Slayground

By Richard Stark,

Book cover of Slayground

Book description

By the time Richard Stark sat down to write "Deadly Edge" in 1971, he'd been chronicling the adventures of his antihero, Parker, for nearly a decade. But it turns out he was just warming up: the next three "Parker" novels would see Stark crank everything up a notch - tightening…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Slayground as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love this book because, like all of the Parker novels, it starts in the middle of the action, with Parker and his associates spilling out of a car, on the run. Parker hides in an off-season theme park and what follows is a story that is better than Die Hard (and pre-dates it by a decade).

I love the Parker novels for this sort of action and the way that Parker adheres to his particular code. It is not one most heroes abide by but you have to admire this tough thief who lives by the words he speaks…

No one wrote crime stories like Donald Westlake.

During his lifetime, Westlake published over one hundred books. He wrote under several pseudonyms, the most well known of which was Richard Stark. Between 1962 and 2008, Stark penned twenty-four novels starring Parker, a smart, slick thief who pulled heists for big bucks.

In Slayground, we find Parker trapped inside an amusement park in the dead of winter following a botched armored car robbery. He needs to hide the stolen loot, make good his escape, and return later to pick it up. Problem is, he’s been spotted by crooked cops. Parker…

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Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “Are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it…

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