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A review by silvej01
The Man With The Getaway Face by Richard Stark
4.0
I got a kick out of reading (listening to) this very noir-ish heist book, Richard Stark’s second Parker novel. It was further enhanced by John Chancer’s narration; among Chancer’s narrative features is the fitting Clint Eastwood-esque tone he gives to Parker’s voice.
While the book starts off in Nebraska and later includes the streets, sites, and sounds of Manhattan and a road trip to North Carolina, much of it takes place in New Jersey just southwest of New York City. Part of the fun for me was the meticulous care Stark (Donald Westlake’s pseudonym) gives to capturing the local highways of mid-twentieth century Jersey. I was only 7 in 1963 when this book was published and by then my family had moved from New Jersey to Rockland County, just over the border in New York State. But my parents were Jerseyites, and so even after the move, there were regular drives to both my sets of grandparents, the Jersey shore, New Brunswick, and other of their old stomping grounds. Stark not only captures the roadside diners and other characteristic features of those local Jersey roads, but seems committed to getting the traffic lights, the intersections and traffic circles just right. I’m guessing he had an NJ Esso map on his bulletin board as he wrote, and spent a lot of time in his own car traveling around. So, beyond the intrigue associated with all the planning for the heist, and the efforts, snags, and violence associated with pulling it off, the book offered me a nice nostalgic treat.
(While this book deserves a more general positive review, as you can see, this one may be a tad esoteric for many potential readers wondering if it’s worth picking up.)
Minor note: For all his geographic care, I did find one error Stark makes – happily pertaining to Long Island, not New Jersey. Several times late in the book, he mistakenly refers to Huntington, NY as part of Nassau County. In fact, it’s just across the county line into Suffolk.
While the book starts off in Nebraska and later includes the streets, sites, and sounds of Manhattan and a road trip to North Carolina, much of it takes place in New Jersey just southwest of New York City. Part of the fun for me was the meticulous care Stark (Donald Westlake’s pseudonym) gives to capturing the local highways of mid-twentieth century Jersey. I was only 7 in 1963 when this book was published and by then my family had moved from New Jersey to Rockland County, just over the border in New York State. But my parents were Jerseyites, and so even after the move, there were regular drives to both my sets of grandparents, the Jersey shore, New Brunswick, and other of their old stomping grounds. Stark not only captures the roadside diners and other characteristic features of those local Jersey roads, but seems committed to getting the traffic lights, the intersections and traffic circles just right. I’m guessing he had an NJ Esso map on his bulletin board as he wrote, and spent a lot of time in his own car traveling around. So, beyond the intrigue associated with all the planning for the heist, and the efforts, snags, and violence associated with pulling it off, the book offered me a nice nostalgic treat.
(While this book deserves a more general positive review, as you can see, this one may be a tad esoteric for many potential readers wondering if it’s worth picking up.)
Minor note: For all his geographic care, I did find one error Stark makes – happily pertaining to Long Island, not New Jersey. Several times late in the book, he mistakenly refers to Huntington, NY as part of Nassau County. In fact, it’s just across the county line into Suffolk.