The Black Ice Score

A Parker Novel

De: Richard Stark

Narrado por: Stephen R. Thorne

The good guys in a new African nation were missing a treasury full of diamonds. The nation's corrupt leader had stashed the rocks somewhere in New York City. Now the good guys needed a specialist to get their diamonds back. So they came to the best in the business: Parker. Only the three mysterious tough guys came to Parker, too. They figured three hands filled with .38s could convince him to pass up this international gem game. But leaning on Parker was like pressuring a box of TNT with a short fuse.

Crack another case with Parker.©1968 Fawcett Publications, Inc. (P)2010 BBC Audio

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

Parker and Claire are in New York on a shopping trip. Parker returns to the hotel room to find three white men, one searching his luggage. The leader tells Parker not to get involved in the job he is considering. Parker plays dumb and the men leave with a threatening goodbye. Claire was in the bathroom unharmed. An incoming telephone call later, Parker was on his way down to the bar to meet a man named Hoskins. Two minutes later, Claire calls down to the bar to tell Parker there are four men in the room with her. On arriving, Parker finds four black men in red robes. They came to Parker referred by Handy McKay. They are from a small, newly-founded country called Dhaba in South Africa. Their leader, Gonor, the United Nations Ambassador for Dhaba, explains that a man named Colonel Joseph Lebootie aka dictator embezzled half the country’s treasury, converted to diamonds, and shipped them to New York, currently held in a museum. He also mentions General Goma, a sore loser from the last election who wants to get back in but that requires money. So he will be interested in the diamonds also. Gonor wants to return the diamonds for the stability of his country. They want Parker to blueprint a job to steal the diamonds back and teach/train them, which they will then execute. Parker was floored, “You’re amateurs!” The three white men who visited earlier were colonialists who lost everything due to the revolution. They want the diamonds to install a puppet government of their ilk. The whole situation is a mess with too many elements; too many people involved. Parker also believes there is an informer in Gonor’s camp. That is the only way the three white men knew Parker’s real name. Gonor told Parker they would talk again after they had removed the traitor. When they left, Parker told Claire to pack! So much for the long and complex setup of the story. Back in Miami, Parker hoped he had left trouble behind. Of course, he had not, or there would be no more story. Parker was a good teacher, Gonor and crew were adept students. The game is afoot. I see that Claire is having a calming effect on Parker; less of a sociopath, and more human. I wonder if the relationship will hurt his “work”. Then again, what if something happens to her? How will that affect him?

Stark is a great writer

the story, like every one of the Parker stories so far flows right along and the narration is spectacular.

Running out of steam

I love the Parker series and plan to listen to all of them from first to last. This is by far the weakest one in the series so far.

My man Parker

Digging these books. Not only ate they great heist stories, which seem technically correct, they can be finished in one listen.

Nasty, brutish, and short...

This fast-paced, no-nonsense noir from master Donald Westlake (writing as Richard Stark) starts tense, adds twists, and doesn't seem to waste a single word as Parker is hired to plan a jewelry heist...while learning other criminals also want the diamonds. As Parker says, "You can plan a job, but you can't plan for people." Taut, smart, and wholly unsentimental, Parker continues to fascinate as one of crime fiction's most interestingly focused and professional anti heroes. Not a bad Parker novel to start with, if you're curious.