Book Review: Flashfire

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Flashfire     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Richard Stark
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Hard Boiled
Series: Parker # 20
Mysterious, Nov 2000, $22.95, 288 pp.

About two hundred miles from Omaha, Parker and his three cohorts rob a bank with Parker causing the diversion with a nearby firebomb. After succeeding in this endeavor Parker’s partners blithely inform him that they need his share of the loot as seed money to conduct a bigger heist on an island near Palm Beach, Florida. However, his former accomplices make one mistake when they abscond with Parker’s portion of the booty, the trio leaves Parker alive.

Besides Parker wanting his money, no one cheats him out of his due so he follows Melander, Carlson, and Ross to Florida. He plans to trump his former friends by doing the jewelry job they were set to perform. However, Parker has also has blundered because someone not only recognizes him, but wants him dead.

FLASHFIRE is an excellent Parker tale that marks the return one of the great anti-heroes in American mystery literature. The story line is entertaining due to the lead character’s criminal abilities that Richard Stark effortlessly brings alive in the well-written, fast-paced plot. Fans and new readers will enjoy this tale while seeking out previous books and movies (that both go back to the sixties) of a legendary protagonist.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner