Backflash, Donald E. Westlake
Backflash, Donald E. Westlake
2 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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Backflash

Author: Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block

Narrator: Keith Szarabajka

Unabridged: 6 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/01/2013

Synopsis

After the publication of Butcher's Moon in 1974, Donald Westlake said, "Richard Stark proved to me that he had a life of his own by simply disappearing. He was gone." And readers waited.But nothing bad is truly gone forever, and Parker's as bad as they come. According to Westlake, one day in 1997, "suddenly, he came back from the dead, with a chalky prison pallor"—and the novels that followed showed that neither Parker nor Stark had lost a step.Backflash finds Parker checking out the scene on a Hudson River gambling boat. Parker's no fan of either relaxation or risk, however, so you can be sure he's playing with house money—and he's willing to do anything to tilt the odds in his favor. Featuring a great cast of heisters, a striking setting, and a new introduction by Westlake's close friend and writing partner, Lawrence Block, this classic Parker adventure deserves a place of honor on any crime fan's bookshelf.

About Donald E. Westlake

Richard Stark (1933–2008), wrote dozens of novels under his own name and a rainbow of other pseudonyms. Many of his books have been adapted for film, most notably The Hunter, which became the 1967 noir Point Blank and the 1999 smash Payback.

About Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and a New York Times bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series and dozens of short stories and articles. He has won multiple Edgar, and Shamus awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of America, and many others. Aside from being a mystery writer, he has also written a number of episodes for television, including two episodes of the ESPN series Tilt; he also cowrote the screenplay for the film My Blueberry Nights, starring Norah Jones. Block currently lives in New York City with his wife, Lynne.

About Keith Szarabajka

Keith Szarabajka has appeared in many films, including The Dark Knight, Missing, and A Perfect World, and on such television shows as The Equalizer, Angel, Cold Case, Golden Years, and Profit. Szarabajka has also appeared in several episodes of Selected Shorts for National Public Radio. He won the 2001 Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction for his reading of Tom Robbins’s Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and has won several Earphones Awards.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kemper on December 04, 2014

When Parker takes a boating trip along a river, you know that it’s not gonna be a pleasure cruise. After a narrow escape from his previous robbery, Parker is contacted by a retired government bureaucrat named Cathman who has a proposition. Cathman has the details on a new riverboat casino that is alw......more

Goodreads review by John on March 30, 2018

As a professional thief Parker goes about his business with ruthless efficiency. In his eighteenth outing the heist involves a casino ship sailing the Hudson River in upstate New York and a fair amount of the book involves deciding whether the inside man is trustworthy, if the theft is viable, and t......more

Goodreads review by Greg on January 12, 2011

Right after finishing this book I jumped right into the first book in the Parker series, The Hunter. I don't know if it is just the twenty year hiatus that came between Butcher's Moon and Comeback or if the change comes gradually in the first sixteen Parker novels, but the amoral criminal in the lat......more

Goodreads review by Skip on December 22, 2018

Book #18, though #2 after a long hiatus. Parker is contacted by a man named Cathman, a retired government bureaucrat, who wants to rob a casino ship on the Hudson River between Albany and Poughkeepsie. As the inside man, Cathman has all the details, but Parker is worried about his motives and the li......more

Goodreads review by David on May 17, 2012

This is the sort of Parker novel that I like best: it focuses fairly narrowly on Parker planning and executing a heist and then dealing with the aftermath. So why didn't I like it more? Why did I actually find it a wee bit tedious? The answer, I think, is that while Starklake ably executes the Parke......more

Quotes

“Whatever Stark writes, I read. He’s a stylist, a pro, and I thoroughly enjoy his attitude.” Elmore Leonard, New York Times bestselling author

“Donald Westlake’s Parker novels are among the small number of books I read over and over. Forget all that crap you’ve been telling yourself about War and Peace and Proust—these are the books you’ll want on that desert island.” Lawrence Block, New York Times bestselling author

“Parker is a true treasure…The master thief is back, along with Richard Stark.” New York Times Book Review

“No need to lament a golden age of hard-boiled writing; it’s right here, now.”  Publishers Weekly

“Parker is back again, and crime fans are in for yet another terrific excursion into the world of a skilled and chillingly dangerous professional…a must-buy, must-read novel.” Booklist

Awards

  • New York Times Notable Book
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