Hard Case Crime discussion
Donald Westlake Dies
date
newest »




This is a sad blow to American (and international) crime fiction, to hardboiled fiction and noir, and to all who love to interrogate society through the lens of the anti-hero cast as existential outsider.

Dan Simmons - Hardcase, Hard Freeze, Hard as Nails
Charlie Huston - Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things, A Dangerous Man
Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies (these are fantasy but with a Parker-type character
If anyone else has suggestions - PLEASE share them here. I'm desperate.


I read Max Allan Collins's first two books about "Nolan," his version of the Parker character (collected in "Two for the Money," which was published by Hard Case), and I thought they really sucked. Fanboy, comic-book nonsense.


I'll check out some of the others but I don't like cops, either to read about or deal with. I like criminals, those who don't suffer from purported kindheartedness. Bad guys.
In the Sci-Fi arena, Altered Carbon's Takeshi Kovachs is another Parker (in the 25th century) character.

The link to www.blindsamurai.com has been trying to load for 10 minutes now. Nope - failed to connect.


There's a quote from James Ellroy on the cover that says "Dog Eat Dog is the best novel about armed robbery ever written! It is pure realism and an uncompromising work of fiction."

Sounds brilliant. I'm presently writing a story about an ex-soldier who gets rekuctantly drawn into a violent bullion robbery so I really must check the Bunkers book out.
ROGER

I own Dog Eat Dog by Bunker and I also recommend Dog Eats Dog by Iain Levison.
Roger wrote: "Hi Jed,
Sounds brilliant. I'm presently writing a story about an ex-soldier who gets rekuctantly drawn into a violent bullion robbery so I really must check the Bunkers book out.
ROGER"

Ken Bruen doesnt have Parker like character but his style is similar to Stark in Jack Taylor books. More humor but its hard,lean written too.
I think Richard Stark is so unique that i dont read others to get same thing. I have read only 8 Stark books and few Westlake so i have many books left to luckily.
Jed: I agree fully about Takeshi Kovachs books. He is Parker in the far future. Real hardcore,somewhat sociopatic Kovacs.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/a...
On an odd note, I'd been looking for the Somebody Owes Me Money novel for a while now. Didn't see it in the book stores and hadn't bothered to order it. I ran into a Border's on New Year's Eve and happened to run across it (along with Killing Castro by Block) and bought it. Weird coincidence.