THE HUNTER by Richard Stark

GRADE: B+

*Book 1 of the Parker series*

This is what hard-boiled crime fiction is all about. A mean, thrilling, fast-moving story with little-to-no frills, and lots of badassery. And Parker might just be the biggest badass in the literary crime world. In this loose cannon of a novel, the first one in a long-running, popular series, Parker, a professional heistman, literally walks across the George Washington bridge into New York City with nothing but the clothes on his back and revenge on his mind against his backstabbing weakling of a wife and an ex-partner that double-crossed him and left him for dead. Walking into NYC, he's essentially just a hobo after recently breaking out of a prison farm out west, but it was a delight seeing him quickly use his skills to con his way into some seed money, and by the end of the first chapter, he's in a nice hotel, laying in a hot bath, drinking from a bottle of vodka. A great introduction to the character. And from then on, it's an exciting ride where we learn what happened previously that led to Parker being in this situation while at the same time we follow him as he tries to bring the pain to those that wronged him.

If you're looking for some deep look at the human condition, look elsewhere. But don't get it twisted, this is still a very well-written novel filled with guns, fists, money, sex, and hard vengeance. Like I said: what hard-boiled crime fiction is all about.