The Hunter

by Richard Stark

Genres: Crime
Pages: 208
Series: Parker #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

Double-crossed, shot, and left for dead — by his wife. The thriller that introduces Parker.

“The funnies call it the syndicate. The goons and hustlers call it the Outfit. You call it the Organization. But I don’t care if you call yourselves the Red Cross, you owe me forty-five thousand dollars and you’ll pay me back whether you like it or not.”

Richard Stark’s The Hunter is the first of a whole series of books about Parker, an awful excuse for a human whose desire for revenge drives this noir classic. Not that there’s a single redeeming male character in the whole thing, given they’re all criminals and cowards — and the narrative simply doesn’t have room for a female perspective, showing everything through Parker or Mal’s perspectives, which is a pretty grubby and brutal place to be. The whole thing is a glorification of violence, particularly against women.

Which is, to be clear, pretty much exactly what I expected. I was curious about this one more because I’m always curious about various aspects of the crime/mystery genre; it shares some DNA with Raymond Chandler’s work, but the writing isn’t nearly as good, and Parker is nothing like Chandler’s “shop-worn Galahad” (though a lot of the misogyny — and racism and homophobia — is the same even so).

Overall, of course, not my thing. It was a quick read, or I wouldn’t have wanted to stay with it any longer, and I won’t be reading more. Curiosity satisfied.

Rating: 1/5