“:a full house, all cash sales, no advance sales.”

That’s Part One, the first fifty pages. And they are successful! But after, someone starts killing them, one by one. And that someone(s) finds out, the hard way, that when it comes to Parker, you never, ever, ever mess with Claire. Ever.

“That was the edge Parker had; he knew that survival was more important than heroics. It isn’t how you play the game, it’s whether you win or lose.” ( )

Parker and the Deadly Duo
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (February, 2013) of the Random House hardcover (1971)

Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of the prolific crime author Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who wrote over 100 books. The Stark pseudonym was used primarily for the Parker novels, an antihero criminal who is usually betrayed or ensnared in some manner and who spends each book getting revenge or escaping the circumstances.

Deadly Edge finds Parker and his crew menaced by a pair of drug-crazed hippies who are after the loot from their latest heist. Parker's love interest Claire becomes a hostage and it becomes both a rescue and revenge mission for Parker.

Narrator Keith Szarabjka does a good job in all voices in this audiobook edition.

I had never previously read the Stark/Parker novels but became curious when they came up in my recent reading of The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (Sept. 2020) by Nancy Pearl & Jeff Schwager. Here is a (perhaps surprising) excerpt from their discussion with Amor Towles:

Nancy: Do you read Lee Child?
Amor: I know Lee. I had never read his books until I met him, but now I read them whenever they come out. I think some of the decisions he makes are ingenious.
Jeff: Have you read the Parker books by Donald Westlake [writing as Richard Stark]?
Amor: I think the Parker books are an extraordinary series.
Jeff: They feel like a big influence on Reacher, right down to the name. Both Reacher and Parker have a singular focus on the task in front of them.
Amor: But Parker is amoral. Reacher is just dangerous.
Jeff: Right. Reacher doesn't have a conventional morality, but he has his own morality. Parker will do anything he has to do to achieve his goal.
Amor: But to your point, Westlake's staccato style with its great twists at the end of the paragraphs, and his mesmerizing central character - these attributes are clearly shared by the Reacher books.

The 24 Parker books are almost all available for free on Audible Plus, except for #21 & #22 which aren't available at all.

Trivia and Links
There is a brief plot summary of Deadly Edge and of all the Parker books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.

Unlike many of the 2010-2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook editions which share the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2009-2010 reprints, this audiobook DOES include the Foreword by author Charles Ardai. ( )

Really slow start, with the first fifty pages or so describing the heist with so much detail it is downright boring: chopping through the various roofing materials of a concert arena and corralling the guards and collectors to steal the proceeds from the very last performance. Then, two killers come out of nowhere and start picking off the heist gang, with an expectation that the take should be much larger, causing them to torture. One has all the brains while the other is strung out on LSD. Eventually, they come after Parker via Claire, who has settled into a home and won't leave despite the looming danger. The final showdown is the best part. ( )

Probably my least favorite Parker book (so far). The caper that takes up the first 1/4 of the book was just too long for me. Still a well written book, just wish that first part had moved a little quicker. As a side note, the introduction by Charles Ardai was very interesting. ( )

"Deadly Edge" may be the most violent of all the Parker novels. It is also one of the best. Parker and several cohorts, using axes, break into a rock concert, the last concert ever at a civic auditorium, no advance sales, cash only on the night of the show. These must be a bunch of older guys because, as they are breaking in, they can be heard complaining about the music, preferring jazz to rock. It is explained that Parker has a speciality and that is, strangely enough, "handling people, which meant keeping them quiet, make sure that none of them got killed, making sure none of them loused up the routine." Odd to think that the taciturn Parker is the one who is good at handling people, but he is the consummate professional. There are always, however, issues with every caper and this one is no exception, starting with the bodies that are piling up in the aftermath of this caper and the nasty dudes out to cut themselves into a piece of the pie. And nasty is right because these guys "weren't sane and they were barely human beings."

One of the interesting things about "Deadly Edge" is that there are scenes of domestic bliss as Parker and Claire start to make a life together, although Claire has decided she doesn't want to know anything about his jobs, none of the messy details. Claire was only attracted to guys whose lives were dangerous, airline pilots, racecar drivers, and Parker. Most of the time Parker "didn't think about it, but every once in a while he realized she was important to him." Parker thought the cottage Claire had found was nice, but he wondered how it could be defended with all those doors and windows, not with a rifle, not with a dog. Parker only understands vaguely about her idea of having a home. It just wasn't something he thought about. It was an idea that just wasn't in his head. Part of this story is told from Claire's point of view and it is interesting to see how she handles things when trouble comes a calling.

"Deadly Edge" is the thirteenth Parker novel, coming up between "The Sour Lemon Score" and "Slayground." If you have read any of the other 23 Parker novels, you know what to expect and it is fast and furious action here, little time spent on mundane things like planning a job. If you haven't read any of the Parker novels before, you are in for a treat in the form of one of the best crime fiction novels you have ever read. ( )