4.0 stars. After settling a vendetta against his former crew and starting a big, juicy new one against the entire Outfit in the The Hunter....PARKER (aka Mr. Badass MoFo)....IS …..BACK!! He has a brand new face thanks to some nifty plastic surgery performed by an “off the books” doctor and is now in need of some quick cash to tide him over while he looks for his next big score. In order to solve his fiscal crisis, Parker reluctantly agrees to team up with an old associate and his new woman i

Parker leaves Nebraska with a new face and a distinct lack of funds. He gets involved in a scheme to rob an armored car but there are complications. The plastic surgeon who operated on Parker winds up dead and people think Parker pulled the trigger. The armored car scheme is dodgy at best and one of the partners is planning a double cross. Can Parker figure out who the trigger man was and clear his name,pull off the armored car robbery, and avoid the double cross?Westlake does it again. Parker i...

Parker novels are unapologetic pulpy goodness. The lingo alone makes the read worthwhile. I’m not sure how I’m going to work a line like Who’s the bird dog on this one? into casual conversation. Nor will I be 100% sure what I’m saying if I call someone a frill and/or a busher, but by god, by the end of the work week I intend to find out. Parker has simple rules for life (he’d be pretty easy to program as far as artificial intelligence goes: if whore responsive, proceed; else, choke). He doesn’t

When Parker gets plastic surgery from a crooked doctor to change his appearance, he hopes that it will help hide him from the Outfit since they‘re still slightly peeved at him after the last book. With funds running low, Parker has to quickly sign on for a job robbing an armored car. However, the set-up involves a grouchy waitress named Alma, and she’s showing every sign of wanting to pull something cute and keep the money for herself. Plus, the doctor who did Parker’s surgery has been murdered

In this sequel our amoral protagonist goes through another plastic surgery to start fresh and anew , the death of the plastic surgeon creates a series of unfortunate albeit funny events that ultimately fucks things up for Parker and will potentially expose him to the "outfit" .

parker offers something very attractive to the reader: a proxy by which she can exact revenge on this world in a logical, sensible manner; one in which the brain totally overpowers the heart; one in which he can charge forward with the cool determination of an animal on the hunt. the clerk at the DMV won't renew your license? wait till she's alone, shiv her in the chest, drop the body in a dumpster, and get back in line. the drunken frat boy ain't moving outta the way and you really have to pee?...

This is the second book in Richard Stark's series about the amoral criminal, Parker. At the end of the first, The Hunter, Parker is on the run from the organized crime syndicate, the Outfit. At the opening of this book, he has made his way to Nebraska, where he successfully undergoes surgery to change his face to such an extent that even his old associates don't recognize him.At the conclusion of the operation, Parker returns to the East, desperately in need of a score. An old acquaintance propo...

Parker is a bad man. So, shouldn't I feel bad for rooting for him?.....NAH!Cold-blooded crook in the first degree, Parker has just undergone a necessary face change when he is drawn into a heist for the quick cash prospect. Of course, once he gets the real details of the job he discovers his take won't be a fraction of what he thought it was. And that's not even the bad part about it! But hell, he goes along with it anyway, and I'm glad he did. Otherwise it wouldn't have been much of a book...In...

*3.5 Stars*This takes up shortly after The Hunter left off, and Parker has just gotten a new face from a plastic surgeon so he can hide from the Outfit and do his dirty deeds in peace. But because he is still low on dough, he reluctantly agrees to a shakily-planned armored car hold up that might not be worth it. This might sound like a generic plot for your run-of-the-mill crime thriller, but what makes this one unique is that Parker knows from the get-go that a member of the crew will try to p...

Nov2019 Review: Gibson's "Payback" & Mitchum's "Point Blank" are based the first book, The Hunter & the third book, The Outfit. They're great, but so is this one in the middle. It's actually the first one where Parker is in the series groove. The first was written as a standalone & then edited quickly to make a series at the insistence of the editor. (Thank you, editor!!!) That means starting with this book is a good idea. It & the next one fill in the story for the first without some of the dis...

I don't have much for this one. The story was a lot stronger than for the first Parker novel. In a lot of ways this might be the best of the Parker novels I've read so far, as a coherent story it surpasses The Outfit, which I gave an extra star for being more over the top and appealing to imaginary bad-ass that I would probably want to be if I had no morals or inhibitions or whatever you want to call it. This story involves Parker getting a plastic surgery to hide from the Mob, robbing and armor...

The second in the Parker series from Richard Stark, a pseudonym for Donald Westlake. In the first, The Hunter, Parker makes The Outfit mad, thus creating the condition for the title. He gets plastic surgery to make a “getaway face” though a few people actually realize this new guy is actually Parker, including one principal one, a guy named Stubbs whom Parker keeps in a cellar until a job is done. Why not just kill him?“It was dangerous to kill when there wasn't enough reason, because after a wh...

After his dust-up with the syndicate, Parker heads to Nebraska to see a doctor about a new face. After his features are flip-flopped, Parker heads north and falls in with a few felons planning an armoured truck robbery. Being a perfectionist, Parker doesn’t like the plan and after making a few adjustments, he comes to suspect one of the players isn’t on the level.On top of all this, the doctor who played Mr. Potato Head with Parker’s mug winds up taking a dirt nap and Parker is the prime suspect...

I liked this book much better than the first one: in retrospect, I am not sure why I gave The Hunter 4 stars. Anyway, I digress. Book #2 opens with Parker having had plastic surgery to escape the clutches of the Outfit. He immediately is contacted about a armored car robbery, and heads off to New Jersey. After his due diligence, he approves the plan, but worries about one of the partners. Meanwhile, the plastic surgeon is killed and his aide de camp comes looking for Parker, not realizing Parker...

So this is a Goodreads re-read, as opposed to ‘The Hunter’ which I last read when I was still young and innocent of book-review related social-networks. But glancing back over my thoughts from the halcyon, long ago days of 2008, I find that I basically still agree with what I said. ‘The Man with the Getaway Face’ is a fantastic title, but merely a good book and a distinct drop off in quality from its predecessor. But reading it again with a greater appreciation of its place in the cycle, one can...

Stark's writing style is as methodical as a police procedural, but this crime novel is a sharp and thrilling read. I was anticipating a lot of violence after the first book, but the reporterly writing deemphasizes it. It happens of course, but it's dispassionate and understated. I'm going to burn through this series in a flash.....and I just discovered my local library has graphic novel renditions of Parker 1 and 3. I feel like I've got treasure waiting for me at the library.

our anti-hero Parker becomes embroiled in a scheme to rob an armored car. After running afoul of the crime syndicate previously, he travels to Nebraska to get a new face. Written in '63, the action is pervasive, as Parker nonchalantly carries on with the plan.

You know...I think Parker may be mellowing. There were a few cases here where he didn't kill someone I was sure he would.What's gotten into the man. This is no way for a self respecting completely self absorbed, totally selfish homicidal psychopath to behave.Well anyway another disturbing (because I liked the book) outing with our premier, "look out for #1" non-hero Parker.having just gotten a new face from a plastic surgeon recommended by one of the people Parker trusts he's all set.Until he ge...

I wish I could explain why I like this guy. It’s complicated. He’s not nice, get in his way and he’ll kill you without giving it a second thought. He slaps women around, sometimes because they like it, sometimes because they need it. (His sentiments, not mine.) i think it’s a real testiment to Stark’s writing skills that he is able to have Parker walk this really thin line between what’s okay and what’s not, all the while with the reader rooting him on. (view spoiler)[ Even after he cuts off som...

Given the very well regarded reputation of this series, I'm disappointed in this second installment and not likely to continue. The armored car heist plot is fairly well put together, but there's not much to really distinguish the story. Dialogue, action sequences, characterizations (including Parker), writing and style all fall fairly flat. I enjoyed Dan Marlowe's The Name of the Game Is Death much more, and will be continuing with his "Drake - The Man With Nobody's Face" series instead. The se...

This is a very "straight-ahead" type of story. The protagonist, Parker is an accomplished criminal who gets a new face from a Doctor in Nebraska. Why he needs it gets revealed in bits and pieces throughout the book. The majority of the plot involves Parker running down a lead for a "job" in New Jersey. Ever the professional, he determines that the heist is doable, but not in the way and with the crew that the originator and his girlfriend have proposed.He and the girlfriend don't and won't get a...

The 2nd installment of Parkers' adventures and it tells us of Parker getting some plastic surgery to alter his well known looks especially for that crime outfit he hurt so much in the 1st novel (FYI: the Hunter). Parker being low on finances decides to take up a heist in order to replenish his depleted financial reserves. The heist and the planning does not go off as ideally planned but Parker walks away with enough dough.The second story line is about Stubbs the former chauffeur of the plastic

"He was a big man, flat and squared-off, with boxy shoulders and a narrow waist. He had big hands, corrugated with veins, and long hard arms. He looked like a man who'd made money, but who'd made it without sitting behind a desk."This is my second reading of The Man With The Getaway Face (Parker, #2). The first time i read it was about 10 years ago and at that time i read all the 'Parker' books. But because i was borrowing them from my library, i read them as they became available, rather than i...

This is better than the comic, is far easier to follow and we see the content that was cut in the comic in this one is all about the work he has to do after he got his new face it is explained slow and methodically and I've gotta say in this one Parker seems a little more deep and less one notey, he still has the characteristic of the Parker we met in the first book but he seems to have taken to heart the lessons he learned in the first book, the writing is well-paced and flow very well and the

3 ½ stars. There were some good parts. I like watching what Parker does.I enjoy it because it’s part of an interesting series. It would not be as good as a stand alone story. When I finish one book, I’m eager to read the next. Parker is a tough very smart bad guy planning and committing crimes with other bad guys.There are no sex scenes, but there are references to Parker being with whores and slapping them to get them interested.NARRATOR - John Chancer:I did not like the narrator’s voice for so...

In book 2 of the Parker series, our man gets a whole new face via plastic surgery to get away from "The Outfit", the New York mob crew, who unsurprisingly have a target on his back since Parker singlehandedly hit them hard as a comeback for leaving him for dead on their last job together. An old heisting buddy contacts him to put together an armoured truck robbery, but Parker doesn't trust his pal's dame, a waitress beyond her prime who takes herself for both Bonnie and Clide. Our man's quickly

Stark's second novel featuring his villainous creation Parker is written in the usual straightforward prose, and this one features a nice last page surprise. It's certainly entertaining enough for me to want to continue reading the next in the series.

The best compliment I can give the "Parker" novels by Donald E. Westlake is to admit that they've completely hijacked my usual schedule of reading and reviewing contemporary novels for the CCLaP website; originally planned to be a fun airplane diversion when I flew from Chicago to New Orleans and back about three weeks ago, I ended up reading the first book in the series, 1962's The Hunter, from start to finish in just half a day, and have since been greedily devouring the rest at a rate of a bo...

“Pulp” style fiction written by Donald Westlake in the early sixties. This is the second in the long Parker series and a good follow up to the first book, but not quite as strong, in my opinion. Still, the description of the mechanics of criminal activity is interesting, Parker is a compelling psychopath of a character, and the clever plot and straightforward writing make for an entertaining, easy read for those who enjoy this genre.

Another great Parker novel, and a great heist novel overall.