"Breakout"
(Reviewed by Bill Robinson NOV 30, 2002)
Breakout is a cops and robbers saga with plenty of action and with emphasis less on the cops, more on the robbers. And, be warned: if you have a problem with bad guys portrayed in a positive light, then this is not the book for you. 
The anti-hero of the novel is author Richard Stark's man of one name. Parker a man of few words, is world-wise, if not world-weary. He has definitely been around the block more than once. He and most of his cronies are portrayed less as evil, rather as amoral. Their ethics are what might at best be called "situational."
These are simply career criminals who chose a life of crime for reasons long forgotten in a past too distant to remember. However, Parker and his immediate circle generally operate as if they adhere to Bob's Dylan's 60's adage: "To live outside the law you must be honest." They are as honest as they can afford to be and still survive in the harsh, noir world they inhabit.
As the title implies, much of the story involves getting out of undesirable places. When the book opens, we find Parker an unwilling guest in a large, bleak, "inescapable" Midwestern prison. Parker's immediate task is to put together a "crew," a small group of inmates, with the intelligence to deal creatively with their captive condition, i.e., to escape to freedom.
They are successful in this task. However, once free, as part of the escape plan, the former convicts have decided to rob a local jewelry wholesaler--this to give them a "stake." The establishment is located in an old, restored armory. This unique setting creates a series of breaking-and-entering difficulties and a unique set of challenges.
Parker never thinks the robbery plan is a good idea, but he is forced to participate to gain cooperation for the jailbreak. Much of the book finds Parker making the best of bad situations. Of this he is a master. He may be a man of few words, but he is definitely a man of decisive actions.
Author Stark is a master himself. His genius is in structuring the novel in a way that supports the plot and keeps things moving swiftly and with interest. Little, if anything, is extraneous. If a chapter should be brief to communicate concisely and succinctly a particular event or action, it is a short two pages long. All the book's dialogue is uniformly crisp and to the point. Adjectives and adverbs are generally absent. Absent also is any verbiage which might take the reader's mind off the here and now.
Parker and his little crew (it dwindles down to three members as the book progresses) become quite tight as they successfully overcome various post-jail obstacles. However, when it is necessary for one of the three to bid the others a fond adieu, he does so without a second thought. It is obvious that the greatest skill a would-be outlaw can possess is the ability to take things in stride and as they come.
Stark does an excellent job of communicating this transient and often exciting nature of criminal life. The author is successful in a way that makes this a genuine page-turner, even if the characters are at times a bit one-dimensional. However, this reader has to admit that he was pulling strongly for a very real Parker as the book came to a fingernail-biting conclusion. The book is the 20th in the "Parker Novel" series with the mystery Grand Master Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark. A sequel is probably in the works. It is eagerly awaited.
- Amazon readers rating:
from 18 reviews
Read a chapter excerpt from Breakout at MostlyFiction.com
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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)
The Parker Series:
- The Hunter (also called Point Blank and Payback in 1999) (1962)
- The Man With the Getaway Face (also called The Steel Hit) (1963)
- The Outfit (1963)
- The Mourner (1963)
- The Score (also called Killtown) (1964)
- The Jugger (1965)
- The Seventh (also called The Split) (1966)
- The Handle (also called Run Lethal) (1966)
- The Rare Coin Score (1967)
- The Green Eagle Score (1967)
- The Black Ice Score (1968)
- The Sour Lemon Score (1969)
- Deadly Edge (1971)
- Slayground (1971)
- Plunder Squad (1972)
- Butcher's Moon (1974)
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Comeback (1997)
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Backflash (1998)
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Flashfire (2000)
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Firebreak (2001)
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Breakout (December 2002)
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Nobody Runs Forever (November 2004)
- Ask the Parrot (November 2006)
The Alan Grofield Series
- The Damsel (1967)
- The Dame (1969)
- The Blackbird (1969)
- Lemons Never Lie (1971; July 2006)
Movies from Books:
- Made in the USA (from The Jugger) (1966)
- Point Blank (from The Hunter) (1967)
- Mise a Sac (from The Score) (1967)
- The Split (from The Seventh) (1968)
- The Outfit (1974)
- Slayground (1984)
- Payback (1999)
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Book Marks:
- The Violent World of Parker - fan site
- First Lines to Richard Stark's Parker Books
- MostlyFiction.com's page on Donald Westlake
- A review of a Dortmunder book by Donald Westlake at MostlyFiction.com
- BookReporter.com review of Comeback and more recent books
- RebeccasReads review of Firebreak
- ReviewOfBooks.com collection of reviews for Breakout
- Mystery Ink review of NobodyRuns Forever
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About the Author:
Richard Stark is one of the preeminent authors--and inventors--of noir crime fiction. Stark's recent Parker novels Comeback and Backflash were selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. His first novel, The Hunter, became the classic 1967 movie Point Blank. Thirty years later The Hunter was adapted again by Hollywood, in the hit Mel Gibson movie Payback. Richard Stark is an alias for the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Donald E. Westlake who lives in upstate New York.
