The Jugger

Book excerpt: The past can catch up to you—but if he can help it, Parker won’t let his. Sixth in the series praised as “a standout in the history of crime fiction” (AudioFile). Joe Sheer, a retired safecracker living in Nebraska who knows too many of Parker’s criminal secrets, says he’s in trouble. By the time Parker arrives on the scene, the safecracker is dead and a greedy cop, a nosy neighbor, and a gaudy crook are busy looking for a treasure the old man may never have even had. Parker is a pro with a past to protect and a future to consider—and the last thing he needs is a bunch of determined amateurs who know more than they should. And for this pro, killing is the only way out of town. Praise for the Parker novels of Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) “Parker . . . lumbers through the pages of Richard Stark’s noir novels scattering dead bodies like peanut shells . . . In a complex world [he] makes things simple.” —William Grimes, The New York Times “Donald Westlake’s Parker novels are among the small number of books I read over and over. Forget all that crap you’ve been telling yourself about War and Peace and Proust—these are the books you’ll want on that desert island.” —Lawrence Block “Richard Stark’s Parker . . . is refreshingly amoral, a thief who always gets away with the swag.” —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly “One of the most original characters in mystery fiction has returned without a loss of step, savvy, sheer bravado, street smarts, or sense of survival.” —Mystery News