When Parker finally settled his differences with the Outfit, he didn’t expect to get any job offers from them. However, a guy named Baron has set up a profitable casino operation on his own private island in the Gulf of Mexico, and the head of the Outfit can’t stand that they aren’t getting a piece of the action so he enlists Parker to rip off Baron and burn down his operation.Since he needs cash after the events of the last couple of books, Parker agrees and begins planning his own version of D...

The Handle takes its place as Parker #8 in the list of 24 Parker novels by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark. The Handle is a rip-roaring crime thriller with twists and spins and Parker action aplenty. Here's the frame: It’s 1966 and a man known as the Baron, a former Nazi, art thief and all around swindler, has been running a casino/illegal entertainment center on an island forty miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas - Gulf of Mexico waters beyond the reach of the USA’s federal juri...

Parker, who looks like he is “made of chunks of wood” (I like that), is a meticulous, logical and unemotional planner of thefts. Most of the action is straightforwardly narrated; we get to see, if we're interested, and who isn't?-- how a thief with other thieves might pull off a job; hey, it’s a continuously tough economy! You never know what kind of information might be useful! I’m kidding, but there IS an interesting ethical angle to these books, actually; we cheer for a sociopathic anti-hero;...

Parker, Grofield, and Salsa are hired by the Outfit to rob an island casino and burn it to the ground. Only the feds get wind of the plot and force Parker to either bring back the man running the casino or go to jail himself. Can Parker get the handle and bring in the Baron?As usual, Stark weaves a serpentine tale of scheming, violence, and double crosses. Things start going south at the beginning but Parker's motivation to continue was believable considering he lost most of his money when the W...

the Outfit hires parker to head to a cuban controlled island/casino off the coast of galveston, texas not just to rob it, but to burn it the hell to the ground. the american cops track parker's every move, but leave him be: a case, i suppose, of 'the devil we know (parker) over the devil we don't (commie-financed ex-nazi and casino boss baron von altstein)'grofield, parker's crime buddy, offers a flamboyant contrast to parker's cold-as-ice existential anti-hero, and that's where most of the fun

Dollar bills and diamonds, double crosses and deaths, diabolical dealers and dames, dead-eyed stares and detectives caught unawares... Must mean Mr Parker is back on his grind here in Richard Stark's novel number nine!!Runoutandgogetyousomeofthishereposthasteyo

Number 8 in the series that Richard Stark wrote about "Parker" who on screen have been played by Lee Marvin in "Point Blank", Jason Statham in "Parker" & Mel Gibson in "Payback". All movies are worth your while and fairly true to the character that Richard Stark wrote about.After having his identity and modus operandi burned in the previous book Parker is in need of some serious cash. So wisely of not he accepts a job from the outfit in robbing a casino on an island outside of the US territorie

Parker is asked by the Outfit to put a guy out of business permanently, who runs a casino on a private island. Of course, he's no killer, but he will burn/bomb the place to hide his theft. He's a cool cucumber in negotiating the economics of his heist. The planning is great, with Parker's usual no nonsense approach, and of course, things go wrong, putting everyone in grave danger (is there any other kind? :-)) A 4-star story with a 2-star ending although Parker does go all out, and then some, to...

The second Parker novel I have read. This series is written by one of my favorite authors-Donald Westlake under the pen name Richard Stark. Until I joined Goodreads,I didn't know of their existence. Now I am on a quest to read them all!

4 ½ stars. Several times I laughed or enjoyed something surprising or unexpected.Parker is on a job. Things go wrong. How he and his partners respond is neat to watch.A fun scene: The Outfit assigned Crystal to help Parker with part of the job. They were on a boat going to an island. She talked too much. Parker discovered the way to handle her. When she paused he grunted. She turned his grunts into whatever words she wanted to hear and went on with her monologue again. She’s deathly afraid of wa...

★★1/2This book had a lot to live up to after the last installment, The Seventh, which I thought was the best Parker book to date. So maybe I'm not being fair when it comes to my opinion. But this one was just... alright. I can see myself easily forgetting this in a few weeks. To be honest, it's not at all terrible, it's just a bunch of ideas we've already seen before in other books. Parker gets a job, has doubts, forms a team, fucks a girl, discovers some obstacles along the way, and then must d...

Maybe one day soon I'll be inspired to write some longer Parker reviews again, but really there is only so much I have to say about them without giving a book report. In this one Parker and his buddies are hired by the Outfit to rob and destroy an off-shore casino run by an ex-Nazi. This is the most far-fetched Parker novel so far (I enjoyed his knocking over a riverboat casino in his 1990's reincarnation better) and the mob would have done better to go hire the heavies from Tiger Cab for this k...

Another good adventure with plenty of twists & turns. There were a few things that didn't sit all that well, such as (view spoiler)[(Grofield & the bed/mattress w/o Baron noticing, Grofield walking so far in the desert wounded, Baron not carrying a gun with the money...) (hide spoiler)] but overall it was a lot of fun.While I have the next 4 books in audio book format, I think I'll take a break & listen to a different author for a while.

One of the reasons these books are so great to read is Parker's unwavering 'all business' manner when he's planning and executing a job. This heist goes wrong, but sorting out complications make the story for me.

Well, that was an unexpected treat!I thought I’d read all the Parker novels, but in the higgledy-piggledy, out of order way I consumed them, clearly one feel through the cracks. So, this is a genuine Richard Stark Parker novel I’ve never read. Oh, happy days!Certainly, if I had read it, this one would have lingered in the old noggin. As this feels as close to breaking the tried and trusted Parker formula that Stark was ever going to get. For this is a Parker novel shot through the prism of James...

This is a great series of books. More tough guy noir. It's going to wind up where all my reviews are going to be the same so I may or may not write another one, and I'm not one for summarizing the plot anyway. This book was at the same time totally engrossing yet one more in what is essentially a cookie cutter series (as is Perry Mason, etc.) and a cookie cutter series isn't necessarily bad when as entertaining as this

“One thing I know. Some nights, the handle in that place is a quarter million bucks.”Parker is back, and this time he’s taking on an island! An island names Cockaigne, off the coast of Texas. And he's doing it on behalf of the Outfit? Makes for strange bedfellows indeed... But throw in ol’ Alan Grofield, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a caper!But, like most Parker books, it’s a bit of a rocky ride, especially for Alan! “For the fifth time tonight, for the fifth time in his life, Grofield ha...

PROTAGONIST: ParkerSETTING: Island off Galveston, TXSERIES: #9 of 25RATING: 4.0WHY: Parker specializes in robberies. He's a natural choice for the mob to hire when they want to hurt a competitor who's running a casino on an island off the coast of Texas. As he begins the planning, the Feds get on to the scheme. They want him to bring them "The Baron" who is running the island. Parker and his team, which includes Alan Grofield, plan a daring heist. When the loot is stolen from them, the plot thic...

Good hard nosed crime story, written in '66. Parker, needing to rebuild his finances after the debacle in the last novel, is pulled into a scheme that pits him on the side of his nemesis, the Outfit. An upstart is in cahoots with Cuba, starting a high stakes casino on an island off the coast of Texas, out of US jurisdiction.Great ensemble cast with Grofield and Salsa returning, along with spicy bad girl Crystal.

Alan Grofield returns to aid Parker in knocking over an island casino. This book gives Stark (Westlake) a way to expand on the series by creating a series within the series. The Damsel while not considered a true Parker novel details what happens to Grofield after Parker returns to the U. S.The book is a clever alternative to Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. An ex-Nazi Colonel escapes capture from the Allies and sets up an island casino. The Cubans and Russians front the man to use his place to gath...

I love these Parker books. They practically read themselves! Stark/Westlake sticks to what makes the story move forward and foregoes all the padding other, less capable authors would cram in there just to lengthen the book. Anyhoo, this being the eighth book of the series, it was nice to see references to previous storylines. This helps to establish a sort of continuity that makes Parker's world feel real, as opposed to every story happening in a vacuum. I like that Parker, as a character, is ev...

The Characters:[a] The Baron, a clever man who claimed an otherwise unknown and unwanted island off the Texas coast and made it into his personal playground for the rich.[b] The Outfit, the Big Boys who have to sit back and see thousands of dollars being made while none of it comes their way.[c] The Feds, well, we all know them don't we? Party-poopers, I say...[d] Grofield, switching between acting and stealing. It's good to be bad.Enter our favorite anti-hero... Parker as [e]Synopsis:[e] gets h...

Since I have not read the Parker series in order, it is a wonderful surprise when I discover one I have not yet read. In The Handle, the formula is similar;Parker is pitched an idea for a heist, a crew is gathered, things go wrong and double crosses take place. This time the heist is on an island location with a gambling casino run by a sketchy Baron. I have read the few stand-alone Grofield books by Stark, so it was fun to see the Grofield character play off against Parker's no-nonsence persona...

Ocean's Eleven meets The Wild Bunch..without the horses though.Parker gets a call for another job, he has second thoughts and still doesn't listen to his intuition. You'd think by book 8 he'd have learned.So another outing full of violence, betrayal, dishonesty, theft, blood...a little humor in this one to. Just everything you need for an uplifting, fun and positive read.Enjoy.

The Handle starts great but a lull a third of the way in made me worry about the end. I had no need for concern, this is another brilliant Westlake ending. The Handle is a lot of fun. I've got to get to the next book asap.

Well written pulp, but I found the story uninteresting.

This is a real let down after The Seventh, which had always been one of my favorites in the Parker series by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake). The setup is actually quite good as The Outfit has hired Parker to take out a competitor who's operating a casino on a private island (owned by Cuba) 45 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. They want Parker to rob the casino and its operator of everything and then burn the place down. Parker does recon and hires a crew and buys weapons. Unbeknownst to

I am of the opinion that Parker and Grofield need each other. Not just as partners in crime, but as characters. Yes, they make a rather odd couple -- Parker, the methodical, taciturn, pragmatic pro and Grofield, the theatrical, witty, moonlighting con -- but they appear to trust each implicitly. Grofield lightens the mood considerably without undermining the deadly suspense. This is my 8th Parker novel, read in order of series, and to tell you the truth, I found it rather ho-hum at first, Parker...

8 books in to Westlake's run of Parker books, and I expected things to potentially drag a bit. But it's becoming apparent that the books (and character) succeed because of the formula. Westlake spends so much time over the series reiterating Parker's mindset and worldview and each book follows the same four-act structure (usually with the non-linear third act), you barely notice how he's rearranging the pieces until you're in a different timezone from the start of the book. The Handle had a lot

Another quality book in Parker series. I hadnt read a Parker/Stark book in a year and almost forgot how much quality there is in the writing of Stark. The characters was top notch as usual. Parker business like efficiency,his ways are always great to read.Grofield made this book extra fun read, he is so different from Parker. He is funny,unique in his field.Not the best book in the series but still very good read and what i expected.