Skip to main content

Book Review: The Hunter

    Hey, everyone. Friday, I went to see Parker, the movie. I then bought a book by Richard Stark, the dude who wrote the story which the film is based on. I went ahead and bought the first book about the character, Parker; it is called The Hunter.
     The funny thing is, this book was also made into a movie, several years ago. They titled that film Payback, and it starred Mel Gibson. I loved that movie and the quick way it moved along, without a lot of wasted motion. Hey, I dig gritty crime drama, and I don't mind a bit if there is some sex or bad language thrown in.
    Don't get me wrong, The Hunter has a minimum of stuff that might offend you. It is just a good, interesting story. Here's the recipe.
     A guy known only as Parker is the central figure. It might be stretching a point to call him the hero. Why? I am glad you asked. He is a professional thief, has a moral compass like an alley cat and will kill or maim people if need be. Yet, he has a code he lives by and betrayal really ticks him off.
     While on a heist with some buddies associates, Parker is betrayed by a guy named Mal Resnick. Mal plans to kill Parker and talks Parker's wife into shooting her husband while the dude is in bed with her. Then they set fire to the building and leave with all the loot. Parker survives, though he lands in prison for a while. When he escapes, you can imagine his first and only goal in life. He plans to kill those who betrayed him.
     Parker trails the duo to New York, where Mal Resnick has gone to work for the mob called The Outfit. He and the former Mrs. Parker have had a falling out and they no longer live together. So, Parker finds her first. Since she believed that he was dead, she is pretty freaked out by his appearance. Parker refrains from killing her, but she is an addict and dies of an overdose the next day. It was suicide. Yes, in answer to your thought, it is a dark tale.
    The ruthless, tough and resourceful Parker goes around the city, abusing the criminal element until he finds out where Resnick is. He has a simple ruse. He finds someone with info. Then he gets their help or kills them. Or both. He begins to work his way up the corporate ladder of The Outfit, demanding his money and Resnick. Even after he finds and kills Mal, he still torments the mob to get back his money. He figures they owe him because Mal used the money stolen from Parker to buy his way into the outfit.
      Speaking of money...This book is pricey. I bought it as an e-book and paid $13.99 for it. I am still kicking myself for that. To me, no e-book should be more than $7 or maybe $8. I don't mean that the book isn't good or worth the money, it just irritates me. So now I have to make up my mind if I want the second book in the series, called Parker. Since I saw the flick, I may go right to #3.
    I enjoyed this book and I'd rate it as 4 stars out of 5. It is not a long novel. I'd guess that it is around 40,000 to 50,000 words, though I haven't checked it.
    From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The White Chicken Mystery

    The other night I happened to come home very late. It was the middle of the night and I was driving up a steep mountain road. Near the top I saw something white in my headlights. It was standing in the other lane, standing very still. It was a large white chicken. It was probably a rooster because I thought I could see his comb as I whizzed by at my customary pace. He never moved a muscle. This is weird, don't you think?      After a couple of days to consider this phenomenon, I have come up with some plausible answers for his bizarre behavior. 1. He was conflicted whether or not he should cross the road. 2. He was feeling cocky and decided to play chicken with the traffic. 3.He was being hen-pecked at home and had decided to end it all. 4. Someone had egged him on to do it. 5. He had just watched the movie Fantastic Four and decided to try to stop a truck the way that Ben Grimm did on the bridge. 6. He had driven himself crazy wondering if ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Batman Lives In Washington, DC

    Hey, everyone. I just read an interesting article on Washington Post.Com by Mike Rosenwald. It was titled Who Is the Route 29 Batman? This is a true story about a guy that the cops pulled over. The guy was driving a black Lamborghini with Batman plates. There were yellow Batman symbols on the doors. They had a video from the police car that showed him being pulled over. He was wearing a Bat-suit which he said cost him $5000. His gig is that he visits sick children in area hospitals and hands out Bat-Toys and Bat-books to cheer the kids up.     His name is Lenny B. Robinson and he says that the 'B' stands for Batman. He is perfectly sane and is just a good dude trying to make a difference. He is a self-made millionaire and is currently having a duplicate of the Batmobile custom-made at a cost of $250,000.    It was a hoot, watching the cops having their pictures made with the Bat Guy. Someone asked him where Robin was and he said that the boy won...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cake Is Better Than Swords

Hey, everyone. On Thanksgiving, we had a get-together here at The Author's Green Retreat. One lady brought a cake which I wanted to show you. It had the look of a Roman Coliseum about it. Inside it was just as decadent...and fun, as ancient Rome. When I cut it open, homemade marshmallow cream began to ooze out in several spots, running over the chocolate cake and peanut butter icing. It is best served warm so the cream is fluid. Very tasty. The same lady, and her children, are people who have played a lot of Skyrim. They gave me some pointers on the game because I am having problems with it. They taught me how to fast travel, and a ton of other things, but the main thing was the armor and clothing problem. This is a little embarrassing, but let me explain. Okay. For several weeks when I played, I would enter towns and everyone I met would comment on my nakedness. I would select a tunic and shoes, whatever, go back around people and they would say something about it. I guess I w...
Post a Comment
Read more