Reviews

The Score by Richard Stark

Only show reviews with written explanations

decretaro's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jeansbooks's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Fifth in the series, but the first Parker novel I've read. There's a lot to love here, even if you don't read much crime fiction. I particularly loved the last third of the book where we subtly shift perspective and Stark lets the secondary characters describe the events of the heist at the center of the book: the actor who sees his own criminal actions as sequences of film complete with score ("always music, in the air around his head like a halo"); the safe cracker whose crimes fund a love of all things machine, from model trains to ham radios. Each man with a story, each with a reason to be there. Parker himself is a relative mystery compared to the well-drawn supporting cast, but with over twenty novels with his name on the cover I expect I'll get to know him a bit better in the near future.

duparker's review

Go to review page

4.0

This was a lot of fun. A simple heist story. Set in the sixties, it had a great mickey spillane feel to it. Makes me want to read others in the series.

tittypete's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Parker and crew decide to rob a whole town. It's taut as frick. I love these books.

sandin954's review

Go to review page

4.0

Another excellent Parker adventure. Parker is the most competent character in crime fiction and the series just keeps getting better. In this book Parker takes on an entire western town.

dantastic's review

Go to review page

4.0

An amateur named Edgars hires Parker, Grofield, and ten others to help him with an outlandish plan: to rob an entire North Dakota town! Things go smoothly until it turns out Edgars has ideas of his own...

After reading five of the Parker novels, I figured out why love them so much. It's two aspects: Parker's superb ability to plan heists and trying to figure out how the inevitable double cross is going to go when it happens. The Score illustrates this nicely. As usual, Parker's cruel professionalism drives the story. Even though you know Edgars is going to be a problem, you have no idea how big of a problem he'll be until the big reveal.

Yet another home run from Richard Stark and Parker.

ericbuscemi's review

Go to review page

4.0

This best comparison for this book is Ocean's Eleven, if it were more hardboiled than flashy and the goal was to steal an entire town instead of a casino. Yes, you read that right, an entire town -- not the town's bank, jewelry store, or mining payroll, but all of them simultaneously. What could possibly go wrong?

This is the first Parker book I have read -- in fact, it is the first I have read by author Richard Stark/Donald Westlake. I enjoyed reading about Parker and would definitely read another of his heist adventures.