been stripped of all his good sense and so eager for a score he can't even smell a job that's lemons all the way. If this isn't enough, a further revelation some days later: Lempke appears to have lost his nerve, an absolute must when pulling a job.
Parker knows he must remain forever Parker. To do so, Parker has to bust out soon...but there are problems, tops among their number: Stoneveldt, built seven years ago with exactly zero escapes, is located in a big, empty, flat prairie in the middle of the country and Parker doesn't know anybody he'll ever come in contact with in Stoneveldt. He'll have to find a couple of guys like himself: competent, trustworthy and desperate (facing life sentences or close to it). He'll also have to have someone on the outside at the ready to drive them away.
How Parker works out the jail break is for Richard Stark to tell. I'll shift to a couple of themes running through the entire novel:
Parker finds his partners, Marcantoni and Williams - Marcantoni is white and Williams is black. There's the whole dynamic of race. Understandably, Williams is wary about teaming up with two white guys but he can sense Parker doesn't give a damn about skin color and Parker is sharp enough to work out the break. Marcantoni isn't thrilled about Williams but Marcantoni trusts Parker's judgment and figures anything is better than sticking around in jail.
An additional bonus: Parker recognizes immediately Williams is both educated and highly intelligent. Sidebar: the inclusion of Williams is a deserved nod to all Parker fans who are Black Americans, guys (and perhaps gals) who know what it's like being alienated from mainstream society, people who might have racked up their own jail time. Actually, for me, the inclusion of Williams adds great realism to the tale, after all, a huge percentage of the population in American jails are Black men.
As an outlaw, Parker maintains a certain understanding of when you offer help to your partner or partners and when you simply walk away (usually run away or drive away). Stated in other words, Parker doesn't keep tabs or "debts owed" the way several of his fellow outlaws keep these tabs. How and why Parker makes decisions at critical junctures in Breakout makes for a fascinating study. Keep a lookout while you're reading.
Breakout is actually the story of a number of Parker breakouts, the big jail break from Stoneveldt being the first and taking up a third of the novel. The final two-thirds will have you on the edge of your seat, for sure. Breakout rocks the big house as vintage Parker from first page to last.
American author Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008
June 20, 2017
In the 21st of 24 Parker novels “Breakout,” Parker is arrested and placed into a detention center, awaiting arraignment. Although Parker once mentioned he had been temporarily on a prison farm in California under an assumed name, throughout all the Parker novels, he has been this invincible behemoth who never gets picked up, never does time. The authorities don’t really know who he is. Therefore, if you have been reading these novels, you rarely think about the possibility of Parker being taken into custody. It just doesn’t happen.
In this non-stop action novel, Parker admits that, although there are some guys who don’t mind it, he doesn’t like doing time. Most of the guys awaiting arraignment and trial are a sad, sorry bunch and he has to pick through them to find a team he can work with to “break out” (get it) of the detention center, the brand spanking-new detention center that no one has ever escaped from before. That entire sequence is worthy of being a novel onto itself. But, the cost of having partners is that he has to go in with them to commit a caper on the outside, one which he doesn’t like.
This is book felt as if it were solid action from cover to cover with absolutely no let-up. As with all Parker novels, a reader is required to set aside an entire evening without distractions to read the book. There are going to be few things you find more important than finishing it. Westlake’s stripped-down style of writing just soars in this book. In this Parker series, particularly the later ones, you feel as if Westlake has climbed to another level of writing, smooth and professional. The books feel as if they are chiseled to perfection without any extraneous details thrown it.
In this non-stop action novel, Parker admits that, although there are some guys who don’t mind it, he doesn’t like doing time. Most of the guys awaiting arraignment and trial are a sad, sorry bunch and he has to pick through them to find a team he can work with to “break out” (get it) of the detention center, the brand spanking-new detention center that no one has ever escaped from before. That entire sequence is worthy of being a novel onto itself. But, the cost of having partners is that he has to go in with them to commit a caper on the outside, one which he doesn’t like.
This is book felt as if it were solid action from cover to cover with absolutely no let-up. As with all Parker novels, a reader is required to set aside an entire evening without distractions to read the book. There are going to be few things you find more important than finishing it. Westlake’s stripped-down style of writing just soars in this book. In this Parker series, particularly the later ones, you feel as if Westlake has climbed to another level of writing, smooth and professional. The books feel as if they are chiseled to perfection without any extraneous details thrown it.
November 28, 2025
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everybody! I'm going to review the last four Parker books these four days. They are quite a trip.
Parker gets nabbed in a midwest heist gone wrong and we find him in a place we've not seen him before - prison. While his lawyer works the angles to keep him from being extradited back to California on an old murder charge, Parker finds some like-minded hoodlums inside he can work with and sets about planning his own early release. One of these hoodlums he's plotting with has a quick score they can do on the outside when they hope to breeze out of town.
Verdict: A good escape narrative and crime caper.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
Parker gets nabbed in a midwest heist gone wrong and we find him in a place we've not seen him before - prison. While his lawyer works the angles to keep him from being extradited back to California on an old murder charge, Parker finds some like-minded hoodlums inside he can work with and sets about planning his own early release. One of these hoodlums he's plotting with has a quick score they can do on the outside when they hope to breeze out of town.
Verdict: A good escape narrative and crime caper.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
May 14, 2017
Excellent Parker novel. Not much goes right for Parker this time, but it's an exciting twist when he's arrested. Some new partners (and an old one) make for an entertaining read.
September 13, 2013
3 ½ stars. This book is more about Parker reacting to things instead of planning.
A couple parts were slow, but several parts had good tension. Parker has to breakout of two different places: he’s in jail and then he can’t get out of an armory. Then he has to break someone else out of jail. I liked his mental process, what he does, what he plans, and his actions when on the run. It’s fun being in Parker’s mind.
THE SERIES:
This is book 21 in the 24 book series. These stories are about bad guys. They rob. They kill. They’re smart. Most don’t go to jail. Parker is the main bad guy, a brilliant strategist. He partners with different guys for different jobs in each book.
If you are new to the series, I suggest reading the first three and then choose among the rest. A few should be read in order since characters continue in a sequel fashion. Those are listed below (with my star ratings). The rest can be read as stand alones.
The first three books in order:
4 stars. The Hunter (Point Blank movie with Lee Marvin 1967) (Payback movie with Mel Gibson)
3 ½ stars. The Man with the Getaway Face (The Steel Hit)
4 stars. The Outfit.
Read these two in order:
5 stars. Slayground (Bk #14)
5 stars. Butcher’s Moon (Bk #16)
Read these four in order:
4 ½ stars. The Sour Lemon Score (Bk #12)
2 ½ stars. Firebreak (Bk #20)
(not read) Nobody Runs Forever (Bk #22)
2 ½ stars. Dirty Money (Bk #24)
Others that I gave 4 or more stars to:
The Jugger (Bk #6), The Seventh (Bk#7), The Handle (Bk #8), Deadly Edge (Bk#13), Flashfire (Bk#19)
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 298 pages. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words but rarely used. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: around 2002 midwest U.S. Copyright: 2002. Genre: noir crime fiction.
A couple parts were slow, but several parts had good tension. Parker has to breakout of two different places: he’s in jail and then he can’t get out of an armory. Then he has to break someone else out of jail. I liked his mental process, what he does, what he plans, and his actions when on the run. It’s fun being in Parker’s mind.
THE SERIES:
This is book 21 in the 24 book series. These stories are about bad guys. They rob. They kill. They’re smart. Most don’t go to jail. Parker is the main bad guy, a brilliant strategist. He partners with different guys for different jobs in each book.
If you are new to the series, I suggest reading the first three and then choose among the rest. A few should be read in order since characters continue in a sequel fashion. Those are listed below (with my star ratings). The rest can be read as stand alones.
The first three books in order:
4 stars. The Hunter (Point Blank movie with Lee Marvin 1967) (Payback movie with Mel Gibson)
3 ½ stars. The Man with the Getaway Face (The Steel Hit)
4 stars. The Outfit.
Read these two in order:
5 stars. Slayground (Bk #14)
5 stars. Butcher’s Moon (Bk #16)
Read these four in order:
4 ½ stars. The Sour Lemon Score (Bk #12)
2 ½ stars. Firebreak (Bk #20)
(not read) Nobody Runs Forever (Bk #22)
2 ½ stars. Dirty Money (Bk #24)
Others that I gave 4 or more stars to:
The Jugger (Bk #6), The Seventh (Bk#7), The Handle (Bk #8), Deadly Edge (Bk#13), Flashfire (Bk#19)
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 298 pages. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words but rarely used. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: around 2002 midwest U.S. Copyright: 2002. Genre: noir crime fiction.
June 24, 2020
Parker in jail! That's a place he's avoided for a long time & it's great how he manages to make that seem like the most pedestrian problem in the book. There are plenty of more interesting ones. The writing isn't as tight as the original ones, but it's better than some of the others this far into the series. There's a bit more story here than there has to be, but it was fun. On to read the next.
May 4, 2018
"When the alarm went off, Parker and Armiston were far to the rear of the warehouse, Armiston with the clipboard, checking off the boxes they’d want.”
August 20, 2021
Parker and the Break-ins & Breakouts
Review of the University of Chicago Press paperback edition (May 2013) of the Mysterious Press hardcover (2002)
Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of the prolific crime author Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who wrote over 100 books. The Stark pseudonym was used primarily for the Parker novels, an antihero criminal who is usually betrayed or ensnared in some manner and who spends each book getting revenge or escaping the circumstances.
As Breakout begins, Parker is in prison and has to assemble a crew in order to breakout. The same crew become the nucleus for an expanded crew to break into a jewellery wholesaler for a heist, but circumstances go awry as always and they find themselves having to breakout all over again. I would say that this is probably my absolute favourite Parker novel primarily because of the constant obstacles that have to be overcome whether human or physical. The actual heist is not even a major element.
These final Parker novels from #17 to #24 are stronger and more complex than the original run which was probably due to Westlake/Stark's development as a writer over the years and during the 23 year hiatus. Several of these are strong 4's to 5's (I've actually read or listened to all of them now and am just parceling out the reviews over time).
Breakout is the 5th book of 5 in a book titles arc by Richard Stark where the second syllable in each one-word title provides the first syllable of the next one as in 1) Comeback, 2) Backflash, 3) Flashfire, 4) Firebreak and 5) Breakout.
I had never previously read the Stark/Parker novels but became curious when they came up in my recent reading of The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (Sept. 2020) by Nancy Pearl & Jeff Schwager. Here is a (perhaps surprising) excerpt from their discussion with Amor Towles:
The 24 Parker books are almost all available for free on Audible Plus, except for #21 & #22 which aren't available at all.
Other Reviews
There is an extremely detailed review and plot summary (in 2 parts) of Breakout (with spoilers obviously) at The Westlake Review, April 18, 2017.
Trivia and Links
The Breakout page at The Violent World of Parker website is not as complete as those for the earlier books, but does provide cover images of the different editions.
This paperback is part of the University of Chicago Press 2009-2017 series of reprints of the Parker novels and includes a new Foreword by author Chris Holm.
Review of the University of Chicago Press paperback edition (May 2013) of the Mysterious Press hardcover (2002)
Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of the prolific crime author Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who wrote over 100 books. The Stark pseudonym was used primarily for the Parker novels, an antihero criminal who is usually betrayed or ensnared in some manner and who spends each book getting revenge or escaping the circumstances.
As Breakout begins, Parker is in prison and has to assemble a crew in order to breakout. The same crew become the nucleus for an expanded crew to break into a jewellery wholesaler for a heist, but circumstances go awry as always and they find themselves having to breakout all over again. I would say that this is probably my absolute favourite Parker novel primarily because of the constant obstacles that have to be overcome whether human or physical. The actual heist is not even a major element.
These final Parker novels from #17 to #24 are stronger and more complex than the original run which was probably due to Westlake/Stark's development as a writer over the years and during the 23 year hiatus. Several of these are strong 4's to 5's (I've actually read or listened to all of them now and am just parceling out the reviews over time).
Breakout is the 5th book of 5 in a book titles arc by Richard Stark where the second syllable in each one-word title provides the first syllable of the next one as in 1) Comeback, 2) Backflash, 3) Flashfire, 4) Firebreak and 5) Breakout.
I had never previously read the Stark/Parker novels but became curious when they came up in my recent reading of The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (Sept. 2020) by Nancy Pearl & Jeff Schwager. Here is a (perhaps surprising) excerpt from their discussion with Amor Towles:
Nancy: Do you read Lee Child?
Amor: I know Lee. I had never read his books until I met him, but now I read them whenever they come out. I think some of the decisions he makes are ingenious.
Jeff: Have you read the Parker books by Donald Westlake [writing as Richard Stark]?
Amor: I think the Parker books are an extraordinary series.
Jeff: They feel like a big influence on Reacher, right down to the name. Both Reacher and Parker have a singular focus on the task in front of them.
Amor: But Parker is amoral. Reacher is just dangerous.
Jeff: Right. Reacher doesn't have a conventional morality, but he has his own morality. Parker will do anything he has to do to achieve his goal.
Amor: But to your point, Westlake's staccato style with its great twists at the end of the paragraphs, and his mesmerizing central character - these attributes are clearly shared by the Reacher books.
The 24 Parker books are almost all available for free on Audible Plus, except for #21 & #22 which aren't available at all.
Other Reviews
There is an extremely detailed review and plot summary (in 2 parts) of Breakout (with spoilers obviously) at The Westlake Review, April 18, 2017.
Trivia and Links
The Breakout page at The Violent World of Parker website is not as complete as those for the earlier books, but does provide cover images of the different editions.
This paperback is part of the University of Chicago Press 2009-2017 series of reprints of the Parker novels and includes a new Foreword by author Chris Holm.
December 28, 2016
This was one of the Parker books I had not read so when I found a copy and purchased I was looking forward to reading and put it away with the other ones from the series and I discovered the exact duplicate I bought a few years earlier. Well dear old me buying the book twice, it must be old age I guess.
Another Parker novel in which the robbery goes all wrong in the start of the book and Parker ends up in prison, while they might not know his true identity his fingerprints are on file and the state of California wants him back for escaping prison and killing a guard. So Parker is not really hot on the idea of an extended stay in jail.
Of course he escapes and the folks helping him get him to assist them in a heist. So he and Mackey get involved in a heist that is bound to go wrong as happens in all Parker books. And he then has to get out of the mess and sort it.
A well written novel that does benefit the series as written by Richard Stark, even for a book after the hiatus and belonging to the return of Parker it does not fail to entertain and Westlake is still very good with his words.
Well worth your while this installment of a great series.
Another Parker novel in which the robbery goes all wrong in the start of the book and Parker ends up in prison, while they might not know his true identity his fingerprints are on file and the state of California wants him back for escaping prison and killing a guard. So Parker is not really hot on the idea of an extended stay in jail.
Of course he escapes and the folks helping him get him to assist them in a heist. So he and Mackey get involved in a heist that is bound to go wrong as happens in all Parker books. And he then has to get out of the mess and sort it.
A well written novel that does benefit the series as written by Richard Stark, even for a book after the hiatus and belonging to the return of Parker it does not fail to entertain and Westlake is still very good with his words.
Well worth your while this installment of a great series.
April 26, 2022
Entirely too much grinning in this one. There's one guy in here, Williams, who I swear every time he has a line of dialogue, it goes like "[speech]," Williams grinned. Really started to take me out of it after a while. Nobody should be grinning that much, especially not in a Parker book.
November 25, 2023
Parker book 21, by Richard Stark/Westlake: Breakout is a good one.
Getting Out. “The first week is the hardest. The change from outside, from freedom to confinement, from spreading your arms wide to holding them in close to your body, is so abrupt and extreme that the mind refuses to believe it. Second by second, it keeps on being a rotten surprise, the worst joke in the world…. sometime in the second week, the mind’s defenses kick in, the brain just flips over, and this place, this impossible miserable place, just becomes the place where you happen to live. These people are the people you live among, these rules are the rules you live within. This is your world now, and it’s the other one that isn’t real any more.”
Breakout. “Now!” Parker yelled, and the three ran for the van, hurling away the boxes, a flurry of firecrackers going off behind them, Mackey already backing out as they dove headfirst through the side opening onto the metal floor.” … “Williams noticed that the new guy back here was frowning at him, as though not sure what to do about him. Thinking, let’s work this out right away, Williams gave Kasper a flat look and waited. Kasper looked back at him, then told the new one, “We’re all traveling together.” … “ Fine with me,” he said. “You’re Parker.” “And this is Williams.” “I’m Jack Angioni.” He nodded, accepting them both… “Brandon Williams had grown used to this level of tension, never knowing exactly how to react to the people around him, who and what to watch for, where it was safe to put a foot. Part of it was skin color, but the rest was the life he’d lived, usually on the bent. He’d had square jobs, but they’d never lasted. He’d always known the jobs were beneath him, that he was the smartest man on the job site or the factory floor, but that it didn’t matter how smart he was, or how much he knew, or the different things he’d read.The people he mostly got along with were, like him, on the wrong side of the law. It wasn’t that they were smart, most of them, but that they kept to themselves. He got along with people who kept to themselves; that way, he could keep to himself, too.” … “Williams had been happy to stick with Parker in Stoneveldt, though he would have been more comfortable if his partner had been of color. But nobody of color in that place looked to be making a key to get out of there and Parker did. So when Parker asked him to come along, he rode with the idea, though at first with every caution.” … “ who’d decided Williams should be part of the crew. No more, no less. Well, that was then, this was now. They were out”
Parker (Kasper). “ Rembek studied the few pictures he had of Kasper. A hard face, bony, like outcroppings of stone. Hard eyes; if they were the windows of the soul, the shades were drawn”
New Partners in Crime. “like a marriage, that, or more exactly like an engagement. The two people start off strangers to each other, have to find reasons to trust each other, have to learn each other well enough to feel they aren’t likely to be betrayed, and then have to pop the question:”
Plot Summary. “Everyone climbed back into the seats. “Been a while since I breathed,” Mackey said. “I’m gonna open this window again.” “All I want,” Williams said, “is to be in a place I’m not trying to get out of.”
So they’re out. I’ll let you read it to see if they stay out? Looking forward to reading books 22-24, then plan to circle back to the beginning of the series - it’s been a while. I want assess the early Parker and the late Parker.
(Stark) Westlake is a genius of the noir game. Intricate details and complex plotting -yet succinct and concise in character dialog and in story delivery. One of the greats!
Getting Out. “The first week is the hardest. The change from outside, from freedom to confinement, from spreading your arms wide to holding them in close to your body, is so abrupt and extreme that the mind refuses to believe it. Second by second, it keeps on being a rotten surprise, the worst joke in the world…. sometime in the second week, the mind’s defenses kick in, the brain just flips over, and this place, this impossible miserable place, just becomes the place where you happen to live. These people are the people you live among, these rules are the rules you live within. This is your world now, and it’s the other one that isn’t real any more.”
Breakout. “Now!” Parker yelled, and the three ran for the van, hurling away the boxes, a flurry of firecrackers going off behind them, Mackey already backing out as they dove headfirst through the side opening onto the metal floor.” … “Williams noticed that the new guy back here was frowning at him, as though not sure what to do about him. Thinking, let’s work this out right away, Williams gave Kasper a flat look and waited. Kasper looked back at him, then told the new one, “We’re all traveling together.” … “ Fine with me,” he said. “You’re Parker.” “And this is Williams.” “I’m Jack Angioni.” He nodded, accepting them both… “Brandon Williams had grown used to this level of tension, never knowing exactly how to react to the people around him, who and what to watch for, where it was safe to put a foot. Part of it was skin color, but the rest was the life he’d lived, usually on the bent. He’d had square jobs, but they’d never lasted. He’d always known the jobs were beneath him, that he was the smartest man on the job site or the factory floor, but that it didn’t matter how smart he was, or how much he knew, or the different things he’d read.The people he mostly got along with were, like him, on the wrong side of the law. It wasn’t that they were smart, most of them, but that they kept to themselves. He got along with people who kept to themselves; that way, he could keep to himself, too.” … “Williams had been happy to stick with Parker in Stoneveldt, though he would have been more comfortable if his partner had been of color. But nobody of color in that place looked to be making a key to get out of there and Parker did. So when Parker asked him to come along, he rode with the idea, though at first with every caution.” … “ who’d decided Williams should be part of the crew. No more, no less. Well, that was then, this was now. They were out”
Parker (Kasper). “ Rembek studied the few pictures he had of Kasper. A hard face, bony, like outcroppings of stone. Hard eyes; if they were the windows of the soul, the shades were drawn”
New Partners in Crime. “like a marriage, that, or more exactly like an engagement. The two people start off strangers to each other, have to find reasons to trust each other, have to learn each other well enough to feel they aren’t likely to be betrayed, and then have to pop the question:”
Plot Summary. “Everyone climbed back into the seats. “Been a while since I breathed,” Mackey said. “I’m gonna open this window again.” “All I want,” Williams said, “is to be in a place I’m not trying to get out of.”
So they’re out. I’ll let you read it to see if they stay out? Looking forward to reading books 22-24, then plan to circle back to the beginning of the series - it’s been a while. I want assess the early Parker and the late Parker.
(Stark) Westlake is a genius of the noir game. Intricate details and complex plotting -yet succinct and concise in character dialog and in story delivery. One of the greats!
May 4, 2021
A Vicious Cycle.
A failed breakout during a heist leads to a short stint in prison which leads to a prison break that leads to a failed heist and another breakout from another type of prison. And then Mackey's wife is put in jail on trumped up charges. The finale shows that crime only pays if you're a criminal defense attorney.
Sadly, the latest Kindle version fails to allow the reader to provide a review at the end and fails to mark the book as "Read" on Goodreads. Thanks for Nothing to either the inept publisher or the inept arrogance of Amazon.
A failed breakout during a heist leads to a short stint in prison which leads to a prison break that leads to a failed heist and another breakout from another type of prison. And then Mackey's wife is put in jail on trumped up charges. The finale shows that crime only pays if you're a criminal defense attorney.
Sadly, the latest Kindle version fails to allow the reader to provide a review at the end and fails to mark the book as "Read" on Goodreads. Thanks for Nothing to either the inept publisher or the inept arrogance of Amazon.
September 12, 2012
Spoiler Alert! The following review reveals something very, very important that happens on page 6 of this book.
Now, having said that, you may not think that spoiling page 6 can be spoiling much, but I found the image of (spoiler alert!) Parker putting his hands on top of his head and meekly submitting to arrest to be stunning (even though, given the title Breakout, I thought it might be coming). Taken collectively, the first 20 Parker novels (Breakout is the 21st) give the lie to the idea that Parker is good at his job. In fact, what they show is that Parker is extraordinarily lucky. Though Parker is portrayed as a smart, cautious thief, he takes so many outlandish chances in so many treacherous situations that he ought to get arrested every 1.5 books or so. (Indeed, it’s seems likely that it is impossible to be good at Parker’s job if “good” means “skilled enough to make a career out of it without ever going to jail”). But never mind that. It was oddly thrilling to see it finally happen, and then pleasantly surprising to discover that Breakout entails a series of breakouts—at least three, possibly more depending on what you think qualifies. My only regret about this book is that Starklake feels the need to have his characters joke about the fact the first (jail)breakout has simply created situations for further breakouts. Readers could have been trusted to catch on to that.
July 26, 2021
Second read (having gone through a frustrating run of bad to mediocre 2020s novels, I'm re-reading what my library has of this series instead for the week). I'll stick with three stars for this one, which was my initial rating. Parker has to break out a few times in this outing. Trigger alert: claustrophobia, speluncaphobia. (Though if you are the kind of person who needs trigger alerts, probably this is not the series for you anyway.)
My quibbles (with minor/vague spoilers): None of the secondary characters are all that interesting here (Williams is well-drawn and I think Westlake handled well his simmering fear of racism from the white people around him); allowing the dance woman to do something crucial at the climax while Parker waits seemed a bit of a wimp-out (keeping with the theme of breaking out, wouldn't it have been better for the three-man string to do that too?); and the very ending is also weak. In a sense, the action climax of the story is when they burst through the fire door and set off the alarm, which is well before the end of the novel, and that doesn't work as well as Parker books with a short denouement. All of this leaves me with the sense that had Westlake taken another month or two for a content revision pass, he would have fixed all that and made it a better book.
Still, so-so Westlake is far better than most of what I picked up last week.
My quibbles (with minor/vague spoilers): None of the secondary characters are all that interesting here (Williams is well-drawn and I think Westlake handled well his simmering fear of racism from the white people around him); allowing the dance woman to do something crucial at the climax while Parker waits seemed a bit of a wimp-out (keeping with the theme of breaking out, wouldn't it have been better for the three-man string to do that too?); and the very ending is also weak. In a sense, the action climax of the story is when they burst through the fire door and set off the alarm, which is well before the end of the novel, and that doesn't work as well as Parker books with a short denouement. All of this leaves me with the sense that had Westlake taken another month or two for a content revision pass, he would have fixed all that and made it a better book.
Still, so-so Westlake is far better than most of what I picked up last week.
September 29, 2019
Awhile back I started reading Richard Stark’s Parker novels from the beginning. I got as far as #20 (Firebreak), which is when the store I was buying them from stopped carrying them. Anyway, recently I managed to get a copy of #21, and here we are. In this instalment, the title is taken literally – the story opens with Parker in the middle of a heist that’s just gone wrong, and he gets caught and sent to Stoneveldt, a local transit prison that’s never had an escape.
As you might imagine, Parker aims to spoil that record, and starts to put together a plan and a team inside and outside Stoneveldt to bust out. The catch is that one fellow prisoner will only do it if Parker helps him on a heist as soon as they’re out. Remarkably, this sets the stage for not one but three breakouts of different varieties. So you get your money’s worth here.
Stark is probably the only crime writer who could get away with that idea and make it believable. Like with many of the later Parker novels, Stark takes his time building up the story and adding different complexities along the way, but it never feels padded out or forced. It’s a fast-paced and entertaining read – even the third act, which is surprisingly low on action (until the very end), still provides plenty of suspense.
As you might imagine, Parker aims to spoil that record, and starts to put together a plan and a team inside and outside Stoneveldt to bust out. The catch is that one fellow prisoner will only do it if Parker helps him on a heist as soon as they’re out. Remarkably, this sets the stage for not one but three breakouts of different varieties. So you get your money’s worth here.
Stark is probably the only crime writer who could get away with that idea and make it believable. Like with many of the later Parker novels, Stark takes his time building up the story and adding different complexities along the way, but it never feels padded out or forced. It’s a fast-paced and entertaining read – even the third act, which is surprisingly low on action (until the very end), still provides plenty of suspense.
October 11, 2020
Richard Stark is a pseudonym for Donald Westlake, and Parker is a career criminal like Dortmunder, but more hard core (and efficient) than he is. I didn't find him as likable, but it's still a fascinating story. I think I may have read earlier ones in this series, but if I did it's been so long I don't really remember them, so I may have to go back check them out. 3.5 stars
October 18, 2020
I love Donald E. Westlake's Richard Stark novels for their inversion of crime-fiction tropes. This is hardboiled storytelling without hardboiled language. It is told from the point-of-view of a professional thief who pretty much keeps himself to himself. We rarely know what he thinks, feels, wants, hopes for. We don't feel his pain, and yet we do, because he's always in some godawful mess, skillfully devised, and because we care about how he'll get out of it, we come to care about him, even though there's precious little to grab on to.
For me, the greatness of this story — about a guy who's just trying to get out of prison and get out of town with some money, and keeps being unable to — lay in a moment near the end. Parker, trying once more to escape the sinking-ocean-liner suction of the unnamed city in which he can't maneuver safely, gets the drop on a cop who's been onto him from the beginning. In ninety-nine out of one hundred crime-fiction novels, this would be a scene of snarling, threats, sudden movements, dick-swinging swagger and snarled insults by the cubic buttload. Because cops and crooks hate each other, right?
Instead, with Parker holding a gun on Turley, the cop, the two take a drive and calmly discuss the fact that while they're professionally on opposite sides, they're both too professional to harbor personal antipathies. In fact, they have a great dialogue about the preferability of preserving the dignity of the person at a deficit at the moment. Is it chatter designed to keep the cop calm for a kill-shot moment? Or is it sincere? The genius of Westlake is that you're breathlessly on the hook on both levels while two people simply sit and talk. Reminiscent of the great coffee-shop scene between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in HEAT. A truly above-and-beyond scene from a consistently above-and-beyond author.
For me, the greatness of this story — about a guy who's just trying to get out of prison and get out of town with some money, and keeps being unable to — lay in a moment near the end. Parker, trying once more to escape the sinking-ocean-liner suction of the unnamed city in which he can't maneuver safely, gets the drop on a cop who's been onto him from the beginning. In ninety-nine out of one hundred crime-fiction novels, this would be a scene of snarling, threats, sudden movements, dick-swinging swagger and snarled insults by the cubic buttload. Because cops and crooks hate each other, right?
Instead, with Parker holding a gun on Turley, the cop, the two take a drive and calmly discuss the fact that while they're professionally on opposite sides, they're both too professional to harbor personal antipathies. In fact, they have a great dialogue about the preferability of preserving the dignity of the person at a deficit at the moment. Is it chatter designed to keep the cop calm for a kill-shot moment? Or is it sincere? The genius of Westlake is that you're breathlessly on the hook on both levels while two people simply sit and talk. Reminiscent of the great coffee-shop scene between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in HEAT. A truly above-and-beyond scene from a consistently above-and-beyond author.
June 6, 2016
Simply put, the Parker series in an outstanding series. It was so nice to see Parker again though he seemed to get in a lot of trouble this time. I kind of count on him to get out of any situation, smoothly and with finesse, but not this time. He's well and truly caught after a pharmaceutical heist goes wrong, off to the Stoneveldt Detention Center he goes. Incidentally, there's never been an escape from this facility, but they don't know Parker. The escape is daring, the result perfect. And they even get to remove a stool pigeon on the way.
But, there they are, stuck with no money in a landscape so flat that escape from the town isn't even an option, you can see forever and there's lots of people looking! Parker and his new best friends agree to rob a wholesale jewelry establishment, an inpenetrable fortress. Of course it goes awry from the getgo but everyone doesn't get to leave. The risk simply wasn't worth it. Parker just wants to go home but he's tied to these mooks now.
Interesting new characters, honest lawyer, reasonable police office, what more could Parker want?
But, there they are, stuck with no money in a landscape so flat that escape from the town isn't even an option, you can see forever and there's lots of people looking! Parker and his new best friends agree to rob a wholesale jewelry establishment, an inpenetrable fortress. Of course it goes awry from the getgo but everyone doesn't get to leave. The risk simply wasn't worth it. Parker just wants to go home but he's tied to these mooks now.
Interesting new characters, honest lawyer, reasonable police office, what more could Parker want?
March 11, 2015
I've only read a couple Parker novels,, but, I've liked them both. Unfortunately my library doesn't have anymore kindle versions of them, so, I'll have to get the printed versions of them.
Parker is a criminal. Of that there can be no denial. But, he has a code and he operates by that code. In Breakout, Parker is in prison. And, he needs to get out of prison. Staying for his sentence isn't how he'll get out. He needs out. Now. So, he gets himself a crew that wants the same thing, is professional enough to be able to get it done with him, and breaks our of prison.
But, to get the crew, he has to promise that he'll help them do a job once on the outside. What happens on the job and what follows after that job is the story of this book. Without going into spoiler details, suffice it to say that the job doesn't go as well as planned. But, if it did, then, we'd have a different story.
Parker is a criminal. Of that there can be no denial. But, he has a code and he operates by that code. In Breakout, Parker is in prison. And, he needs to get out of prison. Staying for his sentence isn't how he'll get out. He needs out. Now. So, he gets himself a crew that wants the same thing, is professional enough to be able to get it done with him, and breaks our of prison.
But, to get the crew, he has to promise that he'll help them do a job once on the outside. What happens on the job and what follows after that job is the story of this book. Without going into spoiler details, suffice it to say that the job doesn't go as well as planned. But, if it did, then, we'd have a different story.
August 16, 2016
After a robbery goes south, Parker ends up in prison, cut off from his usual string. He manages to get word out to Claire who arranges to have a lawyer really work for him: enter Mr. Jonathan Li, a character I hope to see more of in the next three (and final) books. Also back for another go-round are Ed Mackey and Brenda. Always a pleasure to see those two.
Ed helps Parker get some background info on a few fellow inmates so he can get a crew together and plan a breakout. There's your title. A good Parker book, still better than most things out there. These books just read themselves.
It took 28 years, but the author finally reveals* how Ed Mackey survived the multiple gunshot wounds he received at the end of 1974's Plunder Squad. That had me perplexed (no, really) and I'm glad to finally know. Thanks, Stark!
*At the end of Part One, Chapter Seven.
Ed helps Parker get some background info on a few fellow inmates so he can get a crew together and plan a breakout. There's your title. A good Parker book, still better than most things out there. These books just read themselves.
It took 28 years, but the author finally reveals* how Ed Mackey survived the multiple gunshot wounds he received at the end of 1974's Plunder Squad. That had me perplexed (no, really) and I'm glad to finally know. Thanks, Stark!
*At the end of Part One, Chapter Seven.
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