This latest Parker book is a nice entry in the series, with a a great
last line. Kind of interesting reading this right after the Hardcase
Crime reprint of Westlake's "Somebody Owes Me Money". You couldn't
have more different protagonists between Parker's efficient and deadly
career criminal and Chester Conway, the schlemiely cab driver hero of
Somebody Owes Me Money who's only trying to keep mobsters from killing
him while at the same time trying to figure out how to collect the
$930 owed him. It would also be hard to have more different styles of
hardboiled crime--from the breezy, somewhat comedic style of Somebody
to the terse, little honor among thieves style of Dirty Money. The one
thing both books have in common is the characters act intelligently
and there's a logic driving the story, as well as constantly
increasing complications that the protagonists face. Westlake is truly
one of the greats in crime fiction.
--Dave Z.
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