Backflash, Donald E. Westlake
Backflash, Donald E. Westlake
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

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 an internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. He has won four Edgar and Shamus Awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom. In France, he has been awarded the title Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice received the Societe 813 trophy. Born in Buffalo, New York, Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Leaving school before graduation, he moved to New York City, a locale that features prominently in most of his works. His earliest published writing appeared in the 1950s, frequently under pseudonyms, and many of these novels are now considered classics of the pulp fiction genre. During his early writing years, Block also worked in the mailroom of a publishing house and reviewed the submission slush pile for a literary agency. He has cited the latter experience as a valuable lesson for a beginning writer. Block's first short story, "You Can't Lose," was published in 1957 in Manhunt, the first of dozens of short stories and articles that he would publish over the years in publications including American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and the New York Times. His short fiction has been featured and reprinted in over eleven collections including Enough Rope, which is comprised of eighty-four of his short stories. In 1966, Block introduced the insomniac protagonist Evan Tanner in the novel The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep. Block's diverse heroes also include the urbane and witty bookseller-and thief-on-the-side-Bernie Rhodenbarr; the gritty recovering alcoholic and private investigator Matthew Scudder; and Chip Harrison, the comical assistant to a private investigator with a Nero Wolfe fixation who appears in No Score, Chip Harrison Scores Again, Make Out with Murder, and The Topless Tulip Caper. Block has also written several short stories and novels featuring Keller, a professional hit man. Block's work is praised for his richly imagined and varied characters and frequent use of humor. A father of three daughters, Block lives in New York City with his second wife, Lynne. When he isn't touring or attending mystery conventions, he and Lynne are frequent travelers, as members of the Travelers' Century Club for nearly a decade now, and have visited about 150 countries.

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